Wolf Pack Airmen team up to keep mission going, despite snow

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Patrice Clarke
  • 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  In most places, when 16 inches of snow fall in less than two days, the mission stops. Kunsan is not most places. Sixteen inches of snow just gave the men and women of the Wolf Pack another reason to excel.

From medics to maintainers, Airmen from various specialties joined forces to shovel snow from hardened shelters, taxiways and runways, so that the 8th Fighter Wing F-16 Fighting Falcons and 389th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron F-15 Strike Eagles, deployed from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, could continue to train to take the fight north during the week-long, peninsula-wide operational exercise.

"It was definitely a base-wide effort to get the jets in the air today," said Col. Patrick Clements, 8th Mission Support Group commander. "'From Airmen who have been here less than a week, to Wolf Pack members who will soon be departing, all chipped in to help remove the snow."

Airmen from the 8th Civil Engineer Squadron operate the heavy equipment that removes the snow on the flightline and took care of the majority of the snow removal, but it was up to the entire Wolf Pack team to clear the areas where the equipment could not get close to, like the hardened aircraft shelters that house the F-16s and F-15s.

"The snow stopped falling around three or four in the morning and less than 12 hours later, we were launching jets," said Colonel Clements. "Crew chiefs, med dawgs, pilots, colonels, airmen, everyone was out shoveling the snow."

The teamwork of the entire base enabled the pilots to get in the air.

"We always say that it takes the entire base to get bombs on target on time," said Lt. Col. Steve Horton, 35th Fighter Squadron director of operations. "That was really evident this week. Of course we had Airmen doing their normal job, but we also had a lot of folks from every group pitching in to shovel snow and break ice away from the hardened aircraft shelters and taxiways. It was a great example of teamwork that is evident every day in the Wolf Pack."

Wolf Pack pilots were able to continue exercising the performance of their part of the mission because of this teamwork.

"We were able to exercise sending missions up to hit important enemy targets, weakening their ability to continue operations," said Colonel Horton. "During those missions, we shot down several enemy aircraft. Additionally, we sent up several close air support missions to exercise supporting U.S. and Republic of Korea Air Forces engaged with the enemy."

Despite the snow, Wolf Pack members continued with the PENORE.

"It's the Wolf Pack spirit, that's all," said Colonel Clements. "It doesn't matter what our job is. In the end, our mission -- defending the base, accepting follow on forces, taking the fight north -- is what is important, and we all chipped in today to make that mission happen."