It's been six days now since South Korea declared war on the north. I
haven't spent much time in my quarters, as we've been flying no less
then two sorties a day. At Osan, we share the air base with a squadron
of A-10's, and a single runway 18/27.
There's been lots of fighting, and large advancements made daily. Those
advancements however have not been in our favor. The second day of
battle, the allies lost Seoul to DRPK ground forces. Osan is just 21
miles South by Southeast of Seoul. The FLOT has been slowly creeping
Southward, I would approximate by the sound of shelling at night, that
it's a mere 9 miles to the North us. I don't need to tell you how
frightening it is, that at any moment we may all scramble to be
evacuated, or worse, captured. Not a mission goes by where I don't
wonder if I'll be able to land at home plate. Despite all this, moral
is surprisingly high, and men are anxious to fly.
Until we recently achieved air superiority, by a slim, slim margin,
several bases including Seoul, Chungju, Kunsan and Osan have been seeing
relentless attacks by TU-16's and IL-28's. They don't necessarily
target our barracks, as their main objective is to destroy our runway,
grounding our squadron of F-16's. The engineers at Osan have completely
rebuilt our runway twice! Seoul and Kunsan have seen much worse. Seoul
was only in operation for a day and a half before being bombed, closed,
then captured. While Kunsan is in no threat of capture, they have seen
heavy bombing, and struggle to get off 4 or 5 sorties a day before being
bombed again. It's cyclical. They scramble a few flights, get bombed,
close for runway repairs usually lasting just short of 24 hours, open
the runway, then start all over again. We've scrambled on at least 5
occasions to intercept incoming TU-16's or IL-28's that cross the FLOT
on a southward heading, appearing to have intent to target an air base.
Because of this, command has scheduled around the clock BARCAP's over
Seoul and all points East, patrolling the FLOT and intercepting bombers
and attack aircraft. We recently attained a slim margin of air
superiority about a day and a half ago. This meant we could get back to
ground pounding and plundering, whereas before we were not able to stray
further from base then we could return quickly to defend it, dispatching
a threatening flight of Tupolev's.
US and ROK forces have managed to curtail activity at all but a handful
of DRPK air bases. Of those air bases, three were operating air to
ground operations against Allied airfields. Hwangju, located 123 miles
North West of us, is operating a squadron of IL-28's at 100%. These
aircraft have been observed on several occasions, targeting Allied
airfields. They have become a priority target for our squadron. I've
personally flown two strikes against the installation and on both
occasions, have narrowly escaped with a plane still strapped under me.
Those two strikes were fruitless. It's not that we missed the target's,
rather, we just didn't have the appropriate munitions to do the job.
Between the two trips, our flight has dropped numerous Mk-84's, Mk-82's,
AGM-88's, and various cluster munitions. We've thinned out their air
defense assets a bit, but never shut down the runway as intended. We
needed Durandal's, desperately. The BLU-107 is a specially designed
bomb that upon release, deploys a drag chute which turns the nose of the
bomb earthward, at which time a rocket ignites, driving the bomb
straight down, through and under the runway. The bomb then detonates,
buckling the runway surface, making it much more difficult and timely
for crews to repair.
We have been out of BLU-107's for several days. That was until late
this afternoon. A much needed supply convoy had arrived. Word spread
quickly. Me and the boys were excited to finally have what we needed to
get the job done.
At 1800, two hours before take-off, my flight and I assembled in the TOC
to begin mission planning. Our objective: severely degrade Hwangju's
ability to launch sorties against Allied powers. We would be Weasel1, a
four ship.
We didn't feel it necessary to fly with a SEAD Escort as we had already
diminished enemy ADA in the area. Having flown the route 2 time's
already, we were comfortable with both our ingress and egress, and
should not have to over-fly enemy strong points. We'll take off on
runway 27 and maintain runway heading, flying West until we're a safe
distance over Korea Bay, then turn Northward. We'll approach Hwangju
through an opening we punched through previously on the Southeast side
of the airfield. Ingress at >1,500' AGL to avoid long range radar, and
buy us as much surprise as possible. After a low level dive-toss we'll
immediately turn to the North East and egress safely. We DO NOT want to
overfly the airfield, as there are still several ZU-23's on site.
