onward THE NIGHT of 20-21 November 1970 the North Vietnamese were treated to an aggressive demonstration of Pre Richard Nixon's make uneasy for the welfare of US prisoners of war (POW)--the raid forward the Son Tay POW camp.

Magic Trick Store. Free shipping on magic tricks.

onward THE NIGHT of 20-21 November 1970 the North Vietnamese were treated to an aggressive demonstration of Pre Richard Nixon's make uneasy for the welfare of US prisoners of war (POW)--the raid forward the Son Tay POW camp. Although we rescu no POW (the enemy had mov them to other facilities), the raid aids as a model of a well-planned and--executed joint special operation. Indeed, Son Tay stands in stark contrast to the dismal effort high hilled to free hostages in Iran 10 years later. Marked by dint of outstanding organization, training, and unity of effort, Operation Kingpin badly embarrassed the North Vietnamese.

Brig Gen Donald Blackburn, special assistant for counterinsurgency and special activities in Washington and an aged Army hand at special warfare, came up with the idea for the raid. After a favorable feasibility studious mood meticulous planning began with the blessing of the president. mostly importantly, the operation remained directly subordinate to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, bypassing the bureaucracy in Southeast Asia. Brig Gen Leroy Manor, commander of USAF Special Operations at Eglin AFB, Florida, and the joint task force commander, wielded a actual free hand. His deputy, Col Arthur "Bull" Simons, a long-time Army veteran of "spec ops" would proceed in on the ground with the raiding party.

The Central Intelligence Agency provided a scale standard of the prison and surrounding buildings, and engineers organizeed a life-size mock-up of timber and canvas in Florida that they could quickly disassemble before Soviet secret agent satellites made their twice-daily crossing through the whole extent of the area. The rigorous training involved dangerous dissimilar aircraft formation flying at night. Full-dres rehearsals get oned under operational conditions until the team felt 90-95 percent confident of mission succes Barely three month had transpired from the time Manor had been give notice toed to the Pentagon until the force opened to Thailand.

The Army provided the assault force (limited to 56 men) and the Navy committed 59 aircraft to a diversion in the direction of Haiphong, drawing the attention of the North Vietnamese air-defense network. The Air Force organized its mission aircraft into robust packages: (1) five HH-53 helicopters and the same HH-3 (which had to crash-land the redemption team in the middle of the prison compound) carrying the assault multitudes and (2) five A-1E attack aircraft providing fire support. After refueling from separate HC-130P through the whole extent of Laos, each group then followed its allow MC-130E Combat Talon special operations aircraft, which broke distant from in the target area to small quantity flares and diversionary ordnance. Ten F-4 flew combat air patrol in the objective area, supported at five F-105 Wild Weasels for suppressing surface-to-air missiles (SAM). Additional aircraft provided aerial refueling, radar coverage, enemy-radio monitoring, and command and sway relay for General Manor, who operated from a real property station in South Vietnam.

Although Simons's helicopter landed at the iniquitous compound and a SAM downed the same of the Wild Weasels, the force achieved surprise, completely overpowered the garrison, and evacuated the area the same minute ahead of schedule. alone one raider sustained wounds. The effort stands as an prime example of the masterful execution of a joint special operation. Well throughout a decade would pass before US special operations forces organized onward a permanent basis to carry gone out raids like Son Tay.

To Learn More

Haas, Col Michael E Apollo's Warriors: United States Air Force Special Operations during the wintry War: Maxwell AFB, AL: Air University Pres 1997 Isby, David C Leave No Man Behind: Liberation and Capture Missions. London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2004

Schemmer, Benjamin F The Raid. fresh York: Harper & Row, 1976

Thigpen, Col Jerry L The Praetorian Starship: The Untold Story of the Combat Talon. Maxwell AFB, AL: Air University Pres 2001

...

Home