My Second Squadron Tour (1970-1971)
VA-82 Marauders
Mediterranean Cruise
(Updated December 8th, 2021)

Instrument training in VA-45 and RAG training in VA-174
and
Workups and our 1971 Mediterranean cruise aboard USS America CV-66

VA-45 Blackbirds
TA4 Instrument Training
VA-82 Marauders
A7-Corsair Fleet Squadron
VA-174 Hellrazors
A7 Corsair RAG Training



Mary, Heather, and Laura at the Grand Canyon during my USAF exchange tour in 1968.

Mary, Heather, Laura and I packed up our stuff in the old Buick LeSabre and headed southeast back to to Jacksonville.

Only this time, we had a new member of the family, a dog named Bosco.  Bosco belonged to our neighbor in base housing at McConnell. I threw a tennis ball to Bosco next door for about a year.  When our neighbors moved, they couldn't take Bosco so they gave him to us. Their loss was our gain. Bosco was a great dog!

When we arrived in Jacksonville, we decided to buy our first house. 
We found a three bedroom two bath house in Orange Park which is where most of the pilots at Cecil Field were living those days.
We decided on a house at 108 Saturn Lane East because it was near S. Bryan Jennings Elementary School.


108 Saturn Lane East had a swimming pool
in the backyard. It also had a vacant lot behind us which couldn't be developed because it was a pioneer cemetery.  This gave us privacy for our pool.
We wanted Heather and Laura to go to S. Bryan Jennings because the Principal there was well
known for her progressive approach to elementary education.

Saturn Lane was also not far from a very nice place called the Club Continental on the St. Johns River in Orange Park.
The Club Continental used to be an old estate and had a beautiful main house which had an excellent restaurant, beautiful grounds
which included a nice pool and clay tennis courts.






Did I mention that the Club Continental had clay tennis courts.  They did and I spent a lot of time there.
I played singles and doubles for their Men's A Team and also competed in their club tennis tournament.





The Club Continental men's tennis tournaments were usually won in those days by Dr. Dick Bolton.

But occasionally, Dr. Bolton didn't play so another member Ray Bradbury and I usually fought it out.

Occasionally, I won!

Here I am sporting my John Newcomb mustache
and my TAD Davis wood racket.
I actually did do some flying when I could fit it in between sessions on the tennis courts!

The first item that had to be accomplished was to renew my instrument card.


VA-45 Blackbirds

TA4F Skyhawk

Instrument Training


April, 1970

I flew seven TA4F instrument flights (14.2 hours) from April 10th through April 20th to renew my instrument card.
Because I had sufficient flight hours, it was a Special Instrument Card.



VA-174Hellrazors

A7 Corsair

Fleet Replacement Training

May, 1970

First I was required to complete the required ground training; swim requalification including the Dilbert Dunker,
high altitude pressure chamber, and ejection seat training. Then, I was required to complete A7 systems ground training
including simulator training.  After I completed this training and successfully passed a blindfold cockpit check,
I was ready to fly.




VA-174's hangar is the double hangar in the center of the image. The hangar to the left was the Fleet Replacement Squadron Hangar.

The hangar to the right was VA-45's hangar and the FRAMP (Fleet Replacement Aircraft Maintenance Program) space where the training of A7 maintenance personnel took place.

I flew five flights in May (8.8 hours); one in the A7A, two in the A7B, and finally three in the A7E.
These were all solo flights of course as the Navy hadn't produced the two seat A7C version until 1975 or so.

This is what it looked like flying to Cecil
for landing at Runway 18.  We would fly about halfway up the runway in an echelon formation and break one aircraft at a
time to the downwind leg for landing.

Sometimes, the more experienced fleet squadrons would execute what is called a
"fan break" where all four aircraft in an
echelon formation would break simultaneously and get their interval on the downwind leg by varying the amount of G the pilot used in the break. The lead pilot would use more G than each pilot in succession.


June, 1970

I flew only four flights in June (7.9 hours); all in the A7E
 
July, 1970

I flew seven A7E flights in July (18.7 hours); two night flights (5.2 night hours)
and three cross country flights (an out and back to MCAS Yuma.


I began attending Happy Hour at the Rocket 17 Bar at the Bachelor Officers Quarters at Cecil regularly on Friday nights.  I was accompanied by Possum there often. He was the Operations Officer at VA-174. One night when we were leaving the Rocket 17, I asked him how much money he had in his pocket.
His reply: a quarter. (More on this later)

By the way, about this time I learned that I was being promoted early to Lieutenant Commander.

August, 1970

Those 16 flights in May, June, and July and three flights in August (August 3rd, 17th, and 20th)
were all intended to get us ready to deploy to MCAS Yuma Arizona Weapons Training.
I had 41.1 A7 flight hours before my Yuma Detachment.


MCAS Yuma Weapons Detachment August and September, 1970



 
You need all of that long runway
at MCAS Yuma when the temperature is hot.

I flew an A7E from Cecil to Yuma on August 22nd (3.8 flight hours).
I flew 12 weapons flights at Yuma from August 24th to August 31st (11.7 flight hours).
I flew 14 weapons flights at Yuma from September 1st through September 10th (18.3 flight hours).

These Weapons Detachments are one of the two high points of replacement pilot training. The other
being day and night carrier landings toward the end of the syllabus.
The students are grouped into a class which takes on an identity.  Each class usually deigns and produces a class "T" shirt which each pilot usually wears while flying at the detachment and for the rest of their time at the RAG. The instructors who accompany these students usually get in on the fun also.  The flying is terrific. It initially consists of about five days of two flights a day of practice bombing, rocket firing, and strafing at a practice range.
That is usually followed the sixth day by a day flight at the range followed by a night sortie of weapons delivery practice.
This day night routine usually lasts about four more days. Once the practice range missions part of the syllabus is complete, there are about four days of practice strikes against tactical targets. The final day is usually some sort of a "graduation exercise" which combines it all in one big strike.

