581st Air Resupply and Communications Wing
Encyclopedia
The 581st Air Resupply and Communications Wing (581st ARCS) is an inactive United States Air Force wing. Its last duty assignment was at Kadena Air Base
, Okinawa.
. The first to deploy overseas, the composite wing arrived at Clark AB in July 1952 with six squadrons specifically tailored to perform the PSYWAR mission. Of the six squadrons assigned to the wing, the 581st Air Resupply Squadron (ARS) was the lone squadron devoted to flying operations.
, which also flew the B-29. The B-29s were retrofitted to allow cargo or human "drops," and were stripped of armament and countermeasures in order to lighten their load and increase altitude and range, with exception of the tailgun. One crew member was trained as a CIA contact, or better known as the "jumpmaster
." The identity of these jumpmasters were kept secret, even from the ARC Wing Commander who did not know of their CIA connection. However, the wing did have a senior officer who was a liaison with the CIA. This was Lt. Colonel George Pittman, of the 581st Air Resupply Wing. His identity was also kept secret from those who did not have a need to know.
The four C-119 and support personnel were placed on a 90-day rotation schedule, with the commander, 315th Air Division
(AD), to determine where the aircraft would be deployed. Two SA-16s were sent to K-16 (Seoul Airport)
in South Korea to augment B Flight of the 6167th Air Base Group
. The four H-19A helicopters were also forward deployed to K-16 in support of the 2157th Air Rescue Squadron (in fact, they were co-located with the 2157th but actually supported B Flight, as did the two SA-16s).34 CCRAK maintained Operational Control (OPCON) of these forces and employed them into North Korea
along with B Flight and Special Air Missions detachment aircraft.
The planes were painted solid black after their arrival at Clark AFB, and they flew long-range leaflet drop missions over North Korea. PSYWAR “leaflet bombs” were loaded with various forms of PSYWAR materiel and then airdropped from high altitude. An altitude-sensitive fuse opened the container at a predetermined set altitude, dependent on pre-mission forecast winds and desired dispersal patterns. One of the most sensational missions of the 581st in Korea occurred on 12 January 1953, when a 581st ARC B-29 (tail number 44-62217, call sign "Stardust Four Zero") on its first leaflet drop mission with the 581st ARC Wing Commander, Col. John Arnold (as well as the operations commander of the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, Major William (Bill) Baumer) on board, was shot down on their last leaflet target just south of the Yalu River in far northern Korea near the Chinese town of Antung. At the time, Russian fighter squadrons, some equipped for night flying, were supporting and supplying the Chinese with airpower, including the Russian-made MiG-15 Fagot. Twelve Russian MiG-15s from the 351st (and perhaps the 535th) Fighter Air Regiments (IAP) intercepted a lone Superfortress (Stardust Four Zero) of the 581st Air Resupply and Communication Wing south of the Yalu River, about 15 miles from the Chinese border. The MiGs were scrambled and vectored to the bomber's location by Russian radar-controlled searchlight units stationed near Antung, China. The searchlights illuminated the unarmed Superfortress, and several MiGs engaged the bomber. Russian MiG pilot Senior Lt. Khabiev of the 351st IAP was credited with the intercept and downing of the B-29. Although US sources believe the B-29 was flying in North Korean airspace at the time of its mayday call, a belief that is strongly disputed by the Chinese and Russian authorities, crew members who bailed and landed believe they were in North Korean territory. Upon capture, the crew was rounded up, blindfolded and put aboard trucks, and were subsequently transported into China and later charged as CIA spies (the Chinese subsequently learned of the CIA connection with the ARCW units). During the highly publicize Chinese trial in Peking in October 1954, the surviving crew members, along with captured CIA agents Fecteau and Downey who were imprisoned two years earlier after they had been shot down while attempting to pick up their Chinese double agent, were given prison sentences ranging from 5 years to life. Not until 4 August 1955, two years after the Korean War Armistice, were the surviving Stardust Four Zero crew members released from Chinese prison. These crew members held the distinction of being the longest held POW USAF captives of the war.