The planning phase is complete. Its 1900 hrs and we roll at 2025 hrs.
We now sit around a large TV screen and watch all the radar returns, and
ground activity provided by AWACS, and other JSTARS aircraft in
country. We carefully watch Hwangju and enemy air traffic both around
the base, and along our ingress and egress routes. We watch the air
base intently for IL-28's departing the air base. We want to insure
this is an active base we're striking. Hwangju launches flight after
flight of MiG-21's. It's nearing 2025 hrs and we have yet to observe a
single IL-28 depart. Intel reports there are at least 11 stationed at
the air base. Where are they? What precious few Durandal's we have, we
don't want to waste. It's nearing push time, and we have to make the
call to proceed or knock it off.
The call comes from command, we're standing down. An undeniable wave of
disappointment engulfs the TOC, where men start picking up their flight
bags, putting stuff away, and stand to walk out the door. Another
message comes across the wire from command, stopping many crewman in
the doorway. An alternate air base is targeted, one actively launching
IL-28's against Allied airfields.
Kuksan is to the East, and a little further North than Hwangju. Men
quickly gather together again, and re-direct their concentration on the
mission planning screen. Crew chief's scramble to pull all the mission
computers out of our F-16's for reprogramming. Our ordinance load out
will remain the same. Take-off has been pushed back one hour to 2125.
Again we'll be flying a lone four ship. Kuksan has been attacked
several times in the preceding days and has minimal air defense. I'll
fly lead as Weasel11 carrying 12 BLU-107's on stations 3, 4, 5, 6,
AIM-9M's on 2 & 7 and AIM-120's on 1 & 8. Weasel12 and 13 will be
flying SEAD support with AGM-88's on 3 & 6, and CBU-97's on the inside.
Weasel14 will fly cleanup with CBU-97's all around. On this mission we
will all forgo a centerline jammer in favor of the 300 gallon fuel tank,
for this 318 mile leap of faith. We'll form at WPT 2 climb to Angel's
20 to safely get over occupied Seoul, then again descend to >1,500' AGL
for a rapid ingress of 500 kts post FLOT. We'll program Hwangju as an
alternate target of opportunity, or incase something goes wrong over
Kuksan which doesn't allow us to proceed with our attack. A few other
details are mopped up, and we are dismissed.
Assembled now at the flight line, I complete my aircraft preflight, and
climb into the jet. My crew chief is right behind me and, once I'm
seated, connects my shoulder harness. I take a moment and clear my
head. Flying an F-16 can be very complex. Meeting the challenge
requires each pilot to be fully prepared both mentally and physically.
Rushing to get things done causes mistakes.
Once everything is in place, I check the clock. Almost time to start
engines. My crew chief is standing by on the radio headset, and the
fireguard is at his post by the extinguisher. I finish my checklist
items, and standby for engine start. I stare at the clock, counting
down the last few seconds. At exactly 2120 I switch on the jet fuel
starter. The big fan engine begins to wind up. As the RPM increases, I
place the throttle in the idle position, which adds fuel to the
ignitors. The powerful engine lights off. The jet vibrates as the RPM
increases to idle speed in unison with the other Vipers on the ramp. I
lock my canopy, reach up, and hold my oxygen mask against my mouth.
"Stand by for EPU check" I tell my crew chief.
"Roger, sir. You're clear in back."
I run my engine up to 80 percent RPM and check my emergency power unit.
As soon as that's complete, I switch my pri/sec switch to Secondary,
which closes down my engine nozzle. I push the throttle quickly to
military power, and, as soon as the RPM reaches 80 percent, I snap it
back to idle. The engine checks good, and I switch back to Primary. I
complete my flight control and brake checks. I scan my cockpit once
more to make sure every switch is in the right position.
Switching my radio to tower, I receive clearance to begin taxi to the
arming area, where we wait for final inspection from the arming crews.
