RIPPLE SALVO… #196… A CASE OF EVOLUTION—- … but first…
Good Morning: Day ONE HUNDRED NINETY SIX of a 1000 day-by-day reflection of Operation Rolling Thunder…
13 SEPTEMBER 1966… HOME FRONT NEWS FROM THE NYT… A partly cloudy Tuesday in Manhattan…
Page 1: “Gemini In Its First Orbit Docks With Agena Target In A 94-Mile Maneuver”…”The Gemini 11 astronauts rocketed into space today and caught and linked up with their target satellite on their first orbit. It was the first time a manned spacecraft had achieved rendezvous and docking in it first orbit. The Astronauts gave the Agena target a 250-mile head start. Then, after a thunderous liftoff, they sighted the 26-foot vehicle over the east coast of Africa and raced on to rendezvous as they approached the coast of Mexico’s lower California. The pursuit extended about 18,000 miles over Laredo, Texas, Commander Charles Conrad, Jr., of the Navy exclaimed, ‘We are docked.’ The Primary objective of the three day, 44-revolution mission was thus achieved on schedule and with seeming ease at 12:16 PM EDT–94 minutes after the Gemini launching slightly three hours after the Agena launching. Lieutenant Commander Richard Gordon, Jr., of the Navy is the Command Pilot of Gemini.”… Page 1: “Senate To Vote Tomorrow On Rights Debate”…”The Senate agreed today to vote late Wednesday afternoon whether to end a filibuster against the Administration’s civil rights bill. It was believed that the move to cutoff debate would succeed. The importance of the vote lies in the fact that it will give some indication of sentiment on the measure itself. This will to a large extent determine if the Democratic leadership pursues it’s bill or gives up and moves on to other business. Mike Mansfield, the Senate majority leader filed a petition to close off debate shortly after the Senate mustered a quorum early this afternoon. A petition to close off debate required 16 votes. Senator Mansfield managed 17–13 Democrats and 4 republicans…”… Page 1: “President Johnson Vetoes Federal B enefits As Inflationary”…”President Johnson vetoed tonight fringe benefits for Federal employees and members of congress. He cited the bill as an example of the kind of spending he wants to stop in the fight on inflation.”
Page 1: “China Said To Use Troops In Curbing Red Guard Foes”…”Chinese Communist Army units were called out to control a crowd of 100,000 people protesting the activities of the youthful Red Guard’s in Kiveilin. The Japanese newspaper Asahi reported today in a dispatch, Red Guards and local people have been reported in Peking from Harbin, Tsingtao, Hangchow, Canton (and several other cities). The correspondent said that the students had been strongly advised to ‘exercise prudence.’ The students and the labor-farmer soldiers must be united, the party First Secretary was quoted as having told rampaging youngsters. ‘The students on their part should remember that they eat rice raised by farmers and put on clothes turned out by workers…There has been a long spell of dry weather lasting 70 days in Hupeh Province, and the province has been suffering from want of rains. At this moment when the cultural revolution and industrial and agricultural production badly require guidance and leadership to overcome difficulties, the students from Peking have caused unnecessary and foolish commotions.’…”
Page 32: “Johnson Slips To The Lowest Point So Far In Poll”…”President Johnson’s popularity has slipped to the lowest level since he entered the White House. The Louis Harris poll reported only 50-per cent of those questioned thought the President was doing a good job as President…Dr. George Gallup poll: ‘Mr. Johnson and the Democrats are in trouble.’ Discussing Vietnam, Dr. Gallup said, the American public wants to see an end to the war there. They are growing more concerned as we become more involved without any evidence we are closer to a peace settlement.’ He said, ‘civil rights ranked next to Vietnam as an election issue’…’increased feeling against the civil rights movement’… ‘white people have begun to get their backs up, apparently due to riots and talk of black power.’…”… Page 27: “Ask Removal Of Troops From Grenada”… Grenada, Mississipi. “Four hundred white citizens of Grenada jammed the City Hall auditorium tonight to demand the withdrawal of Mississippi state highway patrolmen who entered this town in force today after a white mob had beaten up several Negro children and three white newsmen. Speakers from the floor made no secret of the fact that they wanted the Highway Patrol removed ‘so we can take care of our (n-word).’ Although it was an open meeting a reporter was ejected after he was observed taking notes. None of the town’s Negro population attended the meeting. The issue is the assault on Negro children who were desegreagating two all-white schools. About 150 Negro children were involved and barred from the school.”…
13 September 1966…The President’s Daily Brief…CIA (TS sanitized) Special Annex: “The Decline in Free World Shipping to North Vietnam”… One of the most dramatic consequences of the war for Hanoi has been the disruption of its small but important sea trade with the free world. In 1965, an average of 21 Free World ships per month arrived in North Vietnamese ports–the monthly average now is three. Most of these latter are under charter to Communist China or owned by Chinese controlled companies. Restrictive steps, formal or informal, taken by several of the major Western shipping nations are the main reason for the decline. A secondary cause is that Hanoi has a shortage of products available for export and is hampered in moving the export items it does have through normal ports. Coal is a prime example. Seaborne export of coal from the port of Cam Pha was halted by air strikes in April. Normally 90 percent of North Vietnam’s coal is shipped through Cam Pha. A prolonged reduction in coal exports will have serious effect on Hanoi’s foreign exchange earnings as 25 percent of those earnings are derived from the sale of coal. All told, we stimate the North Vietnamese have lost about $11.5 million in exports since the air strikes began. This in turn further reduces their ability to make needed purchases in the non-Communist world……
