'On Feb. 12, 2015, Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, and civilians from the 607th Air Operations Center, 3rd Battlefield Coordination Detachment, and the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command conducted a staff ride to the site of the Battle of Chipyong-ni nearly 64 years to the day after the battle occurred.' (USAF Photo)
“Get back up on that hill! You’ll die here anyway. You might as well go up on the hill and die there!” shouted a company commander as he desperately attempted to rally troops for a counterattack against a key position in the defensive perimeter established around the crossroads village of Chipyong-ni in the late hours of Feb. 14, 1951. Repeated Chinese assaults had finally pushed the defenders from their foxholes located atop an important hill threatening to collapse the entire defense of Chipyong-ni. The following day after repeated counterattacks, coupled with close air support from Air Force and Navy fighter-bombers, the positions were retaken and the perimeter defense around Chipyong-ni was restored, forcing the Chinese to abandon their overall effort. For the first time since the Chinese Inter-vention into the Korean War in October 1950, United Nations forces had dealt the Communists a decisive defeat.
The Battle of Chipyong-ni was fought from Feb. 13-15, 1951, and has been de-scribed by some historians as the “Get-tysburg of the Korean War.” Coupled with the victory at the nearby Battle of Wonju, which occurred three days lat-er, momentum in the Korean War had turned in the United Nations favor as the widespread advance of Communist forc-es was brought to an abrupt halt. The vic-tory at Chipyong-ni was both a combined and joint effort as ground forces from the United States, France, and the Republic of Korea fought side by side beneath air support provided by the Navy and Air Force.
On Feb. 12, 2015, nearly 64 years to the day after the Battle of Chipyong-ni was begun, a joint team consisting of Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and civilians from the 607th Air Operations Center, 3rd Battlefield Coordination Detachment, and 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command conducted a staff ride to the site of the battlefield. The event was sponsored by the 607th Air Operations Center with the purpose of providing par-ticipants the opportunity to conduct an in depth study of the Battle of Chipyong-ni by undertaking an interactive real world experience using historic examples of tactics, strategy, communications, lo-gistics, and the psychology of battle that could then be applied towards military operations today.
“The intent of the staff ride was to provide an opportunity for the 607th Air Operations Center and our joint partners to focus on leadership, decision making, and communications prior to Exercise Key Resolve,” commented the project officer, Maj. William Vause, a 607th Air Operations Center senior air defense of-ficer. “Studying the battle in depth and then walking the actual terrain provided an excellent educational opportunity for all personnel, from our youngest Airmen to our senior leadership.”
Prior to visiting Chipyong-ni, staff ride participants were assigned a series of historical background materials to study and analyze. Following those efforts, briefings led by the participants regarding all phases of the battle were conducted to provide a forum for further discussion and additional examination of the battle. The culminating event of the staff ride was the field visit to the site of the battlefield itself. Finally, a debriefing was conducted to discuss lessons learned and to allow participants an opportunity to highlight their individual experiences and impressions of the staff ride.
There were four main geographic locations of the Battle of Chipyong-ni and the events leading up to it which were chosen for emphasis during the staff ride. The historic events that occurred at these locations also became the impetus behind the operational focus areas were chosen for study. These locations then also be-came the sites visited during the field survey.
“We hiked through the hills where men were trapped and dying,” said Senior Airman Bryn Rash, a 607th Air Opera-tions Center Airspace change technician, Combat Operations Division. “Having a chance to study the materials and learn about what happened and then come here that was pretty powerful. I felt a lot of camaraderie with the people that came out here today.”
One of the primary benefits for partic-ipants of a staff ride is the experience of being able to walk the ground where the battle being studied actually occurred. This introduces a distinct tangible per-spective to the participants that cannot be duplicated in any other setting.
“Being out there today in the cold really provided the perspective of what it was the Soldiers went through back then,” said Staff Sgt. Phuong Lim, a 607th Air Operations Center collection manager; Intelligence, Surveillance, Re-connaissance Division. “It also helped me realized just why we are still here to-day helping to defend South Korea.”