They remove the pins from our missiles and check each aircraft for leaks
and loose panels. This is the last chance for maintenance to correct
any problem. I sit patiently at the end of the line while they perform
their inspections. When they finish with my jet, the arming crew
supervisor gives me a salute and a final thumbs up. It's a relief.
I begin to lead our flight onto the runway. I line up 1,000 feet down
the runway on the left side. Thirty seconds prior to takeoff, we run
our engines up. I check my panel and everything checks good. With an
exaggerated head nod to my wing man, I release pressure against the
rudder pedals and push the throttle up to full mil power, then smoothly
select afterburner. Once it ignites, I accelerate rapidly. As my
airspeed increases, I rotate and quickly become airborne then raise my
gear.
I begin our rapid 15 degree climb so that we can fly over Seoul at a
safe altitude. Diverting my attention to the radar I begin identifying
contacts. Our immediate airspace is crowded. More so than any other
night. It appears as though the DRPK intends to fully take advantage of
darkness, just as we do. I level my radar on two high aspect targets.
A quick call and AWACS reveals two MiG-21's on a near head on course.
Adjusting my scan volume finds that there are no friendly aircraft
engaged with the two Fishbed's. The bandits are closing fast, and our
F-16's heavily burdened with valuable air to ground ordinance, we're in
no position to engage even though we out number them. We decide to turn
tail and buy some separation, allowing time for Allied aircraft to
intercept. A climbing turn southward and we level at Angel's 25. I
glance over my shoulder to clear our six, and see Smoke11 and 12 have
engaged our threat. We decide to once again turn North and at full mil
power we sneak past the now pre-occupied Fish.
Almost past Seoul now we detect two more MiG-21's at Angel's 20 passing
from the East to West. Hoping to sneak past these guys as well, I
quickly call to snooze radar. I follow-up with a 180 degree roll and
pull. We make for the weeds quick with the intent of hiding amongst the
ground clutter on the near obsolete MiG-21's radar. It works, as I can
see through the top of my canopy, the specs which were once threats
proceeding, course unchanged.
Now flying nap of the earth at 500 kts I take a couple of deep breaths.
Our mission has been jeopardized twice in a matter of minutes.
We proceed North on our original route. The Korean terrain, as you get
further Northeast, transforms from flat open lands into rolling hills,
valleys, and mountains. We duck and weave following the terrain closely
in an effort to conceal ourselves from enemy radar. The larger
mountains we fly around as opposed to over so as not to climb into
airspace covered by enemy search radar. This same tactic however leaves
us disadvantaged. Our air to ground radar, obviously is unable to see
through or over upward sloping terrain, possibly masking enemy positions
on the other side.
We had exhausted our external fuel tanks and jettisoned them before
sneaking up another slope as we ingress to our IP approximately 16 miles
to the North East of Kuksan. I crested the small hill first that
surrounded one side of a small valley. The RWR screamed and lit AAA
radar both at 10, and 2 o'clock. A column of S-60's on either side of
me in an open valley with the next ridge two miles ahead. I pushed up
the heat to expedite my arrival behind the safety of the next ridge.
I slide down the backside of the next ridge safely, without a shot
fired. Before I can call to the rest of my trailing flight to take
evasive maneuvers, I glance over my right shoulder and see that the
column of S-60's has already begun to put up a layer of thick flack.
Weasel13 and 14 are jinking in the vertical plane. Unfortunately for
them, our wedge formation found themselves right on top of the lumbering
column of artillery. I surprised them and was able to sneak by safely,
but by the time our second element passed, they were ready.
A trail of smoke grew up from the ground and stretched skyward and SA-7
narrowly miss's Weasel14. Almost as soon as all the action started, it
ended as Weasel13 and 14 ducked behind the safety of the next ridge. A
quick head count and a sigh of relief as we all made it across the
valley un-scathed.
We had taken special measures to avoid all contacts on ingress during
mission planning, but this near fatal incident reminds me to never let
my guard down.
