The Tonkin Gulf Incident:

The Tonkin Gulf Incidents took place in August, 1964. In the first incident. the USS Maddox (DD-731) was attacked by North Vietnamese patrol torpedo boats. Shots were fired by the patrol boats and returned by the Maddox. Several North Vietnamese were killed. There was only minimal damage to the Maddox. In the second incident, the USS Turner Joy (DD-951) thought they were also attacked by patrol boats.

Tonkin Gulf Resolution:

On August 7th, 1964, Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution which authorized President Johnson to take any measures he believed were necessary to retaliate to promote the maintenance of international peace in southeast Asia.

President Johnson ordered the Department of Defense to begin air attacks in the southern portion of North Vietnam and began increasing US force levels in South Vietnam.  The Navy began sending aircraft carriers north to a position called Yankee Station to conduct carrier based bombing of southern North Vietnam targets. The carrier based aircraft usually provided close and direct air support missions in South Vietnam before moving north. As US troop levels increased in the south, the Department of Defense concluded that an increased capability to provide air support in the south was needed. The Air Force and US Marines increased air support capabilities based in South Vietnam.


Operation Rolling Thunder (1965-1968):

The gradual and sustained air war over North Vietnam called Operation Rolling Thunder conducted from March 2nd, 1965 through November 2nd, 1968. Rolling Thunder grew from a sequence of single mission retaliatory strikes (1965) into a massive strategic air campaign (1967). Rolling Thunder initially concentrated on attacking infiltration routes into the South Vietnam from North Vietnam. Targets were designated on a weekly basis by the nation's top military leaders, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and approved by the Secretary of Defense, the State Department, and most significantly,  President Johnson.  The final decision on targets were authorized, the number of sorties to be flown, and in many cases even the tactics to be employed by our pilots was made at a weekly "Tuesday Luncheon" in the White House. This meeting was attended by the President, the Secretary of State (Dean Rusk), the Secretary of Defense (Robert MacNamara), Presidential Assistant Walt Rostow, and the Presidential Press Secretary (first Bill Moyers, later George Christian). The significant point is no professional military man, not even the Chairman of the JCS was present until late 1967.

Dixie Station:

In 1965, General William C. Westmorland, Commander of US Ground Forces Vietnam, requested that an aircraft carrier be provided by the Navy to support combat operations in South Vietnam. In response, the Navy decided to convert the USS Intrepid CVS-11 (the "S" is for anti submarine warfare) for this mission.  The Intrepid CV-11 would operate from a location called Dixie Station off the coast of South Vietnam.  This Dixie Station carrier would not require fighter aircraft as there was no fighter threat in the south. The carrier would not need airborne command and control so no Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft would be necessary.  What was required was as much air support for ground troops as possible. It was decided that the Dixie Carrier deck load would consist of two A4C squadrons and two A1 Skyraider (Spad) squadrons. The USS Intrepid (CV-11) was assigned as the Dixie Station Carrier and Carrier Air Wing Ten would be reorganized to consist of the four attack squadrons. There was a three plane helicopter detachment (HC-2) assigned to the ship for logistics and search and rescue missions. Intrepid and it's air wing was tasked to begin training for a June 1966 deployment to Dixie Station. 

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Useful References


The four attack squadrons of CAG 10's  Dixie Station air wing consisted of the following squadrons:

A4 Squadrons         Home Base                                                   Spad Squadrons                     Home Base
VA-15                     NAS Cecil Field in Jacksonville                     VA-176                                  NAS Jacksonville
VA-95                     NAS Lemoore California                               VA-165                                  NAS Alameda California

The squadrons were tasked to commence training at their respective bases and be ready to start work up training onboard Intrepid in February, 1966 for deployment in April and to commence combat air support flights from Dixie Station in May.  For the two west coast squadrons that meant they would leave their bases in February and not return until after the deployment in November (10 months).

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VA-15 had been a Spad squadron in the 1950s but had been disestablished. The Navy brought it back to life as a proposed A6 squadron. It was in the process of being established when the Dixie Station concept resulted in it being reestablished as an A4C squadron at NAS Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Florida.  Enlisted personnel were redirected from Oceana to Cecil as were the green cruise boxes from the days when it was a 500 squadron.  The  personnel and cruise boxes began arriving in October 1965 but there were only a few officers;  Cdr Jack Gracey the CO, LCDR Jerry Tuttle, and LT Morris E. Sheppard, the Maintenance Control Officer.  What few people knew was that Jerry Tuttle had been checking out prospective pilot training records at the A4 Skyhawk Replacement Training Squadron, VA-44.  Unlike normal squadrons that received new pilots in dribs and drabs, VA-15 needed all its pilots in a one month period. So, Jerry Tuttle began hand selecting the JOs (Junior Officers) and somehow got his pick of the litters.  Ltjgs Bo Smith, Miller Detrick, Dave Parsons, Dave Thornhill, and P.C.Craig all reported for duty in a group followed closely by Ltjgs Dave Culler Bob Cole, Dick Nolte, Bob Hamel, and John Newman.  LCDR Jerry L. Terrell's orders were changed from an A4E squadron to VA-15. His two black heel marks can probably still be seen going in the direction of Hangar 13 where VA-15 was reforming.  Lts Moon Moreau and Dave North (two experienced carrier pilots) and Lee Cole from a VC squadron were also on their way. LCDRs Pete Schoeffel, Bill Butler, and Moose Moran and the XO, CDR Ike Jones completed the squadron before the end of the month of November. VA-15 had formed itself (two CDRs, five LCDR, three Lts, and ten LTJGs (20 pilots) in one month. There were 14 A4Cs on the ramp. We flew more A4 hours in December that any other A4 squadron in the Navy.  LCDR Tuttle was the driving force behind this accomplishment.

