1972-Contin ued
30 June The Naval Air Rework Facility and the
Naval Air Station at North Island, Calif., submitted to
the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory an interim
report on pollution studies. A follow-on final report
was published in August with the title "Environmental
Collection Data Base." It contained methodological
information on effective means of measuring the
extent of various types of environmental pollution,
related some pollutants to particular industrial or oper-
ational activity, and contained quantitative data on the
extent of pollution found to be present. Thus, it pro-
vided an important first step in devising plans to
lessen the environmental impact of pollution produced
by naval operational and industrial air activities.
1 July A reorganization of the Naval Air Training
system occurred when the Naval Air Advanced
Training Command was disestablished and the Chief
of Naval Air Training was relocated to Corpus Christi,
Tex. This action was part of the Navy's effort to con-
solidate training under a concept called "single base
training." When pilots completed their primary training
they were assigned to a specific program involving
training in either jets, props or helos. This training
would be completed at one specific training base
where the pilots would finish their instruction before
receiving their wings. The new structure/organization
came under the control of the Chief, Naval Air
Training Command.
1 July Tactical Electronic Warfare Wing 13 (TACEL-
WING-13) was disestablished at NAS Whidbey Island,
Wash. It had been established to introduce the complex
electronic warfare EA-6B Prowler into fleet service.
15 July A three-day test demonstration of the ability
of the UH-2C Seasprite to fire Sparrow III missiles
against surface targets was completed at the Pacific
Missile Range, Sea Test Range, Calif. The helicopter,
modified to carry a single missile mounted on a rail
launcher, fired four missiles during the course of the
demonstration.
22 July Tripoli arrived in Subic Bay, R.P., with HMM-
165 on board to provide relief support after record
rains caused disastrous flooding in the central Luzon
valley between Manila and Lingayen Gulf. Tens of
thousands of people were affected and additional ships
were tasked for Philippine flood relief operations.
31 July The Navy began night operations regularly
on 24 May and during June and July night sorties con-
stituted 30 percent of the total Navy attack effort in
UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995
297
NVN, relying primarily on the A-7 and A-6. About 45
percent of the Navy armed reconnaissance effort was
at night during June and July. The A-7 flew about as
many night sorties as it did day sorties. The A-6 flew
more night than day armed reconnaissance sorties
during the summer months. The total number of Navy
night sorties during June and July were 1,243 and
1,332 respectively. Three to four carriers were main-
tained on Yankee Station during the summer months.
The carriers involved were Constellation, Coral Sea,
Hancock, Kitty Hawk, Midway, Saratoga, Oriskany
and America.
31 July There was a dramatic change in NVN's air
defense effort during the summer months. During the
earlier periods of April and May, the Navy air effort in
NVN involved intensive air-to-air combat and a large
number of surface-to-air missile (SAM) firings. In con-
trast, during June and July there was an increase in
Linebacker I Navy attack sorties, but there was a
decrease in the number of air-to-air combat incidents
and SAM firings. MiG kills decreased to three in June
by Navy aircraft and zero in July compared to 16 MiG
kills by Navy aircraft in May. After mid-June, almost all
North Vietnamese aircraft sighted or engaged were
MiG-21s. Navy/MiG encounters were primarily against
MiG-21s, representing a considerable change from
May, when 11 of 16 Navy kills were MiG-17s.
5 August New Orleans relieved Tripoli in Philippine
flood relief operations. HMM-165 transferred to New
Orleans to continue support due to their knowledge
of terrain and problems inherent in the flood relief
operations.
5 August A Naval Air Test Center pilot made the
first fully automated landing aboard Ranger in an F-4J
Phantom II. The test landing device linked the plane's
controls with a computer aboard ship and enabled the
aircraft to land with the pilot's hands off the controls.
The system was developed to make safer landings at
night and in low visibility conditions.
7 August An HC- 7 Det 110 helicopter, aided by
planes from Saratoga and Midway, conducted a search
and rescue mission for a downed aviator in NVN. The
pilot of an A-7 aircraft from Saratoga had been
downed by a surface-to-air missile about 20 miles
inland, northwest of Vinh, on 6 August. The HC-7 heli-
copter flew inland over mountainous terrain to rescue
the pilot. The rescue helicopter used its search light to
assist in locating the downed pilot and, despite receiv-
ing heavy ground fire, was successful in retrieving the
pilot and returning to an LPD off the coast of NVN.
This was the deepest penetration of a rescue heli-

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