. Supplies, including ammunition, vehicles, and barbed wire, were delivered to Haiphong
Airfield in ever increasing quantities. When US presence in Indochina could not be publicly escalated, plans were developed to utilize 581st personnel in a discrete support role. Refurbished C-119s, under French markings, were flown into Indochina by 581st crews, and French C-119s were flown out for depot repair at Clark AB. Instructors from the 581st were also tasked to train CIA-employed Civil Air Transport
(CAT) civilian aircrews in the C-119. American support for the French only prolonged the inevitable fall of the former colonial power. In May 1954, the French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu
, thus ending 100 years of French colonial rule in Indochina.
In October 1954, the 581st was relocated from Clark AB, Philippines, to Kadena AB, Japan, where it continued reduced operations out of that location for the next two years.
In September 1956, the group was officially deactivated, thus closing a chapter in special operations history in the Pacific.
Kadena Air Base
, is a United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Kadena Air Base is the hub of U.S. airpower in the Pacific, and home to the USAF's 18th Wing and a variety of associate units.-Units:The 18th Wing is the host unit at Kadena...
, Okinawa.
Units
- 581st Air Resupply and Communications Group, 23 July 1951 – 12 October 1956
- Not Operational, 17 April 1952 – 8 September 1953
- 581st Air Resupply Squadron, 17 April 1952 – 12 October 1956
- Other non-flying support squadrons
Lineage
- Established as the 581st Air Resupply and Communications Wing on 9 July 1951
- Activated on 23 July 1951
- Inactivated on 8 September 1953.
- Redesignated 581st Air Resupply Group on 8 September 1953
- Activated 8 September 1953
- Inactivated 12 October 1956
Assignments
- Air Resupply And Communications ServiceAir Resupply And Communications ServiceThe Air Resupply And Communications Service is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was assigned to Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland.- Mission :The mission of ARCS was:...
, 23 July 1951 – 12 July 1952 - Thirteenth Air ForceThirteenth Air ForceThe Thirteenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. 13 AF has never been stationed in the continental United States...
, 12 July 1952 – 12 October 1956
Bases Assigned
- Mountain Home AFB, IdahoIdahoIdaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, 23 July 1951 – 18 July 1952 - Clark Air BaseClark Air BaseClark Air Base is a former United States Air Force base on Luzon Island in the Philippines, located 3 miles west of Angeles City, about 40 miles northwest of Metro Manila. Clark Air Base was an American military facility from 1903 to 1991...
, Philippines, 18 July 1952 – 8 September 1953 - Kadena Air BaseKadena Air Base, is a United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Kadena Air Base is the hub of U.S. airpower in the Pacific, and home to the USAF's 18th Wing and a variety of associate units.-Units:The 18th Wing is the host unit at Kadena...
, Okinawa, 8 September 1953 – 1 September 1956
Major Aircraft Assigned
- C-119 Flying BoxcarC-119 Flying BoxcarThe Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar was an American military transport aircraft developed from the World War II-era Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechanized equipment, and to drop cargo and troops by parachute...
1951–1956 - B-29 SuperfortressB-29 SuperfortressThe B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
1951–1956 - SA-16 AlbatrossHU-16 AlbatrossThe Grumman HU-16 Albatross is a large twin-radial engine amphibious flying boat that was utilized by the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard, primarily as a search and rescue and combat search and rescue aircraft...
1951–1956 - Sikorsky H-19 1952–1956
- C-54 SkymasterC-54 SkymasterThe Douglas C-54 Skymaster was a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces and British forces in World War II and the Korean War. Besides transport of cargo, it also carried presidents, British heads of government, and military staff...
1956 - C-118Douglas DC-6The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range...
1952–1956
Operational History
In 1951, the USAF created the 581st Air Resupply and Communications Wing (ARCW), which by 1952 had relocated to Clark Air Base in the Philippines. This consisted of three units. The 581st Air Resupply Squadron (ARS), the 581st Holding and Briefing Squadron (HBS), and the 581st Reproduction Squadron. The mission of the 581st ARS was the infiltration, resupply, and exfiltration of guerrilla-type personnel, and the aerial delivery of PSYWAR materiel (leaflets and other similar materiels). In early 1952, the 581st ARCW received orders to forward deploy to Clark AB, Philippines, and to be assigned to Thirteenth Air ForceThirteenth Air Force
The Thirteenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. 13 AF has never been stationed in the continental United States...