Rules for flying in VA-15:  LCDR Tuttle was instrumental in setting up the ground rules:

1. We established divisions within the squadron and flew many missions with the same flight leader (CO, XO, LCDRs Schoeffel, Tuttle, Terrell), section leaders (North, Moreau, Butler, Moran, and Lee Cole and wingman (10 Ltjgs). I was assigned to Possum Flight; LCDR Possum Terrell and usually I and Dave Parsons were the wingmen. We flew a lot of three plane flights with Pars and me alternating as section leader or as a three plane division with each of us in a section leader position on either side of Possum. LCDR Fred Hoerner, the CAG 10 Staff LSO, often flew the section lead position when he was available which he made sure was often.

2. There would be "no rank in the air".  That meant that pilots would progress due their aviation skills progress not their rank. This didn't mean that much at the start but it became significant later on.

3. We would adhere to strict radio discipline. You never pushed the mike button unless you knew exactly what to say and then in as few words as possible. We wingmen were expected not to say anything because, by definition, wingmen had no reason to say anything. Tuttle would say, "son, all I want to hear out of you is Aye Aye Sir or Mayday".  In flight, you never questioned a decision by your leader.  It was Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that when a wingman reached a pre briefed fuel state (bingo fuel), it was OK to say or preferably hand signal "two or four (our positions as wingmen) "bingo".  That was it, you never reminded the leader again as to your decreasing fuel state.  He was the leader and he knew what your fuel state was. Just "shut up and fly wing".  We used hand signals and various movements of the aircraft such as wing rocks etc. to communicate.

4. Formation flights would demonstrate coordination and professionalism at all times; canopies would open and close at the same time, section taxi formations would be perfectly spaced etc. etc. Our goal was not to be "Blue Angels"; just a very professional carrier attack squadron.


Working for Jerry Tuttle:

Once both the CO and XO were onboard and Pete Schoeffel was the official Operations Officer, LCDR Tuttle was the Maintenance Officer. I was the Aircraft Division Officer.  It was a real learning experience working for him. His best advice to me was "Instructions (written regulations) were for mediocre naval officers". He expected us to identify the problem, determine a solution, and execute it, yesterday. He was all about rapid response time; in the air and on the ground!   Miller Detrick was the Line Division Officer and Dave Thornhill was the Quality Assurance Officer.  Lt Morris E.  Shephard (Shep) was the Maintenance Control Officer and Bob Cheyene, a mustang (ex enlisted) was the Avionics/Ordnance Officer.  Jerry Tuttle and Shep knew that the highest possible aircraft readiness would be required to accomplish our mission. It would be the key to our success from the beginning.

One of the other squadrons that shared Hangar 13 with us was VA-66.  They had their squadron patch on their aircraft by using a decal. The problem was that their decals did not adhere well to the aircraft paint so they tore off in pieces. It wasn't a pretty picture. Jerry Tuttle came to me one day and told me that he wanted our squadron decal on our airplanes but that he didn't want them to come off. Basically, fix it. Well, I knew nothing about the naval supply system and it was doubtful that they would fund this anyway. So, I researched the issue and found a 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company) office in Jacksonville.  I knew that they made scotch tape so I asked them whether they had the capability to make decals that would stay on our aircraft. Not only could they arrange to have our decal silk screen painted on their decal material, but they offered to train our maintenance personnel how to use their new bonding product to apply the decal to our airplanes.  Their bonding product worked by making a molecular bond with the surface of the aircraft. They guaranteed that it would never come off.  In fact, the problem was that the only way we could get it off was to remove it by grinding it off.  They made the decals and then their personnel came out to teach our "metal smiths", Aviatiion Mechanics Structiures (AMS) and our Corrosion Control Team how to apply them.  They also gave  or people hints on how to make it easier to remove the decals if we wanted to paint the aircraft. I don't know how we paid for the decals and training; not my area of concern.

Our aircraft paint scheme was easy to accomplish and I think it looked great; just the 3M VA-15 decal and a little bit of our blue color on the tail cap. You can see what it looked like on the aircraft below. It is our CAG aircraft number 00 instead of 300. We called it "Double Nuts". 

The image of the aircraft in the picture was taken at Cubi Point in the Philippines had flown quite a few combat missions.  The markings directly behind the decal are groups of five bombs. So, this aircraft's bomb clusters indicates that it had flown 45 missions. Also notice the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club patch on the tail.  We added the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club patch once we had been on the line for a while on Dixie Station. The bomb mission markings and the Tonkin Yacht Club patch were hand painted on all our aircraft by a single airman in my Aircraft Division. He loved  that job!

Just before we deployed, Cdr Gracey, Jerry Tuttle, and I were "chewed out" by the Cecil Commanding Officer because I had completely disregarded using the proper supply ordering procedure.  He and the base supply officer pointed out that I had initiated and executed a contract which I was not authorized to do. Cdr Gracey did not give me a hard time and Tuttle just grinned.  I had done exactly what he had intended me to do.

Our MacDonnell Douglas Tech Rep: 

CAG 10 had a MacDonnell Douglas Technical Representative (Tech Rep) assigned to us and VA-95 to consult with us on aircraft structural repair issues during our work up and deployment. His name was Glen Gray. An A4 expert, Glen was extremely helpful especially when we had challenging airframe repairs on Dixie Station.  He also advised us on MacDonell Douglas ejection seat issues.  Glen was also an expert on the  inflight refueling "Buddy Store". The Buddy Store was a fuel tank that had been modified with a refueling drogue system. It had a propeller that the pilot could start from the cockpit. The propeller powered the electrical and hydraulic systems that made it work. We had four of them and it took our troops and Glen busy to keep them working properly. Glen helped with both A4 squadrons. But, he spent a lot of time in our ready room and I worked with him personally a lot on Aircraft Division issues.

