1 - The Black Vault

COMBAT ARROW
USAF Photo
On 25 June 1971, Gen Joseph R. Holzapple, CINCUSAFE,
presented Colonel Reeder (7th SOS commander) with
the CINCUSAFE trophy for the Most Outstanding Support
Squadron in the command. Note the bush hat and
fatigues worn by Colonel Reeder (the standard uniform
for the 7th SOS).
its operations in Europe. For the Combat Talon ,
mission tasking had been accomplished with only
two aircraft on-station for half of 1970 and most
of 1971. Through all this the squadron had risen
to the top of its class.
There was little time during the summer of
1971 to reflect on the squadron’s accomplishments
of the previous year. During the month of July,
the squadron concentrated on local training in
Germany in preparation for Flintlock IV, which
had expanded from the previous year with a total
involvement of 14,000 personnel in five different
countries. For Flintlock IV there were five subexercises
supported by special operations forces
from Germany, Greece, Norway, Turkey, UK,
Canada, and France. On 10 August the squadron
deployed to three exercise operating locations—
the Combat Talons to RAF Greenham Commons,
UK; the C-47s to the Athenae IAP, Greece; and
the UH-1Ns to Sembach AB, Germany. 47
The most significant mission for Combat Talon
during Flintlock IV occurred on 25 August during
a long-range infiltration into Subexercise Zeus
71. The 7th SOS never had dropped personnel
into a water drop zone for subsequent linkup
with a surface vessel and an over-the-shore infiltration
into the objective area. The 25 August
mission involved onloading an eight-man SEAL
team at RAF Greenham Commons and flying a
high-altitudes low profile to a point off the coast
of Greece, where the team was dropped in proximity
to an awaiting friendly ship. Rendezvous techniques
were coordinated with the US Navy and
included the display of a vertical light pattern on
the ship and authentication utilizing the ground
airborne radar beacon. The aircraft flew over the
ship at 1,000-feet altitude and dropped the SEAL
team 150 meters to starboard. The team rendezvoused
with the ship, then accomplished a maritime
beach landing and executed a preplanned direct
action mission. The mission was so successful
that EUCOM later requested additional training
be conducted with the objective of incorporating
the technique into appropriate service tactical
manuals. Another highly demanding mission included
in Flintlock IV was a long-range infiltration
into an objective area in the Middle East.
Two US Army Special Forces A Teams were onloaded
at RAF Greenham Commons and were
flown nonstop to the drop zones. The flight took
more than nine hours to complete with both drops
on the drop zone and within seconds of the
planned time over target. 48
Throughout the Flintlock exercise, Combat
Talon aircraft experienced continual problems
with the AN/APQ-115 radar. All missions were
flown, however, to successful completion although
many crews did not have an operational radar for
the low-level portion of the route. Because of unusually
good weather, VFR tactics were employed,
and the aircrews dropped utilizing visual procedures.
Within the next year the AN/APQ-115 radar
would be replaced by the AN/APQ-122(V)8
during the MOD-70 upgrade, and many problems
associated with the older radar would be resolved.
The squadron’s other two types of aircraft, the
C-47 and the UH-1N, experienced a much higher
operational ready rate than did the Talons. As in
the three previous Flintlocks, the best training of
the year was accomplished during the exercise. 49
Nowhere else in the Talon community was such
complex training accomplished. Distances flown
and types of missions completed reflected those
found in OPLAN 4102 wartime tasking.
The squadron returned to Ramstein AB after
the 60-day exercise and soon commenced further
development of tactics and procedures first tried
during Flintlock IV. One Combat Talon deployed
to Souda Bay, Greece, in October to refine air/sea
rendezvous procedures with US Navy SEALs. Six
sorties were flown (8.9 hours) to refine procedures
for both radar and nonradar-equipped aircraft.
Onboard radar, Doppler, and FM radio homing
were found to be the most valuable aids in completing
the drops successfully. 50 The plans section
also remained busy evaluating exercise results
131