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Posted on 03/02/2005 8:09:38 PM PST by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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Linebacker II Air Operations The Linebacker II air operations over North Vietnam were truly spectacular. Making it happen were the maintenance crews back on the ground.  With the wide assortment of literature and movies portraying the "typical" Vietnam-era GI, one might be led to believe that most Americans involved in that war were either bloodthirsty warmongers or soldiers tripped out on drugs. For the majority of the personnel who served their country in Southeast Asia (SEA), the truth was exactly the opposite. This was certainly the case with the F-4 maintenance troops of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, during the 1972 Linebacker II air offensive. Most of the maintenance personnel assigned to the F-4 section were young airmen in their late teens or early 20s. Considering the fact that F-4E Phantoms were designed to be maintained by an experienced crew chief with a "technical sergeant" skill rating, it was quite a responsibility for a young airman to be assigned as a crew chief on this multimillion-dollar weapon system. The reason for the shortage of experienced personnel was that, in late October 1972, President Nixon had halted all bombings north of the 20th parallel in North Vietnam in anticipation of a negotiated cease-fire. For the next several weeks, most of the Americans stationed in SEA felt that an end to the war was imminent. Apparently, the manpower planning staffs also felt that way because the flow of replacement personnel was reduced to a trickle.  The B-52 Strato fortress was the largest bomber in the US command, measuring 185 feet from wingtip to wingtip. The aircraft in question was carrying 114 500-lb bombs when it began its approach into Hanoi late on the night of December 22, 1972.Sixteen B-52s were lost during operation Linebacker ll. Throughout the months of October and November, maintenance and other support organizations lost experienced personnel at a far higher rate than normal due to a large number of expired DEROS (dates of expected return from overseas) for completed one-year tours, as well as the end of many TDY (temporary duty) cycles. Since many U.S. Air Force personnel had deployed directly to SEA during the April-May period following the North Vietnamese (NVA) Eastertide invasion into the South, they had finished their 180-day TDY cycles and were therefore due for a return to their home stations. In light of the bombing halt situation, there appeared to be no reason to retain the TDY people. But by the end of November, the realization finally struck a number of commanders that unless the personnel pipeline was reopened, the flying units would be in a situation of trying to maintain an in-place force without adequate manpower to do so. Finally, during the first part of December, relief in the form of new TDY personnel arrived from a number of Stateside bases and from areas in the Pacific. Some of the more experienced men who were due to rotate just before Christmas were also involuntarily extended to January or February 1973 dates. This was a highly unpopular action as most of the extended troops had families expecting them home for the holidays, but as things later turned out, it proved to be a very fortuitous decision. Since many of the new TDY people were somewhat unfamiliar with working on F-4 aircraft, it was up to those extended crew chiefs to provide them with quick on-the-job training.  During the Vietnam War, MiG-21s were often used against U.S. aircraft. Between April 26, 1965, and January 8, 1973, USAF F-4s and B-52s downed 68 MiG-21s. Although most units were still sitting far short of their normal manning requirements, the maintenance officers were reasonably confident they could handle the kind of flying schedule that the squadron wing had supported during Linebacker I operations from March to October 1972 in response to the NVA Eastertide Offensive. That effort had been characterized as a "standard" schedule whereby missions were flown by day, and night shift was used as a time for the maintenance system to correct all discovered major discrepancies to get the aircraft ready for the next day's schedule. The demands of concurrent aircraft launch and recovery operations required greater manpower loadings during the day shift. The men on night shift could usually perform their jobs with a less than full complement since their main role was to act as a coordinator for specialists doing the actual troubleshooting or repair actions on the aircraft. Under these kinds of conditions, the maintenance officers and senior NCOs felt that even with shortages the troops could "hack the program." In the meantime, the North Vietnamese were using the respite from the post-Linebacker I bombing halt to rebuild their military strength. On December 13, 1972, the North Vietnamese delegates walked out of the Paris peace talks, and two days later, the president ordered the execution of Linebacker II--the resumption of airstrikes against North Vietnam. The majority of U.S. Air Force people stationed in Thailand were completely surprised by the new air offensive.  