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A History of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 PCN 19000310100

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A History of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 PCN 19000310100 MARI}:E FIGIITER/ATTACK SUADRQN 115 FIJGHT SCHEDULE FOR 17 SFFrEMtER1970 0: 0700.4200 LT ZAHI SR:0636 A/t AVAILABILITY 12O018O0 LT STACY SS: 18147 0600 6 1800-0600LT ZAHT IIR:2009 21.o0__________ IL:!: 0806 9 F0RCAST_______ EVEI'TA/t TtE CREW TIPEBRIEF TO'I' 0RD)MtE REMARKS 20 o6 .6CAPT NILLS,tT MAY CAB 08000930 9D2DC NOTE #2 6250 COL PONMERENK/CAT'r HOLM3ERG " 1458 QL_ LTRISSEL/LT DEIJES CAB 10301200 I)2A/3D9 61458 ]..].LT BOF/T BRiN 1460 _••LT M0FESIttTHfLT GREEN CAB 1200 1330 6D2L/3D9 61460 Q LTSTEV'ENS/LT WITTER U U 14614 ii .8 MM GA(flOTfLT SMT0NI CAB 1330 1500121)2W! NOT! #3 .8LTCQL NITCHELL/CAPr FiOLM1ERG U — 1800 1466 06 8LT ZAHN/LT ROBINSON CAB 1500 1 121)2W! )13TE #14 61466 LT DEMPS/LT CONNER 212 C N x LTHUGHES/LT WITTER T11 1600 1700121)2W! 6212 216 _ MMREESF4/LT MA! T 1900 2000121)2W! 6216 3HHHHH***H*4HfU***4HHHH*iHIHI*iHHH**************1HIIe# MORNIM] PAD:0700.4200F,RIEF:065 2 A/t1)164)17 A. MAJREESE/IT FUCTS B. MM BEJ3ALD/LT ROBINSON LT ZAM)YLT wiroRI — — LT D.EMPS/1T WITTER — — -******U-X 11 **I**3I- AFP0ON PAD:32004800 BRIEF:UZI5SANE AS MORNIm PAD A.CAPT MILLS/LT STACY 3. MM REESE/LT DEIFES LT 1I/CA'T JOHNSOIr LT BACON/LT BR1 — — EVEFIMPAD: 18000700 BRIEF:17145SANE AS MDRNIm PAD A. LT ZAIIN/LT FCKEIARDT LT CAPITO/LT WITTFR I U U $1 HH*I H***IHHII*1IM NIX MMXXN-X*** NOTES: 1.EOD -EM}INEFAUDRE DURfl'G TAKE OFF. 2 BACKUP AIRCRAFT RFiUIRED. 3 MAJ GAGNON GIVEINSTRUHENTCH!K TO LTCOL MITCHELL. 14. CHECKWITH MAINENA1tE AID IF A/CAREN'TNEEDED FOR T} 'S, RUN IWrERCEPFS0 5.. IFTERCEPTBRIEF FOR ALLAVAILABLEz&RIO'S IF READY ROOM AT 1600. 0.A, ZAHV JR. FMGHT OFFICER Section (1) Actual ft:ght schedule for the Silver Eagles for operations out of Da Nang. Note the col- umns 'A/C" and "Time"with the aircraft side numbers andJlzght hours Jiown, respectively. 41 Department of Defense Photo (USMC) A422879 A flight of Silver Eagle F-4Bs is airborne on a mission in Vietnam during January 1971. Eachis carrying a load of Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles, and laser-guided bombs. and 218 enlisted men, and on that day it moved back ing officer, and the latter part of the month saw ex- to Iwakuni, Japan, rejoining MAG-15 there. Arriving tensive preparation for a projected move to Naha, with eight F-4Bs, the squadron added seven more to Okinawa. bring its aircraft strength up to 15. The superior work of VMFA-115 during 1970.197 1 Threedays later, on 4 March, Lieutenant Colonel was recognized when it received the prestigious Robert Raymond R. Powell became the new commanding M. Hanson Marine Fighter/Attack Squadron of the officer of VMFA.115.* A significant change in the squa- Year Trophy. This award recognized the squadron as dron's maintenance procedures occurred as the unit the "best" VMFA unit in the Marine Corps for the fis- adopted the Visual Information Display System to cal year. It was also awarded the Navy Unit Commend record its maintenance operations. Tactical flying re- ation as part of MAG-li for roughly the same time sumed on 25 March, when two aircraft participated period.** in the Commando Jade exercise. The move to Naha took place on 7 January 1972, Spring months were used to concentrate on aircrew and VMFA-115 remained there for three months of training in the area of ACM (air combat maneuver- training. The Naha training came to an abrupt end ing) and radar practice, anti-submarine warfare, Side- in April, due to the 29 March invasion of three North winder missile firing, and in Okinawan joint air Vietnamese divisions across the northern border of defense exercises. South Vietnam. This onslaught was known as the Starting 30 June, the aircraft of VMFA-115 moved "Easter Invasion." The situation along the DMZ de- to Cubi Point. There the squadron carried out inten- teriorated rapidly, and U.S. reinforcements quickly be- sive training, which included providing simulated close came necessary. A policy decision was made to limit air support for the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit's these to air units. Thus, on 5 April, 1st MAW received landing exercise until 22 August. a warning order from FMFPac to be prepared to deploy For the remainder of 1971, while primarily based two fixed-wing tactical aircraft squadrons to Vietnam. at lwakuni, the squadron concentrated on pilot train- VMFA-232 and VMFA-115 were selected because of ing in the areas of air-to-air tactics, gunnery, close air their dual-mission