The Graybeards - KWVA - Korean War Veterans Association

Splash Two Yaks
Aerial Combat: Mullins & Ausman
Fall 1950
First Lieutenant Harold J. “Ace”
Ausman, of the 67th Fighter-
Bomber Squadron, survived a rare
aerial encounter with a pair of North
Korean YAK fighter-bombers early in the
war, and escaped unscathed.
In early November, 1950, Ausman was
flying wingman with Major Arnold
‘Moon’ Mullins, who had assumed command
of the 67th Squadron following the
untimely combat loss of Major Lou
Sebille. They were returning from an
interdiction mission north of Seoul and
had found it necessary to climb above a
broken cloud layer to leave the rugged
mountain valley which they had recently
attacked.
Coming across a hole in the clouds a
few miles northeast of Seoul, and looking
for recognizable landmarks, Mullins let
down through an opening in the clouds
unexpectedly find themselves overtaking
a pair of airplanes directly ahead of them.
With a quick double-take, Mullins realized
that they were not F-51 Mustngs
...they were not even friendly aircraft, they
were a pair of Russian-built North Korean
YAKS; propeller-driven attack planes.
With their considerable speed advantage,
descending unseen from the rear,
Mullins quickly assessed the situation,
and told his wingman, Ausman, to take the
enemy YAK on the right, while he
attacked the one on the left.
Unsung Heroes of the Korean Air War
by
Duane E. ‘Bud’ Biteman,
Lt Col, USAF, Ret
Their dive from high and to the rear
had caught the enemy completely by surprise.
Mullins pressed his trigger and
quickly flamed the first enemy ship with
his first burst of machine gun fire and saw
it dive sharply to the ground. No parachutes
were seen.
But Ausman was even more startled by
their sudden, amazing stroke of luck; such
a rare opportunity for an aerial ‘kill’. He
was so preoccupied with his extreme good
fortune that he misjudged his high rate of
closure on his target aircraft and, although
firing his machine guns and getting a few
hits, was not able to destroy the target on
his first firing pass.
Instead, to his utter dismay, he found
the momentum of his dive was carrying
him helplessly past the enemy, overtaking
the target and thereby drifting right into
the sights of his quarry.
Where moments before he had been the
attacker, he was suddenly and very unhappily
becoming a sitting-duck target for the
enemy YAK, who was about to be offered
a beautiful straight-on, close-astern firing
blast against his attacker!.
Chopping his throttle completely off,
and kicking his rudder to skid the airplane
in an attempt to dissipate excess airspeed,
Ausman continued to slowly pass on the
YAKs right side.
“Dive under”, he heard Mullins shout
over his radio, and he immediately did as
he was told.
Ausman hit the throttle, dove sharply
and turned left under the enemy airplane
as Mullins, who, fortunately, was still
behind the surviving YAK was able to
swing quickly and easily into trail position
and shot down the second North Korean
aircraft with a quick burst of machine gun
fire, giving Major Arnold “Moon” Mullins
two aerial victories in as many minutes ...
the first aerial encounters for the 67th
Squadron and the first aerial victories for
the 18th Fighter-Bomber Group in the
Korean war.
Lieutenant Harold Ausman, thankful
for Mullin’s prompt and accurate marksmanship
was facetiously, and in honest
good humor, given the nickname “Ace”,
which he cherished throughout his
remaining Air Force career.
Arnold ‘Moon’ Mullins, a P-38 veteran
of World War 11 in Europe, where he had
been shot down and evaded capture was,
at age 30, promoted to Lieutenant Colonel
soon after leaving the 67th Squadron in
Korea. He was reassigned to a Tactical Air
Command base in South Carolina in early
1951, developing air-to-ground communications
procedures for Close Support
operations. He was killed in the crash of a
T-33 jet trainer aircraft in 1952 while
demonstrating those tactical maneuvers.
Duane E. ‘Bud’Biteman, Lt Col, USAF, Ret
“...one of those OLD, Bold Fighter Pilots...”
(Col. Biteman passed away on September
23, 2002. I will honor him and his unit by
printing all of his stories.–Editor.)
Next Issue: Lt. Spud Taylor
A deep part of “Chappie” died when Spud
went.
Action Book
A Platoon Sergeant’s Diary
During the Korean War (Sept. 1950-
Sept. 1951), by B.R. Spiroff, 1stSgt-
E8, USA (Ret). A realistic and
detailed account of an infantry platoon’s
front line action.
Send $10.95 plus $1.50 (s&h) to:
B.R. Spiroff
524 Old Annapolis Rd.
Severna Park, MD 21146
(410) 647 -4503
May/June, 2003 Page 63