Remembering the Dragon Lady: The U-2 Spy Plane: Memoirs of the Men Who Made the Legend

by Gerald McIlmoyle

  William J. Turpin

  Oceanside, California

  I was known by friends and co-workers as “Turp.” From 1956 to 1968 I was part of the 4080th SRW and the 100th SRW at Turner AFB, Laughlin AFB and Davis Monthan AFB. My assignment was with the Field Maintenance Squadron structural repair shop, better known as the Sheet Metal Shop. Our motto became, “You bend, we mend.” Our shop made high-pressure hydraulic lines, control cables, fiberglass repairs and all manner of sheet metal repairs. We did some minor and other extensive repairs on the U-2s. I was also with the B-57 program and supported the drones.

  A number of names come to my mind of friends and co-workers who shared those times. I had some fun times and hard work with Donald Swann, Lowell Foster, Emanuel Peevy, and “Soup” Campbell.

  My most memorable experience was a TDY to Australia. I met many wonderful people there and made a lot of good friends. I missed them when I had to leave; seeing real kangaroos and koalas were a special treat.

  The Air Force gave me a great education seeing different parts of the world and experiencing new things. However, with the good times came the bad times of being separated from my family and loved ones for extended periods and missing out on family events.

  I especially enjoyed the camaraderie of the Air Force, and I now keep in touch by email with some of the guys.

  Turp's wife of many years, June, who was with him during his Air Force career passed away in February 2003. He has since married Judy, a long-time family friend.

  Gordon E. (Joe) Warner

  Carrollton, Texas

  Wife: Jane

  The Beginning

  I am an Iowa farm boy born and raised not far from Radar O'Riley's hometown of Ottumwa (you know, from the television series M*A*S*H). We lived in the last house on the last road so if we saw a dust cloud, it was either the postman or someone was lost. We had no running water or electricity, and I attended school in a one-room schoolhouse until the eighth grade. The day I turned seventeen, I asked my dad if I could join the Air Force, and he said, “Why not?” Now keep in mind, the farthest I had ever traveled was to the Missouri state line to buy fireworks and to the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. You can only imagine the culture shock I experienced on my first airplane ride to Oakland, California for eleven weeks of basic training with folks from all over the country.

  After basic training, it was on to Aircraft Mechanics Technical School at Amarillo AFB, Amarillo, Texas where I was told I would be working on the F-89 Interceptor. Upon completion of technical school, I received reassignment orders for Turner AFB, Albany, Georgia. The saga begins.

  In February 1956 after a short visit with my folks in Iowa, I traveled to Albany and presented my orders to the guard at the main gate. He quickly told me I was in the wrong place because there was no organization by that name on the base. I was totally flabbergasted. In time everything got sorted out, and I found my way to the open bay barracks that was to be my new home.

  I did not know there was a master plan for forming a new wing. I learned later the plan was to take the top graduates from technical school, mix in some three to six year Korean-war veterans, and top it off with some of the meanest “brown shoe” sergeants that ever held a wrench. The term “brown shoe” was applied to those men who were members of the Army Air Force and were issued brown shoes or boots. When the Air Force came into its own in 1947, everyone was issued black boots.

  OL20 Maintenance Group in front of Joe Warner's U-2 #703 - ‘Soup’ Campbell fifth from left back, arms crossed; Donnie Brown, third from left, middle row; Joe Warner, sixth from left, middle row; Bob Ingram, fifth from right, back row.

  So there we were, an eclectic mixture of humanity thrust together to form one of the most unique squadrons of all time. The only problem was we had no airplanes. With no planes to work on boredom set in very quickly. One of the sergeants’ favorite past times was to gather us young guys after roll call and have us sweep the hangar floor while they drank coffee in the break room. After we finished sweeping, they came out, looked at the floor, kicked over the trash cans and we would start all over again. Some days this went on until noon. What they failed to tell us was that they were observing attitudes and determining who would be the future crew chiefs.

  Eventually some of us were assigned to an inspection dock working on the B-57 aircraft and some just disappeared for a few weeks. In 1957 the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing moved to Laughlin AFB, Del Rio, Texas and we began receiving the U-2s from Lockheed.

  Everyone has their favorite story about the U-2, and I am sure you have heard most of them. What struck me most about the aircraft was that there were no instruction manuals for the aircraft. Now keep in mind that I had just finished mechanic training where the instructors had pounded daily that we never ever do anything without “the book.” Here I was working on an aircraft that was supported by Lockheed with the original blueprint drawings but no maintenance manuals. All the maintenance was accomplished by asking another maintenance tech or one of the Lockheed tech reps, who would then consult the drawings. When we went TDY to an operating location, ten five-drawer filing cabinets with the aircraft drawings were critical equipment to be loaded on the transport aircraft. Of course, using those drawings was another story. Finding a needle in a haystack would have been an easier task than finding the specific drawing that was needed. That was where our own Little Black Book with common part numbers (not girlfriends’ phone numbers) became a “must have at all times” for each crew chief.

