Article Submitted by:

William H. Starnes, Jr. LtColonel, USAF (ret.)

DISCURSIVE OBSERVATION

Page 23 of Newsweek, VOL. XLVI NO. 22 Dated November 28, 1955:
The Periscope, Periscoping the Nation . . . Defense Flashes . . . Joint Chiefs of Staff -- The result of a recent skirmish in Exercise Sagebrush, the joint Army-Air Force maneuver now going on in Louisiana, is greatly worrying U. S. military leaders. Using new electronic devices, an "enemy" Air Force totally blinded the best U. S. radar equipment to score a devastating atomic knockout of defending forces. Vast stock of complicated equipment for spotting planes, bombing, and guiding missiles may possibly have been made obsolete.

PROLOGUE

This follows the research I did 1978 for a Liverpool, Australia guy that was compiling details about various modifications to the Douglas B-26 (in late WWII the machine entered the War as the A-26 as the "Farting Martin" carried the B-26 nomenclature). I know this is a quite long epistle, but I have got it all written down in full this time for my good friend, Stan Goldstein, who has been charged with the responsibility of obtaining the early Tactical Air Command "Hunter Killer" missions that were later to be know as "Wild Weasel" during the Vietnam War. Quite frankly at nearly 76 years of age I am not sure that in the future I will be able to recall these particulars in the depth herein presented. These details are supported by the various University library and personal military papers I researched during the past two weeks as well as conferences with old military buddies.

TAC's B-26B "HUNTER KILLER":
THE "HARD NOSED" B-26B AIRPLANE

BASIC AIRCREW CONFIGURATION

There were basically three manufactured Douglas B-26 airplanes, i.e., the RB-26 (for photo reconnaissance), the B-26 "Soft Nosed" version (for the medium bomber role), and the B-26B "Hard Nose" (for the strafing and ground support bombing mission). All B-26 aircraft had that magnificent Pratt Whitney R-2800 engine and were built by the greatest manufacturer of Tactical Air Forces medium bomber aircraft -- Douglas Aircraft Corporation.

To the best of my knowledge there were only three "hard nosed" B-26Bs ever modified for the Tactical Air Command's ECM "Hunter Killer" mission in Korea that never entered combat. The basic airplane was the "hard nosed" originally manufactured B-26B. The original "Hard Nosed" crew consisted of a pilot on the left and a side-by-side navigator on the right with a jump seat behind the Nav (I was told he had to move his seat all the way forward for an IP or passenger to use this jump seat that was just forward of the hydraulic bay). The pilot and navigator used "back type" chutes and the "jump seat" occupant used a "chest type" chute like the waist gunner. Our "Hunter Killers" had the original configuration of either three or four cannons in the nose (we put cans on the nose of the cannons as we did not have any shells to fire). We also had the standard machine gun pylons under each wing with I think two machine guns in each pylon (I feel certain they were 50 caliber). It was not long before we took those pylons off in the 9th TRSq(EW). The waist gunner's position had "slaved" controls to operate the upper and lower guns. You "straddled" the gun control and moved it around with some kind of electric motor that was activated when you engaged the "heel of the hand" levers on each side to move the guns to where you were looking in the periscope. It was without a doubt some fun! What you did was look out the periscope to locate a target and then slave the upper and lower guns accordingly. You entered the waist compartment via the bomb bay pulling up with "above the head" hand handles as "Twelve O'Clock High" movie indicated for the front crews of the B-17s -- it was some difficult physical exertion. As gunner, you carried a chest type chute to the waist compartment. There was no room back there for a "back" or "seat" type chute, so you just stuck it in a little shelf until you had to buckle it on if needed. There was a zipper type canvas cover between the bomb bay and the waist compartment to keep the air out, but it did not do much good. I just rode back there for two or three missions for fun, but I gave that up as even with our electric heated suits (with connected hat, gloves and feet things) and those big wool lined boots and jackets -- I just about froze. I was told by the crews that came from Eglin originally with those three B-26B "Hunter Killer" aircraft that their Korean Deployment Combat Plans were for all the waist guns to be pointed forward for strafing the target radar site, but I just do not know about that. I could see where you could sight the lower two guns on the radar you were homing on or circling after locating it, but that forward firing upper two guns over the front crew's heads just did not make a lot of sense to me.

AIRCREW CONFIGURATION

The pilot and navigator and waist gunner's configurations remained the same, except for the navigator's seat position. The navigator had to have his seat in the "full forward" position, as a "half back" rest was installed which the navigator and the "aft facing" ECM Operator shared "back to back". The ECM Operator had to use a "chest type" parachute which was stored behind the pilot until needed to be "buckled on" for bailout. There was no room for a "back type" chute to be used by the ECM Operator, due to the ECM Equipment mounted in front of the hydraulics bay. As I recall, we did not have either a navigator, ECM Operator, or gunner checklist.

