1 - The Black Vault

MOUNT PINATUBO TO OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR
squadrons earned excellent evaluations, as did
the 320th STS. In all the IG team identified 27
people as professional performers.
An overall rating of excellent was awarded to
the group, a rating that validated the combat
status of the entire organization. The ORI was
significant to not only the group, but also to Headquarters
AFSOC and to PACOM. The inspection
had validated finally that the group was operationally
sound after Mount Pinatubo and was a
viable combat asset in the Pacific. By the close of
1993, the 353d SOG was operating near the level
of proficiency it had under Hess before the Mount
Pinatubo eruption. The coming year would see
further maturity in the group and increased SOF
capability in the Pacific.
The First Operational Commitment
for Combat Talon II
Elements of the newly designated 352d SOG
were still in the process of moving to RAF Alconbury
when the New Year arrived. On 15 December
1992 the last two MC-130E Combat Talon Is
had departed Rhein Main AB for the United
States. Detachment 7, 352d SOG, continued to operate
until 27 January. The detachment was officially
inactivated on 30 April 1994. 96 Lauderdale
and the rest of the 7th SOS had settled into life at
RAF Alconbury with the first two MC-130H Combat
Talon IIs and throughout January and early
February concentrated on training events designed
to increase the proficiency of aircrew and
maintenance personnel. Conversion training was
still under way for some of the 7th SOS-assigned
crews, and the 15th SOS provided an augmenting
crew to assist the 7th SOS from December 1992
through the early part of February. As the Talon
Is departed the theater, the new Talon IIs were
prepared to take over the mission. 97
On 22 February 1993 General Kellogg, commander
of SOCEUR, alerted the 352d SOG of a
pending deployment for Operation Provide Promise
II, a humanitarian relief effort in the Balkans. The
group was in the process of deploying to Norway
for Exercise Battle Griffin 93 and its scheduled
ORI. Personnel quickly regrouped and redirected
assigned forces for the real-world deployment. The
ORI was subsequently postponed. SOCEUR’s
warning order, issued on 23 February, stated that
the group’s personnel would work in conjunction
with USA Special Forces and US Navy SEAL teams
to provide SAR and personnel recovery (PR) coverage
for the forces conducting air drops to besieged
pockets of personnel in Bosnia-Herzegovina. For
the 7th SOS it deployed one MC-130H to Rhein
Main AB after the initial notification by SOCEUR
on 22 February. The deployment marked the
first operational commitment for the Combat
Talon II. 98
Once the crew arrived it commenced planning
for leaflet and resupply drops as tasked, but political
sensitivities prevented employment of the
7th SOS crew. A second 7th SOS Talon arrived at
Rhein Main AB on 25 February, followed the
next day by a third aircraft. The last aircraft to
deploy had just arrived at RAF Alconbury from
the United States, and maintenance had completed
the acceptance inspection and launched
the aircraft within 17 hours of its arrival in the
United Kingdom. Planners feared that a wrong
signal could be sent to the population of Bosnia-
Herzegovina if the Combat Talons executed lowlevel
flights over the country, so they opted for
the midlevel delivery of relief supplies by conventional
C-130 aircraft. 99 The Combat Talon IIs,
therefore, were not tasked to fly any operational
missions.
The majority of the 352d SOG deployed to
Brindisi, Italy, where the main SOF operating
base was established for Operation Provide Promise
II. Group-assigned MH-53Js and HC-130s,
along with members of the 320th STS, established
an SAR/PR alert. At Rhein Main AB the
7th SOS contingent received several mission taskings,
but each time the tasking was canceled by
the JTF headquarters before execution. Loadmasters
from the squadron flew on other NATO
aircraft during resupply missions and observed
their airdrop procedures. A major problem surfaced
during the resupply effort that affected
the safety of refugee personnel on the ground. If
a resupply bundle landed on someone, the impact
could kill or seriously injure that person.
Four personnel from the 352d SOG set about to
develop a delivery system that would not pose such
a threat. Captain Ash (7th SOS), Senior Master
Sergeant Regi (352d SOG), and Master Sergeants
Duffie (7th SOS) and Heflin (352d Special Operations
Support Squadron) created a system that
came to be known as the triwall aerial delivery
system (TRIADS). The basic concept was based
on the Halverson (the Berlin airlift candy bomber)
delivery method whereby a large load could be
dropped in individual units with the resultant im -
pact on the ground (or on personnel) minimized. 100
The primary food being delivered to Bosnia-
Herzegovina was US–government-supplied MREs.
The four-person team theorized that if allowed to
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