[A/N] This is my second story with JAG characters Harmon Rabb Senior and Tom Boone in Vietnam. Because the TV show took considerable liberties with facts and events, I had to do the same. Nevertheless, as with my first story, this one is also based on true events. I want to thank all the readers of my first story, especially those who left a review and who marked it as a favorite. I am flattered. A special thank you goes to csincisfan01 for graciously allowing me to use her original character, Petty Officer Andrew Thomas, in my stories.
JAG Disclaimer: I own nothing
MIGCAP
Chapter 1
04 December, 1969
0500 Hotel (Zulu +8)
USS Ticonderoga
Yankee Station- Tonkin Gulf
The Ticonderoga was a floating city, and while on Yankee Station, this city never slept. Sailors worked 12 hour shifts, with most putting in 14 or 15 hours before catching a few hours of sleep. Hard working men were always hungry, so meals were served 22 hours a day.
Operation Commando Hunt had begun. The objective of the campaign was to prevent personnel and supplies moving along the Ho Chi Minh Trail that ran from North Vietnam through the southeastern portion of the Kingdom of Laos and into South Vietnam.
The North Vietnamese moved hundreds of thousands of tons of supplies south along the Trail, and the Navy was working in conjunction with the USAF to bomb the Trail around the clock. Operation Commando Hunt would become the single most intensive bombing campaign in history, with bombs falling on average every 5 minutes, day and night.
Sunrise on Yankee Station was at 0658. For the aircraft carriers of Task Force 77 cruising off the North Vietnamese coast, there wasn't a minute of daylight to lose.
Lieutenants Harmon Rabb and Tom Boone had finished their breakfast and were at the AI (Aircraft Intelligence) office to receive last minute information on this morning's air operations.
It was going to be an Alpha Strike on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, with nearly every aircraft aboard Ticonderoga participating.
Timing was crucial. The USAF was bombing the trail from bases located in South Vietnam and Thailand, so areas of control were assigned to the different flights.
The Ticonderoga would be launching A-4s and A-7s, and the brand new A-6 Intruders. Top cover over the trail would be provided by F-4 Phantoms from the Tico's two fighter squadrons.
Harm and Tom had been assigned as the second of three flights of F-4's for MIGCAP. They would be protecting the fleet, and the E-2 Hawkeye early warning aircraft, against enemy fighters.
The Hawkeye, which was called Elmer Fudd, was a twin engine propeller plane whose defining feature was a huge rotating radar dome mounted above its fuselage. Once airborne, skilled radar operators inside the Fudd could track multiple targets over large areas of North Vietnam and provide crucial early warning to friendly aircraft.
Red Crown, the USS Chicago, which was cruising the Tonkin Gulf with her escorts, had the most powerful surface to air radar in the US Navy. Controllers on Windy City could track aircraft as far away as Thailand, but the Chicago's surface radar had gaps in the mountains along the border with Laos. Mountains which the high flying E-2 Hawkeye could see over.
After leaving AI, Harm and Tom went to their squadron's ready room for more detailed flight information and to discuss their individual responsibilities in the air.
The lead MIGCAP flight was Fairfield One and Two, with Lt. Commander Al "Buster" Cherry in Fairfield One, and Gary "Grits" Grissom in Fairfield Two.
Al Cherry had more stick time in the F-4 Phantom than any aviator in VF-111. Cherry had mixed it up with MiGs before. He was an aggressive pilot, and well respected in the squadron.
Cherry and Grissom would launch first. After taking up position to block any enemy aircraft moving south, they would be joined by Harm and Tom, and then by a third flight of two F-4s. Two more Phantoms would be sitting manned and ready on the Ticonderoga's deck, waiting to be launched if needed.
That assignment was the one that no one wanted.
The E-2 would remain on station and orbiting over the Tonkin Gulf for nearly five hours. To ensure that at least two F-4s were always providing cover, the six Phantoms on MIGCAP would take turns tanking with the whale, a KA-3B piloted bt Lt. Harold "Prince" Phillips.
Phillips and Tom Boone had a history, and it wasn't good.
This would be a long mission for the Phantoms. Although fighters on MIGCAP rarely encountered a MiG, naval aviators train for hundreds of hours for this type of mission, and there was excitement at the possibility of putting that training into practice.
After Harm and Tom and gotten into their flight gear, they made their way from the ready room up to the flight deck to preflight their aircraft. On the way, they bumped into Master Chief Davis, who was on his way to flight ops.
