by Tom Wilson
The fighter pilots at Takhli were considered to be hot chargers. They liked to tell you they destroyed more targets, more MiG's, and more SAM sites than anyone else, and they did. They also paid the penalty, for there was a sixty percent probability that an F-105 pilot at Takhli would be shot down before completing his hundred mission tour.
Seemingly frivolous restrictions were imposed upon the fighter pilots flying over North Vietnam. Most of them felt that through more sensible targeting and fewer restrictions, the war could have been a short one.
The first F-4C MiG sweep, in January 1967, used the tactical ruse described. Repeated requests to attack the MiG bases were denied. Similar requests that the bombing campaign be delayed until the SAM and radar defenses could be neutralized were also denied.
The MiG's, SAMs, guns, and radar systems were deployed in the tremendous numbers depicted. Soviet technical advisers assigned to assist the VPA found them haughty and extremely difficult to work with. A surge in capability of North Vietnamese defenses, brought about by their integration, did occur in the spring of 1967. There was also a special SAM site, sometimes called the training site, estimated to have electro-optical guidance capability.
One of several successful tactics developed by the Takhli Weasels was to "split the flight." The special SAM site was located and destroyed using the tactic.
In early 1967, many doubted that air power could prevail against massed sophisticated defenses. The air battle at the Thai Nguyen steel mill was a watershed. Not only was it the biggest escalation of the period, that effort reconfirmed General Billy Mitchell's maxim that no target can be shielded from the determined application of air power. But after Thai Nguyen, the surviving pilots knew it must be done smarter and better in the future and went to work to make it possible.
Some related items of interest regarding a later conflict:
On January 16th, 1991, during the early hours of Desert Storm, a large scale effort was waged to neutralize and destroy Iraqi defenses. Few political restrictions were imposed and the enemy was allowed no sanctuaries in which to hide. By the time the bombing strikes were initiated the key radars had been eliminated and the MiG and SAM threats had been greatly reduced.
Wild Weasel support was provided by pilots and bears flying F-4G Advanced Wild Weasels, and their F-16 wingmen. F-117A's, F-15E's, and other strike aircraft were used to supplement them by bombing known defenses.
Pilots and aircraft from the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing were deployed to Saudi Arabia from Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona to serve magnificently in yet another conflict. The 355th fighter pilots flew the A-10 Thunderbolt II, successor to the Thud and last of the long line of honest, heavy, and capable war machines produced by the "locomotive works" at Republic Aviation Corp.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TOM "BEAR" WILSON was a career United States Air Force officer with three thousand hours of flying time, mostly in fighters. During his five hundred hours of combat flying, he earned four Silver Star medals for gallantry and three Distinguished Flying Crosses for heroism. He also served in various roles as instructor, flight examiner, tactician, staff officer, and unit commander. After leaving the military, Wilson enjoyed diverse careers, including: private investigator, gunsmith, newspaper publisher, and manager of advanced programs for a high-tech company in Silicon Valley. Mr. Wilson was the author of several novels including Termite Hill, Lucky's Bridge, and Tango Uniform.