 After the Weapons Det at Yuma, I flew back to Cecil which was followed by seven post det syllabus flights.
In all, I flew 23 flights in September (35.4 flight hours).

October, 1970

Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP) and Day Night Carrier Qualification Landings

In October, I flew 19 flights (19.7 flight hours. The first flight was an Electronic Countermeasures flight.
The purpose of that flight was to introduce the pilot to the ECM systems in the A7E aircraft.

The other 18 flights were four day Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP) flights (45 landings) and eight night FCLP flights (95 landings).
Almost all of these FCLP flights were flown at the simulated carrier deck at NLF (Naval Landing Field) Whitehouse a few miles north of Cecil.




NLF (Naval Landing Field) Whitehouse


USS Lexington CVT-16

On October 20th, 1970 I had eight day carrier catapult takeoffs, two "touch and go" landings and seven carrier landings (Traps) on the USS Lexington CVT-16
That night, I had three night catapult shots and and three night traps. On October 21st, I had three more day cat shots and traps and four cat shots and night traps.


Now, it was time to check in to VA-82, my second fleet squadron!
 



VA-82 Marauders
November 1970-December 1972











When I checked out of VA-174, I just got in my car and drove north (toward the bottom
of the image) and pulled in to the parking lot for the second hangar from the bottom.

Va-82 shared that hangar with her sister squadron, the VA-86 Sidewinders.

  I checked in to VA-82 in November, 1970
VA-82 had just turned in their old A7Bs for 12 brand new A7Es

This image was colorized by Ray Thomas using Photo Shop Elements 2020 software
VA182 squadron officers when I checked in November 1970. VA-82 was my second fleet squadron so I was assigned as a Department Head. I was the fourth senior pilot in the squadron. I was junior to the Commanding Officer,
CDR Mac Gleim (5th from ther left front row), the Executive Officer, CDR Tom Scott (next to CDR Gleim's left),
and LCDR Leighton "Snuffy" Smith (between CDR Scott and me on the right front row).

  Snuffy was the Operations Officer. I was the Maintenance Officer.


Snuffy and I were quickly called "The Smith Brothers"

(Like the cough drop guys in the 1960s))

The squadron had recently returned from a Vietnam cruise flying A7Bs over Laos, South Vietnam, the DMZ and Route Package 2.
Operations over the higher threat portion of North Vietnam was suspended by President Johnson's bombing halt during that deployment.
The Executive Officer, Tom Scott, Snuffy and I were the most experienced combat pilots in the squadron as we had flown missions over North Vietnam in the during Rolling Thunder 1965, 1966 or 1967.  It took the CO, Mac Gleim and some of the other pilots who had just returned from their deployment awhile to get used to the idea that we had some different ideas about combat tactics than they did. It wouldn't matter much right away though as the squadron was transitioning from their old A7Bs into the new full system A7Es and were scheduled for a Mediterranean deployment in 1971.

 It would matter on our second cruise though in the summer of 1972 as VA-82 as part of CAG 8 on America would be participating in Operation Linebacker 1 and 2 during the toughest part of the North Vietnam campaign.

The Smith Brothers



Snuffy and I would work together to try to improve the squadron's combat tactics and flying skills.

He was the Operations Officer;. I was the Maintenance Officer for both cruises. We decided not to switch after the first cruise when we learned we would be going to Vietnam the second cruise.

We were roommates on America on both cruises.





November 1970

I flew 10 flights in our new A7Es in November, 1970 (18.3 flight hours).
Five of these flight were 45 degree Mk76 practice bombing at one of the many targets available to us at the time.
Two of the flights were "post maintenance test flights". As Maintenance Officer, I flew a large portion of these "test flights".
One flight was a radar navigation low level flight.

My Accident
On November 16th, I was flying a two plane formation flight with Lt. Ed Walsh.  "Fast Eddie" was one of the better second cruise junior officer pilots
in the squadron. I decided that we should engage in some air combat maneuvering training in one of the overland operating areas south of Cecil Field.
As I said, he was one of the better "sticks" in the squadron. He managed to achieve a position of advantage. I decided to fly the airplane as close to maximum performance that I could and in the process I over flew the plane and it departed controlled flight. I learned later that if you attempted a turn in the A7E with the angle of attack (AOA) about two units over optimum AOA that the normal neutral stability in yaw became negative stability. I apparently introduced some adverse yaw with unbalanced turn and the aircraft departed controlled flight. This occurred at about 7,000' altitude above the ground and about 1,000' above the tops of a cloud layer. The departure was quite violent as I was flying at about 480 kts and about 5 or 6 G at the departure. My instincts took over and I ejected. I really didn't know that I had ejected until I looked down between my legs and observed the aircraft below me. I had a good chute just before I entered the tops of the clouds. When I came out of the base of the cloud layer (about 3,000'), it appeared that I was headed straight for the middle of one of the large lakes in the Lakeland area. I imagined that there was a circle of alligators there and didn't want to join them.

I learned during my Air Force Exchange tour how to cut some of the shroud lines on one side of the parachute which would enable you to steer the chute.  I found my shroud cutter and cut four lines.  Although this increased my rate of decent, I was able to steer my land point to the shoreline of the lake. Unfortunately though, I went through a tall pine tree on the shoreline. Fortunately, I crossed my legs and went through the branches.  My chute caught in the tree limbs and I ended up (after a few cycles of hitting the trunk of tree) with my feet about a foot off the ground.  I released my "coke fittings" and was left standing on the ground, a bit shaken up but otherwise OK.  I saw Ed Walsh orbiting over my position. So, I took out my PRC-90 and communicated that I was uninjured. I must have passed out at that time because the next thing I know, a helo was landing on the shoreline to pick me up.
I was taken to the Cecil Field dispensary and checked out. They gave me a neck collar as a precaution and released me. To their credit, Mac Gleim and Tom Scott did not berate me for the accident.  I have no knowledge of whether there was a JAG investigation. I took about a week off to allow some aches and pains to get better and then got back in an aircraft a flew a45 degree bomb hop.
During the accident investigation, there were numerous attempts to recover from a similar departure in simulators. They were all  unsuccessful. So, I guess I made the right decision to eject. Another pilot had a departure with similar airspeed and G forces. He received severe injuries to his arms and legs.
Fortunately, I was able to avoid similar injuries because I was in excellent physical condition. Due to a history of numerous departure events, the Navy introduced departure syllabus in the RAG. My good friend, CDR Jerry"Possum" Terrell was CO of VA-174 at the time.