The staff ride concept goes beyond a standard battlefield tour where partici-pants typically only visit a battlefield and learn about what happened there from a subject matter expert. The staff ride ex-perience is purposely designed as a train-ing and educational tool supported by ex-tensive preliminary study and participant interaction. When sensibly designed and intelligently executed, a staff ride can be one of the most powerful instruments available for the professional develop-ment of military personnel. During a staff ride the participants themselves become subject matter experts on indi-vidual aspects of the battle and in some instances on the battle as a whole.
For Senior Airman Tron Yang, a 607th Air Operations Center Reports cell technician, one of the biggest impacts of the staff ride for him was lessons learned in readiness: “Always prepare,” he said. “If you don’t prepare you are going to face a lot more unexpected conflict and that is never a good thing.”
Leadership was one important topic of study which was examined extensively throughout all phases of the staff ride event. Participants were encouraged to use critical analysis to make their own opinions as to how the principles and practices of leadership affected opera-tions at all levels during the battle. The historical examples of leadership dis-played under combat conditions 64 years ago were explored by staff ride partici-pants allowing them to identify lessons learned and apply what they learned to their own development as leaders today.
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“This staff ride helped me realize about the importance of strong leadership and it put things in a different perspec-tive,” said Tech Sgt. Randy Jones, 607th Air Operations Center weather duty tech-nician. “I’ve only been in leadership roles with two or three individuals while some of these lieutenants who fought here had 200 or 300 people to look out for. The level of decisions and motivation they had to put onto their troops to lead them to success really brought things into a new light for me.”
The wide array of different operations that came together to ensure ultimate success during the Battle of Chipyong-ni also became key topics of discussion during the staff ride. This is especially true when it came to combined and joint forces working together. Operations studied included weather, communica-tions, intelligence, supply, close air sup-port, medical, reconnaissance, artillery, infantry, armor, and many others. By examining how different organizations from different nations and different mili-tary services managed to come together and overcome and endure the obstacles they faced under fire during the Battle of Chipyong-ni, participants have devel-oped the awareness to apply those lessons learned toward some of the issues they face today as they collectively operate a combined and joint air operations center. In some instances, lessons learned reflect successes enjoyed today.
“I was impressed with how far we’ve come with decision making and flexibil-ity. We are more flexible today and more apt at listening to people,” said Chief Master Sgt. Roger Thornton, the 607th Air Operations center chief enlisted man-ager. “As we gather information from dif-ferent sources we do a better job today getting to the point of what we need for a particular situation. We have gotten better at not just sending people what we think they need, but at sending them what they actually ask for.”
Throughout the entire staff ride, each participant was encouraged to develop their own interpretation of what they learned, both as a group and individually, and then they were encouraged to share what they learned with others. This in-cludes taking their experience and shar-ing it with those who were not able to participate directly in the staff ride them-selves.
“Keep talking to each other about what you’ve learned. Share your per-sonal experiences with others,” said Col. Juris Jansons, the 607th Air Operations Center division chief, Combat Opera-tions Division. “You being here enabled the possibility for discussion to occur. Keep the discussion going.”
Prior to departing the battlefield, Col. Donavan Godier, the 607th Air Op-erations Center commander, provided the participants with a poignant reminder of the importance of studying the Battle of Chipyong-ni and the role that it played to-ward promulgating the deep bonds of the alliance that exists between the United States and Republic of Korea today.
“This is hallowed ground. There were young men who stood here 64 years ago whose parents never saw them again,” said Col. Godier. “Many of those men had wives and children. Those who didn’t, never had the chance. They sac-rificed their lives for their nation, and they did it in a foreign country alongside their Korean counterparts. When nations make those sacrifices for each other… that is no small thing. Before we leave here today think about the soil we walked on and how important it is. Think about the sacrifices we made as Americans in partnership with our Korean allies.”
