1952. On July 9, 1952, the 839th, joined by the 840th and 841st Engineer battalions (Reserve engineer units called up for active duty, the 840th from Tennessee and the 841st from Florida), all part of the 934th Engineer Aviation Group, started work to lay the airfield's runway, taxiway and parking ramps. Monsoon rains, though, impeded initial efforts to fill the rice paddies and begin airfield construction. The delay forced engineers to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week beginning in August. They completed laying a , concrete runway in months. With the taxiway also completed, and parking ramps nearing completion, the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing and one of its F-51 Mustang combat squadrons arrived on December 26, 1952. With the wing's other two squadrons arriving shortly thereafter, the wing converted to the F-86F Sabre. In February 1953, the 18th FBW began flying air superiority missions from Osan-Ni AB which continued through the remainder of the Korean War. Cold War With the Korean Armistice Agreement signed on July 27, 1953, the 18th FBW remained at Osan-Ni AB for defensive purposes until November 1954. Meanwhile, plans called for HQ Fifth Air Force (Advance) to move from Seoul National University to Yongsan Garrison in Seoul. This plan was changed, and in January 1954, the headquarters relocated to Osan-Ni AB, and established the base as the major hub of operations for U.S. air power in South Korea. As the Armistice took hold, the USAF redeployed all but one tactical fighter wing from the peninsula, and in November 1954, after Fifth Air Force relocated to Tokyo, the 314th Air Division replaced its former advanced headquarters at Osan-Ni AB. The 58th Fighter-Bomber Wing moved from Daegu AB to Osan-Ni AB in March 1955, and became the only permanently assigned tactical fighter wing in South Korea. On September 18, 1956, the base was redesignated Osan AB, its current name. In July 1958, the U.S. Air Force inactivated the 58th Fighter-Bomber Wing. At this time, the Eisenhower Administration promulgated a nuclear deterrence strategy. Osan AB thus became the main base of operations for air-to-ground Matador tactical missiles when the 310th Tactical Missile Squadron and 58th Support Squadron were activated under the 58th Tactical Missile Group. Concurrently, Fifth Air Force complemented this strategy by instituting rotational deployments of fighter aircraft units to Osan and Kunsan ABs from its Far East bases and the U.S. to bolster the defense