Air Force National Guard Pilots

(Remembering the ‘Deuce’)

I would like to set the record straight once and for all about the controversy over service in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam era.  I was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force on July 18, 1966 after completing AFROTC training at the University of Texas.  I entered active duty in September of that year as an interceptor director in the Air Defense Command and was assigned to the 30^th Air Division Command and Control Center at Sioux City, Iowa.  It was my job to direct fighter interceptors against Russian bombers.  Remember, we were fighting the Cold War and Russian bombers posed a real threat to our National existence.  We used two squadrons of fighter inceptors to defend the central section of the country.  One was an Air Force Squadron located at Kansas City and the other was an Air National Guard Squadron at Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The National Guard Squadron used the F-102, our first supersonic all weather fighter inceptor.  It was, however, considered an interim aircraft until the “ultimate interceptor,” the F-106 came on line.  The F-102, known as the ‘Deuce’, was coming to the end of its useful life, but it was a dam good aircraft and the pilots that flew it were some of the best.  All of its problems had been worked out, making it very dependable and its Guard pilots really knew how to fly it.  You could always count on it to be up and operational when you called for a five-minute scramble. 

The pilots were part “old timers” and the new guys.  The older pilot really knew how to fly their aircraft because that is all they flew.  The younger pilots had the experienced pilots to guide them and again this was the aircraft they were trained on.  Guard pilots were a lot easier to work with since they would admit their shortcomings and did not have to blame the controller for their failure to make an intercept.  Even when the controller messed up they were more concerned as to how we could improve instead of placing blame.  They were great to work with.

The Deuce was a single seat interceptor.  That meant that the pilot had to both fly the aircraft and operate the radar fire control system at the same time.  Later planes such as the great F-4 had a backseat radar operator to assist the pilot.  It took skill to be a good interceptor pilot.

Controlling from our data scope, we sent electronic messages to the pilot via data link, which the pilot had to read to direct him to his target.  We gave him climb profile, speed, heading, altitude, and type of attack.  As he approached the target the pilot had to acquire it with his radar and fire control system while at the same time responding to our electronic commands.  When in range, he locked on to the target with his fire control system and drove his aircraft in for the launching of his weapons.  The Deuce pilot had to be within twelve miles of the target aircraft for a lock-on.  On a frontal attack, the two planes may have a combined closing speed of over Mach 1.  There is not much time to do all that is necessary to get a kill. You had to be good at what you were doing. 

Flying inceptors had its dangers.  We ran live exercises in all kinds of weather and conditions, and whenever you bring two or more aircraft close together there is always the possibility of an air collision.  Pilots were required to sit on alert twenty-four a day and when they went into action they often had to bore holes in the sky at 35,000 feet over North Dakota while waiting for their targets to show up. In the winter these combat air patrols were not always pleasant or safe.  Bases could be socked in by rapid changes in the weather, making for some nervous times when fuel ran low or a mechanical problem developed while flying a mission.  You always had to leave a margin for error in case you needed to divert to another base. 

Even routine missions could be dangerous.  On one low-level mission in a close intercept training area, I had one Deuce locked on its target two miles ahead when one little piece of data showed up on my scope in between the two aircraft.  All I could do was break radio silence and yell, “Head up!”  The interceptor pilot came out of his radarscope in time to see a Cessna directly in his path and took the proper evasive action to prevent a collision.  Little did that flying farmer from South Dakota know how close he came to eternity. 

Fuel is always a very important concern. During a live exercise I was assigned the last target in the system, but to reach it in time I had to take my flight of Deuces across half of Nebraska at Mach 1.2.  It was a dark winter night and we were using up fuel very quickly. We also had to cross FAA controlled air space to get to the target.  That required that I declare AFIO and assume responsibility for maintaining separation from all civilian aircraft.  The Senior Director, a colonel, kept calling for the fuel state and even the Division Commander, a general, called to check on the aircrafts’ fuel status.  It took some great flying on the part of the Deuce pilots to make that last intercept just before the target got to our control site.  The target aircraft landed at our base and the inceptors followed right behind him.  We won the exercise but they claimed I got the target with its wheels down.

As you may guess, we had a preference for working with the Guard even though their aircraft were not the best.  We had great confidence in their ability.  Never once did we think of them as Vietnam dodgers, for they had a mission that was as important as any in Vietnam and often as dangerous.  There was thousands of regular Air Force personal that never got to Vietnam because they had a mission to do in other parts of the world, and there were Guard Squadrons that did get sent to Vietnam.  I worked with one Guard Squadron that flew Deuces in Vietnam and, again, they were great to work with.

Anybody that straps himself in a high performance jet and flies missions in defense of our country is a hero and I rebuke anybody that belittles those brave Guard pilots that insured that Russian bombers never did reach our shores.