Uniforms: 

We basically had two uniforms.  We usually wore wash khakis (cotton short sleeved shirt. cotton slacks, brown shoes and socks (aviators and aviation chief petty officers wore brown shoes and socks.  Surface officers and chief petty officers wore black shoes and socks) and a fore and aft cap (piss cutter) or VA-15 ball cap.  When on the flight schedule, we would usually be in a flight suit and piss cutter or squadron 15 ball cap. We tried to get issued the cool tan cotton flight suits and ditch the orange ones.

Flying in November:

I flew 17 flights in November in A4C aircraft; formation flights, refueling practice, some instrument practice approaches, and weapons delivery flights at a variety of local targets. The major target area was the Pinecastle Target complex where you could drop live ordnance and strafe with our 20mm guns. There were also several small targets such as Lake George, Rodman, and a few others which were pretty much restricted to MK 76 or MK 106 practice bombing.

The Pinecastle Target Complex:  Pinecastle is about 100 miles south of Cecil.


We transitioned from our A4Cs to the older A4Bs in December:

The powers above; Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) or OP05 (Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Air) decided that the VA-15 and VA-95 did not need A4Cs to accomplish the Dixie Station mission.  We could do just as well with the older A4Bs. Since we were not going to fly at night, we only needed the old all black main Attitude Direction Indicator (ADI) in the A4B rather that the newer white over black ADI in the A4C. Also, because we were flying in a non SAM (Surface to Air Missile) and non radar controlled AAA (37/57/85mm) environment, we did not need the electronic warfare avionics that were in the fleet configured A4Cs.  So, we lost our 14 A4Cs but gained 16 A4Bs.  At one time in early December, we had almost 30 aircraft out there on our ramp. You better believe if they were there, Jerry Tuttle was going to fly them. As a result, we flew more A4 flight hours than any other squadron in December, 1965.  Another factor was that we were not flight hour limited (fuel rationing).

December: My big news in December was the birth of my second daughter, Laura Kendall Smith on December 1st at the Jacksonville Naval Hospital.  I did a bit better with Laura.  I took a few days off from flying.

My first flight in December was on December 6th. It was my first A4B flight. I flew 19 flights (27.8 hours) in December; three of them in A4Cs (6th, 7th, and 8th).  By the middle of December, the A4Cs were gone.  My last flight in December was on the 23rd so I guess we did take a bit of a break for Christmas and New Years.

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Squadron Life: 

There was a world of difference between our social life in VA-15 than in the training command or VA-44.  First, we expected to be together for two cruises so we thought we could really establish some good friendships.  We did manage to fit in some good times despite the fact that we were extremely busy getting ready for workups. Also, we had some non flying officers and their wives who were an integral part of the social life of the squadron.

First, was our squadron flight surgeon, Lt Dave MacMillan. "Quack" as he was respectfully named, mostly paid attention to his primary responsibility; keeping the pilots in the proper physical and mental condition to be effective officers and pilots.  But, Quack also paid attention to the squadron medical needs of the officers' wives and the enlisted men and their wives and families.  Quack actually made house calls when needed. Bye the way, over 50 years later Dave Macmillan, a retired neurosurgeon, is still called "Quack" at squadron reunions!

Not second but next, was Lt Morris E. Sheppard. Shep was everywhere. Although he spent many hours in Maintenance Control and around the hangar deck and flight line, he found time to mingle in the ready room getting to know every officer and their wives or girl friends when he could.

Next, the Avionics and Ordnance Officer, Bob Cheyne also made an effort to find his way to the ready room both ashore and onboard the ship.  He and his wife Pat regularly attended squadron social functions. His widow Pat still attends our regular squadron reunions over 50 years later.

It was a little different in the case of our squadron Intelligence Officer, Lt John Hawthorne.  Although John was officially assigned to the squadron, he spent most of his time ashore at other offices associated with intelligence matters.  On aspect of being an attack pilot in the 1960s was that we were part of the nuclear deterrent program.  John spent most of his time working on target folder sources and assisting each of us prepare our target planning folders.  This was a very highly classified program at the time. I'll discuss it a little more detail later.

Calls Made and Returned: 

According to Naval tradition, an new officer back in 1965 was expected to "pay a call on his Commanding Officer at his quarters as soon as possible after reporting aboard his ship or squadron.  It was expected that the call would be brief; the new officer should not hang around. Upon leaving, the officer placed his calling card (one for the CO and every member of the COs family) in a silver plate or ceramic dish located at the front door.  After an appropriate amount of time, the commanding officer  would return the call (rarely happens).  Because we had twenty four officers reporting in within about a six week period, "Calls  Made and Returned" was not practical. So, Cdr. Gracey decided to have an oyster roast party and consider it as "Calls Made".  Some left cards. Some did not. I did.  I really liked the idea and had a ceramic dish by my front door when I was a squadron Commanding Officer in 1978.

The Oyster Roast:  The CO, Cdr. Jack Gracey and his wife  hosted our first squadron party. (Calls Made)



It was a great party.  Not pictured here are the Moreaus, Terrells and the Tuttles.  But, Im sure they were there. John Hawthorne was able to attend this party. He managed to get into three of the four pictures. In future parties, we would find out how much Barbara Tuttle liked to dance to Elvis and the Beetles.  Possum started his fame as The Phantom Fannie Feeler".  Back in those days, we were not so uptight about such things.  Also not pictured here in his bachelor days, is Dave Parsons.

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We had to turn it up even more in January because we were scheduled to begin work up training on the Intrepid in February. I flew 23 flights; 28.4 flight hours, 4.9 hours of night time, 48 FCLPs ( 26 of them at night). For the first three weeks, we flew mostly weapons training flights including 20mm strafing. The last week was devoted to carrier landing practice at White House Auxiliary Landing Field.


Carrier Airwing Ten had completed their move from NAS Oceana to Cecil during December. The Air Wing LSO (Landing Signal Officer), LCDR Fred Hoerner flew mostly with us (Possum flight) during January. He also conducted most of our VA-15 individual pilot debriefs.

