Military Airlift Command 1947-1991

143 Pages·2013·9.89 MB·English

CHAPTER VI
EVOLUTION AND EXPANSION, 1973-1981
Fornearlyadecade.the MilitaryAirlift Command on 29 March 1973. During the last 72 hours of the
had transported thousands of soldiers and countless operation, a total of 10 C·141s and 16 commercial
tons of war material to Southeast Asia to sustain flights brought nearly 4,000 American service
American and South Vietnamese militaryoperations. personnel to the United States. When the last
This had been the command's primary focus. As the planeload, acommercial DC·8, lifted offfrom Saigon
Vietnam cease·fire agreement went into effecton 27 with 219 troops, United States militaryinvolvement
January 1973. MAC began a period of transition. in South Vietnam officially ended..'
Initially, the command supported the withdrawal of Concurrently, MAC was involved with Operation
military forces and evacuated civiliansfrom Vietnam. HOMECOMING, the repatriation and rehabilitation of
These operations required considerable airlift American and third-country prisoners of war (POWI
resources and proved the value of airlift's from Vietnam. HOMECOMING, previouslynicknamed
responsiveness. Thereafter. the nine-year period EGRESSRECAP, beganon 12Februaryandconcluded
extending from 1973·1981 was characterized by on 4 April 1973. It wasoneofthe moreemotion·filled
several developments that shaped the course of operations inthehistoryofmilitaryairlih, rankingwith
military airlih well into the command's fihieth those POW missions the command had undertaken
anniversary year. World events such as the Arab· following World War II and the Korean Conflict.
Israeli war, the oil crises, Iranian Revolution, and Statistically, however, theairlihwasasmallone. Over
Soviet intervention in Afghanistan dramatically a period of seven weeks. MAC aircrews flew 118
underscored the need for military airlih to support C-9A and C-141 missions, transporting 5912 former
American diplomatic initiatives or assist, if required, prisoners to the United States. Of significance. 325
contingency operations. Confirmingtheevolutionary of the POWs were members of the Air Force.
course of airlih was the Air Force's decision to Quite appropriately, Operation HOMECOMING
consolidate all tactical airlih resources under the received the highest priority of all Southeast Asia
Military Airlih Command between 1974-1975. cease-firerequirements. ManyofthefreedAmericans
Additionally, the command continued its long had been held captive in the "Hanoi Hilton:' the
standing tradition oftransporting food, supplies. and "Zoo:' "Son Tay," "Alcatraz" or one of the other
medical equipment during times of natural disasters. infamous prisons in North Vietnam for as long as
Besides demonstrating the United States' good will. seven years. In keeping with theterms of the cease
these humanitarianairlihshelpedmanypeoplearound fire agreement, the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong
the world to overcome devastating circumstances. released the POWs at intervals parallel with the
withdrawal ofAmericantroops. The Viet Cong freed
END OF SOUTHEAST ASIA OPERATIONS its prisoners in Saigon, the North Vietnamese in
Hanoi.3
Following the signing of the Vietnam cease-fire On 12 February. MAC flew the first group of
agreement in Paris, the Military Airlih Command, POWs to freedom. Participating in the mission were
augmented by commercial transports, began a C·9A, C·130, HC-130, and three aeromedically
withdrawing American and Allied equipment and configured C-141 aircraft, staged at Clark Air Base.
personnelfromVietnam in a6o-dayoperation known Philippines. The C-130carriedan l8-personreception
as COUNTDOWN. One of the first units to return to support team and departed Clark during the night,
itshome station was Marine Air Group 12, equipped three hours before the three C-141 Starlifters. The
withA-4aircraft.From 29Januarythrough 2 February HC·130served as an orbiting radio platform and left
1973, five C-5s and 59 C-141s transported 500 ClarkahertheC-130. TheStarliftersfollowed;aircraft
Marines and 1,350tons ofequipment from Bien Hoa tail number 60177, assignedtothe 63d MilitaryAirtift
Air Base, Vietnam, to Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Wing, had the honor of bringing the first freed
Station, Japan. COUNTDOWN also included the prisoners out of Vietnam. Commanded by Major
movement of more than 34.000 Republic of Korea James E. Marrottfromthe wing's 15th MilitaryAirlift
soldiers from South Vietnam. This portion of the Squadron, this Starlifter arrived at Gia Lam Airport
operation wasconductedentirely bycontract aircrah northeast of Hanoiafteratwoandone-half hourflight.
from two civil carriers. World Airways and Airlift The North Vietnamese then released 116Americans,
International. Beginning on 31 Januaryand endingon waiting in buses.
