 When, to the headquarters of the United Nations at Lake Success, news first came of the unprovoked assault upon the Republic of Korea, reprisals followed swiftly. Reprisals not merely in words, but in the courageous resistance of the United Nations forces, fighting stubbornly for every yard, for every village. The G.I. delivered his own kind of reprisals, in bullets that could not be vetoed. In the heavy guns of U.N. naval forces, brought quickly to Korean waters. In the roar of American fighting planes, dominating the skies. Yet our men, as representatives of the United Nations, utilizing devices such as this giant airborne loudspeaker, neglected no opportunity to bring to the ears of the North Koreans the true story of their Communist masters and the determined opposition of the free nations of the world. Broadcasting from an Air Force plane high in the sky, the voice of the U.N. offered the individual enemy bare and humane treatment under the rules of prisoners of war. Answering this offer, a few of the enemy surrendered, but for our own infantrymen in the front lines, it remained always a grim war waged in a rugged terrain, slugging it out 24 hours a day, yard for yard. To these men, harassed by enemy fire, there was no sight more welcome, and no sound sweeter than the roar of American planes flashing across the sky. The ground soldiers showed and must have constant close support from the air. It is the mission of the Tactical Air Command of the United States Air Force to see that he gets it. To achieve this in the Korean conflict, military leaders had gone into action in a matter of minutes, following the outbreak of hostilities, mapping out plans for the optimum use of tactical air power in the battle ahead. Decisions were made on the spot. Requirements and operations determined quickly in cooperation with the surface forces. To airfields destroyed by enemy action, or through the necessity of sudden retreat, to runways popped with bomb craters, engineers went to work immediately. Fighters operating from Japan were shifted to within easy range of the fighting front, and in short order, our squadrons of American jets were roaring off the runways to perform the first job of tactical air, namely to challenge enemy planes in the skies and secure and maintain air superiority. Fighters of the tactical air team, when unmolested by aerial opposition, turned their full attention to close cooperation with and support to the surface forces in taking and holding aggressor territory. Moving in at the behest of such tactical considerations, our fighters take as their targets supply depots, troop billets, warehouses, bridges, tanks, ships, in short, any target of opportunity or any pre-assigned target of military significance. Certain jets unarmed but equipped with high powered cameras serve as reconnaissance planes and return daily from photographic missions far into enemy territory. These intelligence photos, invaluable for disclosing the disposition of enemy strength, are hurried to the lab and processed immediately for the next briefing. Here is photo murals that are used by the briefing officer to outline a mission for B-26 tactical bombers. Primary targets are railway centers, roads and bridges, supply depots, and other key installations. The B-26 is a standard light attack bomber of versatile use. It carries a bomb load of 5,000 pounds and is capable of mounting more than eight machine guns and 14 rockets. Since our forces maintain control of the air over Korea, the tactical bombers operate freely and they're assigned task of isolating the immediate battle area and restricting the movement of enemy troops and supplies. Dropping down to closer range, the B-26s come into strafe enemy targets with rockets and machine guns. Such constant harassing of the enemy as this and the severe constriction of his mobility are important factors in all military operations, both offensive and defensive. As for example, in opening the way and keeping it open for large-scale paratroop movements. The task of transporting these men and keeping them supplied is likewise a function of the tactical air arms. Destined for a drop area deep within enemy territory, these men, carefully selected and carefully trained, deserve all the help that can be given them on their dangerous assignment. It's the job of the tactical air arm, not only to get them to the right place at the right moment, but to furnish them constant and close aerial support during their operations on the ground. And men such as these are operating in enemy territory, it is doubly imperative that the advance of our front-line elements be maintained on schedule, so that a juncture with the paratroopers can be achieved. At the spearhead of the attack and of a supply line reaching far to the rear, men of the infantry and artillery maintain their day and night attacks against the enemy. And giving close and welcome support to the surface forces in the attack are the ever-present Air Force and Navy fighters and light bombers operating on tactical air missions. Working on radio call and with on-the-spot instructions from air spotters with the advance elements, the planes are directed to targets immediately in the path of our advancing forces. As the tactical air command sees it, it's the ground troops who carry the ball, and it's the Air Force that does a portion of the blocking that opens the way for them. The ground soldiers should and must have protection and tactical aid from the air. And in the present Korean conflict, he is getting just that, as completely and as skillfully as the tactical air forces can make. Wherever there's a battle area to isolate, an enemy depot to destroy, a troop concentration to attack, even a single well-placed machine gun nest to eliminate. Air Force planes are flying on call to deliver the punch. With napalm, with rockets, with bombs and machine guns, the planes of tactical air are bringing to the ground forces the music they like to hear, the music they deserve to hear, thunder from the sky.