  Joe Warner, 1959.

  I worked my way up the ladder to crew chief and went on several deployments. The principle aircraft I was assigned to was #703. At that time it was designated as an E model which meant it had aerial refueling capability.

  My first TDY was in the summer of 1958. It was Joint Task Force 7 at Eniwetok Atoll. This was an exciting time for me to witness first-hand the atomic tests. We were 35 miles from ground zero for most of the shots, and I could feel the heat from the blast even at that distance. The Atomic Energy Commission had a B-52 that usually took off at 3:30 a.m. Since the island was in the form of a dog leg with our living quarters on the short part of the leg, it seemed as though the plane was coming right through our tent. The high point of the trip was a shot referred to as OAK. Our instructions were to roll up the tent sides and put everything on top of our bunks. When the shot went off, it was announced that the wave action would start in fourteen minutes. The time came and went with no wave action. Then suddenly the lagoon dried up right in front of my eyes. The bottom of the lagoon could be seen for at least 100 yards. Just as suddenly the action reversed, and the bottom half of the island was covered with the waves of the sea.

  Our wing operated primarily as a TDY organization. When we were at home station, it was training, training and more training. Everyone pretty much hated it. For a long time the normal rotation was three months TDY, and seven to nine months back at home. In later years the rotation plan changed resulting in more frequent TDYs due to a shortage of qualified personnel.

  I would be remiss if I did not mention the wives of our organization. They were the glue, the force behind the guys, any and all superlatives would work here. I was in Alaska on a TDY from Laughlin AFB and returned to Davis Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona. My wife, Jane, took care of closing up the house in Del Rio, packed and arranged shipping of everything, rented a home in Tucson and had it all set up when I returned. One tough lady!

  Then there was the TDY that continues to be a topic of conversation, the infamous trip to Clark AFB, Philippines and on to Bien Hoa Air Base, Saigon, South Vietnam. This trip had been in the works for some time, and we had several premature starts. We only had three U-2 aircraft with inflight refueling capabilities, and they were needed for this deployment. James (Soup) Campbell was crew chief on #707, Donnie Brown was crew chief on #680 and I was crew chief on #703. These three aircraft were equipped with J-57 engines because they had inflight refueling capabilities. Later they were designated as t
he F model when they were reconfigured with the J-75 engine.

  Joe's U-2 #66703 in flight. Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin Co.

  When we were alerted for an immediate departure, I made a habit of taking an empty suitcase to the assembly point. There had been frequent dry runs and premature starts when we were released immediately after checking in. As luck would have it, one of these turned out to be the real thing and off we went. The boots I had on were pretty well worn, and by the time we arrived in Vietnam, I had to put paper in the soles. One day a C-130 dropped in and I gave the loadmaster $20 to bring me a new pair of boots on his next trip. I never again saw the loadmaster with my boots or my $20.

  When we arrived at Clark AFB, Philippines, we had been flying for what seemed an eternity, and we were all bone tired. The word we received was to have at least two of the aircraft ready to fly as soon as possible for a mission the next day. This aircraft has an extremely sensitive center gravity and the weight and balance have to be figured on every mission. There is a lot of math involved; at home base, it was done by someone with a big calculator. Our line chief gathered Soup, Donnie and me together and said we had to do the weight and balance by hand. We looked at each other, and Soup spoke first, “I don't think I can do it.” Donnie chimed in quickly and said, “Me neither.” The line chief looked at me and said, “I guess that leaves you, Warner.” I was still there eight hours later when they came back to do the preflight, but we got the job done.

  All the crew chiefs felt very protective of “our aircraft.” To this day, Soup, Donnie and I know the whereabouts of “our” U-2s. Soup's #707 is on static display at Laughlin AFB. Donnie's #680 has the distinction of hanging suspended overhead in the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC. My own U-2 #703, well, it holds a special place in my heart.

  I had approximately eighteen years with the squadron and many, many enjoyable times. I do not have any bad memories. When I retired in 1976, I was the night liaison for Colonel Eddie Dunagan, Deputy Commander of Maintenance for the wing. As the night liaison, I was in charge in his absence. There were a few exciting nights, but most of the time the duty was a bit boring because nothing of any significance occurred at night.

  Albert (Dan) White, Jr.

  Cat Spring, Texas

  Wife: Linda

  Panama

  In March 1962 I was sent to Panama on a six-month TDY. The operating location (OL-18) was headquartered at Howard AFB which was located inside the perimeter of the Army base, Fort Kobbe. Major Melbraaten, the detachment commander, asked if I could fix a malfunctioning ship-to-shore radio on a friend's fishing boat and I agreed to give it a try. I was familiar with a lot of radio equipment through my job. I was required to maintain the radio systems on the U-2 which included repair or replacement of the boxes.

