The 355th Wing History for the 1965-1971 Period Described
This "Radar Bombing" Technique.
The first uses of radar to allow bombing North Vietnam in bad weather were the "pathfinder" missions where EB-66B Destroyers led single-seat F-105Ds above the
weather. F-105s flew in formations of four, eight, or twelve aircraft alongside a B-66 at altitudes usually above 15,000 feet. Also called synchronous radar bombing and buddy bombing, this method
required the EB-66 navigator to use his K-5 radar bombing navigation system to detect the target and send a signal tone to the F-105s to drop their bombs.
On December 24, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson imposed a 36-day halt to the Rolling Thunder bombing of North Vietnam. Despite this restriction, the 355th TFW, based at Takhli, Thailand since
November 3, 1965, began flying these pathfinder missions on January 1, 1966. This technique was their primary means of contending with the 1965-1966 northeast monsoons that frequently obscured
their targets across North Vietnam.
So that weather would not be a factor in the lack of missions into North Vietnam, a new technique was developed using the buddy system radar type bombing, with a B-66B Destroyer aircraft. The
Destroyer would guide a flight of four F-105 aircraft into a target. At a certain predestined point and signal on the Destroyer radar, the navigator would give the signal to the flight to make
their weapon release.
The wing flew practice missions in the southern Pan Handle of North Vietnam to test the feasibility and accuracy of this method of delivery. These test flights proved that the technique was
practical and could be used effectively against certain targets. Tactical Fighter Wing pilots also flew practice missions against targets in Laos.
On December 8, 1965, the 333d TFS from Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, arrived at Takhli with its 25 experienced F-105 pilots to become the second of the three squadrons to form the 355th
TFW. Capt. Robert D. Gobble, one of the 333d pilots who flew these early pathfinder missions, recalled,"The B-66 would alert us by radio that the tone would start in say 10 seconds and, as
briefed prior to flight, when the tone stopped, the Thud's would release their bombs. The tone was over the UHF radio on the B-66 frequency [also] briefed prior to flight. If any one of the 105's
radio was out, then they were briefed to drop when the flight lead dropped."
After their experiments in January, the 355th began using B-66 pathfinder bombing. On February 1, 1966, EB-66 pilot Capt. Jerry S. Grimes from the 41 TRS at Takhli led twenty of the 355th's
F-105s on the first official pathfinder-bombing raid over North Vietnam. Their target was a port facility near Vinh in the southern panhandle of North Vietnam. "On the initial run-in, they had
two flights of F-105s with them. Upon completion of the first drop, they returned to the IP [Initial Point] and guided three more flights to the target. Not one round of flak was observed during
the entire mission." The 20 F-105s dropped 60 bombs on the target. An Air Force report, ignoring the January practice missions, officially acknowledged those flown in February.
The resumption of air strikes in February saw the introduction of another method of synchronous bombing to increase all-weather capabilities. The B-66 pathfinder aircraft, using synchronous radar
bombing procedures, led the fighters on their bomb runs.... A total of 82 radar strikes were flown in February, dropping approximately 95 percent of all bombs delivered on North Vietnam by the
Air Force during the month.
Some F-105 pilots derisively began calling them "12 O'clock High" missions, reminiscent of the World War II B-17 formation bombing raids over Germany depicted in the Gregory Peck film of the same
name. They were hardly the roving missions that fighter pilots like to do.
FOOTNOTE: 355th TFW Vietnam Era
The unit transferred to the Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand in 1965. During the next five years, it flew more than 101,000 sorties over North Vietnam, dropping 202,596 tons of
bombs and destroying 12,675 targets. The wing's pilots were credited with twenty airborne kills of MiG aircraft and eight aircraft destroyed on the ground. Nicknamed "PACAF's Pride," the unit
received three Presidential Unit Citations and three Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards with the combat "V" device. It is also noteworthy that, of the twelve airmen awarded the Medal of Honor in
the Vietnam War, two belonged to the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing: Majors Merlyn H. Dethlefsen and Leo K. Thorsness. The 355th transferred to the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in 1971, but
continued to deploy aircraft and personnel to Southeast Asia until 1974.
Air Force Association Announcement
AFA Members, Congressional staffers, Civic Leaders, and DOCA members, last week were promised a piece on Why Air Forces Fail. This piece is taken from a book which is on Gen Moseley's reading
list entitled: Why Air Forces Fail edited by Robin Higham and Stephen Harris. We have also taken the liberty of using some information from The Influence of Airpower Upon History by Walter Boyne.
To save you time ... and interest you in these books, we drew heavily from both, and the slide briefing is a summary of both. Take a minute to review the slides - they are dynamite. As you
read and digest them, think to our own future ... and see how many of these lessons can and should be applied to our future. Then ... on the last slide of the briefing, we have endeavored to
look at the US Air Force - as it looks in 2008, then project what lessons a "failure" might look like circa 2025. If you look at only one slide of this 18 slide briefing, look at the last one.
TO SEE THE PRESENTATION
TO SEE THE PRESENTATION