CARRIER- AND LAND-BASED TACTICAL AIR
The carriers of the Seventh Fleet, Task Force 77, played a major role in the war in Vietnam throughout its entire eight-year prosecution. More than half of all of the combat sorties flown into North Vietnam were flown by naval aircraft.
It is interesting to compare the Air Force and Navy tactical air operations during this war. The Air Force flew out of bases, mainly in Thailand. Because of the distances involved, the strike group would refuel in the air once or sometimes twice, en route to the target, and after the strike would fly east over the Gulf of Tonkin. Then, in an operation controlled by a Navy cruiser in the Gulf, “Red Crown,” the strike group would be joined up with a group of Air Force 707 tankers from Guam and be refueled — their second or third in-flight refueling — to get the tactical fighter wings back to their bases in Thailand. Air Force tactical operations were basically a continuous series of alpha strikes. On the other hand, the Navy conducted mainly cyclic operations with occasional alpha strikes when targeting demanded. More targets were being covered on a continuous basis, but with a lower level of effort per individual target than was provided either by alpha strike or the Air Force system.
The carriers were able to move about within the Gulf of Tonkin to bring their aircraft closer to their targets, thereby eliminating or substantially limiting the amount of air-to-air refueling necessary. This was important because aerial refueling facilities from the carriers were limited. Carrier-based tankers were normally used only in emergency situations when planes became inadvertently low on fuel because of unplanned occurrences, such as rescue operations or ad hoc strikes on fleeting targets of opportunity. On one occasion, for example, during an alpha strike on Haiphong, the Enterprise moved to within thirty miles of that port city to launch its strike group, and the A-4s were able to remove their drop tanks and, in their place, carried three 1000-pound bombs into the target.
RECAPITULATION
In June 1967 the Enterprise completed her second combat tour in Vietnam and headed for her Pacific Fleet homeport, Alameda. The carrier had been 230 days out of homeport and had served five uninterrupted thirty-day stints at Point Yankee, flying a total of more than 14,000 sorties from her flight deck, 11,470 of which were combat sorties, and delivering a total of 14,023 tons of ordnance. This amounted to 114 tons of TNT per day against a well-defended enemy.
In the course of these operations, the Enterprise had refueled forty-seven times alongside an oiler, taking an average of 555,000 gallons of jet fuel per replenishment, and loaded ammunition on thirty-nine occasions from ammunition ships underway, receiving on board an average of three hundred tons of bombs and missiles during each one of these underway replenishments. As in all combat tours, the Enterprise and her air wing paid a price, losing twenty aircraft and eighteen air crewmen to hostile fire.
The finest recognition of the Enterprise and its gallant crew for the 1965–67 combat deployments to Vietnam was the award of the coveted Navy Unit Commendation to the ship and the embarked Carrier Air Wing 9 on the occasion of the change of command ceremony in Alameda on 19 July 1967, when I departed the Enterprise after two full years as its captain.
Although I received American, South Vietnamese, and South Korean decorations for my command tour on board the Enterprise, perhaps my most satisfying recognition came across my desk thirty-five years later in the form of the following e-mail written by a former crewmember on the Enterprise. I must confess I was deeply touched by his words. Sadly for me, I was unable to connect with him by return mail. I would like to have thanked him as representative of the more than six thousand young sailors on board the Enterprise, whose dedication to duty is what made their ship great:
Dear Sirs:
While accessing the web I accidentally stumbled across your webpage. During the years of 1966 to 1968 I served on board the USS Enterprise. The first captain that I served under was Captain James Holloway III. In reading thru your webpage I noticed that he was the Chairman of your foundation. I have for the last few years searched to find out whatever happened to Admiral Holloway. I was extremely excited to hear that he is affiliated with your organization. I served aboard the Enterprise as a Boatswains mate in First Division. I was assigned watch duties on the bridge as a helmsman and was fortunate to have spent many hours under this great man, even during the few times that I would mistakenly allow the ship to drift a few degrees off course, only to hear the Captain yell to me to correct my heading. I left the ship in December of 1968 as a third class boatswain mate. I can not remember exactly when Admiral Holloway left as commander of the ship, but I believe it was around 1966 or 1967. The two captains that I served under that followed him could not fill his shoes.
They were good men but Admiral (Captain) Holloway was the one that everyone would remember as being the captain of the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that was part of the Vietnam conflict. I have always kept this man in a special part of my heart. This may sound corny but he has been an inspiration in my life. Many days and nights while I was on bridge watch at the helm during flight operations with the roar of the jets on the flight deck, with wings loaded with ordnance waiting to be dropped, I would watch this man do his job. In his face and his eyes you could see the determination that made anyone around him feel secure, and comfortable, that every decision he would make would be the right one. At the time I was only an 18 year old kid on his way to growing up fast. I feel that this man, without even knowing my name, was instrumental in the positive direction of my life. Recently I found out that a couple of years ago he was a guest speaker at one of the Enterprise Association’s reunions. I would have given anything to have known, and to have been there. Can the Admiral be reached by E-mail or U.S. Mail or could this be forwarded to him? In the coming days I will enjoy going through your website and in the future hope to be able to visit the foundation. It sounds like you people do a lot of good work. It makes sense that the Admiral would be affiliated with your organization.
14
The Pentagon
In November 1967, as I was leaving a meeting of the Joint Navy — Air Force Technical Standards Committee in the OpNav conference room at the Pentagon, an Air Force general turned to me (I was in blue service uniform), pointed to a large photograph of a Forrestal-class aircraft carrier hanging on the wall, and said, “Nice picture. What kind of ship is that?” I answered, “That’s an aircraft carrier.” He paused, smiled smugly, and said, “Oh yes, I didn’t recognize it. It isn’t on fire!”
On 8 July of that year, the Enterprise had arrived at the Naval Air Station Alameda and moored at its own pier. Ten days later, two years after I had assumed command of the ship, Capt. Kent Lee, USN, relieved me as commanding officer at a stirring change-of-command ceremony on the hangar deck. I was detached with orders to report to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Upon arrival in the Pentagon, I was immediately sent to call on the CNO, Adm. Tom Moorer. Although I had been selected for rear admiral, I had not yet “made my number”—actually been promoted. There were no vacancies yet available in the quota of flag officers allowed by law for the active-duty Navy. So I was still a captain, a four-striper, and this early summons from the front office had me a little giddy.