F-4 (FG-786) loaded with munitions & ready for its mission The first hint that something unusual was going on was on December 16, when the author, then the most junior F-4E maintenance officer, was told by his flight line maintenance supervisor to go to his quarters to get some rest in preparation for a return to the night shift beginning the next evening. A new second lieutenant with only four months of experience, the author was in temporary command of the wing's fighter section because all of the more senior maintenance officers had departed for Christmas leave. But before he left for his quarters, he was tasked to supervise a quick detail to transport dozens of empty, center-line fuel tanks from the tank storage area to the aircraft revetments. The men on night shift were given the duty of loading the tanks and to begin putting together all friendly aircraft undergoing routine, scheduled maintenance. The flight-line personnel were also informed by the supervisor of the Thai work crews, who were assembling new fuel tanks, that they would be working overtime to build up a large reserve of operational tanks (which arrived in kit form from the Stateside stocks). This activity seemed to point toward an expected large expenditure of external tanks and spawned numerous rumors that U.S. forces were possibly going to be involved in a new bombing effort above the 20th parallel. During Linebacker I, it had been standard procedure for F-4 aircrews to punch off their external fuel tanks prior to entering North Vietnamese airspace, thereby lessening drag.  These rumors became fact when the maintenance officer in charge reported back to work on the evening of December 17. He was told to report directly to the Wing Maintenance Control Room for an important briefing prior to his shift-change muster and roll call. He noted immediately that every single aircraft status board was covered over by curtains. The F-4 board controller, an experienced master sergeant, lifted up the curtain covering the status board for the F-4 section and, amazingly, almost all of the aircraft appeared as either operationally ready (OR) or well on the way to being so.  Loaded F-4 (FO-733) - 500 Lb bombs with fuse extensions On a normal basis, the section maintained an OR rate of about 80 to 85 percent, but the board was showing an OR status of 92 percent, with 23 out of 25 F-4s available for service. Every aircraft was loaded for either an air-to-air configuration (AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles) or a hunter-killer configuration (cluster bomb units, or CBUs) with fully fueled center-line and wing tanks. This had to mean only one thing--the 388th aircrews were definitely headed back to North Vietnam!
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LOL! Don't you just love it when they "jump into it" with both feet?
Morning quiettolong.
The MSM is still doing that. They ignore or downplay the atrocities commited by our enemies and "frontpage" some panties on the head for weeks. They treat our military like they're the enemy too many times.
A lot of Americans can tell you they heard of the My Lai Massacre, not many can tell you about the NVA/VC massacre at Hue during TET. It's a story that was ignored for the most part by the MSM.
During my time over there I hoped I wouldn't have to make the big decision, that is, when it became time, would I surrender to those people or die instead.
General MacArthur carried a .41 rimfire two shot Deringer, used to belong to his father, who carried the same gun in his own time and for the same reason. Real understandable to me.
Globall flyer look to land in Salina KS around Noon CST. As of 4:21 CST is about 1000miles off the coast of Baja Calafornia headed Northeast.
Freeper Foxhole Bump
http://www.virginatlanticglobalflyer.com/MissionControl/Tracking/
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Morning Aeronaut.
Morning alfa6.
I hope he makes it.
Good morning
I bet he does. LOL. Here I am up at 4 a.m. so it a mute point anyway. ;-)
No calling in sick. Not allowed. If I have to go through it, you do to. Just remember we're eviiil capitalist masquerading as a couple of nice folks.
Ha! I should've known better.
We're watching and hoping all goes well for Fossett.
Good morning Gail.
Excellent history, as usual.
I can see the headline now,"Eviiil Capitalists exploit bird lovers"
Hi GailA.
:-(
Morning Jovial Cad, giving some credit to the people behind the scenes.
Hunting enemy activity?
Hmmm..
March 3, 2005
Let's see. What is the crisis of the day? It could be terrorism and its random threat. Or the economy and the fear that we will run out of money before we run out of time. Maybe it's a personal crisis with no foreseeable solution-a tragedy or a failure too great to bear.
Before we fall under the weight of our accumulated fears, we would do well to look back to a 20th-century woman who bore sadness, pain, and heartache with grace.
Corrie ten Boom lived through the hellish life of Nazi concentration camps-a place where hope was lost for most people. She survived to tell her story of unfaltering faith and tight-fisted hope in God.
She saw the face of evil up close and personal. She saw some of the most inhumane acts man can do to man. And when she came out of it all, she said this: "If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you'll be at rest."
Where are you looking? Are you focusing on the world and its dangers? Are you gazing at yourself, hoping to find your own answers? Or are you looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith? (Hebrews 12:1-2). In an uncertain world, we must keep looking to Him. -Dave Branon
When your world is falling apart, trust Jesus to hold it together.
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