Last week Combat Air Crew Twelve (CAC-12) of the VP-40 Fighting Marlins left Misawa AB, Japan with a P-3 full of VP-40 and VP-45 aircrew, maintenance and administrative personnel for an eight-day trip to South Korea to participate in the 2005 Seoul Air Show.

The P-3 Orion was the only naval aircraft of the 83 platforms on display from the various air forces of 22 countries who participated in the air show. The first four days of the air show were limited access admission, mostly defense contractors and military officials who were invited to view the daily flight demonstrations.

The final two days of the air show were open to the general public and accommodated over 150,000 visitors each day.

While the Marlins maintained a team of aircrew and support personnel at the aircraft throughout the air show to answer questions and give tours, everyone was able to take advantage of some time off to explore Seoul and some nearby attractions.

The commercial district of Itaewon in Seoul offered unique things like the Electronics Market, a six-block area with nothing but cameras, computers and cell phones as far as the eye can see, as well as a wide selection of local and international cuisine and a lively nightlife.

Several of the aircrew took a trip to visit the demilitarized zone (DMZ), which acts as a buffer between North and South Korea. The trip included a visit to an observatory that overlooks the DMZ and into North Korea, a hike 240 feet underground into a tunnel dug by the North Koreans for use in infiltrating South Korea unchallenged and finally a visit to the United Nations controlled Joint Security Area in the border village of Panmunjom which straddles the military demarcation line (the official border between North and South Korea).

The highlight of the DMZ visit was walking around in a room where negotiations are held between North and South Korea; the negotiating table is literally divided in half by the Military Demarcation Line.

One of the visitors, Lt.j.g. Matt Swartzwelder of VP-45, said of the experience “It was almost surreal, standing on the border of one of the world’s most bitter divisions as a visitor, seeing what I’d only read about in history books before.”

When it was time to leave, it became apparent that almost everyone had also gotten a chance to take the short bus ride south to Osan for some shopping; the 21 people on the trip had amassed so much extra baggage in the one week that there almost wasn’t enough room on the plane to bring everything back to Japan.