23 March. commercial DC-8s transported the South The Viet Congturned overanother 27Americans
Korean forces on 162 missions, normally airlihing at Loc Ninh; from there UH-1 helicopters took them
around 875 troops a day. COUNTDOWN concluded to Saigon. As the C·141s made their way to Hanoi,
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l..iButtHJImtComtnlIntIfNJoseph C. Plumb, USNavy,beinge$COrltKltoa C-747atGiaLamAiIport, North V"l8tnam,
for the HOMECOMING flight to C.rlcAk Bsse, Philippines.
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aC-9A aeromedical aircraft landed at Saigon, picked HOMECOMING wasaverydifficuttoperation interms
up 26 of the former POWs, and then flew them to of itsemotionaldemands,it wasflawlesslyexecuted
Clark where theyjoined the othergroup from Hanoi. and, formany, ranksasthe highlightoftheirAirForce
A Joint Homecoming Reception Center at Clark career. Fortheirrolein OperationHOMECOMING, the
provided fortheirneedsbefore MACairlifted themto aircrews ofthe MilitaryAirliftCommand receivedthe
militaryhospitalsin the United States.· Captain Paul 1974 Mackay Trophy, awarded by the National
A. Cronin, who flew one of the HOMECOMING Aeronautic Association annually for the most
missions to the states, was quite moved by the meritorious flight or series of flights by an Air Force
experience, and his thoughts reveal how organization during the year.'
HOMECOMING touched the many involved:
AIRLIFT'S RESPONSE
Each man (POWl displayed a spirit and AS CAMBODIAAND SOUTH VIETNAM FELL
pride in the United States and what it
stands for that Ihavenever seen equaled. Althoughthe Paris Peace Accords hadendedthe
Thesemen whospentthepastsixtoseven UnitedStates' directmilitaryinterventionin Southeast
years imprisoned made us all take a long Asia, the UnitedStatescontinued toprovide massive
look at our own selves and sent us into assistance' to counter North Vietnam's incursions
some deep soul-searching.' againstCambodia andSouthVietnamforthenexttwo
years. The United States' military aid, however, did
Subsequent HOMECOMING flights followed the notstemthetide, and theNorthVietnamesewereon
precedent set on this first mission. Although theverge oftaking overbothcountries byspring 1975.
FtfHH/Americlln POWs ~V•• rousing chfM, .~rdthe C·747 CIInying them to freedom.
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Priortothefall ofSaigon totheCommunist North replaced whatthe South Vietnamese forces had lost
Vietnamese and Viet Cong in late April 1975, an or abandoned defending Saigon.'
