COMMEMORATING THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR (1961-1973) and honoring the gallant Naval Aviators, Naval Flight Officers and air crews who carried the war to the heartland of North Vietnam in the years of Operation ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
GOOD MORNING. I have yet another Rolling Thunder Alpha Strike tale to tell. WHEN NAVAL AVIATION ROARED… #4… USS ENTERPRISE (CVA(N)-65 and Attack Carrier Air Wing NINE strike Kep Airfield on 7 June 1967…
USS ENTERPRISE and CVW-9 were on the second of six deployments to Southeast Asia and combat ops in the Gulf of Tonkin from their home Naval Air Stations of Alameda, Lemoore, North Island, Sanford (Florida), Miramar and Whidbey Isand. The carrier departed Alameda on 9 November 1966 and returned on 6 July 1967 after spending 132 days at Yankee Station supporting Operation Rolling Thunder. The air wing lost 13 aircraft, eight in combat. Aviator losses: five POWs, two MIA (later declared KIA) and two KIA…
THE MISSION. On 7 June 1967, USS ENTERPRISE and Carrier Air Wing NINE were tasked to strike the Kep airfield complex in coordination with a follow-on strike by USS CONSTELLATION and Carrier Air Wing FOURTEEN. The Kep airfield, a designated JCS target, was a major base supporting enemy air operations and was home for sixteen MiG-17 aircraft. The concrete runway was 9,750- feet long and the complex included taxiways, ten support buildings, a parking apron and numerous aircraft revetments. At the time of the strike nine MiG aircraft were parked at the airfield.
THE ENEMY DEFENSES. The Kep area of North Vietnam was one of the most heavily defended target complexes of the warring nation. In addition to the airfield, located 37 miles northeast of Hanoi, the northeast railroad system between Hanoi and China was supported from Kep. The route to and from the target was also heavily defended by MiGs from several airfields, SAMs, and AAA. The area in and around Kep included: ten 85mm sites (72 barrels); thirty-six 37mm/57mm sites (212 barrels); and, nine automatic weapon sites (50 barrels). Four Firecan radar sites were located in the area. There were 15 SA-2 surface-to-air missile sites covering the 72-mile route to and from the target and twelve additional sites within range of Kep. The threat of MiG-17/21 aircraft from Kep and nearby Phuc Yen and Gia Lam airfields, along with early warning and ground controlled radar, completed the integrated defense system protecting northeast North Vietnam. The Gauntlet was manned, ready and waiting for CVW-NINE’s bravest…
PLANNING. Since the initial strike on Kep on 24 April 1967 (53 years ago this week), the North Vietnamese had steadily increased the antiaircraft defenses protecting Kep and all NVN airfields. In the most recent strike on 31 May 1967, the stike group had been forced to abort their attack by the extremely heavy antiaircraft fire over Kep and along Highway 1A to the northeast. On that strike, two strike aircraft were lost and an additional twelve aircraft were damaged by enemy fire. The strike leader, Commander Sheldon Omar SCHWARTZ, Commanding VF-96, determined that the best way to avoid the disastrous lessons of the 31 May strike was to revise air wing tactics. He determined that the strike called for speed and surprise, neither of which was possible if the bomber elements of the strike group included the A-4C Skyhawks of VA-113 and VA-56. His fresh approach called for limiting the attack element to twelve F-4B Phantoms from VF-96 and VF-92. The plan called for innovations in weaponeering that allowed higher than normal run-in speeds and the use of a low altitude approach with a close-in pop-up at the target vice the usual high altitude approach necessary to accommodate the Skyhawks. The attack group was composed of twelve F-4Bs with four VA-35 A-6A Intruders supporting as Iron Hand and flak suppressors. Each F-4B strike aircraft was armed with two Sparrow III and four Sidewinder air-to-air missiles in addition to a load of ten MK-82s or four CBU-24 bombs. Because of the ability of the F-4s to defend themselves from MiGs, additional support aircraft for TARCAP was unnecessary. Relying on the elements of speed and surprise during the attack, the strike leader chose to use all aircraft in the strike group in the attack on the Kep complex. No other support aircraft were required in the target area.
