1 - The Black Vault

COMBAT ARROW
On 10 December a meeting was held at Joint
United States Military Assistance Group (JUS-
MAG) Greece with the Embassy Army Section,
the Greek Hellenic Raiding Forces, SOTFE, Special
Forces Detachment-Europe, the US air attaché
to Greece, and Colonel McLaughlin and his
staff. A comprehensive training plan was developed
that outlined 12 deployments to Greece during
CY 70. Some months had two deployments
scheduled, while the fall Flintlock period had
none. Mission profiles approved included support
for the Hellenic Parachute School and day/night
visual flight rule (VFR) low-level operations utilizing
the Combat Talon . Low-level approval was
not contingent upon Greek air-drop support but
rather was approved for both combined and unilateral
training. Selected Greek airfields were
made available, day or night, to service the Combat
Talon aircraft. Agreement was also reached to
allow the 7th SOS to perform Fulton STARS operations,
as well as short-field landings, day or
night. In short, Greece became the primary training
location for the squadron, and the 7th SOS
became the principal air-drop platform for the
Greek Hellenic Raiding Forces. 25
1970: The 7th SOS
and the Son Tay Raid
With training access to Greece assured, the 7th
SOS looked north for additional training opportunities.
With SOTFE sponsorship, the squadron
signed an agreement with the Danish Jaegerkorpset
entitled the Tactical Air Command Denmark
Operation Instruction No. 18, which outlined combined
air-drop training between the two units. In
a similar agreement to the one in Greece, the 7th
SOS committed its C-47 and C-130 aircraft to airborne
support for the Jaegerkorpset in return for
low-level operations in Denmark. Missions were
normally staged out of Aalborg Royal Danish Air
Force Station and consisted of infiltration and exfiltration
operations. Because of the restricted
size of the country, however, and the often poor
weather associated with its geographical location,
benefits to the 7th SOS did not compare with
those of Greece. 26 From 24 to 27 January the 7th
SOS participated in a planning conference with
MAAG-Norway, SOTFE, and Norwegian military
representatives to negotiate a training plan there.
The finalized plan supported Norwegian military
requirements and established low-level routes in
Norway for 7th SOS training. The rugged mountains
found in Norway were the most challenging
of all low-level routes in the theater. 27
On 30 January the squadron flew its second
C-47 Berlin corridor flight and qualified a second
instructor pilot to fly the mission. 28 The 13th and
27th of February marked the third and fourth corridor
missions, thus qualifying four 7th SOS aircraft
commanders in the Berlin Corridor mission.
29 Beginning on 16 February the USAFE IG
kicked off its second no-notice ORI of the 7th SOS
with a unit alert and recall. The 17th and 18th
were devoted to operational tasks associated with
the squadron mission statement. These tasks included
low-level navigation, personnel and equipment
airdrops, airland assault operations, reconnaissance
and loudspeaker operations, an ECM
exercise, and a Fulton STARS. Aircraft and special
operations-qualified crews from the 322d and
the 513th Tactical Airlift Wings were integrated
into 7th SOS operations and were tasked as part
of the squadron. Tenth SFG(A) personnel from
Bad Töelz, FRG, also participated in the ORI. Extremely
poor weather, with snow, low ceilings,
and reduced visibility, required some missions to
be rescheduled and flown later in the exercise. As
in the previous year’s ORI, the unit earned a satisfactory
grade from the inspector general. 30
From 2 through 6 March, the squadron partici -
pated in an evaluation of its psychological operations
capabilities. In SEA the primary mission of
the 15th SOS had become the delivery of leaflets
and other PSYWAR material. In Europe, however,
the 7th SOS had not developed this capability.
Four leaflet drops were scheduled for the evaluation,
but only two were flown due to poor weather
in the mission area. Participating in the evaluation
was the USA 5th Psychological Operations
Battalion. The results of the two successful missions
were excellent, but the evaluation was put
on hold indefinitely until weather improved, and
the evaluation was never completed. European
SOF never developed a leaflet-drop capability near
that of the one employed in SEA. PSYOPS remained
a secondary mission for the 7th SOS and
was rarely exercised. 31
In April an agreement was reached with the
Belgium ministry of defense for the 7th SOS to
train with Belgium army paratroopers. A joint/
combined HALO training mission was subsequently
flown in Belgium in June, utilizing 42.7
flying hours and 24 sorties. Maintenance prob -
lems and adverse weather in Belgium caused the
cancellation of six sorties, but overall the effort
was a resounding success. Belgium paratroopers
and USA SF personnel were dropped from an altitude
of 20,000 feet. 32
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