NAVIGATIONAL EQUIPMENT

For navigation the aircraft had a "standby" magnetic compass, a "slaved gyro" compass and a "Bird Dog" radio that pointed to the radio station being intercepted. Essentially, navigation was "dead reckoning" -- there was no such thing then as DME in those days and the SHORAN/LORANNE type gear was to large for the aircraft so configured. The navigator "earned his pay"!.

ECM EQUIPMENT

The ECM equipment was mounted in front of the hydraulics bay with the ECM Officer sitting "back-to-back" with the navigator. The ECM Operator had practically no space between his face and the hood of the direction finder. The receiver was the AN/APR-4Y; the direction finding unit was the AN/APA-17B; and the pulse analyzer was the AN/ALA-5A. The AN/APA-17B Antenna was mounted inside a "chin" radome directly under the "Hard Nosed" section of the aircraft and could be rotated at 10/30/60 RPM by the ECM Operator. As I recall, this "chin" radome reduced the aircraft's cruise speed by about 10 Knots. The AN/APR-4Y usually had the "L" band "plug in" installed which covered most early warning radars in those days operating around the 1200 Mega Cycle (now called Hertz) band width. Between the ECM Operator's legs was the "S" band "plug in" which covered the fire control and such radars in those days. You could change the tuner "plug in" unit in flight with little trouble as the mission required. A Horizontal/Verticle Stub Antenna was used initially to "feed" signals to the AN/APR-4Y and when the correct radar was found the "feed" was changed by the ECM Officer to the AN/APA-17B Antenna. The ECM Operator had the ability to switch the antenna to either the vertical or horizontal polarized side whichever was transmitted by the target radar. The aircraft was also configured with an early AN/APS-54 "radar warning device" that was on the pilot's dash to indicate a radar painting us from the front or rear. As I recall, it was only able to be set on the ground and was triggered by every GCA and any other radar and consequently was a "pain in the ass" with false and/or unwanted signals. The pilot normally turned it off.

"HARD NOSED" B-26B "HUNTER KILLERS" ASSIGNED TO THE ECM CELL OF THE 16th TRSq(NP) AND TRANSFERRED TO THE 9th TRSq(EW)

WHEN ACTIVATED IN OCTOBER 1953: All three of the aircraft were painted black like all the night photo RB-26s at Shaw AFB. The tail numbers were:

44-35186
44-55207
44-35208

Late in 1954 # 186 was sent to the 42nd TRSq(EW) at Spangdahlem AB, Germany. I believe that either Paul Henkle or Rex Deaton ferried the aircraft, but I am not sure. Both of these pilots were by far the most qualified of the "Hunter Killer" pilots. At a Spang 42nd TRSq(EW) reunion at Charleston, SC some years back I talked to Bill Scroch, Harry Purcell, Bill Burkholder and another pilot about #186. They said that they remember #186 well and it was the easiest B-26 to "trim" they ever flew. At the time #186 was transferred to Spang both Shaw and Spang had a complement of RB-26C that had two place ECM Operator positions and an AN/APQ-13 Navigation Radar in the belly radome. All the B-26 ECM aircraft were phased out of each squadron as the RB-66C and WB-66D aircraft arrived.

ECM MISSION

This was by far the most "fun mission" either the ECM Cell of the 16th TRSq(NP) or the 9th TRSq(EW) scheduled. It was "plain" fun. Normally, I flew with Rex Deaton, Paul Henkle or Peter C. Osterhus on these missions -- they were the best to "follow" the ECM Operator's calls to "home in on" the radar target. A "Hunter Killer" training mission went something like this:

The aircrew consisting of a Pilot, Navigator and ECM Operator were briefed to fly to a designated area and begin the search for a specific radar, e.g., early warning (TPS-1, CPS-6B, etc.), height finder (TPS-10), or a gun laying acquisition (SCR-584). We normally started the search part of the mission at 5,000 feet or higher in order to pick up the target radar's "main lobe" beam as early as possible -- hopefully before he could "paint" us on his CRT Radar screen.