  December 1970

I flew 13 flights in December, 1970 (24.5 flight hours).

I sensed that I had lost some credibility with the Marauders due to my accident.  
I felt that the remedy for that was to ensure that I maintained the highest level of professionalism as a pilot as well as when exercising my responsibilities  as the squadron Maintenance Officer. I made sure that my briefings and debriefings were thorough but positive and enthusiastic.  I made every effort to be as helpful as possible to the Junior Officer pilots both in the air and on the ground.

January, 1971  

I flew 12 flights in January (21.8 flight hours).

We really got it going in January!
 
I flew a wide variety of flights; three 30 degree bombing flights, an instrument round robin, two Electrical Warfare (EW) AGM-45 Shrike missile flights,
two tactical strikes with MK 82s, and two "Alpha type" strikes.

My wingman for some of these flights was Jim "Rock" Yeager. Rock was an excellent pilot. I had gotten to know Rock in the RAG and I liked him a lot.
   I flew 22 flights in February (41.0 flight hours).  It was an interesting month.   At the beginning of the month at Cecil, I flew missions with Sidewinder Air to Air missiles and bombing flights.  On February 14th, I flew from Cecil to MCAS Yuma via NAS Dallas (4.4 hrs) for a short Marauder Weapons Detachment.  From February 15th through February 20th, I flew eight weapons flights. On February 21st, I flew from Yuma to NAS Alameda to visit my friend Jeff Lapic.  

Jeff was my best friend in Ridgewood High School in the 1950s. He went to Dartmouth on an NROTC scholarship and went to pre-flight at Pensacola and basic flight training at Saufley Field at the same time as me.  Unfortunately, Jeff had to drop out of flight training because he got sick on almost every flight.  Next, he was assigned to the USS Enterprise and made the around the world cruise of three nuclear powered ships called Operation Sea Orbit.

USS Long Beach CGN-9
USS Enterprise CVN-65
USS Bainbridge DLN-25
Jeff qualified as an Officer of the Deck on USS Enterprise on this deployment. His next tour in the Navy was as the Aide and Flag Lieutenant for Commander Middle Eastern Forces (COMIDEASTFOR) in Bahrain. His last tour was as First Lieutenant on USS Claude V. Rickets DDG-5 on a Mediterranean deployment. After getting out of the Navy, he went to Law School at Duke and then moved to San Francisco as a lawyer for a large law firm. Most of his career was as a lawyer for Bank of America.  That's when I caught up with him at Alameda. I stayed overnight at his home north of the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County.  The next morning, he and his son Jeff took me to Alameda. These are two pictures Jeff took when I arrived at Alameda.


This is Jeff's son "little Jeff".
This is Jeff's first wife Brooks.








This is my good friend Jeff with his son Jeff
at about the same time in 1971.
After flying back to Yuma on February 21st, I flew six more flights before flying back to Cecil on February 26th.

March, 1971   I flew 14 flights in March (19.8 hours).  Some of these flights were weapons sorties.  But, most were FCLP hops to NAF Whitehouse.


I flew six flights to Whitehouse

Two were day flights (24 FCLPs)

Four were night flights (33 FCLPs)

April, 1971

I flew 24 flights in April (39.8 hours). Five of these flights were flown from Cecil. Two of these were FCLP fights (12 day FCLPS, 13 night FCLPs). On April 14th, I flew out to the USS America for Type Training One with the ship and the other squadrons in CAG Eight. During April type training, I logged 11 day traps and 9 night traps (20 total CV-66 traps). During April type training, I logged 11 day traps and 9 night traps (20 total CV-66 traps). 
Carrier Air Wing Eight aboard USS America 1971
 

Two F4 Squadrons: VF-101 Det 66, VFMA-333
Two A7 Squadrons: VA-82, VA-86
One A6 Squadron:   VA-35
One RA5 Vigillante Squadron: RVH-13
One EA3B Squadron: VAQ-135
One E2C Squadron: VAW-124
One SH3 Squadron: HC-2 Det 66
One C1A Ship's COD
 


VF-101 Det 66 F4J Phantom
VFMA-333 F4J Phantom

VA-82 A7E
VA-86 A7E

VA-35 A6 Intruder
RVH-13 RA5 Vigilante

VAQ-135 EKA3B Skywarrior
VAW-124 E2 Hawkeye




HC-2 Det 66 SH3
Ship's COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery)



Practice Alpha Strike flown in April, 1971 during Type Training One

May, 1971   I flew 25 flights in May (40.6 hours).  All of these flights except one were at sea on USS America.  I logged 18 day traps and 3 night traps (21 traps; 41 total traps on America)  On May 21st, the squadron flew off to Cecil. Type training One was complete!
June, 1971


Five plane formation flying from NAS Cecil to the America for our Med cruise. 

I flew 13 flights in June (25.4 hours). We flew from Cecil to the America on June 3rd. I flew 10 flights from America during Type Training Two.  I logged eight day traps and two night traps (10 traps; 51 total on America). On June 21st, we flew back to Cecil. Type Training Two was complete!  I flew one flight at Cecil on June 25th. It was time to take a break to get ready for our Mediterranean deployment in July!
Henry Kissinger's Secret Trip to China
President Nixon's National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, made a secret trip to China in July, 1971. During a scheduled trip to Pakistan, Kissinger traveled to Beijing to meet with China's Premier, Zhou Enlai to lay the groundwork for a visit to China by President Nixon in 1972. Nixon and Kissinger's strategic plan was to use the Strategic Arms Limitation talks with the Soviet Union and a visit to China by President Nixon to drive a wedge between the two communist states. This plan would make the intervention by either state less likely should President Nixon decided to escalate the air war in North Vietnam to force them to come to Paris and negotiate a peace settlement to the war. This effort would eventually result resumption of the bombing in all of North Vietnam in Operation Linebacker One in the summer of 1972 and VSA-82 was destined to be in the middle of it on our next deployment!



