Operation Combat Fox
On 23 January 1968 North Korean patrol boats supported by two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 fighters captured the USS Pueblo northeast of the North Korean island of Ung-do.[1] The seizure of the Pueblo led to President Lyndon Johnson ordering a show of force with a massive deployment of U.S. air and navy assets to Korea. The airlift and deployment of 200+ aircraft was code named Operation Combat Fox[2] while the deployment of six aircraft carriers plus support vessels was code named Operation Formation Star.[3] The operations were supported by the partial mobilization of reservists for the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis.[3] CIA A-12 Oxcart reconnaissance overflights over North Korea were used to monitor a feared retaliatory mobilization of North Korean forces and when these flights revealed no mobilization or large scale deployments by North Korean forces, Operation Combat Fox forces were stood down.[4]
Units Deployed
Fifth Air Force[5] - Osan AFB (Advance echelon sent from Fuchu AS)
- 4th Tactical Fighter Wing - Kunsan AFB (72 F-4D Sent From Seymour Johnson AFB)
- 18th Tactical Fighter Wing (-) - Osan AFB (12 F-105D Sent From Kadena AFB)
- 19th Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron - Taegu AFB (6 EB-66 Sent From Shaw AFB)
- 64th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron - Kimpo AFB (24 F-102A Sent From Naha AFB)
- 82nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron - Suwon AFB (24 F-102A Sent From Naha AFB)
- 318th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron - Osan AFB (24 F-106A Sent From McChord AFB)
- 356th Tactical Fighter Squadron - Kunsan AFB (14 F-4C Sent From Misawa AFB)
- 558th Tactical Fighter Squadron - Taegu AFB (14 F-4C Sent From Cam Ranh Base AFB)
Notes
References
- Bolger, Daniel (1991). Scenes from an Unfinished War: Low intensity conflict in Korea 1966–1969 (PDF). Diane Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-7881-1208-9.
- Jacobson, Annie (2011). Area 51. London: Orion Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4091-4113-6.
- Okonski, John (2012). Operation Combat Fox – The USAF Response. http://www.osan.af.mil/.