urgent requirement developed for rapid deployment United States government officials in Saigon
ofcombatforces. Whenthe military situationforboth could readily see that SouthVietnam'scapital would
the Cambodian and South Vietnamese governments soon fall to the Communists. With enemy forces
became desperate, the JointChiefs of Staff directed probing key positions nearSaigon, American civilians
MAC to airlih a precautionary force of more than still in Vietnam, numerous highly placed South
1,400 United States Marines and 1.500 tons of Vietnamese, and other third country nationals were
suppliesfrom HawaiitoOkinawa andthen latertothe inseriousdanger. TheirhastyairlihtosafetyatUnited
Philippines. The Marines would rescueAmericansand Statesbases inthe Pacificwasurgentlyrequired. The
other foreign nationals from Saigon according to a large-scale evacuation of supporters of the South
contingency plan called FREQUENT WIND and from Vietnam government was nicknamed NEW LIFE.10It
Phnom Penh, Cambodia, byOperationEAGLEPULL.' commenced on 4 April 1975, concurrently with
Portions of these plans were executed on several Operation BABYLlFT, the evacuation of Vietnamese
occasions in the weeks and months ahead. orphans from Saigon. Asthe demands of the orphan
Additionally, supporting South Vietnam's efforts airlihdiminished,therearoseanewcrisis. Thenumber
to defend Saigon, MAC airlihed emergency combat of refugees desperately wanting to leave Saigon and
supplies. During the first week in April 1975, the Phnom Penh had escalated. Airlihing refugees from
command operated 17 C·141s, 4 C-5s, and 7 SouthVietnam'scapitalbeganslowlywhilethedetails
commercial aircrahto Tan SonNhutAir Base, South were being developed for a massive evacuation of
Vietnam, from various supply depots in the United Vietnamese, according toguidance prescribed in the
States. Includedamongtheequipment were 105mm FREQUENT WIND" contingency plan. At first the
howitzers,rocketlaunchers.M-16rifles.tankengines. number of United States personnel flying out of
and individual combat equipment. These shipments Saigon had been held to 200-300 per day so as not
To .xp«Jitethe .vlICUlltionofrefugees processed.t s.igonl VietlHlmtlSfl II1II",. floorIoMIfIdon lIirc",h. Here
in. C·141.
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AherevtJeuation from Vietnam byC-130s thflse Americans and Vietnamese awahedfurthflr transportation
1
to interim safe havens in thfl Pacific or to thfl UnittHI States.
to alarm the local population. But. the potential Vietnamese and Cambodians to staging areas in the
number of evacuees soon exceeded 73.000; among Pacific. NEWLIFE required 375missions: 201 C~141,
thisgroup were 5,422 Americans.12A massiveairlift 174 C-130. and a single World Airways contract
was needed. flight. Airlift, of course, was not the only means by
As the Communists closed in on Saigon in April whichVietnameseandCambodianrefugeesescaped
1975.thetempoofMAC'sfinalSoutheastAsianairlift from South Vietnam. More than 73,400 other
accelerated. Five C-141s departed Clark daily for Vietnamese were fleeing Saigon on merchant ships,
Saigon. To provide for a continuous evacuation. sampans. and other vessels of assorted description.
C-1305. under the operational control of the Pacific United States Navy ships patrolling the open sea
Command. also conducted evacuation flights rescuedmanyofthe "boatpeople." astheycameto
beginning on 23April. Fromthis datethrough 30April be called, and took them to Subic Bay, Philippines.
when Saigon fell, the C-1305flew an average of 7.25 Eventually, 31,155boatpeoplemadeitto SubicBay,
missions daily. People hastilyboardedthe C-130s as whereupon C-141sand C~1305airliftedthemtoother
theaircraftenginesremained running. TheC-1305and locations in the Pacific between 29 April and 9 May
C-141s took the evacuees to Clark and Cubi Point 1975. C-130s flew 135 missions while the C-141s
Naval Air Station in the Philippines, to Andersen Air handled sixty-one.
Force Base and Agana InternationalAirporton Guam. Anotheraspect ofthe evacuation operation drew
and to Wake Island. The airlift portion of NEW LIFE upon airliftto movelargequantities offood. supplies.
reached itsapex on 25-26April when MAC'sC-141s construction materials, and support personnel tothe
evacuated 3.500 refugees during the two-day reception centers. Duringthethree-month periodthat
period.13 extendedfrom AprilthroughJune 1975. MACaircraft
Bythetime Saigon felltothe Communists on 30 flew 414 missions, transporting 8,556 tons of
April, MAC's airlift forces had evacuated 50.493 supplies and 5,469 passengersto include specialists
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OPERATION BABYLIFT
With the Communist takeover of Cambodia Operation BABYLlFT, which evacuated several
andSouth Vietnam imminent, President GeraldR. hundred Vietnamese orphans from Saigon to
FordorderedanevacuationofVietnameseorphans adoptive families in the UnitedStates. BABYLIFT
from Saigon to the United States. At a press began on 4 April 1975, when a C-5 Galaxyonits
conferencein SanDiegoon3April 1975, President way to Clark Air Base in the Philippines was
Ford explainedhis plan ofaction: diverted to Tan Son NhutAirBase nearSaigon to
fly the first BABYLIFTmission. Shortly after the
Ihavedirected... thatC-5Aaircraftand Galaxy's cargo had been unloaded, the huge
otheraircraftespeciallyequippedtocare aircraft took off for Clark with 314 Vietnamese
for these orphans during the flight be orphans aboard.