To best understand President Richard Nixon's role as Commander in Chief during the Vietnam war, I chose to review it through the eyes of his National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger in his book "The White House Years". This a great book to understand how despite his paranoia and political problems at home, President Nixon had an excellent understanding o how to be effective in global politics.

President Nixon understood that the way to limit Russian and Chinese support to North Vietnam was through bilateral negotiations with Russia through things like the SALT talks and through Nixon's eventual expansion of our relations with China through his visit to China in May,1972.

July, 1971
I flew 15 flights in July (27.5 hours). On July 1st I flew a maintenance test flight.  Our Maintenance Department had all twelve aircraft up and ready to fly to Norfolk for the deployment. On July 5th, I flew one of the aircraft to NAS Norfolk to load aboard the America.  Once the aircraft were loaded aboard, I was ready for a little liberty before going to sea on a six month deployment.  A group of us spent a rather wild night at Virginia Beach prior to getting underway the next morning. I remember returning the ship very late with a couple of the JOs (junior officers) a few hours before the America was due to get underway.  The squadron XO, Cdr Tom Scott observed our late arrival. He didn't take too kindly that I got back so late with two of the JOs in tow.  He gave me a bit of a talking to later in his stateroom after the ship got underway.  I believe his words were, "If you want to be a department head, act like one".  This was the first time in the Navy that my conduct was being judged negatively.  Before that, my flying skills were the primary barometer of my professional performance. I was doing well as the Maintenance Officer. I had learned my lessons well working for Jerry Tuttle in VA-15. Now, it appeared that my personal behavior was going to be part of my evaluation for promotion!

The USS America was Underway for our Mediterranean Deployment on July 6th, 1971   We conducted flight operations after getting underway for two days, July 7th and 8th while within range of a divert field in the western Atlantic.  We resumed flight ops when we were within range of a divert field in the eastern Atlantic on July 15th.

Photo from the USS America cruise book taken onboard after leaving on Mediterranean cruise.
This image was colorized by Ray Thomas using Photo Shop Elements 2020 software
Back Row (left to right):  (?) Avionics Officer, LT Phil Morris (Maintenance Control Officer), Jim Yeager, Ray Thomas, Shed Webster, Eric Jensen, Al Schwark, Rick Bridges, Gary Tabbert, Ed Walsh, Tom Weiland, Ens Nick Nickens (Maintenance Material Officer). Steve Couch (Air Intelligence Officer)
Front Row (left to right): JJ Ryan, Bruce Page, Al Miller, CDR Tom Scott (XO), CDR Mac Gleim (CO), me, Snuffy Smith, Charlie Sapp






The USS America CVA-66 dropped anchor at Naval Station Rota Spain about July 16th in order to receive her turnover information from the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt CVA-42 which had just completed her Mediterranean deployment.


Naval Station Rota, Spain



The Rota Naval Base had an excellent port facility, a carrier pier, and a jet capable runway.   Rota also had a great duty free Navy Exchange which had outstanding prices on a wide range of items from alcoholic beverages, electronic equipment, to LLadro porcelain.




Rota is located on the southwest coast of Spain just a short trip through the Straits of Gibraltar.





We got underway from Rota about July 16th and went through the Straits of Gibralter
(AKA The Gates of Hercules) and then in to the Western Mediterranean.






We participated in three NATO exercises with Spain in the western Mediterranean operating in the Balearic Sea from July 18th through July 22nd before arriving in our next port, Naples, Italy.

I logged 13 traps (11 day and 2 night) in the month of July for a total of 61 traps on America.

At the end of the exercise, the America provided tours and the air wing performed in an air show (fire power demonstration) for visiting senior Spanish officers.
The firepower demo consisted of some formation flyovers and weapons delivery maneuvers off the port side of the ship. The A6 Intruders delivered a stick of bombs, the A7s conducted strafing passes, and an F4 Phantom did a high speed pass. The hit of these shows was always an A5 Vigilante that did a high speed pass and climb close to the ship while dumping fuel and then ignited the fuel by selecting afterburner.We called these Zippo passes.
 

This image was colorized by Ray Thomas using Photo Shop Elements 2020 software
This is a picture of us practicing for the an air show.
Lead (302), CDR Tom Scott; #2 (303), Jim Yeager; #3 (305), me; #4 (310), Tom Weiland

Charlie Sapp from VA-82 was selected by the Flag Staff to escort some of the senior Spanish officers during the tour of the ship and the fire power demonstration. "Sapito" (Charlie) was selected by the staff because he was reasonably proficient in Spanish.

Sapito escorting a Spanish Air Force officer and a Spanish Admiral on a tour of static display aircraft on the hangar deck. Charlie says that he was trying to say "the F4 is a very fast aircraft" but it came out more like "your sister makes really good biscuits".



Charlie on the flight deck waiting for the fire power demonstration to start chatting it up with the head of the Iberian Chapter of the Navy League.


After the air show, the group of Spanish VIPs flew back to Barcelona by helo.

The weather was awful as the ship anchored in Barcelona. But the Admiral's party, including Sapito as interpreter, made it ashore for the cocktail reception at the Barcelona Yacht Club.

Later, Charlie reported back to he ready room that that the Yacht Club was terrific and he enjoyed Barcelona for a couple of days. 

Unfortunately, boating (by liberty boats) was cancelled for the rest of us.

Charlie says that this experience set his expectation very high for the rest of the cruise.