. The first to deploy overseas, the composite wing arrived at Clark AB in July 1952 with six squadrons specifically tailored to perform the PSYWAR mission. Of the six squadrons assigned to the wing, the 581st Air Resupply Squadron (ARS) was the lone squadron devoted to flying operations.
Korean War
The 581st ARCW proved to be a very flexible wing, and its initial theater deployment plan, outlined in FECOM Operations Plan (OPLAN) 3–52, capitalized on this flexibility. The OPLAN established a concept of covert operations for theater forward deployment of assigned 581st ARCW assets. A key function of the wing, and a secretive one, was to have the capability to introduce special agents and guerrilla units into Communist countries and Communist-held areas, to supply by air delivery of these personnel and the guerrilla units originally operating there, and to keep in contact with them by radio for the CIA. Conveniently, the mission to maintain the capability to introduce and extract special agents into Communist countries operated under the cover of psychological warfare, and provided the perfect shelter against inquiries into their real clandestine purpose, although in hindsight aspects of the operational capability would prove challenging. Deployment consisted of four of the Wing's 12 B-29s and associated support personnel were placed on a 60-day rotation schedule to Yokota AB, Japan, to be co-located with the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron91st Network Warfare Squadron
The 91st Network Warfare Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit, currently assigned to the 67th Network Warfare Wing at Kelly Annex, part of Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.-Overview:...
, which also flew the B-29. The B-29s were retrofitted to allow cargo or human "drops," and were stripped of armament and countermeasures in order to lighten their load and increase altitude and range, with exception of the tailgun. One crew member was trained as a CIA contact, or better known as the "jumpmaster
Jumpmaster
Jumpmasters are the expert Paratroopers in an Airborne unit who train and teach the military techniques for jumping from airplanes. They are responsible for transforming Soldiers who enter Army Airborne School into Paratroopers and managing Airborne jump operations in Airborne units across all...
." The identity of these jumpmasters were kept secret, even from the ARC Wing Commander who did not know of their CIA connection. However, the wing did have a senior officer who was a liaison with the CIA. This was Lt. Colonel George Pittman, of the 581st Air Resupply Wing. His identity was also kept secret from those who did not have a need to know.
The four C-119 and support personnel were placed on a 90-day rotation schedule, with the commander, 315th Air Division
315th Air Division
The 315th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Pacific Air Forces, based at Tachikawa Air Base, Japan. It was inactivated in April 1969.-History:...
(AD), to determine where the aircraft would be deployed. Two SA-16s were sent to K-16 (Seoul Airport)
Gimpo International Airport
Gimpo International Airport , commonly known as Gimpo Airport , is located in the far western end of Seoul and was the main international airport for Seoul and South Korea before it was replaced by Incheon International Airport in 2001...
in South Korea to augment B Flight of the 6167th Air Base Group
6167th Air Base Group
The 6167th Air Base Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last duty assignment was at K-16 , South Korea during the Korean War.-History:...
. The four H-19A helicopters were also forward deployed to K-16 in support of the 2157th Air Rescue Squadron (in fact, they were co-located with the 2157th but actually supported B Flight, as did the two SA-16s).34 CCRAK maintained Operational Control (OPCON) of these forces and employed them into North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
along with B Flight and Special Air Missions detachment aircraft.