EXECUTION. Launch and rendezvous of the twenty aircraft strike group was uneventful with each of the twelve F-4Bs tanking 2000-pounds to allow the use of maximum airspeeds en route. Over the water leg to the coast-in point the strike leader used unexpected large cumulonimbus clouds for radar masking. After crossing the coast of North Vietnam north of Haiphong, Commander SCHWARTZ and his RIO, LCDR Dean NORDELL, led the strike group to minimum altitude to make use of the hills and ridges for radar terrain masking, allowing the strike group to approach the target area with maximum possible surprise. They were virtually unopposed to that point. Shortly after coasting-in the A6 Ironhand group, led by LCDR Robert MILES, accelerated ahead at 550-knots while the strike group maintained 450-knots. This put the A6 group over the target well ahead of the strike group and contributed substantially to the fact that no SA-2 surface-to-air missiles were fired at the ENTERPRISE strike group while the following strike group, CVW-14 from CONSTELLATION, encountered six SAMs while approaching Kep and attacking the airfield.
At a point 30 miles from Kep, Commander SCHWARTZ accelerated his twelve F4 attackers to 550-knots and at 5-miles short of the airfield executed a pop-up maneuver to lead the attack on the target from optimum altitude to execute planned 45-degree dives, each aircraft diving on their respective assigned targets in the complex. While the flight encountered no SAMs, the SAM warnings were continuous, and the flak over the target was intense, from the roll-in altitude of 12,000-feet down to dive recovery altitude of 3,000-feet. The twelve F-4s were receiving fire from all calibers. Despite the severity of the enemy AAA all aircraft pressed their respective attacks to put a total of 40 MK-82s and 16 CBU-24s into the targets in the Kep airfield complex. No aircraft were lost in the attack and only one sustained minor AAA damage. Exit from the target, a high speed withdrawal to feet wet, and return to ENTERPRISE was without incident. Mission accomplished.
EFFECT. Photography taken by an RA-5C reconnaissance aircraft just prior to the follow-on strike by the CONSTELLATION strike group provided the following damage results for the ENTERPRISE strike led by Commander SCHWARTZ: Two MiG-17s heavily damaged; One MiG-17 destroyed; the runway interdicted in three places; and, thorough coverage by CBU-24 bomblets throughout the northeast revetment area.
Humble Host Note: The air wing tactics employed by Commander SCWARTZ that made the main battery of CVW-NINE a combination of F-4s and A-6s, with the A-4Cs assigned other supporting roles was as a result of the painful ENTERPRISE experience on a 19 May 1967 aborted strike on the Van Dien vehicle repair facility a few miles south of Hanoi. It was called “the Navy’s black Friday”. That’s a tale for another day…
(Webmaster note: “Black Friday” 19 May 1967 is detailed in chapter one of my book Across the Wing. Another chapter of my book also examines VF-96 during the 1966-1967 and 1968 WESTPAC cruises, including the indomitable Skipper Sheldon “Lefty” Schwartz. Lefty rests eternally at Barrancas National Cemetery in Pensacola, Florida)
BITS OF RIBBON. The strike leader, Commander SCHWARTZ, was recommended for and recieved the SILVER STAR. In addition, a few DFCs were approved for LCDRs leading sections. A hand-full of Individual Air Medals and another fist-full of Green Weenies with Combat Vs were awarded to some of the 22 junior officers of the forty CVW-NINE warriors making the trip to Kep on 7 June. For most of the junior officers it was just another exciting 2-points toward the next Strike Flight Air Medal. It was inexplicably tough for a JO on ENTERPRISE to get recommended for a DFC. Among the warriors recognized for their intrepid participation in the Kep strike were: Commander T.S. REMSEN, CO VF-92; LCDR Tom BRUYERE; LCDR Charles GUERNSEY; LCDR Dean NORDELL; LCDR Dean FORSGREN; LTJG Donald MILLS; and, LTJG John WOHLFIEL.
NEXT POST: Tales of the Brave and Bold #5 USS KITTY HAWK and Carrier Air Wing ELEVEN obliterate the Haiphong Cement Plant on 25 April as directed by President Johnson on 22 April 1967.
Lest we forget… Bear