Barcelona, Spain


  II will discuss liberty in Barcelona later in the cruise. Barcelona later in the cruise liberty in Barcelona later in the
July 19th, 1971

My third daughter Stacy Logan Smith was born while I was at sea in the western Mediterranean.  In those days, pilots on deployment did not normally get to go back to the states when a child was born.  A Navy wife was expected to handle the birth of a child with the assistance of their immediate family and/or their Navy family.  The squadron wives group was usually there to assist if the wife needed assistance. In this case, my VA-15 always reliable friend, Possum Terrell was there to help. He took Mary to the Naval Hospital at NAS Jacksonville to deliver Stacy.
The Flying Done, Waiting Around on the Flight Deck before Entering Port in Naples July 22nd

This image was colorized by Ray Thomas using Photo Shop Elements 2020 software
 Left to Right: Eddie Walsh, unknown, Bruce Page, Al Miller, Charlie Sapp

The America arrived in Naples, Italy July 22nd for a port visit which lasted about 10 days.





The America was at anchor off image to the right. To get to Naples, we took liberty boats to Fleet Landing which was located on the image about a third of the way up the side of the image on the left.

Besides great restaurants, there were a lot of interesting places to visit in Naples. On the right is the Gallaria Umberto which was one of the first indoor malls in the world. Near the Galleria in Piazza d' Martini was a restaurant named Umbertos which featured clientele from the Neoploitan Opera who would sing whenever asked.

I went with my liberty buddies, Rock Yeager and Eddie Walsh to Rome. We had read a book called 'Rome on $20 a Day' and decided to give it a try. The book said to stay at a boarding house above Harry's Bar on Via Veneto. It mentioned that the rooms were run by an English lady who would give us tips on how to safeguard our money by keeping our wallets in a front pocket etc etc.  Amazingly, we found the English lady and her rooms for rent as a reasonable price exactly as described in the book.


Harry's Bar on Via Veneto
Harry's Bar Inside
The first afternoon and night, we spent our time people watching. At first we walked up and down the street.
When we were tired of walking, we found a cafe on the street and watched the people walk by.



A very strange thing occurred on that first night in Rome. After dinner, Rock, Eddie Walsh and I were walking down a alley near the restaurant when all of a sudden I grabbed Jim Yeager by the neck and forced him against a stone wall. Eddie Walsh reacted by asking me why did I do that? I said that I had no idea!

Rock and I put my strange behavior that night past us and continued to fly and go on liberty together.

It has been only through a great deal of reflection while in the process of writing this memoir have I come to a conclusion about why I did that. I have decided that subconsciously, I was getting too close to Rock, almost like a brother. I had lost too many pilot friends in my past and felt that I couldn't get too close again.

So, my solution apparently was to push him away a bit.

The next day we visited St. Peters Basilica, the Cistine Chapel, Trevi Fountain, and the Colosseum.

St. Peter's Basilica
The inside is magnificent.
Don't miss the Vatican Museum

The Cistine Chapel
Lay on your back and see Michelangelo's  magnificaent ceiling!

Colosseum
It's more interesting on the inside



Trevi Fountain
Everywhere you look, you find ancient Rome

Back in Naples




If you walk to the left from Fleet Landing and turn left before the two way tunnel and then walk up the hill and turn to the right at the top, you will see the Egg Castle.
Castel dell 'Ovo
 
Once you see the Egg Castle (Castel dell'Ovo) youu will see a stretch of hotels, a large park, and a continuous string of boats.
This is my favorite part of Naples. It is called Mergelina




Egg Castle

Park (green area)

Hotel Vesuvio

Marina
 


I stayed at the Hotel Vesuvio whenever I could.

One of my favorite things to do in Naples was to play tennis. The park had public tennis courts. When I played with my Navy friends, this is where we went.
But one day when climbing the hill toward the Egg Castle, I found a private tennis club called Cirolo Canottieri Tennis Club.
To my amazement, when I asked about being able to play there, they were very friendly and provided opposition from among the club members.
I played there for the rest of my navy career from 1971 through 1989.


Cirolo Canottieri Tennis Club

August, 1971

I flew 23 flights in August (42.2 flight hours).
I logged 22 traps (19 day, 3 night)- Total America traps- 83

America got underway from Naples after about 10 days in port. We made our westward toward out next port Palma Majorca.
We participated in PHIBLEX 2-71 in which we supplied air support for a mock amphibious landing at Capo Teulada, Sicily.

Sicily

Capo Teulada is located on the southeastern tip of Sicily not far from NAS Sigonella.


During the Phiblkex, the America Operations folks wanted to conduct water rescue training and asked for volunteers to be put in the warm Mediterranean waters by ship's boat and then be picked up by the ship's helo detachment aircraft.

This image was colorized by Ray Thomas using Photo Shop Elements 2020 software

Of course, Snuffy and I volunteered!

Palma de Majorca, Spain
My best guess is that the America anchored off of Palma de Majorca on August 11th for a brief four day port visit.


Palma is a beautiful city on a beautiful ialand.
The local population is a combination of Majorcan, Spanish, and British cultures.
It is a favorite destination of British and Scandinavian tourists.

Palma is located off the eastern Spanish coast
in the western Mediterranean.
It is accessible by air and by ferry from
Barcelona and Valencia.


I visited Palma many times in my navy career.
It was one of my favorite ports of call.



The old town of Palma has many fine restaurants, beautiful churches, and historic landmarks.
Palma Nova west of the Old Town is the destination
favored by British and Scandinavian tourists.

It has beautiful beaches, exciting night spots, and fine restaurants.

Palma Nova has many  clubs with swimming pools and beautiful public beaches.




There were numerous tennis clubs at Palma Nova and at other parts of the island.

My favorite tennis club was in Palma Nova.
It had a swimming pool, restaurant, and a bar in addition to red clay tennis courts.

It was called the Palma Nova Playa Club or something close to that.  I played tennis, swam, ate at the restaurant, and enjoyed the bar so often over the years that I felt like I was an active member.

Exercise National Week X
America got underway from Palma on August 15th and participated in National Week X from August 16th through August 27th.
National Week is a major exercise held in the central Mediterranean.




