I didn't particularly like the work as it was monotonous and predictable, not to mention our uniforms and boots had to be in inspection order at all times...After a few long months of this, we started receiving the first of my beloved F-4 Phantoms, and I requested reassignment to the 349th MMS as a weapons release technician...Happily I was accepted and began doing work much more satisfying and meaningful to me...
As the F-4's arrived, the F-105's departed for depot refitting in the US, and then on to Vietnam, where, I was told, all 75 of them wound up on the floor of the jungle due to their inability to outmaneuver the MiG's and SAM's when laden with bombs...For years I've dismissed them as inferior designs sent to do a job they weren't built for...But after reading several books written by those who actually flew them or flew with them, I've changed my perspective...
At the height of the cold war, when our B-52 aircrews were in the air continually carrying nuclear payloads to the edge of Soviet airspace, then flying them back to turn around and do it all over the next day, a different kind of bomber was needed for fast response in Europe...A tactical bomber which could carry a smaller nuclear payload was necessary to fly low altitude, map-of-the-earth missions against the Soviet Union if we detected their launch of a nuclear strike against us or our allies...
Thus was born the Republic F-105, probably the largest single-engine fighter ever built...Two books I've recently read point up the aircraft's strengths and deficiencies..."The Hunter Killers" featured the 105 prominently as the author chronicled the Wild Weasel program, and its role in Vietnam...
"Bury Us Upside Down" told the story of Operation Commando Sabre as they advanced the forward air controller's mission from the propeller age into the jet era...At no extra charge to my loyal readers, I will attempt to review both books here as they both cover a lot of the same real estate...
What the two operations had in common was fighter pilots with their tendencies to being the shot-caller in their own realm...Commando Sabre aircrews (callsign Misty) are discussed at great length in "Bury Us Upside Down"," and were typically made up of two combat-qualified fighter pilots, one of which was relegated to backseat duty as an EWO, reading radar emissions, monitoring radio channels and taking photos...
The Misty's job was to fly low and fast over the jungle canopy along the Ho Chi Minh Trail searching out probable truck parks, fuel dumps, rest camps and weapons caches, then marking them with smoke rockets...At this point bomb-laden F-105's and F-4's would drop from the clouds overhead to "hit the smoke" and obliterate the threat...
Naturally a fighter pilot is never happy out of the front seat where he can control the aircraft's movements, so the Misty pilots typically took turns when flying missions in one seat or the other, which also kept everyone sharp on both jobs...The book is thoroughly enjoyable because of its readability; a common thread runs through every chapter pulling the reader through with an invitation, almost a command, to the next page...
Beginning and ending with the funeral of Misty pilot, LtC. Howard K. Williams, 24 years after his F-100 disappeared in flight in 1968, the story unfolds of the formation, staffing, execution and conclusion of Commando Sabre...The authors (one a Misty pilot of 58 missions) tell of the interconnected lives of the squadron's personnel, along with many fascinating sidebars...
As an example, Dick Rutan, whose time as a Misty was part of his many-faceted aviation career, surreptitiously planned a one-man operation to find the location of the crash site of his friend Howie Williams in the North Vietnam jungle, and bring back proof of either his death or his capture...After arranging leave time, covert transportation and gathering materials, he received a mysterious phone call warning him not to undertake the task, that it had been "taken care of"...
Rutan says that to this day he does not know who was on the other end of that phone line, but suspects someone in SIGINT was privy not only to Williams' fate, but his own plans for self-insertion into North Vietnam...After much thought, he cancelled his plans, and had no further information until his friend's nearly empty casket came home...
"The Hunter Killers" tells of another group of flyers asked to do what would seemingly be a suicide mission...Wild Weasels made permanent teams of fighter pilots from TAC, and EWO's from SAC, since SAC crewmembers were already accustomed to working together as a team in one aircraft...A Google search of the cryptic acronym on the official patch of some Wild Weasel squadrons, "YGBSM," will reveal the first reaction from newly picked Weasels as they were told what was to be expected of them...
As much as I enjoyed reading the book, and gaining new insight on the assignments of some of the F-105's after they left my care, I found it seemed disjointed as the jump was made from one chapter to the next...It was as if the author had written a first draft, then decided to scatter in a few more essays as filler...
I read, and then re-read many parts before I could get some complete thoughts of the author's intent...However, even though my time with the USAF did not include any SEA assignments, I feel I have a better knowledge of what went on there and why from reading both these books...I feel as though some of the aircraft in my charge went on to greater glory, and I'm proud for having shared my service life with them...
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments and critiques are always welcome, and will be reviewed before publication...They will not be seen immediately...Keep it clean please...