Twentieth Air Force Bombardment Group, remaining at North Field, Guam as its only operational organization. In 1949, budget reductions forced the realignment and consolidation of Air Force units in the pacific, and the mission of Twentieth Air Force became the defense of the Ryukyu Islands and was reassigned to Kadena AB, Okinawa. It commanded the following units: On 27 June 1950, the United Nations Security Council voted to assist the South Koreans in resisting the invasion of their nation by North Korea. President Harry S. Truman authorized General Douglas MacArthur (commander of the US occupying forces in Japan) to commit units to the
Air Battle of South Korea of June 25, 1950, ten divisions of the North Korean People's Army launched a full-scale invasion of the nation's neighbor to the south, the Republic of Korea. The force of 89,000 men moved in six columns, catching the Republic of Korea Army by surprise, resulting in a rout. The smaller South Korean army suffered from widespread lack of organization and equipment, and was unprepared for war. The numerically superior North Korean forces destroyed isolated resistance from the 38,000 South Korean soldiers on the front before it began moving steadily south. To prevent South Korea's collapse the United Nations Security Council