1 - The Black Vault

OPERATION ASSURED RESPONSE TO THE NEW MILLENNIUM
the Combat Talon II crews. The Hungarians were
cooperative in answering all questions posed and
provided visits to their air defense sites. Some
training could have been improved, however. The
7th SOS desired more night sorties utilizing
NVGs, and the Hungarians wanted more air intercept
sorties and more parachute operations. Future
planning would incorporate those recommendations
into the training plan. 103
For the next three months, the 7th SOS deployed
on a JCET each month, including JCETs
in Gibraltar, Souda Bay, Crete, and Kenitra, Morocco.
By early summer the squadron had completed
six JCETs and two exercises that reached
from North Africa to Norway and from the continental
United States to Eastern Europe. The
training schedule was interrupted on 9 June 1998
when another crisis developed in western Africa.
Within hours of tasking, the 7th SOS was en
route for another NEO identified as Operation
Shepherd Venture.
The president of Guinea-Bissau, a small country
in western Africa, fired his chief of staff for
smuggling weapons in late 1977 and governed without
a replacement throughout the first half of
1998. Tension continued to mount within the
government, with the fired chief of staff threatening
to retaliate if the president did not reinstate
him. On 7 June 1998 the president appointed a
replacement, and the former chief of staff immediately
launched a coup. Intense fighting broke
out in the capital city of Bissau, located on the
coast. The fighting resulted in many third-country
nationals seeking refuge in the US Embassy. Security
for these people and US citizens living in
the country became a concern of the US ambassador.
As time passed the fighting increased and
further threatened the embassy compound. On 9
June the US ambassador to Guinea-Bissau formally
requested an NEO. 104
At the 352d SOG verbal tasking flowed from
SOCEUR, and crews from both the 7th SOS and
67th SOS were put into crew rest for possible
launch later in the day. The following morning two
MC-130Ps launched from RAF Mildenhall and
proceeded to Stuttgart to onload a security team and
its associated equipment. By late afternoon they
were ready to depart. USEUCOM selected Dakar,
Senegal, as the intermediate staging base, and at
1809 local the two MC-130Ps departed Stuttgart.
Thirty minutes later one MC-130H from the 7th
SOS departed RAF Mildenhall with maintenance
and support equipment aboard. At 0323Z on 11
June, the two MC-130Ps landed at Dakar, and 36
minutes later the Combat Talon arrived. Communications
personnel went to work setting up their
equipment, support personnel occupied facilities
and began to set up their work areas, and maintainers
began preparing the aircraft for future missions.
Later in the day a second CT II arrived after relocating
from a JCET in Morocco. After only two
hours on the ground, the second Combat Talon was
directed by SOCEUR to return to Stuttgart and to
stand by for additional tasking. US Navy captain
Schoultz, SOCEUR chief of staff, was designated as
the deployed JTF Commander for Operation Shepherd
Venture. Upon his arrival he immediately entered
into talks with the US ambassador to Senegal
and with French and Portuguese authorities on the
status of the Guinea-Bissau situation. 105
As planning continued through 11 June for a
possible NEO, a Portuguese bulk freighter docked
in Bissau, and the decision was made to use the
ship for the NEO instead of relying on an airborne
operation. Approximately 1,000 French, 70 Portuguese,
and 50 Americans subsequently boarded
the ship to escape the fighting. By 13 June all
remaining personnel desiring to leave Guinea-
Bissau had departed by other means, and the
need for an NEO was eliminated. The 7th SOS
maintained an alert crew through 14 June, at
which time it was released from its commitment.
On 15 June the 7th SOS Talon II departed Dakar
for home station. Although an NEO was not accomplished,
the 352d SOG once again demonstrated
its ability to respond to real-world tasking
in minimal time. 106
A 7th SOS Combat Talon II Crew
Wins the 1998 Tunner Award
At 1600Z on 19 September, the 7th SOS was
alerted and began planning for another mission to
western Africa. Tensions had again increased in
Liberia, and USCINCEUR was considering options
to insert an ESAT team into the US Embassy.
The crisis was brought on earlier when two
embassy personnel were wounded during a firefight
between Liberian security forces and supporters
of faction leader Roosevelt Johnson. The
ESAT would provide intelligence information for
USCINCEUR, and it would provide increased
manning for the small embassy security force. 107
An augmented 7th SOS crew was placed on
minimum crew rest status, while additional crews
preflighted and sealed Combat Talon 87-0023.
Contingency planners from 7th SOS/DOX developed
a route of flight and coordinated in-flight and
ground refueling requirements. Group intelligence
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