VA-82 A7E Division Echelon Formation August 1971


Sometimes a Soviet ship would be stationed near the carrier conducting surveillance. We called them "tattletales".  We would  keep tract of these Tattletales regularly. This Kotlin DD # 370 was found at anchor at Kitra anchorage in August 20, 1971


This is me in # 304 refueling from a tanker configured VA-82 (310) near Kithra anchorage.


Sometimes a Soviet auxiliary ship would take on this "tattletale"  intelligence surveillance mission.


  This image was colorized by Ray Thomas using Photo Shop Elements 2020 software
Sometimes we would refuel from a KA-6 Intruder tanker. Cdr Gleim (300, me (313),
and Ray Thomas (305) are getting ready to refuel from a VA-35 KA-6. Photo taken by an RA-5C

After the completion of National Week X,
we headed toward Greece for port visits to Corfu, Athens, and Thessalonica.

Corfu
Corfu is the island in the Ionian Sea
to the extreme northwest of Greece
by the border with Albania.



Athens is indicated by the star on the map.



The large island of Rhodes is the green island south of Turkey in the right lower corner of the map.



Thessaloniki is an Aegean Sea port city on the northeast coast of Greece towards the top of the map.




Map of Corfu
Corfu Port



The town of Corfu is on the left of the green space.
We shared a villa with the E2C squadron out there somewhere near the black dot to the left of the green space.
This is the Achilleion Palace.
We thought it was a "casino"
In those days, it was the King of Greece's Summer Palace

It was the norm for a squadron to rent a suite in a hotel or in this case a floor of a villa as a place to party and crash in over night. We called it the squadron "admin".
 After we had been drinking for several hours at the "admin", Rock Yeager, Eddie Walsh and I thought that it would be a good idea to try our luck at the "casino" at the end of the green space not far from the "admin". We somehow got past or over the stone wall perimeter fence and walked up to the "casino". But it was dark; nothing going on there.

On our way back to the "admin", I became "tired" and thought that I would take a rest on the green grass in front of the "casino".
Rock and Eddie went back to the "admin". I woke up well after the sun was up and looked up.
There were several uniformed guards pointing their rifles at me. They took me back to the guard house to decide what to do with me.

My Escape from the "Summer Palace" King's Guards
They didn't watch me very closely and when I had the opportunity, I ran from the guard house toward the stone wall perimeter fence.
My adrenaline was pumping and I cleared the wall by about a foot or so. As I was in mid air over the fence. I looked down at the sidewalk and right there was ...

  Tom Scott, soon to be the new CO of the squadron; Strike Two!

My story wasn't the only exciting story that took place in Corfu.
This is another story told by Charlie Sapp and Nick Nickens.
"Med Cruise '71. Anchored out at Corfu.  Greek Flag Day. Flags hanging from every building. Stern warnings from ALCON (Military speak for All Concerned) in charge that the right wingers in power had no humor when they caught you messing with one of their flags.

A group of us had been at the casino and were walking down the cliff-side road to fleet landing.  I remember Sunffy and Nick Nickens, but there were more of us. We rounded the corner and saw a bunch of sailors climbing up to grab a flag. Snuffy pulled out his ID card to identify himself and told them to stop. A really big guy came over and tried to throw him over the wall to the rocks below. Nick intervened physically and all of the perps ran away.

{Nick adds the following comment: I remember the issue very well. When I "intervened and grabbed the big guy in a bear hug and pinned his arms against his body, he spread his arms and shedded me like water running off a duck's back. Good for me that they all broke and ran. By the way, my arms would not reach completely around his body. He was BIG.}

Back to Charlie Sapp: We ID'd them in the crowd at fleet landing and security rounded them up.  At the ship the big guy escaped from the Marines, jumped over the side and swam off into the night. Treacherous currents and rocks, we were sure he had died. They caught him at fleet landing. At Captain's Mast we were witnesses. Nice kid unless he drank, then he went stupid.  I think he did some bread and water time (in the ship's Brig).
 This is the "Rest of Charlie's Story"
Some days later we got underway.  Night ops.  I had the honor of being parked first spot on the port side of the bow, the one where you climb down in the dark to the 2 sq ft spot allocated for your feet, water rushing way below in the dark. As I crouched and walked under the nose I looked up and was face to face with Big Perp with a grin on his face. He was cheerful, obviously recognized me, asked me how I was doing. Swell.

I've recurring dreams abut how that might have turned out differently.

From Corfu to Athens




After leaving Corfu, we conducted flight operations in the Ionian Sea, then in to the Mediterranean, and finally in the Sea of Crete on our way to our next port visit in Athens.





I flew five flights from September 2nd through September 6th during this period.
 

 

Athens
We had a short visit to Athens; about three days from September 7th through the 9th.



America actually anchored off the coast of Glyfada Beach.




Not only did Glyfada have a beach, but also a nice hotel with an excellent restaurant which offered excellent moussaka as well as
other Greek delicacies. I don't remember if I played tennis during the Athens port visit.  But if I had, it would have been here.

It was only a short train ride from Glyfada to see the sights of the ancient city of Athens.

The Acropolis by day
I was fortunate to see the Acropolis from a nearby hill at night!
The Manastrakki flea market

We had an "admin" for one night in the Athens Hilton.
I'll never forget having drinks on the balcony listening to Janis Joplin at night in Athens!


Dinner while in Athens
Left to Center: Nick Nickens, Al Miller's wife, Al Miller, Dottie Smith, Snuffy Smith
Center to Right: Rick Bridges, Timmie Scott, Tom Scott, Lila Nickens and wife,
Photo provided by Tom Scott (Hook)

September, 1971

I flew only 14 flights in September (24.5 flight hours).
I logged 14 traps (10 day, 4 night)- Total America traps- 97
 
After leaving Athens, we conducted flight operations in the Aegean Sea.





We participated in a joint amphibious
NATO exercise,  Operation "Deep Furrow 71", providing close air support
for almost the entire exercise.
 

Following Operation "Deep Furrow 71", America went to Thessalonica, Greece for a port visit.


