Not until the morning of 2 August did General Craig learn that Task Group 53.7 was scheduled to dock at Pusan that very evening. The last-minute disclosure relieved him of considerable anxiety, but he was still disturbed for want of specific orders concerning departure of the Brigade from Pusan. His instructions from General Walker were to debark the ground force immediately and have it prepared to move forward by 0600 the following morning. The same orders advised him that a specific destination “would be given later.”[133] [133] _Ibid._ “Later” did not come soon enough for the Marine commander. As the long column of ships steamed into Pusan Harbor in the early evening, he still did not know where he would lead his Brigade the next morning.[134] [134] _Ibid._ _Brigade Air Lands_ When Task Group 53.7 entered Far Eastern waters, the ships transporting the forward echelon of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing veered toward Japan, while the others continued to Korea. The Brigade’s air arm arrived at Kobe late in the afternoon of 31 July. Within three hours debarkation had been completed and unloading was in full swing. A waiting LST took on Marine Tactical Air Control Squadron Two and the ground personnel and equipment of VMO-6. By the next morning it was steaming toward Pusan, carrying the vital link in General Craig’s air-ground team. Cushman and Weir were making good their promises.[135] [135] Annexes Charlie and Fox to MAG-33 SAR, 5 Jul-6 Sep 50. Since harbor facilities at Kobe were unsuitable for offloading aircraft, the _Badoeng Strait_ stood out to sea on 1 August and catapulted 44 of its Marine fighter planes into the air. The aircraft sped to the field at Itami, where they were quickly checked by pilots and crews for their imminent role in combat. On the following day, the other 26 fighters left the carrier and joined the first group ashore for maintenance and testing.[136] [136] Annex Charlie, _ibid._ To achieve maximum mobility and striking power, Marine and Navy commanders agreed to base VMF’s 214 and 323 aboard aircraft carriers for initial operations over Korea. After only 1 day of refresher flights at Itami, the pilots of VMF-214 landed their planes aboard the U. S. S. _Sicily_. Two days later, on 5 August, Major Arnold Lund led his VMF-323 back to the _Badoeng Strait_.[137] [137] VMF-323 SAR, 3 Aug-6 Sep 50. The squadron of night fighters, VMF(N)-513, was land-based. Having been assigned to the Fifth Air Force, it would be controlled by the Itazuke field for night heckler missions over Korea. This unit had time for only a few night training flights before being committed to combat.[138] [138] Annex Charlie, _op. cit._