1971-Continued
flagship for the newly formed TF-74 for the possible
evacuation of U.S. citizens from East Pakistan in con-
nection with the Indo-Pakistani war.
Constellation's
tour was extended to the end of the month due to
the new contingency operations.
Coral Sea
came on
the line 15 December. A total of 2,462 ordnance
delivery strike sorties were flown during the month.
The number of surface-to-air missile firing incidents
increased and the bold excursions by MiG aircraft
into Laos prompted both the USAF and USN to devel-
op new tactics, combining efforts, to suppress the
MiG threat. A major protective reaction strike effort
by both USAF and USN commenced 26 December
and terminated 30 December. In this period, TF-77
flew 423 strike sorties employing all-weather A-6A
systems backed up by A-7Es as pathfinders, with
Dong Hoi, Quang Khe and Vinh the major targets
assigned to the Navy. During the month, the Laser
Guided Bomb (LGB) was introduced by squadrons
aboard
Constellation.
Initially, 16 trial LGB drops
were road cuts, with subsequent targets antiaircraft
artillery sites. In the coming year, LGBs were to be
used effectively against heretofore seemingly inde-
structible targets in NVN, such as heavy steel bridge
structures built into solid rock.
1972
1 January
The area of responsibility assigned to
Commander-in-Chief, Pacific (CINCPAC), was shifted
westward to include the Indian Ocean and the Persian
Gulf. U.S. naval communications, refueling and logisti-
cal airstrip facilities continued under construction on
the island of Diego Garcia to assist in covering the
new area of responsibility for the U.S. Navy.
6 January
Training Air Wing Five was established at
Whiting Field, Fla. The new wing was composed of
Naval Air Stations Whiting and Ellyson Fields; VT-2,
VT-3 and VT-6; and HT-8. This was the first training
wing established under the reorganization of the Naval
Air Training Command. The wing was established to
coordinate and supervise training activities that previ-
ously had been the responsibility of each station and
squadron.
18 January
Enterprise
joined
Constellation
on
Yankee Station following her tour in the Indian Ocean
in December 1971, where she had shown force and
the flag in connection with the Indo-Pakistani war and
the buildup of Soviet naval forces off the Indian sub-
continent.
UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION
1910-1995
289
18 January
Guam
began the first in a series of tests
to analyze the sea control ship concept (SCS). SCS was
a concept in which a shipboard platform would have
a smaller complement of aircraft than the large carriers
(CVA) and would maintain control of sea lines/lanes in
low threat areas of the world. A SCS ship would be
designed to carry the V/STOL aircraft as well as heli-
copters, in order to provide protection of underway
replenishment groups, mercantile convoys, amphibi-
ous assault forces and task groups with no aircraft car-
ner III company.
19 January
Lieutenants Randall H. Cunningham and
William P. Driscoll in an F-4 of VF-96 off
Constellation
shot down a MiG-21, the first enemy aircraft downed
since 28 March 1970, when Lieutenants Jerome E.
Beaulier and Steven 1. Barkley in an F-4 of VF-142 off
Constellation
downed a MiG-21. The 19 January action
occurred during a protective reaction strike in
response to earlier antiaircraft artillery and surface-to-
air missile firings from the area which had menaced an
RA-5C reconnaissance plane and its escorts. This
accounted for the Navy's 33rd MiG shot down in the
Vietnam war since the first shoot down on 17 June
1965, downed by Commanders Louis C. Page and
John J. Smith in an F-4 of VF-21 off
Midway.
21 January
The S-3A Viking, the Navy's newest
ASW aircraft, conducted its maiden test flight from
Lockheed's Palmdale, Calif., facility. The S-3A met the
Navy's requirements for a 400 knot plus aircraft with a
2,000 mile sub hunting range to replace the aging S-2
Tracker. The S-3A, while about the same size as
the S-2, had twice the speed and range of the
Tracker. It had been equipped with the latest sensor
and weapon systems and could cover nearly three
times the area of the S-2 Tracker.
31 January
With only light ground action, limited
troop contacts and the withdrawal of U.S. ground
troops continuing during the month, the level of air
operations also remained low, a situation which con-
tinued generally throughout the first three months of
the year. During January, a total of only eight Navy
tactical air attack sorties were flown in South Vietnam
(SVN). In North Vietnam (NVN), there was very little
attack effort except for some protective reaction
strikes.
Coral Sea, Constellation
and
Enterprise
served
intermittently on Yankee Station during the month.
11 February
As a result of the shift from conven-
tional to jet aircraft, the Navy announced that the
Aviation Machinist's Mate Class B school on reciprocat-
ing engines, located at the Naval Air Technical
Training Command, NAS Memphis, Tenn., was closing.
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