51st Communications Squadron

The 51st Communications Squadron is one of five squadrons assigned to the 51st Mission Support Group, enabling 7th Air Force Air Operations, 51st Fighter Wing operations, and Team Osan operations to defend the base, execute contingency operations, and sustain the force through secure, reliable, and mission-ready cyberspace capabilities.

Mission

To enable 7th Air Force Air Operations, 51st Fighter Wing operations, and Team Osan operations to defend the base, execute contingency operations, and sustain the force through secure, reliable, and mission-ready cyberspace capabilities.

History

The history of the 51st Communications Squadron (CS) began when it was activated as the 51 CS, Fighter Jet, on 18 August 1948 at Naha Air Base (AB), Okinawa. The squadron  served as a charter unit assigned to the 51st Fighter Wing (FW), Fighter Jet.

Less than two years later, the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing (FIW) entered combat service in the Korean War on 22 September 1950, moving to Itazuke AB, Japan, to support the breakout of the Eighth U.S. Army and Republic of Korea (ROK) ground forces from the Pusan perimeter. The 51st CS deployed with the Wing and remained at Itazuke AB until 2 October 1950. At that time, the combat and support squadrons of the Wing forward-deployed to Kimpo AB, ROK, also known as K-14. Not long after the Wing established operations at K-14, Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) entered North Korea in late October 1950 and drove back the United Nations (UN) forces from the Yalu River.

The CCF marched south and forced the 51 FIW to evacuate K-14 in December 1950. On 3 January 1951, 51 CS personnel were the last to leave K-14 before the CCF entered Seoul. 51 CS members maintained communications capabilities until the end before being safely evacuated to Itazuke AB then to Tsuiki AB.

As the ebb and flow of ground fighting settled into a stalemate along the 38th Parallel, the 51 FIW returned to the Korean Peninsula in May 1951.

By October 1951, nearly 50 percent of Wing personnel were then located at Suwon AB, where they remained through the rest of the year. 51 CS returned with the Wing to the Korean Peninsula from Japan. Following the Armistice Agreement, signed on 27 July 1952, 51 FIW remained at Suwon AB until 1 August 1954 when they redeployed to Naha AB with its subordinate units, to include the 51 CS.

Over the next three years, 51 CS provided the Wing and Naha AB with telephone exchange and message center services. In mid-1957, the Wing experienced a major reorganization due to budget cuts. Unfortunately, 51 CS was one of the Wing squadrons to be inactivated on 25 October 1957.

Ultimately, the 51 FIW was inactivated on 31 May 1971; however, on 1 November 1971, the 51 FIW was reactivated as the 51st Air Base Wing (ABW) at Osan AB, ROK. During this time, the Air Force Communications Service, later the Air Force Communication Command, provided support for the Wing until 1992.

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 resulted in the most extensive reorganization of the Air Force since its inception in 1947. In 1990, General Merrill  McPeak, Air Force Chief of Staff, announced the "Objective Wing" concept, which standardized field organizations service-wide and emphasized "one base, one wing, one boss." On 7 February 1992, 51 CS was reactivated and assigned to the 51st Support Group. (later re-designated as the 51st Mission Support Group on 13 Jan 2003)

Since then, 51 CS has served the 51 FW, associate units, and Osan AB tenet units with electronic, voice, and video communications, provided information technology equipment and software management, managed paper and digital records, and evolved the Wing with new technologies to support the mission.

51 CS served with distinction during the war and has been awarded seven Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards, one Air & Space Outstanding Unit Award, two ROK Presidential Citations, and seven Korean War streamers.