More U.S. pilots stationed in Korea now fly more frequently to U.S. air bases outside the peninsula for training. There have been a string of hints from top U.S. military officials including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that the Air Force could move pilots abroad unless the Air Force is given a new bomber training range here to replace the closed-down Kooni Range in Maehyangri, Gyeonggi Province.
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A picture taken at Osan Air Base in Gyeonggi Province on July 31, 2003
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Six A-10 fighters deployed at Osan Air Base in Gyeonggi Province recently moved to Thailand for training before returning to their base in Korea, a source with the USFK said. USFK pilots have gone to U.S. air bases in Alaska, Thailand and Japan for training before, but the duration and frequency of training outside Korea is growing due to controversy over the bomber range, he added. A total of 20 A-10 jets nicknamed ˇ°Tank Killerˇ± are deployed in Korea.
Sources also said U.S. pilots have increasingly sought to avoid postings with the USFK since August, when the old Maehyang-ni bomber range was shut down after years of complaints from locals. Performance in aerial bombing drills has a direct impact on the promotion of pilots.
It costs plenty of time and money for USFK pilots to train elsewhere, a military official here said, and this could eventually lead to questions being asked in the U.S. press or the Congress. That in turn could mean the U.S. Air Force moves elsewhere, the official said. Rumsfeld, in the 37th Security Consultative Meeting last October in Seoul, already indicated that could happen if Korea is unwilling to provide adequate training facilities for its pilots.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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