sentto Saigon. I expectthese flights to ButthisfirstBABYLIFTmission wasmarredby
begin within the next 36 to 48 hours. tragedy. Fourteenminutesaftertakeoff, amassive
Theseorphans willbeflown to TravisAir decompression critically damaged the aircraft's
ForceBaseinCalifornia, andotherbases flight controls, blowing out the cargo doors and
on the West Coast, and cared for in ramp just to the rear of the passenger area.
those locations. Valiantlyattempting to return the C-5 to Tan Son
Nhut, Captain Dennis W. Traynor III, the aircraft
PresidentFord'sannouncementsetinmotion commander, crash-landedthe C-5 in a rice fielda
the dramatic humanitarian airlift known as few miles short of Tan Son Nhut's runway. One
Operation BABYLIFT. VoluntfHIrs carried the orphans aboarda C-141, Hickam AirForce Base, Hawaii.
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hundred thirty-eight adults, children, and babies BABYLIFT at a steady pace. From Saigon, the
perished, but 176 survived. orphans andescorts were taken to Andersen Air
General P. K. Carlton, Commander of MAC, ForceBase, Guam; ClarkAirBase;andHickamAir
calledCaptain Traynor'scourageouslanding "one Force Base, Hawaii. At each of these Pacific
ofthe greatestdisplays ofairmanship I have ever locationsmedicalandsupportpersonnel, alongwith
heard related." Assisting Captain Traynor many volunteers, cared for the orphans and
throughouttheordealwere28othercrewmembers prepared them for subsequent airlift to adoption
who worked calmly and efficiently to attend the centers on the west coast of the United States.
passengers, assessdamage, andperformthemany Shortlyaftertheevacuationofthe Vietnamese
tasks critical to landing the aircraft. For orphans began, AirForce Chief of.Staff, General
extraordinary heroism, Captain Traynor and his DavidC. Jones, directedMACto evacuateamuch
copilot, Captain Tilford W. Harp, received the Air smaller number of orphans from Cambodia. The
Force Cross, the service's highest military command contracted this assignment. Operating
decoration. Awards to other crewmembers C-130s, Bird Air, a privately owned company,
includedsix Distinguished Flying Crosses and 29 airlifted a total of 52 orphans from Cambodia's
Airman'sMedals. CaptainRegina C. Aune, aflight capital to U-Tapao Air Base, Thailand. The first
nurse, receivedthe 1975CheneyAwardforplacing group of orphans arrived at U-Tapao on 9 April.
the lives ofthesurvivingorphansandothercrash Anothergroup of Cambodian orphans was flown
victims above her own serious injuries. to U-TapaobyanaircraftthatMACcharteredfrom
the World VisionReliefOrganization. Alsoon9April
a C-141 took the 52 orphans from U-Tapao to
Clark.
Between 6 Apriland 6 May 1975, MAC and
contract carriers airlifted 1,794 Southeast Asian
orphans to their new American families in the
United States. The C-141s transported 949
orphansin 24missions, whilecommercialcarriers
airliftedanother845orphansin fourmissions. The
aircraft transporting the orphans landed in San
Francisco, Oakland, LosAngeles, LongBeach, Los
Alamitos NavalAirStation, £1 Toro Marine Corps
AirStationin California, andatMcChordAirForce
Base, Washington. On 12 April a World Airways
747took329 VietnamesechildrentoLosAngeles.
These children made up the largest group of
orphans airlifted on a single mission. The
Department ofState terminated the orphan airlift
Checkinga newlyarrivedorphanatTravisAirForce on 9 May 1975, ending an operation that had
Base, California. exemplified the finest tradition of American
kindness andgenerosity.
