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.