502d Air Operations Group

502d Air Operations Group
Active 1945–1957; 2000-2006
Country  United States
Branch  United States Air Force
Role Air Control
Part of Pacific Air Forces
Engagements Korean War
Decorations Presidential Unit Citation
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Korean Presidential Unit Citation
Insignia
502d Air Operations Group emblem (Approved 25 August 1953)[1]

The 502d Air Operations Group in an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last active in October 2006 at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, where it had served as the umbrella for intelligence and operational support units under Pacific Air Forces

The unit was first activated as the 502nd Tactical Control Group in December 1945. In 1950 it was rushed to Korea where it fought in the Korean War, earning two Presidential Unit Citations for its actions during the war. It continued to serve under Far East Air Forces after the war until it was inactivated in October 1957.

History

At the beginning of the Korean War, the United States Air Force's only tactical control group was the 502d at Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina. To meet the emergency in the theater, Fifth Air Force organized the 6132d Tactical Air Control Squadron, which established a full-scale Tactical Air Control Center at Taegu Air Base, South Korea on 23 July 1950.

Less than three months later, the 502nd and its subordinate squadrons moved from Pope[note 1] to Korea. In October 1950 the 502d replaced the 6132nd in the mission of directing tactical air operations in Korea. Through its 605th Tactical Control Squadron, the group operated the Tactical Air Control Center and worked with the United States Army in a Joint Operations Center. The group's two aircraft control and warning squadrons operated Tactical Air Direction Centers, which used stationary and mobile radar and communications equipment to guide aircraft on close air support missions.[1] In November a third aircraft control and warning squadron was activated to reinforce the group.

The group also deployed Tactical Air control Parties, which accompanied ground units to communicate with strike aircraft. These small detachments followed advancing United Nations troops into North Korea in October and November 1950, but the Chinese Communist offensive soon overran several of them. The 502d's headquarters and the Tactical Air Control Center, which had been operating from Seoul in November and part of December, were forced to return to Taegu.[1]

During the spring and summer of 1951, the 502d directed night bombing of enemy targets, including troop concentrations, supply dumps, and motor convoys. As United Nations ground forces drove the enemy back across the 38th Parallel, the group returned to Seoul in June, along with the Tactical Air Control Center and the Joint Operations Center returned to Seoul. In October, the 502nd set up a communications station 100 miles behind enemy lines on Cho-do Island, three miles off the North Korean coast.[note 2] From this location the detachment guided fighter aircraft against enemy airplanes in MiG Alley, bombers against strategic targets along the Yalu River, and search and rescue aircraft toward survivors who had ditched at sea.

On 6 June 1952, the 502nd was instrumental in the destruction of nine Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 aircraft by directing North American F-86 Sabres to maneuver into a position from which they could advantageously attack the MiGs. In addition, during 1952, Detachment 2 of the 608th Squadron was credited with the first (and possibly the only) confirmed kill of a multi-engine enemy bomber. The following month, the 502nd guided warplanes in attacks on enemy troop formations that blunted communist offensives until the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed in July 1953.[1]

Lineage

Activated c. 15 December 1945
Inactivated on 1 October 1957
Activated on 27 October 2000
Inactivated on 6 October 2006

Assignments

Components

Center
Squadrons

Stations

Awards and campaigns

Award streamer Award Dates Notes
Presidential Unit Citation3 November 1950-21 April 1951502d Tactical Control Group[1]
Presidential Unit Citation1 May 1952-30 November 1952502d Tactical Control Group[1]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award1 July 2002-31 August 2004502d Air Operations Group[5]
Korean Presidential Unit Citation16 September 1950-25 January 1951502d Tactical Control Group[1]
Korean Presidential Unit Citation25 January 1951-31 March 1953502d Tactical Control Group[1]
Korean Presidential Unit Citation1 october 1952-27 July 1953502d Tactical Control Group[1]
Campaign Streamer Campaign Dates Notes
UN Offensive 16 September 1950 – 2 November 1950 502d Tactical Control Group[1]
CCF Intervention 3 November 1950 – 24 January 1951502d Tactical Control Group[1]
1st UN Counteroffensive25 January 1951 – 21 April 1951502d Tactical Control Group[1]
CCF Spring Offensive22 April 1951 – 9 July 1951502d Tactical Control Group[1]
UN Summer-Fall Offensive9 July 1951 – 27 November 1951502d Tactical Control Group[1]
Second Korean Winter28 November 1951 – 30 April 1952502d Tactical Control Group[1]
Korea Summer-Fall 19521 May 1952 – 30 November 1952502d Tactical Control Group[1]
Third Korean Winter1 December 1952 – 30 April 1953502d Tactical Control Group[1]
Korea Summer-Fall 19531 May 1953 – 27 July 1953502d Tactical Control Group[1]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Elements left behind at Pope by the 502d were used to form the 507th Tactical Control Group there. See Mueller, p. 484 (showing departure date of the 502d and activation date of the 507th.)
  2. ↑ The station was operated by Detachment 2, 608th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron. Also stationed on the island were rescue helicopters and a crash boat from the 22nd Crash Rescue Boat Squadron. Endicott, p. 84.

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Endicott, pp. 86-87
  2. ↑ Mueller, p. 484
  3. ↑ Fletcher, p. 177
  4. ↑ Fletcher, p. 94 (503d Group) [sic]
  5. ↑ "Air Force Personnel Services: Unit Awards". Air Force Personnel Center. Retrieved December 15, 2015. (search)

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

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