 I'm not sure how the VA-176 Spad drivers stationed at NAS Jacksonville worked out their carrier quals but CAG 10 LSOs had to be involved.  Also, I suspect that the VA-165 Spads at NAS Alameda and the VA-95 A4s at NAS Lemoore  either must have come east to get in some FCLPs with the CAG 10 LSOs or the LSOs went west to them.

USS Intrepid (CVS-11) Workup Training

USS Intrepid Underway Workup Training One:

We flew out to the Intrepid on February 1st. The Intrepid was probably located off the coast of Jacksonville. We spent a little over three weeks onboard. I flew 26 flights; 39.3 hours, 23 arrested landings (2 bolters). I left Intrepid for a couple of days at Cecil for some reason from the 14th to the 17th. It wasn't just for a break because I flew two flights on the 14th and flew back on 17th (two days home with Mary and the girls). I'm sure that in the beginning, we concentrated on learning the carrier/airwing procedures for departures and landing order etc.  We didn't bag any traps (get practice) because all my flights had only one landing (except for the two bolters).

We did some night flying (not much) to practice night departures, get a little night time, and practice entering the holding pattern (Marshall) and executing a carrier controlled night approach. I logged 3.2 hours of night time; 3 night cat (catapult) shots (take off), three night CCAs (Carrier Controlled Approach), and 3 night landings. We were going to be the day only Dixie Station carrier off of Vietnam but we still were going to transit the Atlantic and operate in the Mediterranean Sea.  We had "real world" missions during the transit to and while in the Med so had to be prepared for the possibility that the missions might involve some night flying.

We also did as much weapons training as we could. I suspect we did some MK 76 practice  bombing of the "spar. The Intrepid (or any surface ship) could deploy a sled type device (AKA the spar) from the stern and tow it with a steel cable about 2000 feet aft of the ship. The airplanes (usually a division) would set up a circular pattern and make individual bombing runs attempting to hit the  "spar". This was not  very realistic training but it  was better than no practice if a land target is not available. I know we did do some weapons flights to most likely Pinecastle Target because I expended some MK 80 series live bombs and shot some 5" Zuni and 2.75" LAU 7 rockets which could only have been used at Pinecastle.

We flew back from the ship on February 23rd and took a few days off from flying to give the maintenance folks a chance to work on the jets.

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USS Intrepid Underway Workup Training Two: 

We flew out of Cecil for the first couple of weeks or so. I flew 5 flights which were mostly weapons flights.  Two were MK 76 practice bombing flights. But I got a chance to fire my first two Bullpup missiles on the third flight.  The Bullpup was an air to ground missile that you controlled via a wire from the aircraft to the missile.  Firing a Bullpup was like playing a video game. We even had a Bullpup simulator which was a video game. 
We had one which we practiced with in Hangar 13 at Cecil and moved to the ready room on the ship.

We flew out to Intrepid on March 18th for only a short one week workup.  The ship was probably located off of VACAPES (the Virginia coast) close to her homeport in Norfolk. I flew 8 flights during that period; 7 arrested landings one of which was my 30th Intrepid trap.  We flew off the ship on March 23rd for Cecil. I flew only 3 flights in March for 21.5 flight hours.

We had only one week back at Cecil before we would leave on our deployment!   We would take advantage of the break!

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We basically shut down the squadron for four days at the end of March.  All the enlisted men (troops) got basket leave (took four days off without it counting as leave) and all the officers that could took a trip to the Jack Tar Hotel, West End, Bahamas.  It was for officers and wives or girlfriends; no children.  The no children concept unfortunately prevented some key people from attending such as the Terrells and Tuttles. "Quack", Doc MacMillan,  arranged the whole thing including a chartered prop plane, rooms, and  meals for a reasonable flat rate of something like $500 each.  When you are going on your first combat deployment, it was worth every penny.



 

VA-176 Spads-400s

VA-95 A4B Skyhawks-500s

Intrepid's COD

HC-2 Helo

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It took 18 days to transit the Atlantic to the Straits of Gibraltar and then on to our first port visit in Naples.  I flew one fight in the vicinity of the Azores Islands on the 5th of April, and four flights in the western Mediterranean enroute to Naples. During or transit to Gibraltar, we were under the operational control of Second Fleet based in Norfolk.  As soon as we passed through the Straits of Gibraltar, we switched to the operational control (OPCON) of Sixth Fleet in Gaeta, Italy. Although there wasn't much flying, there was quite a bit to do during the transit.

It's about 3,800 miles from Norfolk to the Straits of Gibraltar. We did not fly at all until we were close to the Azores so we would have a bingo field available if something went wrong. But we kept ourselves occupied with two activities: 1. It was a great opportunity for those of us who thought we might want to command a ship one day to stand some underway bridge watches. 2. We had a lot of planning and studying to do in connection with a mission we would have when we were in the eastern Med. This mission was in connection with America's policy of nuclear deterrence. I will discuss this in some detail in a separate section.

Before I get into a discussion of our nuclear deterrence mission, I want to tell you an exciting story. At least it was exciting to me, even scary.

The Soviet Union liked to keep track of American aircraft movements as much as possible.  One way they did this was by overflying our carriers using their Tupelov TU-95 Bear aircraft. The Bear had an amazing range and could inflight refuel. They could get to us from the Baltic Sea through the Iceland UK Gap and then down to our track and return.  One day, we received intelligence that a bear was enroute when Intrepid was about 500 miles west of the Azores. It was Navy policy that Soviet Bears would not overfly one of our carriers without being intercepted by a section of one of the carriers fighter aircraft.  There was only one problem. We didn't have any fighters and the highest altitude that an A4B could reach was about 43,000 feet.  The Bears could fly well above that. There was no way that we could reach them.  However, sometimes the Bears would come down to a low altitude, even 1,000 feet to take pictures of the carrier. Well, to shorten the story; VA-15 was tasked to  be ready to launch to intercept  the Bear and then fly to the Azores.  The sea was exceptionally rough and there was no way we would attempt to land. I was assigned to fly with the XO, Cdr Jones on the mission. We manned aircraft.  He was on the port catapult. I was on the starboard.  We actually started our engines and were hooked up.  I was looking at waves breaking over the bow similar to the picture. Thank God they scrubbed the mission.