  When I saw the radio on the boat, I discovered it was badly corroded and required some time to clean up and restore it, but I was finally successful. After installing the repaired radio in the boat, Major Melbraaten and his friend invited me to join them on a trip through the Panama Canal at the Miraflores Locks. What a treat. The canal, built in 1914, connected the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via a 48 mile ship channel with locks. All sizes of ships passed through the canal to save an estimated fifteen days by sailing around the southern tip of South America.

  We were in a small fishing boat sharing space in the lock with an enormous cargo ship that had paid an exorbitant fee to pass through from one ocean to the other. The most striking memory I have of that event was looking up at the huge ship going through the locks with us. One small error and we could have been crushed like a bug against the side of the lock and not discovered for some time.

  England

  A month after returning to Laughlin AFB from Panama, in early October 1962 I went into my shop, the 4080th Armament & Electronics (A&E), for the day shift. Before I could even start work, Sgt Richardson, the radio shop supervisor, told me to return to the barracks and pack a bag. He said a plane was waiting for me on the flight line. I was going TDY to RAF Upper Heyford, England, OL-7, and I would replace the radioman there. I rushed off to the barracks, quickly packed and returned to the flight line where a U-3A waited. A captain and first lieutenant had finished the preflight, and we were ready for takeoff. I discovered I was the only passenger for a trip to Forbes AFB, Kansas to meet a KC-135 tanker. When I arrived, I learned I would be the only passenger on that flight too. The flight crew told me to take any seat in back and get ready for a long flight. When I left Laughlin, it was still warm even in October, and I had dressed in short sleeve fatigues with field jacket. My compartment in the KC-135 was anything but first class. It was extremely cold in my area, but the crew was toasty warm on the flight deck.

  Dan and Linda White.

  Upper Heyford was an active RAF base, but we operated apart from their operation and we had only casual contact with anyone. Our detachment commander was Arthur Leatherwood. The Operations Officer was Pat Halloran and assigned pilots were Tony Bevacqua, Bob Pine and Dave Ray.

  Shortly after arriving in England, I learned the base was on alert, but I wasn't sure of the reason. While I listened to BBC Radio one evening, I learned the US had blockaded Cuba because of the presence of missiles from the Soviet Union. It was a time of great concern. Many of the enlisted men and I spent evenings close to the radio to learn if we were going to war with the Soviet Union. All turned out well for us in the ground crew. However, we did lose a couple of our pilots, Rudy Anderson and Joe Hyde, who gave their all. We remember them for their duty and sacrifice.

  I enjoyed my time at Laughlin AFB with the A&E radio group. Some of the team were Sergeants “Rich” Richardson, “Bat” Masterson, Cliff Fortner, and Airmen Lee Brazer, Don “Cooch” Coucherio, Sam Bell, Bob Montella, Frank Sweeley, Clint Allred, and Bill Withrow, my roommate.

  To Launch a Recon

  Around the World

  “Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of carelessness, incapacity or neglect.”

  Anonymous

  Cuban Missile Crisis

  October 1962 is a date that is vivid in the collective memories of many Americans, but most especially the men of the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing. They were charged with flying over the island of Cuba to photograph the presence of Soviet missile sites. The clarity of the photography taken from their U-2 aircraft made it easy for President Kennedy to determine how to proceed to protect our country.

  The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) planned and directed the execution of all Cuban overflights. No flights took off before the JCS briefed the President and he authorized each mission. The SAC Recon Center at Offutt AFB, Nebraska transmitted the approved orders through the chain of command to the wing command center.

  At the Wing level pilots were designated for the scheduled flights. Support functions, such as Maintenance, Photography and Operations were alerted of the forthcoming events. Physiological Support was notified which pilot was scheduled to fly and the technicians had his gear ready when he reported. The pilots tasked for these missions were:

  Major Rudolph Anderson

  Major Buddy Brown

  Major Steve Heyser

  Captain George Bull

  Captain Ed Emerling

  Captain Roger Herman

  Captain Charles Kern

  Captain Gerald McIlmoyle

  Captain James Qualls

  Captain Robert Primrose

  Captain Daniel Schmarr.

  The camera maintenance personnel had special pride in their work. These missions were what they had trained for and they were ready. It was a favorite saying of the unit, “If the camera doesn't work, there was only a training flight that occurred.” The following people were there to support the NEPHO operation at McCoy AFB:

  F. M. Shipley

  Glenn Chapman

  Bob Ingram

  Joseph (Rooster) Robinson

  Jim Manis

 
John Bell

  Jerry Fogel

  Ricky Mickle

  Bobbie Black

  Jim Combs (Hycon Tech Rep)

  Ray Callahan

  Tom McClung (Perkin Elmer Tech Rep)

  Frank Gault

  Jim Lobig

  John Washburn

  B. C. Fowler

  John Farris

  When the pilot returned from his flight, the photography specialists quickly offloaded the film and sent it in a waiting aircraft to Washington, DC for processing.