Aviation Boatswain's Mate Master Chief Donald Davis oversaw every aspect of the ship's flight deck systems: operating and maintaining the catapults and the arresting gear, aircraft handling, as well as the barricades, and the firefighting and rescue equipment. Davis would be on the flight deck during preparations for the beginning of the day's flight ops, and then go up in the island and oversee operations with the Air Boss.
The Master Chief was a grizzled man of medium height with close-cropped blonde hair and steel blue eyes. After nearly 30 years spent working on flight decks, his skin looked like tanned leather. Davis had seen action aboard the USS Enterprise during WWII, and the USS Essex in Korea. He was crusty and profane, but wise in the ways of warships, and the men who crewed them.
The old Chief was respected and feared by all aboard. He dispensed sound advice, and savage ass-chewings, in equal measure, and he had no qualms about giving officers a piece of his mind.
Harm said, "Good morning Master Chief." Davis was a salty old cuss, but if problems occurred on the flight deck, he could solve them quickly.
"Good morning, Lieutenant Rabb. Good morning...Mister Boone," Davis replied.
The Master Chief didn't like Tom Boone, and he seldom addressed Tom by his rank.
Boone enjoyed giving the Master Chief a hard time. Unlike Harm, who had graduated from Annapolis, Tom Boone had been Navy ROTC at Iowa State. Tom was not a sailor, and he was fond of using vernacular instead of nautical terms, which included calling the Ticonderoga a "boat", and launching his aircraft from the "pointy end" of it.
This frustrated Davis, who was an old blue water sailor, no end.
"Good hunting, Lieutenant Rabb." Davis looked at Tom and said, "Try to land on the correct ship today, Mister Boone."
"Just leave a light burning on the blunt end of this boat, and I'll spot it," said Tom.
The Master Chief asked Tom point blank, "Mister Boone, I've worn out more seabags than you've worn out socks. You strike me as being the Air Force type. Why are you in Navy?"
"Master Chief, I like to fly fast and eat good. The Navy has the best rides, and the best chow," said Tom.
Davis reached up with his left hand and wiped his brow. This is what the Navy had come to? And there was even talk of some day allowing women to serve aboard ship. Women!
The Master Chief opened the hatch to allow the two officers to step onto the flight deck, and then he closed it behind them.
The Ticonderoga was making 25 knots into the wind, but the flight deck was heavy with the smell of steam mixed with JP-5 jet fuel.
Up on the Tico's "pointy end", the E-2 Hawkeye early warning aircraft was being launched. Cherry and Grissom in the first MIGCAP flight, would follow the Fudd.
Back at the "blunt end", Harm was joined by his RIO, Hoot Gibson, and they made their way to their F-4.
Brown shirt plane captain, Aerospace Structural Mechanic 3rd Class Andrew Thomas, was waiting for them. As the plane captain, Thomas responsibilities included daily pre-flight and post-flight checks, as well as cockpit switchology and ensuring the canopy was clean.
Petty Officer Thomas' name was stenciled on Harm's F-4, and he treated Sweet Sarah like royalty.
Todays mission was MIGCAP, with a 4X4 intercept load of missiles: four AIM-7 Sparrows and four AIM-9 Sidewinders, and a 500 gallon drop tank at the center-line station below the F-4's fuselage.
Harm checked the exterior of his Phantom closely. He needed to ensure there were no leaks, that all of the control surfaces moved freely, and everything that had been attached to the airframe was mounted correctly.
Red flags were flying from the safety pins of the 8 missiles. Harm didn't touch them. Once the Phantom was on the cat, the pins would be removed by the red shirt ordnance men.
"Have a safe flight, Mister Rabb," said Thomas, who would continue to oversee the Phantom until it was handed her over to a yellow shirted flight deck director.
"I'll try to down a MiG for you today," said Harm.
"Mister Rabb, you know that there's nothing I'd like better than to paint a red star on Sarah, but I just want you back safe."
Once Harm and Hoot were inside the cockpit, they went through the lengthy pre flight check list. When the check list had been completed, Harm made a few notes on the pad attached to his kneeboard.
Harm received the signal for an engine start, and watched as an MD-3A "Huffer" was moved into position beside his Phantom. The Huffer delivered compressed air through a large diameter hose which was connected to the air driven starter of his #1 engine.
When #1 had reached 500 RPM, Harm clicked the ignitor switch. The engine continued to build speed, and at 1,500 RPM, Harm turned on the fuel. The JP-5 ignited instantly.
The J79 turbojet was self sustaining at 3,000 RPM, and the Huffer was disconnected and moved away from Harm's Phantom.
That suited Harm fine.