When the Navigator got us to the assigned "search area" the ECM Operator began looking for the Radar Frequency, Pulse Recurrence Frequency and Pulse Width of the assigned radar. If it was not found we pulled out the AN/APR-4Y tuning unit and replaced it with the other tuner if the assigned secondary target was in the other Radar Frequency band. When the ECM Operator intercepted the radar's "main beam" and verified the PRF and PW as the target, he told the Pilot to turn the aircraft toward the signal by giving the left or right 90 degrees or such utilizing the strobes on his Direction Finder. The Navigator's job was to keep up with where we were via "dead reckoning". The Pilot's job was to keep the aircraft on the last assigned heading by the ECM Operator using his "slaved" gyro compass.

Normally the target radar was intercepted at 6 or 12 DB (deci bells) on the receiver -- the most sensitive receiver settings. The ECM Operator provided corrections left or right and the number of degrees to the Pilot and with each increased DB attenuation setting on the receiver we dropped a thousand feet or more in altitude. This kept up until we got to a DB reading of 48 or 54 DB and we were clearly picking up the "side lobes" of the target radar. By the time the ECM Operator had attenuated the receiver to its maximum DB setting, we would be at 500 to 1,000 feet. When the corrections started moving left or right "pretty fast" the Pilot held that last heading until the ECM Operator called out the 90 degree strobe on his Direction Finder as either left or right. At that instant the Pilot stood the B-26B "Hunter Killer" on that wing tip and we all looked out to visually locate the target radar. With the target in clear site the Pilot commenced simulated strafing runs at 500 feet or less and the Navigator "pin pointed" the location on his map.

These "Hunter Killer" training missions were the most fun of all in my three years while in the ECM Cell of the 16th TRSq(NP) and after our transfer to the 9th TRSq(EW). Unfortunately, the B-26B machines were flown out to the "bone yard" I guess as we began receiving the RB-66C in May of 1956.

The crowning glory of the "Hunter Killer" mission capability occurred during the SAGEBRUSH maneuver (see below). The Sixth Air Army Aggressor Forces had their opening "field day" attacking first American Friendly Forces which was the required "modus operandi" in those days as I suppose now as well. The second day the Friendly Forces launched their first mission which was a B-26B "Hunter Killer" leading three
B-26B "soft nosed" bombers homing in on our main Aggressor Early Warning Radar Site at Sixth Air Army Headquarters. I remember very well going outside with BGen Holloway and Colonel Dempster and watching those four B-26 aircraft "buzzing" us at about 200 feet. I do not know who the pilot and navigator were in the "Hunter Killer" leading that flight, but I do know that my Keesler ECM Flying School class mate, 1st Lt Robert (Bob) A. Assanakis was the ECM Operator.

As an aside, four years later after rotating to the Pentagon from Commanding the 47th Bomb Wing (B-66B) at RAF Schulthorpe, England the then BGen Kenneth Crawford Dempster pushed forward a F-100 modification to the "Wild Weasel" configuration as Deputy Director of Operation Requirements at the Air Staff in 1964 and as a MGen the Director in 1966 pushing the F-105D and F-4E "Wild Weasel" conversions to the mission. He was the 13th AF Commander at Clark AFB when I was at Takhli in 1967-68, but I never got an R&R over there to see him. I had always heard that MGen Kenneth C. Dempster was the "Father of the Wild Weasel". My good friend of 28 years that along with Holloway "fixed it" for me to be recalled to active duty during the RIF of 1957 died way to early at 66 years of age on Christmas Day in 1983.

I last saw General Holloway at the 50th Birthday of the Air Force here in Knoxville in the fall of 1997. Our local AFA Chapter is named for him, and he greeted personally every one that attended that celebration. He recognized me and called my name with a handshake. We had "kept in touch" through the years as both of us entering the service from here in Knoxville, Tennessee which was his childhood home. We had some other things in common, as well since he started his education at the University of Tennessee completing two years in engineering before going to West Point. At this event, his wife, Francis, pulled me aside and told me that his eye sight was failing and it was very sad. He looked the same as he did the first time I met him in September of 1955. Two years later at the age of 87 my good friend of 45 years, General Bruce Holloway, died on September 30, 1999 in his adopted state of Florida.

OPERATION SAGEBRUSH

The largest joint Army and Air Force maneuver since World War II began on November 1, 1955 and finished on December 15, 1955. Being with the pre-maneuver Aggressor Headquarters team I arrived on October 24th along with BGen Holloway and Colonel Kenneth C. Dempster. I recalled during the writing this epistle that I spent Thanksgiving Day with one of Wayne Kiger's QRC-T13 Passive Detection sites, because I had a wreck with a new Buick which ran into the Weapons Carrier that I had checked out of the Motor Pool. Fortunately, I was not at fault and the Louisiana Highway Patrol did not give me a ticket or citation and when I turned the vehicle in the Motor Pool Sergeant did not have to write up an incident report -- or so he said?