Tupelov TU-95 Bear aircraft

The square hole in the deck is where he Number 1 elevator is located.

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Our Nuclear Deterrent Mission: 

In the 1966, the United States Navy had a significantly larger nuclear deterrent capability than we have today.  Our modern capability consists of fewer numbers of nuclear weapons due to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT agreements with the Russians). Another difference is that our modern capability only involves strategic weapons systems such as US Navy nuclear ballistic submarines, long range strategic bombers (B1/B2), and strategic surface to surface ballistic missile systems.

In the 1960s, we had had a tactical nuclear weapons capability.  In Europe, the US Army had artillery with a low yield nuclear capability.  In Europe at that time, the Soviet Union had an overwhelming advantage in terms of ground infantry and tank forces. If they chose to attack West Germany and France from East Germany and satellite countries such as Poland, there was no way that NATO forces could stop them with conventional weapons. The US Army's tactical nuclear capability made it unthinkable that the Soviets would attack with their conventional forces. The USAF and the Navy also had tactical nuclear capabilities. The USAF F-105 Thunderchief was designed to conduct low altitude high speed penetration of Soviet military targets such as airfields with tactical nuclear bombs. Our Navy aircraft carriers carried tactical nuclear weapons designed to be delivered by our their embarked  A4 carrier aircraft.  Aircraft carriers operating in the northwestern Pacific and eastern Med were assigned tactical military targets. When we were back at Cecil our AI (Aircraft Intelligence Officer), John Hawthorne  worked with the system to get our targets that we would be tasked to attack if needed. Each of us had a specific target .  We worked on constructing our navigation charts that we would use, memorized the navigation route and defensive environment etc. We flew practice "profile missions at Cecil which involved high altitude navigation descending into Florida airspace, and a 500' AGL (Above Ground Level) low level route to Pinecastle where we would deliver a MK 76 or Mk 106 practice bomb. We practiced various types of deliveries designed to give the aircraft the greatest possible separation from a nuclear detonation. We were issued eye patches to put on one eye so that if the flash of the detonation blinded on eye, we had one remaining. We would of course have moved our mirrors so that a flash behind us wouldn't be reflected in our eyes. We did flash blindness training to observe how long to expect our vision to be regained after a big flash. If you look at the paint scheme for naval aircraft in the 1960s, you might notice that the fuselage paint is a light gray which provides fair camouflage in a cloudy sky. But, all the flight control surfaces (ailerons, elevator, and rudder) are white as the color white reflects light most effectively reducing heat. It was a serious mission and we were trained to perform it. Thank God, we didn't have to!!

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The Azores to The Straits of Gibraltar: 

As soon as we passed the through the Straits of Gibraltar we switched to 6th Fleet operational control (OPCON).



The Straits of Gibraltar to Naples, Italy:

As we passed by Gibraltar on the left, we had Morocco on the right. Next, we had Spain on the left and Algeria on the right. We conducted three days of flight ops from  April 15th through the 17th on our way to Naples.

We probably conducted our flight ops in the Tyrrhenian Sea northwest of Sicily and southeast of Sardinia because it was closer to Naples. I flew four flights, three practice bombing flights and one practice inflight refueling flight. We entered the port of Naples on April 18th, 1966.

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We were only in Naples for two days as we had to transit the eastern Med and the Suez Canal and then the Indian Ocean to get to Cubi Point in the Philippines May 5th.  So, we only had a chance for a quick visit in Naples this time. I remember though getting off the officer's liberty boat at Fleet Landing and walking up the main street in that part of Naples.  We went to a restaurant about halfway up the hill and I had my first meal of real Neapolitan food. We walked around a bit. had a few drinks and that was about it.  I made about ten visits to Naples in my navy career.  I learned more about it with each visit, played lots of tennis, and met lots of local Neapolitans. I  appreciated it and enjoyed it more with every visit. 


So, lets take a brief tour of some of the great places to visit in the Naples area. I never visited Ischia, so I can't tell you much about it. I had a few sailors get in trouble over there over the years with motor scooter accidents. We had to get them out of jail before the Sixth Fleet lawyer showed up or they would miss ship's movement which we didn't want.  It was against Sixth Fleet policy to rent motor scooters; too many accidents.

Well start with the Baia Bay/Pozzouli area west of Naples and then move on to the Mergilina area. After Merginlina, well look at the port and take a ride out to NATO Heaqurters for the Southern Command (AVSouth). Next well take a look at Pompei and Mount Vesuvius before heading out to visit Sorrento and the Amalfi coast. Our final stop will be on the Isle of Capri.

On the left of the word Naples is Bahia Bay. Bahia Bay features the old town of Pozzouli which has an old Flavian Amphiteater ,ruins from the first century AD and Sufatare (The inspration for Dantes Inferno). On the other side of the bay is Julius Caesars summer palace, Roman baths and Nero's palace where he fiddled while Rome burned. Further to the left are the remains of the first Greek settlement in Italy called Cumae (@450 BC). The Greek settlement of Syracusa on the east coast of Sicily is a bit older. Syracusa was chronicled by the first known historian Thucydides.

Pozzouli is in the foreground. On the other side of Baia Bay are the baths and the ruins of the palaces of Julius Caesar and Nero. Between the two points of land submerged under Baia Bay is a fully intact road with the ruins of buildings.

