1 - The Black Vault

FROM DESERT ONE TO POINT SALINES
second Talon. 71 With the limited number of aircraft
available during the period, the reduction in
Combat Talon commitments was still not enough
to allow remaining requirements to be met. The
brunt of the shortfall was absorbed by the Combat
Talon School and by the virtual elimination of local
training sorties. All other requirements were
met. The level of tasking for Combat Talon during
this period was somewhat typical of the operations
tempo that the squadron had maintained since
Desert One.
For its Flintlock 83 participation, the 8th SOS’s
Combat Talon witnessed the implementation of a
new tactic. Early infiltration of committed special
operations forces always had been a key objective
for European planners, but the number of Combat
Talons available in Europe limited employment of
this tactic. The tactic of flying a combination deployment/employment
mission, which originated
from the United States and culminated with the
infiltration of a special forces team directly into
the combat area, could help eliminate the shortfall.
On 22 April an 8th SOS Combat Talon departed
Hurlburt Field en route to Westover AFB,
Massachusetts, to link up with a US Army Special
Forces team. After face-to-face briefings with the
team and crew rest for the crew, the mission
launched on 24 April with a successful IFR being
accomplished near Iceland from a KC-135. The
Combat Talon made a low approach at RAF
Sculthorpe without making a landing. Upon departing
the traffic pattern and contacting departure
control, the crew requested clearance onward
to southern Germany and the Schwarzes-Pferd
subexercise area. A new flight plan had been filed
by exercise planners at RAF Sculthorpe with a
new call sign and the route of flight. The crew
proceeded on to Germany and entered low level
near Frankfurt. The seven-man team was dropped
on a blacked-out DZ exactly on time and on target.
The aircraft proceeded back to the UK after climbing
to altitude and obtaining an instrument clearance
from ATC. Upon landing at RAF Sculthorpe,
the mission terminated with 18.4 hours being
logged. 72 The aircraft remained in the UK and supported
subexercises in Belgium, Luxembourg, and
Germany. The exercise had expanded again from
the previous year, with the operations tempo
greatly increased for the Combat Talons. Approximately
twice as many missions were flown during
the 1983 exercise than were flown in 1982, with
MC-130E sortie generation exceeding the projected
wartime utilization rate. 73 For the 8th SOS,
however, its crew flew six employment missions,
including the initial United States to Germany
infiltration, and logged 48.6 hours. An additional
15 hours were logged during the redeployment to
Hurlburt Field in mid-May. The two Combat
Talon squadrons again flew each other’s aircraft,
which created a problem with the electronic warfare
officer, as had been the case the year prior.
The exercise highlighted the potential problems
that could arise if the three Combat Talon squadrons
were ever employed together during the
same contingency—all three squadrons had different
ECM systems installed on their aircraft
that precluded the universal exchange of crew
members. 74 Because of the problems surfaced during
the Flintlock interfly program, MAC’s initia -
tive to standardize the Combat Talon fleet gained
momentum.
Between 21 April and 6 May, an 8th SOS
MC-130E participated in Exercise Solid Shield
83. No major problems arose during the execu -
tion of the exercise. The Combat Talon operated
out of Hurlburt Field and flew 42.7 hours while
successfully completing six tasked missions.
Standard infiltration, exfiltration, and resupply
missions were flown. 75 As May passed, and the
two large JCS exercises came to an end, the 8th
SOS prepared for June and another period of
heavy tasking. Exercise Universal Trek 83, utilizing
the Caribbean region as the exercise area,
was flown between 2 and 6 June and began with
a long-range infiltration. In addition to the in -
itial long-range infiltration mission, 8th SOS
Talons flew three employment sorties from
Roosevelt Roads AB, Puerto Rico, and a longrange
exfiltration from Puerto Rico to Pope AFB
at the end of the exercise. 76
A few days later the squadron provided one Com -
bat Talon for Exercise Casino Dancer, which was
held from 11 to 23 June. Hobson deployed as the 1st
SOW mission commander to Harrisburg IAP, Pennsylvania,
and commanded wing-committed forces
for the duration of the exercise. Infiltration and
exfiltration operations with committed ground
forces kept the Combat Talon busy. Perhaps due
to the operations tempo during the previous two
months, the aircraft was grounded for maintenance
problems for a good portion of the exercise.
77 The remainder of June and most of July
was spent catching up on local training and flying
Combat Talon School sorties. From 26 July
t o 4 August, another quarterly exercise (Night
Venture) was conducted with one MC-130E.
Mountain low-level terrain following and US
Army Special Forces personnel airdrops were
267