Reaching the Ingress Point, we pulled a 4 G turn to the South West which
puts us on the Kuksan runway heading, a perfect attack profile. Right
off the end of the runway is a large mountain that we will pop up behind
and surprise everyone with our attack. We will also use the mountain
for cover.
15 miles now from Kuksan I switch to air to ground mode, and call up the
CCIP pipper which in a moment I'll plant down the centerline of the
runway. I select the BLU-107's, set the ripple for half of my stock, 6
bombs, and a spread of 175' for maximum coverage of the runway. 10
miles and I can see the last mountain which Kuksan hides behind. I call
for Weasel12 and 13 to attack the targets. They pop up to lure enemy
radar, and no sooner loose all 4 HARM missiles. They rapidly streak
over the top of my canopy. I watch them fall to earth and strike the
airfield right as I pop up behind the mountain, which begins my bombing
run. I find myself a few degrees to the left of the runway, and with a
few quick pulls correct my ingress direction, just in time to fly over
the numbers. I stick the CCIP pipper just this side of mid runway and
squeeze. I hear the faint plunk of the bombs unleashing, and when I
hear them no longer, I quickly slice to the North to get away from the
runway, and minimize my exposure. Looking behind me, the Durandal's
have all struck true, and large plumes of smoke and falling concrete
riddle the base.
The rest of my element completes their attack and I call for them to
rejoin, and take another head count. We regroup behind the safety of
the large mountain, everyone intact. Evaluating our situation we decide
to make an attack on our secondary, Hwangju, 47 miles to the West. With
plenty of fuel, 6 Durandal's still hanging under my wing, and a clear
picture from AWACS we turn East.
Continuing to fly NOE towards Hwangju becomes easier and less risky, as
the terrain transforms from rolling hills and mountains, to smooth flat
plains.
Approaching Hwangju at 15 miles I again return to ground attack mode,
and when within range call for our flight to attack. Weasel13 and 14
pull out front to clear my path as much as possible. I'm only 15-20
seconds behind them and at the last possible moment I pull hard to align
my nose with the runway. Once again I plant the pipper in the middle of
the runway and with a few faint plunks, Hwangju is out of business. We
egress to the Northeast in an area clear of threats and begin home.
Knowing that this mission is not going to finish un-contested, we're on
guard when two SU-27's approach from our 4 o'clock. AWAC's calculates
the Flanker's are 20 miles behind us. This constitutes a major threat
to our four ship. As we jettison our ejector racks, flip to CAT I for
air combat, and turn towards the 27's, I bring up the RWS radar mode and
select one of my 120's. Locking up the lead I call for my element to
attack. As they proceed, I lock the second ship, and almost immediately
send an AMRAAM on it's way. A moment later I see my element has
dispatched the now defunct SU-27 which is now a falling, fiery, clump of
scrap metal. No pilot was observed ejecting. A moment later, as I
maneuver to track the second SU-27's my AIM-120 impacts with a brilliant
flash and the smoking Flanker turns, falling earthward as the pilot
escapes and deploys his chute.
Our flight re-assembles and we continue our egress Southward. We
continue a NOE profile until about 10 miles North of the FLOT when we
proceed to Angel's 25 to make it safely over. No other hostile contact
is made, and we are welcomed back into friendly territory and perform a
standard recovery at Osan.
Debrief back in the TOC reveals we indeed engaged and dispatched an
enemy flight of two SU-27's. Elated for the moment, we next learned our
primary objective was not met with as much success as it appeared from
our perspective. Kuksan was not rendered innoperational, rather we
diminished it's operational status by 50%. Not a complete failure,
however that's not what we set off to do. Hwangju on the other hand was
completely shut down by our surprise attack.
We find satisfaction in having shut down Hwangju, but Kuksan will have
to be re-targeted another day. Thanks to our effort however, it will be
much easier to attack once again. I also like to think that having slown
down their ability to launch sorties, we have bought time for the
allies to repair and rebuild our airfields so that they may fly once
again, and we may resolve the conflict over Korea.