Although BABYLIFT had begun on a tragic
note, the operation quickly evolved into an SOURCES: HistolY of the M..IY Aitllft ComnMnd, 7 July
extremely smooth and safe airlift and received 7974-37DecMnbeI 7975(ScottAFB,M.:OffIceofMACHistory,
7976),ppxvi,204;C. Ctou,MACMIdOp«etJonBASYUFT:
internationally much favorable publicity. By noon
AI, T,.tJ8pOrt In SUpport of NoncomlMUInt EVM:lMtion
the next day, five MAC C-141s andseveral C-9s Op«etioM(ScottAFS,It: 0ff1ctIofMACHi6tory, 7989), pp
under the operational control of the Pacific Air 70,77,33-39;chtonoIogy, OfflceofMACHIstory, "Op«etJon
8IIbyMt, 3 Apr-73 M.y 75," 75 tJ«:.mber 7975; tepOrt,
Forces hadmovedanother 141 orphans and 137
HMdqcMtfeTS MAC, Deputy ChIef of SUI" for O".,.tioM,
escortsfrom Saigonto Clark. Fortheremainderof "8IIcIc1JlOUndSout/HM$tAss.EvllCU#ltion," n.d.
April 1975, MAC operated aircraft to support
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such as bakers, cooks, doctors, nurses, and commercial. Clearly, the commercial carriers had
engineers.,.. played a vital role in the NEW LIFE-NEW ARRIVAL
The next phase of the NEW LIFE evacuation airlift operations."
Operation NEW ARRIVALS-required MAC to As NEWARRIVAL was underway, MACreceived
transport the evacuees from the Pacific reception an urgent airlift request to support a Quick Reaction
points to resettlement centers in the United States. Force. On 12May 1975, intheGulfofSiam morethan
The Department of Defense established centers at 30 milesoff thesouthern coast of Cambodia, Khmer
Camp Pendleton, California; Fort Chaffee, Arkansas; Rouge Communists seized an American merchant
Eglin AirForce Base,Florida; and FortIndiantownGap, ship, the USS Mayaguez, holding 39 crewmembers
Pennsylvania. Thecommand's C·141s, augmented by hostage. Headquarters MAC received a verbal alert
commercial aircraft, tookthe refugeesto airfields near order to stand by to move a contingent of United
these locations. The firstplaneload of refugeesarrived States Marines from the Third Marine Division in the
at Camp Pendleton, throughthe EI Taro MarineCorps Philippines first to Kadena Air Base, Japan, and then
Air Station, on 29 April 1975. The final mission onto U-TapaoAirBase, Thailand. Withinseven hours
reachedthe UnitedStateson 16September 1975.In after receiving the alert order, a C·141 had departed .
summary, NEWARRIVAL brought 121,562refugees Cubi Point for its destinations. Fifteen other C-141
to America on 600 missions: 251 C-141 and 349 missions quickly followed, and within a 22·hour
period, MAC airlifted 1,165Marines and 121 tons of
combat equipmentfrom Kadena and Cubi Point to U
Tapao. Helicopters, from both the Military Airlift
I;} •• ~ommand and the Pacific Air Forces, inserted the
Quick Reaction Force which rescued the USS
Mayaguezcrew. Whentheforce returned to U-Tapao,
political considerations necessitated the immediate
removal of the Marines from Thailand. The Military
Airlift Command completed the redeployment of the
Marines within 37 hours, using 1 C·5 and 13 C·141
missions."
ThequicksuccessionofeventsbetweenApriland
May 1975 had drawn heavily upon military airlift,
thoroughlytesting itsresponsivenessand capabilities.
As the Military Airlift Command surged to meet its
tasking, italsohadtorelyuponthecommercialairtines
forsubstantialassistance. These final SoutheastAsia
operations confirmed once again that the United
Statesneeded to maintain awar-ready military airlift
system. TheIsraeliAirliftin 1973hadunderscoredthis
lesson as well.
