UPDATE - NARA responded that they only have mission reports through 1952 and that "there are no reports for the year 1953".
A bit of additional web searching and I came across a NARA document titled "Reference Information Paper 103
https://www.archives.gov/files/publications/ref-info-papers/rip103.pdfPage 117 is the start of the section "Record Group 342 Records of U.S. Air Force Commands, Activities, and Organizations". Page 118 contains the following description for "Mission Reports", which also reflects the reports in their possession only going through 1952.
Quote:
II.442 Fifth Air Force combat pilots submitted reports of missions flown in Korea. Group and squadron level headquarters frequently transmitted these reports as teletype messages to the 5th Air Force. Message format paralleled 5th Air Force Intelligence Form #1 numerical categories, which included the following paragraph titles: date of mission; mission type and number; unit;
number and type of aircraft; takeoff and landing times; targets (with subparagraphs for name, coordinates, and results); observations; enemy aircraft encountered (type, location, time, duration); friendly casualties; weather conditions; brief resume of mission; and name of interrogator. NARA has custody of a limited number of unit mission reports. Some can be found in mission reports of U .S. Air Force units during the Korean War era, 1950–52 [UD, Entry 1008] (78 ft.).The two largest blocks, containing records of the 6147th Tactical Air Control Group and the 3rd Bomb Squadron, both cover the 1950–52 time period. Reports of the 7th, 8th, and 9th FighterBomber Squadrons cover only 1950 and 1951; those of the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing, only 1950; and those of the 17th Bomb Group, 18th Fighter-Bomber Group, and 49th Fighter-Bomber Group, only 1952. Mission reports are generally in teletype message format with Fifth Air Force Intelligence Form #1 transcriptions attached to most of the teletype messages. The reports in this series are arranged by unit designation and thereunder in general chronological order by report date
The National Archives Catalog shows individual record containers, which also only shows reports through 1952.
https://catalog.archives.gov/search?q=*:*&f.ancestorNaIds=12161110&sort=naIdSort%20asc&rows=100&offset=1000I also submitted a request with AFHRA, to which they responded they have no 5th Air Force mission reports "for this period" (i.e. 1953). They did supply unit histories, but they do not contain mission reports.
I'm now trying to understand why there are no reports for 1953. Were they destroyed in the archives fire? Or maybe not declassified yet? Just trying to piece together if there is any possibility in the future of acquiring missions reports from 1953.
If anyone has any knowledge on the matter, I'd appreciate any feedback you can provide.
Edited to add: A single page of the documents contained in the second link above, rather than multiple pages.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/12161110
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