Two very important people at Hq 9th AF were big supporters of the "Hunter Killer" mission and were disappointed when the replacement aircraft, the RB-66C, would not be capable carrying out that mission. One was the then BGen Bruce K. Holloway (later four stars and CINCSAC) the 9th AF Vice Commander and Vice Commander under MGen Underhill (Army) during the October/November 1955 SAGEBRUSH maneuver. The other was the then Colonel Kenneth C. Dempster (later MGen). In our pre-maneuver planning and distribution of TAC assets for the maneuver, they tried their best to get the three B-26B "Hunter Killers" assigned to our Aggressor Force; but 9th AF CG MGen Edward J. Timberlake (who was the designated Friendly Forces SAGEBRUSH Commander with an Army BGen to be his deputy) absolutely refused.

Our Aggressor big guys put up a fuss but lost and Timberlake compromised by giving us the two TB-25J ECM jammers of the 9th TRSq(EW); three QRC-T13 Passive Detection Vans (triangulation of airborne radar and radio signals for the 507th TCGp; two AN/GPQ-T1 Radar Simulators belonging to the 9th TRSq(EW); and "believe it or not" the ATC Keesler AFB TC-54 ECM Training Aircraft. ATC offered the maneuver the aircraft and ECM student crews to help balance the relatively "small" Tactical Air Command ECM capability at the time.

An interesting aside here is that the 9th TRSq(EW) was to be stationed at Keesler for the maneuver where they could get get additional ECM maintenance and replacement equipment support. Consequently, the C-54 ECM training aircraft assigned to the Aggressor Forces would be "off limits" for bombing by the Friendly Forces.

I knew those two TB-25J machines would be of little value as a "stand off" jamming capability as they would be quickly "blown out of the sky" by Friendly fighters (F-84 and F-86). Hence, I talked Holloway and Dempster to trade those two TB-25Js for 1st Lt John J. Rispoli to Command the AN/GPQ-T1s. We were getting my ECM 7888X Keesler classmate 1st Lt Wayne J. Kiger permanently assigned to the 507th TCGp Commanding the QRC-T13 Passive Detection Vans, so we did not have a command problem there. I cannot remember where two of Wayne's units were located, but the Master Control Command Post he Commanded was in Woodville, Texas.

Well on the opening day of SAGEBRUSH Rispoli did his thing by dreaming up "out of the blue" ECM Jamming disruption of the Friendly radars. He labeled those two AN/GPQ-T1s as "water buffalos" which were "off limits" to either side and moved them within 25 yards of the Friendly Forces two main radar sites. John positioned his transmitters directly on top of both the TPS-1D (EW) and TPS-10 (HF) radar transmitting frequencies and varied the PRF "up and down" until both radars shut down for maintenance. In those days there were no varying PRF jammers and consequently radar operators had never seen such radar scope displays. I do not think it took John ten minutes to accomplish this mission he "dreamed up". The Sixth Air Army Aggressor Forces medium bombers and fighter bombers "Nuked" the MGen Timberlake's Friendly Forces and "won the day". (See the Discursive Observation that the beginning of this epistle). The 507th Tac Control Group Commander, Colonel "Hammering Hank" Riera (sp?) got really "pissed off" and refused to accept his radar operators did such a "stupid thing" to MGen Edward J. Timberlake the Friendly Forces Commander.

When we got back to 9th AF MGen Timberlake ordered me (I was referred to back in those days as "that Lt") to his office one day after Christmas in 1955 and when I reported he was in his bedroom shoes practicing his putting on the carpet. He asked me in "no uncertain terms" to explain to him those "damn vans" we had used on his forces during SAGEBRUSH? Since both AN/GPQ-T1s and one of the QRC-T13s were set up along the golf course, he picked up on what they looked like without any problem. Then, I explained what each type did and Rispoli's innovative jamming technique. He told me to set it up for Rispoli to do his thing again to the 507th Tac Control Group radar "on base" without "Hammering Hank's" knowledge. It was to be done while MGen Timberlake was making a casual visit to the radar control tent complex. Wayne Kiger and I were there as well when John Rispoli "shut em down" again. It was without question one of my most unforgettable military experience. Timberlake became a Lt General and retired on June 16, 1965 as the Commander of the Continental Air Command.

In conclusion I should note that 1st Lt Wayne Kiger's three QRC-T13 Passive Detection Vans did an outstanding job of "triangulation reporting" to the Sixth Air Army Early Warning Network. Furthermore, when we got the Army Ground Mobile Directional Jamming Units attached to Wayne they had an unusual impact on SAGEBRUSH finding. But then, that is another story.