This is the Flavian Amphiteater in Pozzouli.  Supposedly, it was large enough to have mock ship battles in it.

You don't have to go to Rome to see ruins

Sufatare

The Greek settlement of Cumae-450 BC

Now let's visit Pompeii:

There is a lot to see in Pompeii and in the Herculaneum fishing village on the coast.  Be prepared for some pretty graphic remains of the dead and don't be surprised if you notice that the Pompeii folks decorated their roads and houses with some pretty pornographic stuff .

On to the Sorrento Peninsula:

It's a beautiful drive along the coast from Herculaneum and Sorrento

There are nice little hotels, excellent restaurants and great shopping in Sorrento. Get yourself a fossil marble table top.

I hope you enjoyed your tour of the Naples area.

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We didn't do any flying during our transit to the Philippines because we had to steam as fast as we could to get to there on  time.



Our transit to the Suez Canal took us from off the east coast of Sicily through some of the deepest waters of the Mediterrean Sea past Tunisia and Egypt on the right and the Greek Islands, Crete, and Turkey on the left to Port Said at the entrance of the canal.

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From Port Said, we headed south with all the other southbound ships to Great Bitter Lake where we paused to let the northbound ships pass us. From Great Bitter Lake, we continued south to Port Suez and the Gulf of Suez. From the Gulf of Suez, we continued southeast to the Red Sea.

Not much room for an aircraft carrier!

Sightseeing in our Tropical White uniforms. The Sinai Desert on the left, Egypt on the right

Dave North and Doc MacMillan talking with an  Egyptian Air Force officer.

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Hawthorne, Nolte, Smith, North, Thornhill, Lee Cole, Cdr. Jones, Parsons, Hamel, Schoeffel, Cheyne, Newman, Bob Cole, Craig, Culler, Shep Butler, Detrick, Moose Moran, Possum Terrell, Cdr. Jack Gracey, Jerry Tuttle, Moon Moreau, Doc MacMillan (Ltjg Gene Atkinson and our new Air Intelligence Officer, Ltjg Dave Moyer would not join the squadron until we arrived in Cubi Point)

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Intrepid made it on time I  We flew off to NAS Cubi Point on May 6th, 1966:

The BOQ at Cubi wasn't spectacular but it was a great place to rest after a night at the nearby O'Club

The Cubi O'Club was famous for it's plaques and Cubi Specials. It was the Trader Jons of the western Pacific

The Cubi O'Club was such an important part of Navy western Pacific (WESTPAC) tradition that it has been recreated at the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola

Bob Cole (Cozy) on the left and Bob Cheyney (brown jacket) were playing the slots when the new pilot, Ltjg Gene Atkinson (yellow party hat) joined us.  The dress code at the Cubi Club in 1966 was jacket or barronge.

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left to right: two pilots from another squadron, me, Gene Atkinson

Gene Atkinson (Wimpy) reported to VA-15 in Cubi Point. After completing VA-44, Wimpy flew commercial from Jacksonville to Clark AFB just to the north of Cubi. He took a bus to Cubi and reported for duty. We had only arrived a day or so before. As the junior guy, Wimpy was assigned as the CO's wingman.  He flew one flight at Cubi with the CO before walking aboard Intrepid for a ride out to Dixie Station. His second flight with the squadron, his first off Intrepid was a combat flight with his new flight leader, Cdr Gracey. Instead  of wearing orange flight suits, we were issued the matching olive drab cotton shirts and pants I am wearing in the picture for our missions over South Vietnam.

I flew two flights in Cubi on May 10th before flying onboard Intrepid on Dixie Station on May 12th, 1966

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Types of Dixie Station Aircraft Configurations and Weapons Loads:

The A4 internal fuel capacity was 5400#s of fuel.  It is capable of carrying three drop tanks (fuel tanks; each with 2000#s of fuel) for long range transits (no weapons).

Or, the A4 can carry two drop tanks (4000#s of additional fuel) and a refueling store for inflight refueling.

Or a centerline drop tank (2000#s of additional fuel) and two Multiple Ejection Racks (MERs) carrying 10 of the new  MK 81 or MK 82 bombs or 10 to 12 of the old 220 ring frag fat bombs.

Or, LAU 10 5" rocket pods on TERs (two pods per TER, four rockets  pod), or LAU 3 2.75#  rocket pods  (two pods per TER with 19 rockets per pod)

Or, we could also carry napalm on the TERs.

Each A4 had an two internal 20mm guns available on every mission.

We could also carry a MK 4 gun pod which had a high rate of fire 20mm capability on each parent wing station. But the gun pod was not very reliable and required removal of the MER or TER which proved impractical.

After off loading all those Mk 80 series bombs before the first line period, we began stocking up on the Mk 81s (250 lb), MK 82 (500 lb), MK 83 (1000 lb), and even some MK 84 (2000 lb) boms because we used up the old bombs quickly and more MK 80 series bombs became available. Mk 80 series bombs temporarily positioned in the "bomb farm" on the starboard side of the island during flight operations.

This was our standard bomb load; a center line tank with two TERs with 6 MK 82 500# Or, we could replace the bombs with four LAU 10s (16 5" rockets). Or four cans of napalm

This is a standard Spad bomb load It could carry lots of bombs or rockets had four 50 cal guns on the wings and could stay on station much longer than our A4s

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Our average mission lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes which was controlled by the cycle time desired for the carrier deck (spot the deck for launch, launch aircraft, recover the previous cycle, respot the deck. The pilot indicated a thumbs up or down following landing which determined whether the plane was spotted for ready for the next launch or in a maintenance spot (hard down aircraft went to the hanger deck). The plane captains, trouble shooters, and ordnance men had about 45 minutes to make the plane ready for the next launch cycle while the flight deck fuels guys refueled the plane during the same time frame. Our squadron would have four planes (one division) on one cycle and eight planes (two divisions) on the next cycle. This required that 12 of our 16 aircraft had to be mission ready. We often had one additional  plane configured as a tanker so we often had 13 of 16 ready. The other A4 squadron (VA-95) had a similar tasking. So, the ship had  12 A4 mission aircraft and one tanker assigned to each cycle.

