481st Tactical Fighter Squadron
Encyclopedia
History
In 1957, the 27th Fighter-Escort Wing was assigned to Bergstrom Air Force BaseBergstrom Air Force Base
Bergstrom Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located seven miles southeast of downtown Austin, Texas. It was activated during World War II as a troop carrier training airfield, and was a front-line Strategic Air Command base during the Cold War...
near Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
and at that time it was part of the Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
. In the summer of 1957, it was re-named as the 27th Tactical Fighter Wing and transferred to the Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 being headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia...
. In 1958, the 27th TFW was deactivated and transferred to Cannon Air Force Base
Cannon Air Force Base
Cannon Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base, located approximately southwest of Clovis, New Mexico. It is under the jurisdiction of Air Force Special Operations Command ....
which is just west of Clovis, New Mexico
Clovis, New Mexico
Clovis is the county seat of Curry County, New Mexico, United States. Its population was 32,667 at the 2000 census; according to 2010 Census Bureau estimates, the population had risen to 37,775....
. The transfer did not involve the actual movement of any equipment or aircraft. Instead, the 312th Tactical Fighter Wing and the four squadrons of F-100 Super Sabre
F-100 Super Sabre
The North American F-100 Super Sabre was a supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard until 1979. The first of the Century Series collection of USAF jet fighters, it was the first USAF fighter capable of...
aircraft assigned to it were re-designated as the 27th TFW one day after the 27th had been de-activated at Bergstrom AFB. The 27th TFW was under the 832d Air Division
832d Air Division
The 832d Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Tactical Air Command, assigned to Twelfth Air Force, being stationed at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona...
. The four squadrons of the 312th TFW were then re-designated as the 481st, 522d, 523d
523d Fighter Squadron
The 523d Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 27th Operations Group stationed at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico....
, and 524th
524th Fighter Squadron
The 524th Special Operations Squadron is a Special Operations squadron of the United States Air Force, based at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, with the 27th Special Operations Wing.It is nicknamed the “Hounds of Heaven”.-History:...
Tactical Fighter Squadrons. This was the beginning of the 481st Tactical Fighter Squadron.
Between 1959 and 1973, aircraft and personnel from the 481st deployed many times to various parts of the world, including Europe, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand and Japan. Some of the known deployments and history are listed below.
10 November 1963 - A deployment of 75 days to Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base
Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base
Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base is a Royal Thai Air Force facility. It is located in Central Thailand, approximately 144 miles northwest of Bangkok in Takhli district, Nakhon Sawan Province, near the city of Nakhon Sawan.- Units :...
, Thailand
14 November 1963 – Operation Hard Surface – A deployment to Dhahran
Dhahran
Dhahran is a city located in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, and is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Large oil reserves were first identified in the Dhahran area in 1931, and in 1935 Standard Oil of California drilled the first commercially viable oil well...
, Saudi Arabia. This operation had started with another unit, probably from Cannon AFB, on 4 May 1963. The 481st participated in this operation from 14 November 1963 to 1 February 1964.
The units assigned to this operation were awarded the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Outstanding Unit Award
The Air Force Outstanding Unit Award is an award of the United States Air Force which was first created in 1954. The award is presented as a ribbon to any command of the U.S...
.
31 March 1964 – Exercise Delawar, a CENTO sponsored joint training exercise with the Imperial Iranian Air Force. The 481st TFS and the 429th Tactical Fighter Squadron deployed to Vahdati Air Base at Dezful
Dezful
Dezful is a city in and the capital of Dezful County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 228,507, in 55,711 families.The city houses a bridge that dates back to 300 BC.In 2006, the city had 235,819 inhabitants.-History:...
Iran, with 36 aircraft and over 500 personnel.
7 May 1964 – Exercise Desert Strike. This was a joint Air Force and Army training exercise that took place in California, Nevada and Arizona and lasted two weeks. It involved nearly 100,000 personnel, fifteen active Air Force fighter squadrons, and numerous other flying squadrons and support units from the active military, the Air National Guard
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard , often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the fifty U.S. states, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia of the United States. Established under Title 10 and...
and the Air Force Reserve.
28 August 1964 – The 481st TFS was selected as the outstanding fighter unit in the Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 being headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia...
for the second consecutive quarter.
1 September 1964 – The squadron was sent on a 120 day rotational deployment to Misawa Air Base
Misawa Air Base
right|thumb|A US Navy C-2 at Misawa is a United States military facility located northeast of the railway station in Misawa, west of the Pacific Ocean, northeast of Towada, northwest of Hachinohe, and north of Tokyo, in Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region in the northern part of the...
, Japan. During this time, some aircraft of the 481st TFS also went to Kung Kuan Air Base in Taiwan. While in Taiwan, the aircraft took part in Operation Sky Soldier VI.
1 June 1965 – The squadron was the first to respond and depart during a full scale no-notice Operational Readiness Inspection (ORI) conducted by an inspection team from the Tactical Air Command.
