Combat Action Summary
July 1950
North Korean Army forces advanced steadily into South Korea despite U.S. air strikes north and south of the 38th Parallel. U.S. ground forces—ill equipped and inadequately trained—were introduced piecemeal and failed to stop the Communist advance. By the end of July, North Korean military forces had conquered the entire Korean peninsula except the area southeast of Hamch’ang and bordered by the Noktong River—the Pusan Perimeter.
The UN Security Council established the UN Command (UNC), designated the United States as executive agent for prosecuting the Korean War, and requested that the U.S. President appoint a UN Commander.
Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, USAF, Chief of Staff, met in Tokyo with General Douglas MacArthur, now Commander of UN forces in the theater, and agreed on overall objectives for the air campaign. They agreed to allow George E. Stratemeyer, USAF, Commander, Far East Air Force to use some Superfortresses against strategic and deep interdiction targets, such as chemical plants, oil refineries, marshalling yards, docks, and key bridges in North Korea. General MacArthur insisted that the bulk of U.S. air power be employed tactically against the advancing enemy troops.
The UN Command was formally established in Tokyo, Japan, commanded by General MacArthur, who assigned responsibility for ground action in Korea to Lt. Gen. Walton H. Walker, USA, Commander, Eighth U.S. Army; naval action to Vice Adm. C. Turner Joy, Commander, Naval Forces, Far East; and air action to General George Stratemeyer, Commander, Far East Air Forces.
Far East Air Forces (FEAF) tasked Fifth Air Force to establish and maintain air superiority, provide UN ground forces with close air support, and interdict NKA supplies and reinforcements, the goal being to isolate enemy forces on the front lines. FEAF moved two fighter groups from the Philippines and Japan to South Korea and began replacing jet-powered F-80s with more fuel-efficient propeller-driven F-51 Mustangs.
“Compared to the F-80s, the Mustangs could loiter far longer in a target area and better endure the primitive conditions of South Korean air bases.”
By the end of the month, the World-War II era fighters were flying from Taegu and Pohang Dong, while C-47 transports used the Pusan Airfield. B-26s of the 3d BG, based in Japan, often attacked bridges at night in enemy-occupied South Korea. Although the North Koreans shot down a few USAF airplanes, Far East Air Forces soon achieved air superiority over Korea.
Adapted from U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency. January 2002. The U.S. Air Force’s First War: Korea 1950-1953 Significant Events.