However, as F-4 crews quickly learned, Vietnam-era rules of engagement required crews to visually identify a target before attacking. Navy aircraft carrier USS Midway (CVA-41) departs San Francisco Bay in April 1972. The era of button-pushing combat had arrived, eliminating the need for dogfighting and a gun…or so it was thought. Consequently, F-4 training doctrine emphasized radar intercepts and Sparrow missile engagements. Instead, Navy planners thought future air combat would be fought beyond visual range-with the F-4’s crew of two employing radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missiles. The F-4s reflected the prevailing beliefs of the time-that the “knife fight in a phone booth” style of air combat was passé. Navy requirement for a high-speed interceptor that could quickly climb, engage, and counter the threat posed by Soviet nuclear-armed bombers. The fighters had been designed to meet a 1950s U.S. The number of different tactical missions the pilots of VF-161 flew confirms the versatility of the squadron’s F-4Bs. Standing in front of a T-38 at Top Gun after the Vietnam War, Lieutenant Commander Ronald “Mugs” McKeown (at left) and Lieutenant Commander John “Jack” Ensch were both awarded the Navy Cross for shooting down two MiGs in their F-4. The old hands would guide the new guys as they gained experience, and in La Chat’s case, his RIO was Lieutenant John “Jack” Ensch-a highly respected “backseater” who regularly took green pilots under his wing. New pilots joining the squadron were initially paired with an experienced RIO and flew as a senior pilot’s wingman. “It was a terrific squadron with a Hollywood handsome skipper who truly cared about his men and did his best to bring everybody back,” says La Chat. With the welcome aboard ritual complete, “it was quickly down to business, and I was assigned an early morning armed recce flight with the skipper,” says La Chat. Let’s stone the bastard.’ ” With that, La Chat was bombarded with balls of newspaper wrapped in tape. Says La Chat: “After introducing myself to Commander Wayne ‘Deacon’ Connell, the skipper says, ‘Let’s say hello to Pete. Reporting to VF-161’s ready room at 2300 hours his first night aboard Midway, La Chat found squadron members gleefully waiting to introduce the new guy to a squadron tradition. But while the North Vietnamese talked peace in Paris, they were preparing a major thrust south that became known as the Easter Offensive. When La Chat arrived aboard the USS Midway, operating in the Gulf of Tonkin in late 1971, peace talks were under way. airmen downed 197 MiGs during the long conflict. His attitude was: ‘A MiG on your six is better than no MiG at all.’” “The skipper wanted a MiG probably even worse than I did. “I was a combat pilot, that’s what I wanted,” says La Chat. “It was a matter of leadership-skipper Deacon Connell was one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met.” La Chat credits Connell for fostering a warrior culture within the squadron, in which VF-161’s fighter crews were highly motivated to bag MiGs. “I think VF-161 was the perfect squadron,” says Pete La Chat, a former Navy lieutenant. “We went after the North aggressively and flew all kinds of missions-fleet defense, armed reconnaissance, Alpha strikes, and photo recon escorts,” says Jim “Wizzer” Wise, a radar intercept officer (RIO) attached to VF-161. During Operation Linebacker-a bombing campaign conducted in response to North Vietnam’s massive invasion of South Vietnam in spring 1972-the squadron was on the battle line for 205 days. Navy Fighter Squadron 161 (VF-161), known as the Chargers. The pace of the air campaign during the final year of the Vietnam War was especially grueling for U.S. ( Midway itself would lose 44 of its aircraft to enemy action.) Fifty years ago, in January 1973, the last MiG kill of the long bitter war was also credited to an F-4 launched from Midway’s deck. In June 1965, the Phantom II fighters based on Midway were credited with the first two MiG kills of the conflict. As visitors stream onto the aircraft carrier’s four-acre flightdeck-located on San Diego’s waterfront-they might be overwhelmed by the immensity of the ship, but once they get their bearings, many gravitate toward a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, marked by five MiG silhouettes painted on part of the engine intake.ĭuring the Vietnam War, 197 MiGs were shot down. Navy pilots recall the final, frenetic days of the air war over Vietnam.Īlthough now a museum, the USS Midway continues to inspire awe.
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