13 SEPTEMBER 1966… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… NYT (14 September reporting 13 September ops)…Page 1: “U.S. Sorties Set Another Record”…”The United States made a record number of sorties–attacks by a single aircraft–over North Vietnam yesterday. It was thought that the total was about 500…Military sources have been tight lipped in recent days when asked questions about the number of planes attacking in the North. Vague guidance given by military sources said a mission generally consists of three to five airplanes. There were 170 missions flown yesterday so the sorties could have totaled 510-850, but it was thought that a figure near 500 would be more reasonable. There was no indication today that the American raids in the North had reahed their peak. The patten of yesterday’s raids was similar to that of dozens of other days, with the stess on transporation lines and supply dumps. Again, the coastal cities above the demilitarized zone between North and South Vietnam took the heaviest beating and, because of good weather, a handful of targets in the vicinity of Hanoi and Haiphong were struck. The pilots hit 145 different targets on the 170 missions compared with 175 Sunday and 195 on the record day before that. One target yesterday was a SAM site and equipment storage area that Amerian pilots have been blasting for six consecutive days. One day the site was under attack for 13 hours. Five missiles have been blown up at the site since Saturday (10th). One F-105 Thunderchief and its pilot were lost 45 miles northwest of Vinh where the heaviset raids took place yesterday.”... “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) Page7 74. Seven fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 13 September 1966…
(1) LCOL E.R. DEATRICK was flying an A-1E of the 1st ACS and 14th ACW out of Plieku on a directed air support mission 10 miles above the DMZ and was hit by ground fire on his second pass on the target. LCOL DEATRICK was able to fly the on-fire aircraft south of the DMZ and crash land it at Hue’…
(2) 1LT K.V. HALLMARK was flying an F-105D of the 421st TFS and 388th TFW out of Korat on an armed reconnaissance mission on Route 15 “Happy Valley” 25 miles south of Vinh and looking for a reported SAM site when hit by AAA and heavily damaged. 1LT HALLMARK was able to head to high ground ten miles from the enemy position where he ejected and was rescued by an Air Force HH-3…
(3) 1LT JOHN PETER SKORO was flying an F-100D of the 615th TFS and 366th TFW out of Pham Rang was downed on a strike on an automatic weapon position 20 miles south of Phu Cat. The aircraft pulled up off a firing run, climbed to 4000-feet and subsequently plunged into the ground. There was no attempt to eject. 1LT SKORO was Killed in Action engaged with the enemy fifty years ago today. He died a warrior’s death with his face toward the enemy.
(4) LTJG T.J. DWYER of the VA-165 Boomers embarked in USS Intrepid was hit in the port wing by ground fire while in a dive bombing attack on an air defense site 25 miles north of Vinh. LTJG DWYER was able to fly the faltering Skyraider 10 miles to sea before bailing out to be rescued by a Navy helicopter…
(5) 1LT HOWARD WALKER KAISER was flying an O-1G Bird Dog of the 19th TASS and 505th TACG at Bien Hoa was assisting in a search for a downed Army helicopter and inexplicably disappeared. Eventually the wreckage and his remains were found at a crash site near the Cambodian border. 1LT HOWARD was Killed in Action and is remembered here fifty years after he gave his life for our country… So young, so brave, and vulnerable…
(6) CAPTAIN JOHN E. STACKHOUSE and 1LT BENJAMIN B. FINZER of the 497th TFS and 8th TFW were killed flying a Wolfpack Phantom. The F-4C aircraft crashed on take-off at Ubon killing both aviators… 1LT FINZER had survived an 11 August shoot-down on an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam… “Fate is the hunter.” Today marks the 50th anniversary of the tragic deaths of these two brave hearts while in the service of our country.
(7) A SECOND F-4C from the Wolfpack was lost on 13 September when the aircraft suffered a flight control problem and the crew ejected safely near the field at Ubon and were rescued…
RIPPLE SALVO… #196… LIGHT ATTACK AFTER DARK… My first A-4 Skyhawk hours were flown in A4D-1 and A4D-2 Skyhawks and the mission was “day attack” with both conventional and nuclear weapons delivery capability. (VF-21 at Oceana 1958-59). Day attack. Nobody said anything about “night attack.”… In those days when we went night flying off 27C decks there were no: radar altimeters; angle of attack systems; white deck lighting; drop lights on the stern; Fresnel Lens’; or low altitude escape systems… Never-the-less, we went night flying. “Why are we doing this,” I asked my roomie, “Black Mac” McCarthy. With the wisdom of his years and an F2-H Banshee night fighter tour in his log book, he said, “Bear, what’s that tagging along out there behind the plane guard destroyer?” “A soviet trawler,” says I. Black Mac, destined for three stars and fleet command, says, “The reason we do this is to show the Soviets we can.” We didn’t have a night mission but we were able to get off and back on in the dark, which was of course a necessary skill for our nuclear missions and role in the nation’s Strategic Integrated Operational Plan. Eventually the mods were made to the Skyhawk and carriers and light attack night flying became more meaningful, more potent, and safer….