Earlier that year, a Huffer on the USS Enterprise was left running too close to an F-4 which was carrying Zuni missiles. The heat of the Huffer's exhaust "cooked off" the missiles, which triggered several MK-82 bombs. The resulting conflagration killed 28 men, injured 314, and destroyed 15 aircraft.
Harm brought #1 up to its idle speed of 5,000 RPM. Now he sent it's bleed air to his #2 engine and lit it off.
Harm received the go ahead to taxi. He gave a thumbs-up to Petty Officer Thomas, who remained on standby while the yellow shirt flight deck director took over control.
Because voice commands could be misunderstood, radio communications between the directors and the pilots were not used. Only hand signals directed aircraft around the flight deck.
The signals were universal. As a rule, all signals to pilots were passed above the waist, while signals to others working on the flight deck were given below the waist.
Aircraft taxi routes and launch sequences had been prearranged and were being controlled by Flight Deck Control using the Ouija Board; the most critical tool in coordinating flight operations.
The Ouija Board was a replica of the Tico's flight deck and was about 6 feet long and 3 feet wide; about the size of a large coffee table. Scattered over the board were small templates shaped like aircraft which were made to scale. In theory, anything that would fit on the Ouija Board would fit on the flight deck.
Harm taxied the catapult where he was shown the weight board. The correct gross weight was critical. Too much power from the steam driven cat could damage the Phantom. Too little power and the Phantom would never get airborne. It would drop off the bow and plunge into the ocean, often with the pilots trapped inside.
Harm confirmed that the indicated weight was correct and the catapult's power was adjusted accordingly.
Harm was given the signal to taxi very slowly and to precisely and align himself with the catapult. Green shirted "Hookup Men" approached and helped to guide him.
The F-4 required a bridle for launch. The bridle was a harness made of heavy wire rope, and was attached to fixed points below the fuselage.
To perfom this crucial task, the hook up men had to crawl underneath the Phantom, where Harm couldn't see them. His life was in the hands of these men, most of whom were just two years out of high school.
With the bridle attached, the ordnance men moved forward to connect the electrical pigtails to Harm's missiles. While they were working, no one dared to approach the aircraft.
The ordies final task was to pull the safety pins on Harm's 8 missiles. Sweet Sarah was now armed and deadly.
Once satisfied that everything was good to go, the Green Shirt passed a thumbs-up to Harm, who extened his front landing gear strut to take up any slack remaining in the bridle.
A signal was given for Harm to cycle through the full range control movements while a white shirted inspector/observer ensured that all the control surfaces moved appropriately. The white shirt also checked for fluid leaks, or any other last minute issues.
Without the troubleshooter's okay, Harm wasn't going anywhere. Period.
Once the white shirt gave the thumbs up, a water cooled blast deflector was raised behind the engines. Now the yellow shirt looked both ways before doing two hand signals at once: his left hand was raised with a palm open to indicate "off the brakes", while his right hand was outstretched straight ahead to indicate that the F-4 was to take the full tension of the catapult.
Harm released the brakes and did a final check of his instruments while director passed control to the Shooter.
The Shooter began furiously waving his hand in the air for the engine "run-up" signal. Harm advanced the throttles to military power- 100% thrust, and his two J79's began billowing clouds of sooty black exhaust.
While the Phantom was straining under the tension, the Shooter did a quick check around the deck. Thumbs up all around. Now he pointed to Harm, who saluted him.
The Shooter dropped to one knee. When he touched the deck with his right hand, the catapult officer launched the Phantom.
Harm and Hoot were pushed back into their seats as they accelerated along the deck at nearly 4G's. Harm heard a thump, and he briefly felt as if he was floating in the air. His engine thrust hadn't quite caught up to the launch speed of the catapult.
Once clear of the Ticonderoga, Harm raised the landing gear. To ensure separation between himself and any aircraft launched from the ship's second catapult, he performed a 10° "clearing turn".
It was a beautiful day for flying in the Tonkin Gulf. If this had been a training flight, Harm would have performed some of the aerobatics he'd practiced with the Blue Angels.
Not this morning. This morning he was on Governemnt Time.
Tom Boone launched 30 seconds behind Harm. After catching up, he took his usual position on Harm's left.
Harm gave a thumbs up, which Tom returned.
This mission was what Harm and Tom constantly trained for: to protect the fleet by intercepting hostile aircraft.
They were not supposed to just control the skies, they were expected dominate the enemy, and they had the tool to do it: the F-4 Phantom II was the most powerful and advanced fighter aircraft on the planet.
Today, Harm and Tom would put their two Phantom's to the test.