Elmendorf airmen deployed to Kwang Ju for 'peace and sustainability'
By B.R. Sargent, Seoul
bureau
Andy Dunaway / Stars and Stripes
An F-15E Strike Eagle pilot takes to the skies over South Korea. |
KWANG JU AIR BASE, South Korea — Air Force officials won’t
say why 700 servicemembers from Alaska’s Elmendorf Air Force Base’s 3rd Air
Expeditionary Group are on this air base.
If you ask those deployed here, they’ll say three words: peace
and sustainability.
Many of them, however, believe they are providing security in South
Korea, acting as a backup for the USS Kitty Hawk, assigned to Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan.
The Kitty Hawk is deployed to the Arabian Sea in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
U.S. officials, however, say the deployment is not associated with
the U.S. war on terrorism, Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Noble Eagle, said 1st
Lt. Travis Tougaw, a 7th Air Force spokesman.
The last time the Alaska Air Force members were deployed to Kwang Ju
was in 1999 when U.S. forces deployed to support NATO operations in Kosovo. The Kitty Hawk
also deployed then.
It’s unknown how long the group will be here, but Col. Donald
Jurewicz, 3rd Air Expeditionary Group commander, said it will be a long haul.
“I explained that we’ll be here at least 120 days,”
Jurewicz said. But, “I had to be upfront. We could be here much longer.”
It took more than nine hours for the F-15E Strike Eagles squadron to
fly here from Elmendorf. Air Force officials wouldn’t say how many aircraft are here,
however, 12 to 24 aircraft usually make up a squadron. While here, everyone from pilots to
food service technicians are working with Air Force members from Osan and Kunsan air
bases.
“This training is helpful for the peninsula as a whole,”
said Col. Jon Matz, 3rd Air Expeditionary Group deputy commander.
Alaska, with temperatures sometimes dipping into the negative
numbers, has a climate far different from South Korea.
“This will be a mild winter for us working here,” Jurewicz
said. “It’s just a lot easier, operationally. The climate here is more moderate
than what we have in Elmendorf.
“Summertime training in Alaska is superior because of bombing
ranges and tremendous wide open air space. The difference comes in the winter time. We can
fly more sorties here. The second [advantage] is flying with other units, flying more
low-level zones, new ranges and the new targets here.”
The commander made sure there was no misconception about his
unit’s readiness.
“The airplanes are being maintained at a high state of
readiness. Our security forces are extraordinarily vigilant and have great ties with the
Republic of Korea here at the base,” the commander said.
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