spartans_in_darkness

Tep SE6RETH6eMI.HfRE1
'EO}, 4. (c)
1967) took on collectingI
\
Vietnamese air and air navigation communications."
(8//81) The AFSS site at Danang remained
the hub of ground-based SIGINT support to
Rolling Thunder. But its location within that vital
American complex also made it a target by proxy
for communist attacks. For the first six months of
1968, Danang intercept operations lost about 350
hours of coverage due to shutdowns and curtailments
brought by communist rocket, artillery,
and sapper attacks." By late 1970, due to cutbacks,
the consolidation of the Air Force tactical
operations in Thailand, and the base security
issue, the decision was made to shut down the
Danang operations which were transferred to
Udorn.
(SI/SI) The 6925th Security Group at Clark
Air Base in the Philippines was the overall operational
control for its detachments at Danang and
in Thailand. Its main responsibility was the processing
of the intercept of the North Vietnamese
air-related communications.1
fighter escort aircraft was\shotdown]
\1.....- ----
As a result, the mission,'.. was renamed Silver
Dawn. In February 1967,\the flight again was
redesignated, this time called Commando Lance.
"--- ---' Unlike the Commando Lance
C-130s, which were being phased out'by 1968, the
Combat Apple missions, thanks toxthe higher
speed and far greater endurance of the RC-135
airframe, could stageI Irather than
vie for precious space at the overcrowded air
bases in Thailand and South Vietnam. Combat
Apple missions were flown in the Gulf of Tonkin
and carried a complement oflinguists to intercept
Vietnamese,I
foice
communications, manual morse intercept, and
ELINT.
L..- ...1In January 1965, it was conceded b
the AFSS to NSA that a consolidation of efforts
"---__---'would be more effective. In June 19.65,
the 6922th Security Wing arrived in.: the
Philippines and superseded its subordinate elemerit.'
(SHSI) The aerial intercept mrssions were
flown primarily by two Security Squadrons, and
each one utilized a se arate collection latform.
The air-
"-------------,---,-------,......
men flew on the modified C-130 transports,
which went through a. variety/of mission cover
designators. First, they were known as Queen Bee
flights. In the fall/of 1965, one of the Queen Bee
-tstOpet~tionsst~tion
on a RC-135M
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