1 - The Black Vault

BETWEEN THE WARS
was established as the base host wing. On 22 August
Colonel Perry relinquished command of the
squadron to Col Jerry A. Crist and retired from
the Air Force. The unit’s assignment to Seventeenth
AF was short-lived. On 16 October the
squadron was again reassigned by Special Order
GB-6, dated 6 October 1975, to the 601st TCW
located at Wiesbaden AB, Germany. 30 For the
next two years, the 7th SOS’s chain of command
passed through the 601st TCW to Seventeenth AF
at Sembach and thence on to USAFE. Throughout
the turmoil created by these many changes, the
squadron continued to focus on its wartime mission
and the training required to successfully accomplish
it.
The 8th SOS Becomes Interim
Gunship Squadron
At Hurlburt Field the year 1975 also brought
about many changes for the 8th SOS. On 7
March Lt Col Donald W. Burger assumed command
of the squadron, replacing Col Peter K.
Nikonovich. As the year progressed, the 834th
TCW (formerly the 1st SOW) continued to decrease
in size. On 30 June 1975 the 415th Special
Operations Training Squadron (SOTS), with two
assigned AC-130H gunships, was deactivated,
and its personnel and equipment were assigned
to the 8th SOS, effective 1 July. The 8th SOS had
continued to operate the formal Combat Talon
School, which provided trained crews to the two
overseas squadrons. With the absorption of the
415th SOTS into the 8th SOS, the Combat Talon
squadron also became responsible for all gunship
training for the active Air Force. 31
The long-range gunship plan was to relocate
the SEA-based 16th SOS from Korat RTAFB,
Thailand, to Hurlburt Field and to then transfer
all former 415th SOTS assets to the gunship
squadron. The plan was executed on 12 December
1975 when the eight Thailand-based AC-130H
gunships were reassigned to Hurlburt Field. Because
of the move, Hurlburt Field gained the only
operational active duty gunship squadron in the
Air Force, and the 8th SOS lost its gunship mission
when the two AC-130H aircraft were transferred
to the 16th SOS. 32
To increase the efficiency of Fulton STARS
training, a ground-training platform was built
by 8th SOS loadmasters for use in both the formal
school and to fulfill continuation-training requirements
of the squadron. An initiative proposed
to TAC by the 834th TCW to save money
was the elimination of Fulton STARS training in
the formal school. Since its creation in 1966, the
Combat Knife unit had provided surface-to-air recovery
training for all crew members during initial
qualification. The wing’s proposal noted that only
a small number of crews actually maintained currency
in the system once assigned to their opera -
tional squadrons and that by training all new crew
members, valuable training time and scarce dollars
were wasted. The elimination of the recovery
training would result in savings of $27,105 for
each crew and would cut five days off the length of
the course. 33 Crew members that needed qualifica -
tion training in the Fulton system would be
trained in their own units. TAC subsequently approved
the proposal, and Class 76-03 became the
first class without Fulton training. 34 In the
post–Vietnam Air Force, dollars were extremely
scarce, and budget cuts were the norm of the day.
As 1975 ended for the 8th SOS, however, the permanency
of the overseas squadrons ensured that
its primary role as the formal Combat Talon
schoolhouse was secure.
1976: Combat Talon
Testing Receives Priority
The operations tempo in the Pacific remained
steady, yet manageable, throughout 1976. The
flurry of activity seen the previous fall over the
Korean sea-surveillance mission had subsided.
For the first half of the year, USFK, PACAF, PA-
COM, and the Joint Staff weighed the pros and
cons of utilizing the Combat Talon in that mission.
From 11 March to 4 April, the 1st SOS participated
in Foal Eagle 76, committing two of its
aircraft and 50 personnel to the exercise. The
squadron flew 41 sorties and 134.6 hours during
the three-week exercise, air-dropping 580 personnel
and 8,400 pounds of cargo. The Commando
Lark missions into Taiwan continued on a
monthly basis, with outstanding airborne intercept
training received by both the 1st SOS and
the CAF. 35
Commando Talon Operations
Begin for 1st SOS
Weeklong trainers to Clark AB, Philippines,
were flown almost monthly by 1st SOS crews.
Previous restrictions stemming from political disagreements
between the US government and the
Philippine government had been resolved. Occa -
sional weeklong trainers were flown out of Korea,
but it was in the Philippines that the squadron
accomplished most of its quality low level. By the
165