After 5 Months Away For Runway Repairs, Wolf Pack F-16s Return House to Kunsan

A virtually 5 month-long $22 million runway reconstruction undertaking at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, wrapped up lately, clearing the way in which for the eighth Fighter Wing—generally known as the Wolf Pack—and its F-16s to return residence Aug. 30.

“It’s good to have the Wolf Pack residence,” Col. Timothy B. Murphy, wing commander, mentioned in an announcement.

The bottom, positioned about 110 miles south of Seoul, began changing and repairing greater than 1,500 concrete slabs on its 9,000-foot runway in April, forcing many of the eighth Fighter Wing to relocate to Osan Air Base, roughly 75 miles away.

Some 600 personnel, together with many of the eighth Fighter Wing’s F-16s, have returned to Kunsan following a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the airfield the morning of Aug. 30, a wing spokesperson advised Air & Areas Forces Journal.

Murphy famous that getting personnel and plane again in a single place to allow them to “Combat Tonight” has been his precedence.

In the course of the airfield closure, the Wolf Pack continued its operations from Osan and a number of other different places. That included “Buddy Squadron” coaching occasions with the Republic of Korea Air Drive at different bases in South Korea, in addition to the Korea Flying Coaching train in April, Purple Flag-Alaska in June, and Cope West in Indonesia in June.

“We considered the runway closure as a chance to follow concurrently working from quite a few places, honing the brand new paradigms of distributed management and mission command,” Col. Michael G. McCarthy, eighth Operations Group commander, mentioned in an announcement. He credited the wing’s Airmen for efficiently finishing up the Wolf Pack’s mission throughout their displacement.

Operations have instantly resumed for the eighth FW, as they share the runway with their mission associate, the Republic of Korea Air Drive thirty eighth Fighter Group.

Kunsan Air Base is residence to some 2,800 individuals together with the Air Drive and Military personnel, U.S. civilians, native nationwide and non-appropriated workers engaged on the positioning. The eighth FW is the bottom’s host unit, and is assigned to Seventh Air Drive at Osan Air Base, 40 miles south of Seoul.

Nevertheless, not less than one Wolf Pack F-16 seemingly gained’t be returning to Kunsan. In Could, a fighter crashed in a fiery wreck close to Osan, with native media retailers displaying dramatic movies of the jet being largely destroyed. The pilot safely ejected, and the Air Drive has but to launch an accident investigation report on the incident.