"Mosquito Observer" embroidery patch

During the Korean War, the 6147th Tactical Air Control Group, known as "Mosquito", created a Forward Air Control System (FAC).

The FAC's main missions were to direct attack aircraft towards enemy targets and to carry out visual reconnaissance. Due to the limited resources available at the start of the conflict, the Mosquito missions considerably increased the effectiveness of air strikes against the enemy.

With no FAC units available at the start of the war, pilots flew their first missions with "borrowed" liaison aircraft just 2 weeks after the war began. To carry out these missions, the Mosquitos flew over enemy positions at low altitude and low speed to spot and mark targets, a practice that made them particularly vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire.

The squadron-sized unit, hastily created at the start of the conflict, gradually grew in size as it continued to develop. By war's end, the Mosquitos had flown over 40,000 sorties in support of United Nations ground forces. Despite their success in the Korean War, the USAF disbanded the 6147th in 1956, deeming slow-flying airborne FACs impractical in the age of supersonic jets. 10 years later, in Vietnam, the USAF re-examined the legacy of the Mosquitos when it again needed airborne fighters.

The group was made famous in February 1954 during Marilyn Monroe's sensational tour of South Korea, where she proudly wore a unit jacket.