Today in military history.................1967 – Operation Bolo: 30 US Air Force F-4 Phantom jets, operating from Ubon in Thailand, shoot down a third of North Vietnam’s MiG-21s, loosing only one Phantom. Over the previous two years of Air Force and Navy air strikes, only 10 planes had been lost to enemy MiGs. American pilots were forbidden from attacking Hanoi’s airfields fearing that killing Soviet or Chinese advisers that could be there would draw those nations more directly into the war. Knowing this, the Vietnamese People’s Air Force would simply fly their MiGs through the American bombing formations and loiter just long enough to get the crews to drop their bombs and extra fuel early, preventing the strategic strikes without firing a shot. US 7th Air Force selected Colonel Robin Olds to lead an ambush to stop the harassment. To lure out the North Vietnamese, American F-4s would fly the same routes into the country as the heavyset F-105 bombers—and at the same altitudes and speeds while using the same radio call signs. Meanwhile, signal-snooping aircraft would keep track of the MiGs. Special C-130B-IIs would listen in on enemy radio chatter and feed information straight to American pilots throughout the mission. These specialized aircraft and personnel not only made sure the Vietnamese were responding as expected, but also kept watch in case Chinese jets decided to join the battle. Olds wanted to know if Russian or North Korean advisers were actually in the cockpits when the fighting started. Hanoi’s pilots were caught completely off guard. When Olds’ strike team started its attack, the C-130s picked up enemy pilots shocked to find that “the sky is full of F-4s,” according to the declassified report. “Where are the F-105s? You briefed us to expect F-105s!” Seven MiGs were shot down. After a series of additional aerial ambushes, the Vietnamese People’s Air Force grounded its MiGs and completely revised its procedures. At the end of the year, Washington approved strikes on Hanoi’s air bases. During this operation, Col. Robin Olds shot down one of the MiGs, becoming the first and only U.S. Air Force ace with victories in both World War II and Vietnam.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 02:19:50 +0000
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