capabilities and interoperability support, long-range bombing missions, etc. The Sil- with Air Force aircraft. On the morning of 6 April, ver Eagles also made a return visit to Cubi Point dur- the Joint Chiefs of Staff issued an execute order. Im- ing the period 19 October to 18 November. mediate action was taken to stage the two squadrons On 9 December 1971 Lieutenant Colonel Kent A. to Cubi Point to await the final execute order from McFerren took charge of the squadron as command- the commander of the Seventh Fleet, and by noon the *As a captain, Lieutenant Colonel Powell had been Marine Corps first aircraft elements were airborne from Iwakuni. At Aviator of the Year in 1965. **See Appendix D for citation. 42 Dziedzic,was able to eject and escaped the accident with ohly minor burns. By the end of May the squadron had flown a total of 504 combat sorties and 593.5 flight hours. Lieutenant Colonel McFerren, in analyzing the sor- ties of VMFA-115, later made several interesting points. Electronic counter-measures were not required in MR 2 (Military Region 2) but were necessary in MR 1. Any bombing closer than 1,000 meters to friendly troops had to be specifically authorized (compared to the 50-meter zone the squadron had used with U.S. units on its previous tour).* Still, VMFA-115 had done "as good a job as F-4s have ever done."9 Thailand Deployment On 16 June 1972 the squadron began another move to a new base. The reasons were two-fold. Marine Corps planners were concerned that continued ene- my progress would jeopardize the security of the Da Nang Airbase. Further, President Nixon had ordered a reduction in the number of U.S. troops in South Vietnam. As a consequence, "out country" locations in Southeast Asia had to be chosen from which Ameri- can air units could continue flying their support mis- sions. For VMFA-115 and the rest of MAG-15 the Nam Phong Royal Thai Air Base was selected.' Marine Corps Historical Collection Accordingly, on 16 June VMFA-115 launched com- LtCol Raymond R. Powell, commanding officer of bat sorties from Da Nang, and recovered 340 miles VMFA-1 15,receivesthe Hanson Trophy on behalf of west at Nam Phong, Thailand. It was the first com- the squadron for its performance for Fiscal Year 1971. bat squadron of the recently established Task Force 1744the final execute order was received by 1st MAW, Delta to arrive there.** The air base at Nam Phong and in four hours and 55 minutes the lead elements was primitive; in May it had been described as little of both squadrons were at Da Nang.17 more than a stand-by runway. The runway and four The scrambling efforts to accomplish this were rev- F-ill "nose hangars" were the only facilities in place, ealed in comments made later by Lieutenant Colonel and thus the entire squadron had to operate out of McFerren. He had no word of the decision to move one of the "nose hangars."2 It was facetiously known until 0900 on 6 April. He was at Iwakuni, the squa- as the "Rose Garden," a nickname which came from dron was at Naha, and the squadron's aircraft needed a Marine Corps recruiting slogan that itself had been to be reconfigured with wing tanks for the trip. Yet, taken from a popular song of the time. It carried the in spite of the temporary disorder, the lead elements idea that the Marine Corps didn't promise a luxuri- were in Da Nang by 2200 hours.18 ous life style! Nevertheless, the men of VMFA-115 were In Da Nang the squadron was attached to MAG-15 "The planes used a 10-degree approach angle at 500 feet to drop (Forward), and given a two-day "in-country" indoc- their 500-pound Snakeye bombs; this meant an error as small as trination on the enemy and friendly situation by a one degree in dive angle would put the bomb 12 to 15 feet off tar- Seventh Air Force briefing team. Missions began on get. This led Lieutenant Colonel McFerren to believe that Marine 9 April with the primary objective of providing close aircraft could do a better job if they used the laser-guided "smart air support for the South Vietnamese Army. Sorties bomb" the Air Force was using. were concentrated in the areas around Quang Tn, Hue, **Task Force Delta, initially commanded by Brigadier General Andrew W. O'Donnell, was established on 24 May 1972. Its pur- Pleiku, Kontum, and Phu Cat. The squadron lost its pose was to "assume operational control of MAG-15 except that the executive officer, Major Thomas K. Duffy, in a midair 7th Air Force Headquarters in Saigon would have mission direc. collision with a South Vietnamese observation plane tion authority." It was also to 'establish and maintain liaison" with on 27 April.
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