The port of Thessaloniki, Greece

Thessaloniki like most Greek cities is an interesting mix of the very ancient and the very modern worlds.

There are lots of streets with taverns, bars, and restaurants like this one.


CDR Tom Scott relieved CDR Mac Gleim as Commanding Officer
during our inport visit to Thessalonica

CDR Tom Scott

CDR Mac Gleim
 
   In his book "The Stories of One Shot Scott", Tom Scott describes the details of the change of command which took place onboard America followed by a reception at a fine hotel in Thessalonica. (pages 118-120) (available at Amazon.com)


"The Stories of One Shot Scott"

A great collection of sea stories taken from the naval career of Tom Scott Captain USN Ret.

Copyrghjt 2013 by Thomas P. Scott


Create Space 2013
Amazon.com


 






CDR Don Sumner became our new
Executive Officer


My clearest memory of Thessolonica was one of the most interesting restaurants I have ever visited.

To get to the restaurant, we drove through an archway like this one and then over a stone bridge to get to a castle.
The restaurant was located behind a door like this one.

The menu was extensive, the food outstanding, the prices high. But it was one f the most unusual and interesting restaurants I have ever enjoyed.

Squadron Pilots- September 1971

(photo taken about the time of the Change of Command-three CDRs present;
outgoing CO (CDR Mac Gleim), new CO CDR Tom Scott), incoming XO (CDR Don Sumner)

This image was colorized by Ray Thomas using Photo Shop Elements 2020 software
Top Row (left to right): JJ Ryan, Shed Webster, Al Schwark, me, Cdr Mac Gleim, Charlie Sapp, Bruce Page, Cdr Sumner
Middle Row (left to right): Ray Thomas, Tom Weiland, Gary Tabbert, Rick Bridges
Bottom Row (left to right): Eric Jensen, Jim "Rock" Yeager, Cdr Tom Scott, Eddie Phelps, Lcdr Leighton "Snuffy" Smith 


Following our port visit to Thessalonica, America sailed out of the Adriatic Sea to Ionian Sea and then to the central Mediterranean.
Once in the central Med, America participated in National Week XI in October.

National Week XI was a major NATO exercise which took place in the central Mediterranean Sea from south of Sicily to north of Sicily and east of Sardinia in the Tyrrhenian Sea.  VA-82 and VA-86 A7 Corsairs and A6 Intruders made practice bomb runs on NATO targets off the southern coasts of both Sicily and Sardinia.
We would normally have to make a low pass over the target, which was usually a rock outcrop off the coast, to warn fishing, dive, and pleasure boats to leave the restricted area so we could drop our practice bombs. Our alternative was to "bomb the sled" towed by the America or one of the "small boys" (surface ships assigned to the battle group). Our divert field was NAS Sigonella on the east coast of Sicily.


central Mediterranean Sea and Tyrrhenian Sea
NAS Sigonella with Mt. Etna in the background

October, 1971

I flew only 15 flights in October (34.7 flight hours).
I logged 15 traps (10 day, 5 night)- Total America traps- 112

Upon completion of National Week XI, America preceded to the port of Naples.



I'm not sure how much time we spent on our second visit to Naples. But, I'm pretty confident that I went straight from Fleet Landing left along the water front, took a left a the tunnel uphill and went to the Circolo Conottieri private tennis club. I may have also rented a room at the Hotel Vesuvio on Mergelina and visited Umberto's on the Piazza d' Martini. That was the basic framework for all of my Naples port visits.

Mergelina
Circolo Conottieri private tennis club.


Upon completion of the port visit in Naples, the America and her battle group steamed in to the western Mediterranean to participate in exercises with British, Dutch, Italian, and French forces in Exercise "Il D'Or".
I don't know how carefully you have been keeping track, but you might have noticed that after flying 23 flights (42.2 hours) in August, I flew only 14 flights (24.5 hours) in September and 15 flight (34.7 hours) in October. That's not a lot of monthly flights and flight time for a pilot on deployment. I suspect that our reduced operations tempo was because there was a greater requirement in the Vietnam theater of operations. We participated in our required NATO exercises and flew enough to be operationally ready should we be needed elsewhere. A lower op tempo meant that we had to be in port more often to save both ship and aviation fuel. Being in port was great for morale but it also satisfied our mission to "show the flag" around the Mediterranean Sea. We certainly did that!

November, 1971

I flew only 4 flights in November (7.0 flight hours).
I logged only 4 traps (2 day, 2 night)- Total America traps- 116

We conducted Exercise "Il D'Or"  mostly in the Balaeric Sea between the coasts of Spain, France, and Sardinia.





As you can see from my flight numbers in November, I only flew 4 flights, two flights on November 3rd and two flights on November 18th and 19th.

I think that we were in port Barcelona, Spain in early to mid  November and in port Cannes, France in late November.


Back to Barcelona, Spain
Las Ramblas

Barcelona is of my favorite liberty ports in the Mediterranean.

 It has something to offer for everyone; good restaurants, exciting night life, an interesting culture, beaches, and tennis courts.
Fleet Landing is directly in front of one of the most interesting streets in Europe; Las Ramblas.

Las Ramblas
Las Ramblas


As always, the ship is anchored off shore. The liberty boats
enter the harbor and tie up along the quay opposite the statue of Christopher Columbus.
The liberty party walks past the Christopher Columbus statue and enters Las Ramblas. Las Ramblas no cars but lots of stores, restaurants, and bars along both sides of the street and a center meridian pedestrian walkway with flower stalls, benches, and kiosks.


The first thing I usually did one my first day at Barcelona was to walk about three blocks up on the right side of the Ramblas and turn right. 
After a few blocks, I would come to one of my favorite restaurants in the Mediterranean, Las Caracoles.

Las Caracolas
Las Caracoles

You can't miss Las Caracoles. Just look for the chickens dripping on the spits in front.
Las Caracoles is open for lunch and then closes for siesta from about 3 to 5 when it opens for dinner until very late.

A trip to Barcelona is not complete without a meal or two at Las Caracoles.

You must try the seafood Paella.

