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UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

1971-Continued

2 December NAF Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam,

was disestablished and patrol squadron detachments

which had routinely rotated at NAF Cam Ranh Bay

were deployed to NAS Cubi Point, R.P. At Cam Ranh

Bay the patrol squadrons were part of the Vietnam

Air Patrol Unit under the operational control of

Commander, Fleet Air Wing 8 or 10. Operational

tasking could also come from Commander, Task

Force 77, on Yankee Station or Commander, Seventh

Fleet. The patrol squadrons worked closely with

Commander, Vietnam Coastal Surveillance Force.

Their missions were to provide air patrol coverage

for SVN along her coast line to detect any infiltration

of NVN trawlers taking men and supplies into SVN.

These missions were known as Market Time patrols.

Patrol squadrons also provided aerial reconnaissance

and ASW patrols for naval forces operating from

Yankee Station and other areas of the Gulf of Tonkin

and the South China Sea.

2 December Commander George W. White, at the

Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Md., became the

first Navy test pilot to fly the F-14A Tomcat. By the

end of 1971, nine of the aircraft were assigned to vari-

ous flight test programs. Purchase plans had called for

an eventual total of 313 aircraft-30 1 for operations

and 12 for research and development.

8 December Amphibious Group Alpha, formed

around Tripoli, was directed to move from Okinawa to

the vicinity of Singapore in anticipation of a possible

Indian Ocean deployment. This followed indications

by the head of the UN relief mission in Dacca, East

Pakistan/Bangladesh that as a result of the Indo-

Pakistani war, which began on 3 December, evacua-

tion of foreign civilians by means of carrier-based heli-

copters might be required.

8 December Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet

(CINCPACFLT) confirmed a requirement previously

enunciated by Commander, Naval Air Force Pacific

Fleet, for a system of video coverage of the entire

launch and recovery sequence of carrier operations.

10 December Enterprise and other units from

Yankee Station formed Task Force 74 and departed

Vietnamese waters for the Indian Ocean. On 12

December the Royal Air Force evacuated Western

nationals from East Pakistan/Bangladesh, thereby elim-

inating the requirement for an American evacuation

operation. Task Force 74 entered the Indian Ocean on

15 December, as a show of force in connection with

the Indo-Pakistani war.

12 December VX-4 reported on an extensive series

of evaluations of the helmet mounted sight, the Visual

Target Acquisition System, in the F-4 that had com-

menced in 1969. While the report cited a number of

shortcomings, it concluded that the helmet sight was

superior to operational equipment used by fighter

pilots in air-to-air combat.

15 December VMA(AW)-224, part of CVW-15 on

board Coral Sea, arrived on Yankee Station. VMA(AW)-

224 was the first Marine Corps squadron to fly combat

missions into NVN from a carrier operating on Yankee

Station.

31 December During 1971 HAL-3, the Seawolves,

the only light attack helicopter squadron in the Navy,

flew 34,746 hours in squadron aircraft in support of

their mission to provide quick reaction armed heli-

copter close air support for all naval forces and South

Vietnamese forces operating in the southern part of

SVN. During their flights in 1971, HAL-3 expended

16,939,268 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition; 96,696

2.75-inch rockets; 32,313 40mm grenade rounds; and

2,414,096 rounds of .50 cal. machine gun ammunition

in carrying out their assigned missions. HAL-3 lost six

aircraft during 1971.

31 December Constellation and Enterprise operated

on Yankee Station together during the month until 10

December, when the latter was unexpectedly directed

to transit to the Indian Ocean where she operated as

.. .

UH-1B helicopter from HAL-3 flies low over the Mekong Delta, South

Vietnam NAH-0028l0