From 29 June 1965 to 22 November 1965, the 481st was deployed to Tan Son Nhut Air Base
Tan Son Nhut Air Base
Tan Son Nhut Air Base was a Republic of Vietnam Air Force facility. It is located near the city of Saigon in southern Vietnam. The United States used it as a major base during the Vietnam War , stationing Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine units there...
, Vietnam.
Vietnam
In the Spring of 1965, notification was received that the squadron would deploy to Vietnam in late June for a combat tour. On June 11, 1965, without prior warning, the squadron was alerted to deploy within twenty-four hours and left Cannon AFB on June 12, 1965 under the code name Operation Two Buck 16. After a one week delay at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, the squadron arrived at Tan Son Nhut Airbase on June 21, 1965 and began flying combat missions on that first day in South Vietnam.On the night of July 19, the Army Special Forces camp at Bu Dop, about 100 miles north of Saigon, came under attack by the Viet Cong. Air strikes by two F-100s of the 481st were credited with “probably saving the camp that night”. Just eleven days after this mission, one of the pilots, 1st Lt. Donald D. Watson of Tripoli, Wisconsin
Tripoli, Wisconsin
Tripoli is an unincorporated community in Lincoln and Oneida counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Tripoli is located on U.S. Route 8 west of Rhinelander, in the towns of Somo and Lynne. Tripoli has a post office with ZIP code 54564....
was killed on July 31 while flying another air interdiction
Air interdiction
Air interdiction is the use of aircraft to attack tactical ground targets that are not in close proximity to friendly ground forces. It differs from close air support because it does not directly support ground operations and is not closely coordinated with ground units...
mission.
The squadron averaged over 30 sorties a days and by September 6, 1965, the 481st TFS “Crusaders” had completed 2,000 hours of combat flying.
In November, many sorties were flown in support of the battle of Plei_Me and airstrikes by the 481st and other fighter units were “given much of the credit for turning the battle of Plei Me from disaster into victory.”
When the North Vietnamese left Plei Me and Pleiku, they moved west and the 481st again supported ground troops in the battle that developed in the Ia Drang Valley.
While deployed to Vietnam, the 481st aircraft had green triangles painted on the tails which allowed the Forward Air Controllers
Forward air controllers in the Vietnam War
Forward air control is the provision of guidance to Close Air Support aircraft intended to ensure that their attack hits the intended target and does not injure friendly troops. This task is carried out by a forward air controller ....
to easily identify the F-100s they were controlling as being part of the 481st. Many of the planes had personal names and pictures painted on including “The Shadow”, “Lickity Split”, “Pretty Penny”, “Why Not?”, “The Mormon Meteor”, “The Back Forty”, “Mr. Magoo”, “Hot Stuff”, “Casanova”, “Snoopy”, “My Little Margie” and several others.
The 481st arrived in Vietnam with eighteen airplanes. During the six month combat tour, the “Crusader’s” F-100s received many hits but only six airplanes were shot down. Captain John Parker was the first pilot to go down and the others were: Captain Joseph Reynes, Captain Charles Summers, Captain Sam Holmes , 1st Lt. Donald Watson, and 1st Lt. John Hauschildt. All ejected safely and were rescued except for 1st Lts. Watson and Hauschildt who were killed.
The deaths of Lts. Watson and Hauschildt were part of a larger coincidental tragedy. When four friends who had attended the Air Force Academy
Air force academy
An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who air preparting to be commissioned officers in a national air force...
together were all assigned to Cannon AFB as pilots, they decided to pool their money and buy a house. Three of the four pilots were assigned to the 481st and the fourth, Lt. Thomas McAtee, was assigned to the 429th Tactical Fighter Squadron. In the space of ten weeks, three of the four friends were killed. On July 29, 1965, Lt. Donald Watson was killed in South Vietnam. On August 23, 1965, Lt. Ralph Ford was killed on a training flight near Nara Visa, New Mexico and on October 5, 1965, Lt. John Hauschildt was killed on a bombing mission in South Vietnam. Lt. McAtee was in Vietnam during this time and had flown 36 combat missions with the 429th TFS. He was shocked to learn of the deaths of his three friends and returned to Clovis, New Mexico in October 1965 to sell the house.
Lt. Watson (left) and Lt. Huschildt at Cannon AFB during the winter of 1964-65.
By November 27, 1965, the 481st was headed back to Cannon AFB and had flown more than 3,600 combat sorties and established an incredible 98% aircraft in commission rate that assured every combat mission was flown as scheduled.
The following F-100s deployed with the 481st to Vietnam:
0-53604, 0-53613, 63054, 0-52837, 63074, 63063, 63056, 0-53548, 0-52795, 0-42177,0-53569, 0-53603, 63100, 0-53528, 0-53622, 63040, 0-53559 and 053549.