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	Getting the aircraft ready for the next launch. The ordies (red shirts) have the get the bombs loaded. The troubleshooters (green shirts) and the plane captain (brown shirt) have to get the plane ready for flight. The purple shirts (flight deck refueling crew) need to get the plane refueled. All this in about a 45 minute period before the plane director (yellow shirt) can have a brown shirt remove the chocks for taxi. This picure also show to LOX crew  replenishing the plane's liquid oxygen.
	The respotting of aircraft after landing is coordinated by the Air Boss in PriFly and the Aircraft Handling Officer in Flight Deck Control.  The Handler is responsible for spotting the aircraft for the next launch or getting down aircraft out of the way either on the flight deck or in the Hangar Deck below.
	This picture shows some of the various colored shirt personnel getting the plane ready behind the port catapult (Cat 2). The vertical barrier between the aircraft protects the aircraft behind the cat (a bomber) from the jet exhaust of the plane on the cat (a plane configured as a tanker).
	The movement of aircraft on the flight deck during launch recovery of aircraft is the responsibility of the Air Boss who operates from Primary Flight Control (PriFly) on the port aft side of the island.  He and his staff in PriFly communicate with the various flight deck directors and officers on the flight deck  and the Landing Signal Officer (LSO) on the LSO platform to ensure the safe launch and recovery of aircraft.
	This picure shows a standard mission configured aircraft on Cat 2 with a centerline drop tank and a TER on each wing with MK 81s (250# bombs) or MK 82s (500# bombs).
	This picure shows the aircraft off the end of the bow after being shot off Cat 2.  As soon as the pilot is comfortably airborne, he will make a turn to clear his jet wash for the next plane which will be launched off Cat 1.
	Once the flight joined up, we would fly to our anticipated point in the Mekong Delta where we were briefed to meet up with a Forward Air Controller (FAC).
	Coasting in to the Mekong Delta through an A4B gunsight.
	The Mekong Delta produces most of the rice crop consumed in South Vietnam. The rice paddies made movement through the terrain difficult for conventionally equipped army units. The Vietcong were comfortable in the delta and controlled large portions of the more inaccessible areas for most of the war.
	The division leader navigated to a rendezvous point with ordnance specified by the "frag" . The "frag" was published by US command forces in Saigon The rendezvous point was usually a bearing and range off a TACAN or a significant feature like the intersection of two rivers or a karst mountain (in the western delta)
	The  FACs flew Piper Cubs which we called Bird Dogs. The FACs flew at a safe altitude above the target which depended on whther the target area was defended or not.  Most targets in the southern part of South Vietnam were only defended by small arms fire from the Viet Cong (VC). The top of the FACs wing was usually painted red so  the FAC could be seen more easily by the division lead who was normally flying at 8-10 thousand feet.
	Once the flight leader had the FAC in sight, the FAC would fly to the target area and mark the target with a flare called a Willie Pete. The flare would not only indicate the target but also the surface wind direction. The flight would set up a circular bomb pattern to the left (jet pilots like to turn left for some reason). The flight leader would drop one bomb and pull back up into the pattern. The FAC would call a correction to the next pilot would drop one bomb. This would continue until the FAC considered the target destroyed and if the flight had more bombs, the FAC would move to another target.
	After the mission, the flight would return to the ship for recovery. It looks as if this A4 has engaged the target wire (the 3 wire) on centerline. The there four arresting wires on modern aircraft carriers.  The Intrepid had five. If you look over the canopy of the landing A4, you can barely see the LSO platform. If you look over the LSO platform and a little to the left, you can see the wake of the Plane Guard destroyer which is positioned to come to the aide of an aircrew incase of a crash during flight operations or a man overboard during regular steaming.

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At the beginning, Dixie Station was about 75 miles off the coast of South Vietnam southeast of Saigon.  Initially,  most of our missions were in the Mekong Delta south of Saigon in support of US Army and South Vietnamese ground forces (ARVN) in the IV Corps area. We were assigned missions that were part of a general plan "frag" coordinated primarily by US Staff officers in Saigon. Toward the end of the line period, we began moving north  flying some missions in the  III Corps north of Saigon.

Types of Missions and Tactics:

There were two kinds of missions in South Vietnam (Dixie Station):

Direct Air Support Missions- Basically, all the missions started out as Direct Air Support missions (DAS). The frag order directed the weapons load, a rendezvous position to meet the FAC, the FACs call sign and check in UHF radio frequency, and the time for check in.  The normal weapons load was bombs, second 5" (LAU 10s) or 2.75 mm (LAU 7) rockets, and last napalm.  If there no troops in contact assignment (close air support) missions, the FAC would designate a direct support target. Direct support targets consisted of suspected VC base camps, VC weapons caches, or transshipment points (trails or small bridges).  We generally described them as bombing trees.  Occasionally, we would get secondary explosions at the target indicating that we had hit a weapons cache or base camp.  After the mission was complete, the FAC would give us a BDA (Bomb Damage Assessment) to  report to the ships Air Intelligence Center (AIC) following landing.

