Wolf 51 returns as Pacific Air Forces Air, Cyberspace Ops director

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Joshua Arends
  • 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

Major Gen. Scott L. Pleus., Director of Air and Cyberspace Operations, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, visited Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea, as a guest speaker during the 8th Fighter Wing Annual Awards Ceremony to share his experience as Wolf 51 with the current members of the Wing on Jan. 31. 

 

During his speech, he imparted key lessons he learned while in command of the 8th Fighter Wing in 2011-12 that he wants Airmen to take away from their assignment at Kunsan. 

 

“The most important part of the Wolf Pack, is the family…and that’s the part of Kunsan I’ll remember the most, it’s the people, the faces,” Pleus said. “There will be thousands of them before you, and thousands of them after you but it is all a Wolf Pack Family.”

 

Pleus spoke with various groups and connected with current Wolf Pack members, starting with mentoring a group of company grade officers on work-life balance over breakfast. He later observed a demonstration at the 8th Security Forces Squadron Multiple Interactive Learning Objectives virtual reality range to learn about Kunsan’s capability to defend the base and keep personnel and assets safe.

 

Throughout the rest of his visit, Pleus continued to shed light on the importance of Kunsan’s role in the Indo-Pacific Theater. 

 

“The National Defense Strategy outlines the Pacific Theater as the priority Theater, which is the direction that General Brown is leading us now,” Pleus said. “If you think back to when I was Wolf 51 to today, we have put an immense amount of resources into the Korean peninsula to be able to fight tonight.”

 

Pleus was stationed at Kunsan from January 1996 to December 1996 as a Captain and then again from May 2011 to May 2012, where he led the Wolf Pack as the 51st Commander of the 8th Fighter Wing  with the title of  “Wolf 51.”

 

Today, he oversees operations for three numbered Air Forces and 10 wings in support of more than 46,000 Airmen serving in Japan, Korea, Hawaii, Alaska and Guam.

 

“I want you to realize how special this place is,” Pleus said during the awards ceremony. “When you’re here, the ability to focus on such an important mission is unique to Kunsan and really isn’t replicated anywhere else in the world. You actually get a whole year with the same group of folks, building bonds. But you won’t realize it till you’re gone."