[Defense Column] The Appearance of the US Navy Special Warfare Helicopter Unit on the Korean Peninsula Is

[Military Analyst Kim Daeyoung] On September 23rd, the United States Special Operations Command Korea (USSOCK) announced via Facebook that “on the 13th, personnel from the U.S. Air Force 320th Special Tactics Squadron flawlessly completed operational missions at Camp Humphreys,” adding that “during the Teak Knife training, U.S. special operations forces acquired skills for special operations across the Indo-Pacific region.” USSOCK also released photos of the training conducted that day.

The transport aircraft, helicopters, and special operations forces involved in the training came from the U.S. mainland and Japan. It is analyzed that, assuming a contingency, key special operations forces from the U.S. Navy and Air Force in both the U.S. mainland and Indo-Pacific region conducted joint operations. In this context, USSOCK clearly drew a line regarding Korean media references to decapitation operations or decapitation units. However, the helicopter unit participating in this training has attracted attention. According to USSOCK, the U.S. Navy’s HSC-85 helicopter squadron took part. HSC (Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron)-85, one of the U.S. Navy helicopter units, is known to support special operations of the U.S. Navy Special Warfare Command as well as the U.S. Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps.

In particular, HSC-85 operates alongside the Navy SEALs, the U.S. Navy’s special warfare unit, and is nicknamed the “FIREHAWKS.” Established on July 1, 1970, HSC-85 has carried out missions such as maritime and anti-submarine warfare and combat search and rescue. However, after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the U.S. declaration of the “War on Terror,” it was deployed in various special operations alongside the Navy SEALs. During the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, it was assigned to the Joint Special Operations Air Detachment Arabian Peninsula, supporting U.S. special operations. The helicopters used at that time were HH-60H models, which were a search and rescue variant of the SH-60F Seahawk maritime operation helicopter formerly operated by the U.S. Navy, and were nicknamed “Rescue Hawk.”

At that time, only the HSC-84 and HSC-85 helicopter squadrons operated the Rescue Hawk in the U.S. Navy. In 2011, at the request of the U.S. Special Operations Command, HSC-85 was designated as a special operations support helicopter squadron. In 2016, it was assigned to the U.S. Pacific Fleet and stationed at a base on the U.S. West Coast, growing into a search and rescue and special operations support unit for the Pacific region. In 2018, the HH-60H helicopters were replaced with MH-60S models. The HSC-85 helicopter squadron first appeared in South Korea starting last year. In October of last year, MH-60S helicopters from HSC-85 deployed from the U.S. base in San Diego, California, conducted combat search and rescue operations together with the U.S. Air Force 51st Fighter Wing stationed in Korea.

Until now, the U.S. Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, famous for the movie Black Hawk Down, has been the special operations helicopter unit supporting U.S.-ROK special operations in South Korea. Among its subordinate units, the 4th Battalion of the 160th, stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, is known as the unit that would be deployed first to support special operations in the event of a contingency on the Korean Peninsula. However, as the demand for special operations helicopters on the Korean Peninsula has increased, it is analyzed that the U.S. Navy’s special operations helicopter unit has been newly added as well.