Direct Air Support Tactics-   As described previously, the FAC would fly to the target area and mark the target with a flare we called Willie Pete. The flare would not only indicate the target but also the surface wind direction.  The flight would set up a circular bomb pattern to the left at about 10,000' with each aircraft in the flight about 90 degrees from each other.  When each pilot indicated that they had the target (Willie Pete) and the FAC in sight, the flight leader would initiate a 30 degree angle bomb run, release one bomb at about 4,500', and initiate a 3-4 G pull-up  back up into the pattern (minimum altitude 3,000' above ground level or AGL). The FAC would call a correction to the next pilot would drop one bomb. This would continue until the FAC considered the target destroyed. For 'bombing trees' type targets, we might begin dropping two bombs per run once we were on target.  We seldom encountered any opposition for these type missions; at least none we could see.  Occasionally, the FAC would report that he was taking fire and directed us to bomb the source of the ground fire. In this case, we knew that the target was a 'real target and not just 'bombing trees'!

Close Air Support Missions and Tactics- About 30% of the time, the FAC would have a close air support mission for us. Close air support missions (CAS) involve friendly troops on the ground in contact with Viet Cong (VC) troops. Friendly troops included US Army and Vietnamese Army (ARVN) forces. The US Marines were located in the northern part of South Vietnam. In CAS missions, the FAC would be in radio contact with the friendly force commander by radio (which we couldn't hear) and receive a description of what he needed.  The friendly force would mark their position, usually with red flares, and describe the position of the VC forces.  If we were carrying bombs, we would fly a similar pattern to DAS missions and drop one bomb at a time until the FAC told us we were on target. Then  we would again drop a couple or the remaining bombs onboard the aircraft; whatever the FAC directed us to do. Again we seldom encountered any opposition for these type missions; at least none we could see.  But on these CAS missions, the FAC would often report that he was taking fire and would move further away from the VC forces (toward the friendlies) while still keeping the target in sight. If the friendlies were US Army forces, we would press our attacks lower to increase our ability to see the target and have better bombing accuracy releasing the bomb at 3,000 ft AGL with a pull out altitude about 1,500' AGL or even lower if the friendlies were in danger of being over run by the VC.

The CAS tactics were different if we were carrying rockets or napalm.  In this case, we would lower our roll in altitude and release the rockets or napalm from a 15 degree angle or so. For rockets, we would fire the rockets at 2,500' or so with a 1,000 ft AGL pull-out for US Army forces; a bit higher for the ARVN forces unless there was a US Army advisor with the ARVN unit who requested us to press out attacks. For napalm, we would release even lower in order to hit the VC if they were close to the friendlies. More details of how our napalm tactics evolved as we gained experience in just a minute.

Whether armed with bombs, rockets, or napalm, we would straffe the target with 20mm cannon if the troops were still in contact to keep the pressure on until the next flight checked in with the FAC. Our 20mm rounds were HEI (High Explosive Incendiary) rounds with a tracer round loaded every 20 rounds or so to enable us to correct our fire on to the target. CAS missions were exciting missions.  The BDA included estimated VC weapons destroyed and number of VC KIA (killed in action). These CAS missions usually resulted in a great feeling that we had really accomplished something important.

Advanced Napalm Tactics: 

We had reliability problems with our napalm fuses.  The fuses were white phosphorus which were designed to ignite the napalm mixture. But these fuses were unreliable as they often shot away from the napalm rather than into it so all we delivered was a bunch of JP 5 jet fuel with some detergent mixed in which didn't go off. So, we developed delivery tactics to solve the problem.  To make sure the napalm went off, the wingman of the delivery aircraft (a/c) would fly a combat spread position position on the delivery a/c and strafe the napalm when it hit.  This meant a low pull out for the strafing aircraft. But the results were spectacular.  When the strafing a/c pulled off the target, he became the section  lead for the next run. This tactics was a challenge to execute but was a lot of fun to fly.  We gave on heck of a great air show for both the friendlies and the VC but the VC had a much hotter time of it. We got very good at it after a few flights!  I think our sister squadron, VA-95, adopted this tactic once they learned about it.

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Saving a Village under VC Attack: One of my most memorable missions of the first line period was when Possum flight was tasked to meet a FAC across the Mekong Delta almost to the Gulf of Thailand (AKA Gulf of Siam) southwest of Can Tho.  When we got there. the FAC was talking with someone on the ground inside a small hamlet. The hamlet was under attack by the VC from karst hills outside of the village.  The villagers were running from the nearby rice paddies and farms to get inside of the gate of the hamlet. When the villagers were inside, the gate was locked and we were free to assume that anyone outside the gate were bad guys. We had the perfect weapons configuration for the mission, TERs with a combination of 500# Mk82 bombs and LAU 10 5" rockets (8 rockets and three bombs per aircraft). The VC were firing mortar rounds from the hills into the village. It was easy for the FAC to mark the mortar positions for us to bomb the positions one bomb at a time and follow up  with very accurate 5" rockets.  We were able to engage and destroy numerous mortar positions and strafe any VC running from our attacks. It was a very rewarding mission in that we knew that our flight saved the village from being overrun by the VC.

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Red Ceramic Roof Tile Stuck in the Wing Slats: 

This did not happen to me. This was John Newman's (Smeds) claim to fame. First, the A4 wing had slats on the front of the wing which would slide open to increase the camber of the wing during landing. Although not designed to do this, the pilot could snap the slats down if in a high G turn to increase his rate of turn or in a pull-up to decrease his altitude loss. The former was usually done intentionally. The pull up situation was usually initiated by pulling a littler harder to avoid hitting the ground.  Smeds was in a flight that was involved in attacking any area in the vicinity of a small building (hooch) with a reddish brown ceramic tile roof.  Somehow Smed's had to  pop the slats to make the pull-out. The pressure wave of his aircraft caused the house to disintegrate sending tile flying. Some of the tile impacted his aircraft becoming stuck in the slats when Smeds relaxed the G on the aircraft.  The FAC went wild! He screamed that he had never seen a pilot destroy the target by flying through it.  The VALion legend began. Of course the flight deck guys were amazed.  My Aircraft Division AMSs ((Aviation Structural Mechanics) were not as excited as they had to remove the slats and realign the slat tracks before the plane could fly again.