My personal favorite is some of the chicken roasted on the spit in the front of Las Caracoles.
Sauteed snails is a specialty at Las Caracoles.


Of course, Sangria is a must with all the foods served at Las Caracolas.




Many groups from the ships rent out the upstairs room at Las Caracoles for squadron and ship parties.



There s plenty to do along Las Ramblas besides eating at Las Caracoles.  The many bar and night clubs stay open late at night.

I have enjoyed watching Flamenco dancers on several occasions in Barcelona.

Many of the bars and restaurants feature flamenco dancers. And, it is not unusual to see a couple flamenco dancing on the median of Las Ramblas.

A trip to Barcelona would not be complete without checking out the Moorish influence in architectural design there.


Of course, I managed to find a place to play tennis in Barcelona. I was privileged to play at Manual Orantes' Club Real Tennis Club.


I was given permission to play and use the locker room at Club Real on several occasions on port visits to Barcelona.
Manuel Orantes
We played on the practice courts.

The Club Real Tennis Club is the venue for the Barcelona Open played by many of the top touring professionals.

We visited Cannes, France in late November

 

Cannes, France

Our port visit to Cannes was for only four days during "Thanksgiving Week". The America anchored about a mile off shore. This picture sums up Cannes pretty well; boats, beaches, and boulevards pretty well; 



  I spent quite a bit of my time walking along the boulevard by the shore checking out stores, restaurants, and bars. Everything was very expensive.  I learned a trick though that I found helpful whenever I was on the French riviera; find a bar you like, pick out a bar tender you like, and give him or her  a squadron zippo lighter. You will find the prices become much cheaper and the conversation friendlier!!  

Monte Carlo, Monaco

The America received an invitation to send some officers to a Thanksgiving Day reception in Monte Carlo hosted by
Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco.

For some crazy reason which I'll never understand, the airwing didn't have many takers. Perhaps it was because the reception was in Monaco and required wearing  Service Dress Blues. CDR Scott took charge and many VA-82 pilots attended the reception.

In Monte Carlo, the boats were bigger and the prices even higher that in Cannes!






I'm not sure whether this was the hotel that the reception was held in, but it will do.

We were ushered in to a large hall where several hundred people were gathered. My impression was that Princess Grace had convinced Prince Rainier that they should host a Thanksgiving reception for the American diplomatic folks and the some of the navy officers who happened to be nearby from the America battle group.


Photo by Jim Kuzmick, VA-82 Public Affairs Officer
  This image was colorized by Ray Thomas using Photo Shop Elements 2020 software
Left to right: CDR Tom Scott, LCDR Snuffy Smith, Lt Eddie Walsh, me, Lt Gary Tabbert,
Lt Jim"Rock" Yeager, Princess Grace, and Al Schwark and JJ Ryan (behind Princess Grace)


This image is an IPhone screen shot I took from "The Stories of One Shot Scott", (page 104)
VA-82 pilots left to right: CDR Tom Scott, LCDR Snuffy Smith, Lt Eddie Walsh, me, Lt Gary Tabbert,
Lt Jim"Rock" Yeager, Al Schwark, JJ Ryan, and Rick Bridges.
Front right: Grace Kelly daughter, Princess Grace, son, Prince Rainier.

CDR Scott tasked Ltjg Al Scwark with the task of setting up these picture of the VA-82  pilots and Pricess Grace and members of her family.
In his book "The Stories of One Shot Scott", Tom Scott describes the details of how the picture above was actually achieved. (Pages 101-103) (Amazon.com)

The America departed Cannes and steamed through the western Mediterranean, the Straits of Gibraltar, and arrived in Rota, Spain. On December 9th, 1971 America was relieved by the USS John F. Kennedy CV-67 and we departed for home.
Forecastle Follies

It is a tradition that after a deployment, the airwing conducts a celebration of humorous events during the return transit. This celebration is normally held on the carrier's forecastle; Hence the term "Forecastle Follies".

This image is from Google
Image is an IPhone screen shot I took from "The Stories of One Shot Scott", (page 111)
An aircraft carrier's forecastle is the deck in the bow which contains the capstans (left and right) and the anchor chains. The ship's windlasses are located on the deck below the capstans. 
The ship's boatswains mates keep this space in pristine condition when underway. Formal ceremonies such as church services and reenlistment ceremonies in addition to the "Forecastle Follies" are often held here.		 This is a picture of Lt "Rock" Yeager reading the poem, "Frenchy Dear" to CDR Georges E. "Frenchy" Leblanc, Jr., Executive Officer, USS America CV-66.

To get the rest of the story, check out "Coke Cop of the Year" (pages 106-112) in Tom Scott's book, "The Stories of One Shot Scott".
 

December, 1971

I flew only 3 flights in December (6.3 flight hours).
I logged only 2 traps (both day traps)- Total America traps- 118

I flew two flights on the way to Rota. My third flight was the fly off to Cecil Field on December 15th!

Homecoming



Upon returning home to Cecil,
my daughters Heather (almost 8) and Lindsay (6) were there to meet me with this sign.

Mary was busy with Stacy who was
5 months old!


I learned the tragic news that Dixie Culler had been killed in an aircraft accident on December 5th, 1971.



LCDR Dixie Culler was a very good friend and squadron mate  of mine in our first squadron, the VA-15 VALions.

He flew over 200 missions flying the A4 Skyhawk over North and South Vietnam on two Vietnam deployments from the USS Intrepid CVA-11.

Dixie was on his second fleet tour in VA-81. He was the squadron Maintenance Officer. The Commanding Officer was CDR Jerry O Tuttle, also a VALion.

Dixie had a son, David Culler Jr. In true VALion fashion, Jerry Tuttle monitored Dixie Junior while he was growinbg up and when Dixie Jr completed Navy flight jet training, RADM Tuttle pinned on his wings. When Dixie Jr took command of his FA-18 Strike Fighter squadron, Vice Admiral Tuttle was the guest speaker.


Next Chapter VA-82 1972 Vietnam Deployment

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