AIRLIFT TO ISRAEL: NICKEL GRASS
Justasthe UnitedStates wasending itsmassive
involvement in Vietnam and reducing its force
structure, the Military Airlift Command was called
upon to conduct amajor wartime airlift in support of
Israel. On 6 October 1973, the day of Yom Kippur
the Jewish Day of Atonement- Egypt and Syria
simultaneously attacked Israel. in violation of the
tenuouscease-firethathadexistedbetweenthethree
countriessincethe 1967Arab·lsraeliwar. Desperately
engaged in atwo·front war, Israelquicklypressed all
of its own commercial aircraft into service to ferry
replacement warmaterial fromthe UnitedStates, but
theseresourceswereinadequatetotransportthelarge
amountofcargoneeded, especialtyover-andoutsized
Besides .wtIftJng twfugees to the United St.t.s, cargo. Intensifyingthe crisis, the SovietUnionbegan
contnJct'-eIso -.,J,.~from CMrtr airlifting resupplies to Egypt and Syria on 10
Ai8IIse to othtH"", IMIIfHJS in the PItc/fk;. October.I
'
154
USSR
o
zaragoza •
SPAIN
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To Lajes - Incirlik
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-
\ ~~------===••~
- """"'-:.--------- SYRIA
~-
ALGERIA
'" MOROCCO
'" 3,163 MILES
LIBYA
EGYPT
MAC FLIGHT ROUTE
------ ROUTE PRIOR TO 22 OCT 73
• AIRFIELDS
- US NAVAL SUPPORT VESSELS
MAC AIRLIFT ROUTE - ISRAELI AIRLIFT
Inresponsetoan urgentrequestfrom IsraeliPrime and C-5s were airborne, en route to Israel. The first
Minister Golda Meir, President Richard M. Nixon NICKELGRASS mission was completed when a C-5
initiated an aerial resupply operation to Israel on 13 landed at Lod International Airport at 2OO1Z on 14
October. After considering several options,18 October with 186,200poundsof cargo. To expedite
administration officialshadelectedtouse onlymilitary the unloading operations of all MAC aircraft arriving
aircraft and resources, and the airlift commenced on atLad, anotherC-5hadbeendispatchedtoIsraelwith
13 October, the same day President Nixon directed materials handling equipment and aerial port
it. NicknamedNICKELGRASS, the Israeli Airliftsoon personnel. Unfortunately, it was forced to abort into
proved the value of maintaining a responsive and lajes for maintenance. As aresult, the cargo aboard
efficientmilitaryairlift system. Forthe next 32 days, the first C-5 was unloaded manually by Israelis and
MAC C-141 and C-5 cargo transports streamed MAC crewmembers. The command's airlift planners
steadilyto Lod International Airport, Tel Aviv, Israel. scheduledtheflightsintoLadattherate.of 4C·5and
frommultipleonloadpoints'·inthecontinental United 12 C-141 missions daily. The airlift flow peaked on
States, carrying urgently needed war materials. The 21 Octoberwiththl;!arrivalof 6 C-5sand 12C·141s.
aerial resupply was conducted with an en route stop Ninedayslater, 30October 1973, the intensityofthe
at Lajes Air Base, Azores, over a one-way average airlift slackened abitassealift begantotake overthe
distanceof 6,450nauticalmiles. Giventhediplomatic bulk of the resupply operation.2'
sensitivities associated with so much of the world's Fromthearrival ofthe first mission on 14October
dependence on Arab oil, the C-5 and C-141 flight throughthe landing at Lad International Airportofthe
routes over the Mediterranean carefully avoided the last aircrafton 14November 1973, MAC'scombined
airspace of any nation in the region.20 force of C-5s and C-141s airlifted 22,318 tons of
Only nine hours after President Nixon had made materialto Israel. The delivery wascompleted in 567
thedecisiontoresupply Israel,the command'sC·141s missions and 18,414 hours of flying time. In 145
-"
Lajes Fieldin the Azores w.s the majorsn routs station .nd the key to the Israsli Airlih rtlsupply opsr.tlon.
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