The planes were painted solid black after their arrival at Clark AFB, and they flew long-range leaflet drop missions over North Korea. PSYWAR “leaflet bombs” were loaded with various forms of PSYWAR materiel and then airdropped from high altitude. An altitude-sensitive fuse opened the container at a predetermined set altitude, dependent on pre-mission forecast winds and desired dispersal patterns. One of the most sensational missions of the 581st in Korea occurred on 12 January 1953, when a 581st ARC B-29 (tail number 44-62217, call sign "Stardust Four Zero") on its first leaflet drop mission with the 581st ARC Wing Commander, Col. John Arnold (as well as the operations commander of the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, Major William (Bill) Baumer) on board, was shot down on their last leaflet target just south of the Yalu River in far northern Korea near the Chinese town of Antung. At the time, Russian fighter squadrons, some equipped for night flying, were supporting and supplying the Chinese with airpower, including the Russian-made MiG-15 Fagot. Twelve Russian MiG-15s from the 351st (and perhaps the 535th) Fighter Air Regiments (IAP) intercepted a lone Superfortress (Stardust Four Zero) of the 581st Air Resupply and Communication Wing south of the Yalu River, about 15 miles from the Chinese border. The MiGs were scrambled and vectored to the bomber's location by Russian radar-controlled searchlight units stationed near Antung, China. The searchlights illuminated the unarmed Superfortress, and several MiGs engaged the bomber. Russian MiG pilot Senior Lt. Khabiev of the 351st IAP was credited with the intercept and downing of the B-29. Although US sources believe the B-29 was flying in North Korean airspace at the time of its mayday call, a belief that is strongly disputed by the Chinese and Russian authorities, crew members who bailed and landed believe they were in North Korean territory. Upon capture, the crew was rounded up, blindfolded and put aboard trucks, and were subsequently transported into China and later charged as CIA spies (the Chinese subsequently learned of the CIA connection with the ARCW units). During the highly publicize Chinese trial in Peking in October 1954, the surviving crew members, along with captured CIA agents Fecteau and Downey who were imprisoned two years earlier after they had been shot down while attempting to pick up their Chinese double agent, were given prison sentences ranging from 5 years to life. Not until 4 August 1955, two years after the Korean War Armistice, were the surviving Stardust Four Zero crew members released from Chinese prison. These crew members held the distinction of being the longest held POW USAF captives of the war.
First Indochina War
At the direction of the 315th Air Division commander, the 581st ARS C-119s provided limited airlift support to FECOM’s Korean operations throughout 1952. Beginning in 1953, however, the C-119s were employed in Southeast Asia in support of French operations in IndochinaIndochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
. Supplies, including ammunition, vehicles, and barbed wire, were delivered to Haiphong
Haiphong
, also Haiphong, is the third most populous city in Vietnam. The name means, "coastal defence".-History:Hai Phong was originally founded by Lê Chân, the female general of a Vietnamese revolution against the Chinese led by the Trưng Sisters in the year 43 C.E.The area which is now known as Duong...
Airfield in ever increasing quantities. When US presence in Indochina could not be publicly escalated, plans were developed to utilize 581st personnel in a discrete support role. Refurbished C-119s, under French markings, were flown into Indochina by 581st crews, and French C-119s were flown out for depot repair at Clark AB. Instructors from the 581st were also tasked to train CIA-employed Civil Air Transport
Civil Air Transport
Civil Air Transport was a Chinese airline, later owned by the CIA, that supported United States covert operations throughout East and Southeast Asia...
(CAT) civilian aircrews in the C-119. American support for the French only prolonged the inevitable fall of the former colonial power. In May 1954, the French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu
Dien Bien Phu
Điện Biên Phủ is a city in northwestern Vietnam. It is the capital of Dien Bien province, and is known for the events there during the First Indochina War, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, during which the region was a breadbasket for the Việt Minh.-Population:...
, thus ending 100 years of French colonial rule in Indochina.
Inactivation
In September 1953, after the Korean Armistice was signed that ended active conflict on the Korean peninsula the Wing was reduced to an air resupply group. The groups was approximately one-half the size of the former wing and consisted of two squadrons—one flying squadron and one support squadron—as compared to six squadrons before the reorganizationIn October 1954, the 581st was relocated from Clark AB, Philippines, to Kadena AB, Japan, where it continued reduced operations out of that location for the next two years.
In September 1956, the group was officially deactivated, thus closing a chapter in special operations history in the Pacific.
See also
- Air Force Special Operations CommandAir Force Special Operations CommandAir Force Special Operations Command is the Special Operations component of the United States Air Force and the US Air Force component command to the United States Special Operations Command , a unified command located at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida...
- 313th Air Division313th Air DivisionThe 313th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Pacific Air Forces, based at Kadena AB, Okinawa. It was deactivated on 1 October 1991.-History:...