Then came Vietnam. Light Attack took on a new role–night attack. The COMFAIRs put flare pots on the training targets and the carriers put flares in the water and we learned how to get respectable hits in night dive bombing. We learned by on-the-job training. As a consequence, each of the Navy’s twenty eight light attack squadrons developed their own tactics.
I queried an old shipmate and friend forever, Jerry “Possum” Terrell, who did both A-4 and A-7 combat tours from carrier decks in the Gulf Of Tonkin, and asked him to sketch me the tactics his squadrons employed. I quote his response…”Bear…We used pretty much standard tactics. Leader at maybe 1000+/- a couple hundred feet, wingman high enough for overview (2000-2500). Leader spots target, calls for flares from wingman, pulls up and attacks target (30-degree dive out by 1000-feet plus frag of weapon dropped–Mk82/500#= minimum altitude of 1500-AGL…), wingman spots and re-attacks. Some squadrons or individuals) did recce lower (100-200 ft), but higher losses made the trade-off negative (truck/WBLC for an aircraft). During my 72-73 cruise we did night recce in RP6 in our A7Bs which was not particularly fruitful (no INS); we did use similar tactics to those on earlier cruises, but my wingman said that he had no problem locating me–he just followed the muzzle flashes trailing behind me and looked ahead of them. More fruitful in RP6 was recc-ing the karst islands off the coast for patrol boats…”
My experience on two cruises in A-4C and A-4F were similar to those employed in Possum’s squadrons…
The state of the art of light attack night attack 50-years ago was that best described by VA-153 Blue Tails Skipper Dave Leue’ in his book, “Vietnam Combat: An Attack Pilot’s Diary, Volume II.” (pages 66-67) I suspect that no one was more aggressive in employing the A-4 Skyhawk at night then Dave Leue’ and his VA-153 squadron…
Blue Tail Night Tactics… Commander Leue’ acknowledges the advice he received from Commander Harry Thomas in developing his tactics…
“I expanded on Harry’s tactics. After tanking I put my wingman 1000 feet above me so he became accustomed to the night and instruments. I would find a coast in point on radar to navigate by dead reckoning, that is, by time, distance and heading to find the area I wanted to attack.
“When at the choke point, I dropped two, 2 million candlepower Mark 24 parachute flares, circled below the flares, came down the road at 200-300 feet at 400-450 knots, staying off to the right side of the road, where I could easily see the trucks through my left windscreen. I would describe the location of any trucks to my wingman. Such as, ‘we have ten trucks north of the bridge.’ Now he knew where to look when he was in his run. I then pulled up to 40 degrees on my gyro into the blackness and cleared him into his run. My wingman would initiate a shallow dive, leveling off at 500-feet, rocket down the road, when the trucks came into view, he’d strafe with 20mm cannon or drop 250 or 500 pound retarded snake-eye bombs or CBU2 bomb-lets. After he had completed his run he would pitch up 40-degrees on his gyro into the blackness, call Blue Tail Two Off,” and go into a left orbit at 5000-feet. I would then call Blue Tail One in, and repeat the attack.
“The routine was repeated, dropping flares as necessary. We never saw each other except when one was under the flare, keeping track of each other by calling in and off. To the gunners on the ground we would burst into the light at 400 plus knots, this gave them little tracking time. At times the red balls of fire scared us, but we were poor targets. It was an acceptable risk. If the flak was heavy, we went elsewhere.
“We found and burned a lot of trucks this way. Every truck full of ammunition and weapons we destroyed, saved some of our Army or Marine buddies fighting in the jungles to the south. When the North Vietnamese caught on to this tactic, driving their trucks rapidly from under the flare. I would drop a bomb with the first flares. This got the drivers out of their trucks. I taught this tactic to anyone interested…our first tour wingmen showed great courage and faith in their leader, to operate down low at night.”… end quote…
In eight years–from the A4D-1/2 to the A-4C/E/F — 1958-1966 — light attack went from a mission-less borer of holes in the night sky, to a viable weapons system on hostile battlefields. This can only happen when: (1) new technology makes it out of the labs into the cockpits and onto the weapons stations of our aircraft. With new technology comes new tactics, but only if (2) there are brave, bold, tactical thinkers on the line to integrate the technology with prudent fighting spirit… Tactical acumen, fighting spirit and the ability to motivate and educate warriors in the art of war are the most important qualities we need on the line. Political correctness as a criteria for command comes in somewhere below these paramount qualities, and nothing makes that more obvious than my case for night light attack. Leading the charge, day or night, is not for prancing unicorns–it is the work of mavericks and stallions… or it used to be…
Lest we forget…. Bear ……… –30– ………..