South Korea-U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairmen Conduct First-Ever Combined Command Flight in KF-16 and F-16 Jets

The Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea and the United States, who are the highest-ranking military officers in both countries, conducted a joint command flight for the first time in the history of the South Korea-U.S. alliance on November 3.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that Jin Youngseung, Chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, and John Daniel Cane, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, boarded South Korean and U.S. fighter jets after concluding the 50th South Korea-U.S. Military Committee Meeting (MCM) and commanded a combined flight formation in the air.

This marks the first time in the history of the South Korea-U.S. alliance that the Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from both countries have boarded fighter jets and jointly commanded a combined flight formation in the air. The combined formation flight included a total of five aircraft: a South Korean KF-16 fighter jet with Chairman Jin onboard, a U.S. Forces Korea F-16 fighter jet with Chairman Cane onboard, and a South Korean E-737 airborne early warning and control aircraft, among others.

After the MCM meeting, the Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of both countries took off from Osan Air Base in Gyeonggi Province and flew over Osan, where the U.S. Smith Task Force fought its first battle as part of the United Nations forces shortly after the outbreak of the Korean War; Chuncheon, where South Korean forces achieved their first victory; the National Cemetery in Daejeon, where war veterans are buried; and the airspace above Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, the largest overseas U.S. military base in the world.

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the purpose of this command flight by the Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was to broadly review the past and present of the 72-year-old South Korea-U.S. alliance from the skies over the Korean Peninsula, to check the robust combined defense posture, and to demonstrate that the strength of the alliance will remain unwavering into the future.

Chairman Jin stated, "As the Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea and the United States, and as fellow Air Force fighter pilots, this command flight allowed us to truly feel the strength of the alliance," adding, "Going forward, South Korea and the United States will continue to work closely together to develop the alliance in a future-oriented manner."