1 - The Black Vault

THE COMBAT TALON WEAPONS SYSTEM
Notes
1. Project CHECO Report, The Role of the USAF in Support
of Special Activities in SEA, 1 July 1976, prepared by
Tom G. Abbey, Maxwell AFB, Ala.: USAF HRA, 23.
2. Pamphlet, 12 October 1990, provided to the author by
John R. Lewis from his personal files, Combat Talon Archive,
Headquarters Air Force Special Operations Command
historian (hereafter cited as HQ AFSOC/HO), Hurlburt Field,
Fla., 5.
3. Project CHECO Report, 25.
4. Big Safari Reunion, 6, on file, Combat Talon Archive,
HQ AFSOC/HO, Hurlburt Field, Fla., 12 October 1990.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid., 8.
7. Ibid., 7.
8. Ibid., 7–8.
9. Lars Olausson, Lockheed Hercules Production List,
1954–1995, 12th ed., privately published by author, February
1994, 90–92.
10. Flight Manual (FM), USAF Series C-130E, Technical
Order (TO) 1C-130E-1, 15 March 1966, Combat Talon Archive,
HQ AFSOC/HO, Hurlburt Field, Fla., 1-4.
11. Ibid., 1-26.
12. Ibid., 1-31.
13. Ibid., 1-37.
14. Ibid., 1-50.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid., 1-71.
17. Ibid., 1-78.
18. Ibid., 1-84.
19. Ibid., 1-87.
20. Ibid., 1-91.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid., 4-103.
23. Ibid., 1-98.
24. AFTO Form 95s, aircraft 64-0523, 64-0551, 64-0555,
and 64-0568 records, Combat Talon Archive, HQ AFSOC/HO,
Hurlburt Field, Fla.
25. William M. Leary, Robert Fulton’s Skyhook and Operation
Coldfeet; on-line, Internet, n.d. available from
http://www.terrorism.net/Pubs/csi/Lea/html.
26. Ibid.
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid.
29. Michael E. Haas, Apollo’s Warriors: US Air Force Special
Operations during the Cold War (Maxwell AFB, Ala.: Air
University Press, 1997), 103.
30. Leary.
31. Haas, 50.
32. Leary.
33. Ibid.
34. Ibid.
35. Ibid.
36. Ibid.
37. Ibid.
38. Ibid.
39. Ibid.
40. Ibid.
41. Ibid.
42. Ibid.
43. Ibid.
44. Ibid.
45. Ibid.
46. Official Report, List of Persons Picked Up by the Fulton
Skyhook Aerial Recovery System, Robert E. Fulton Jr., 6 January
1964, Combat Talon Archive, HQ AFSOC/HO, Hurlburt
Field, Fla.
47. Ibid.
48. Ibid.
49. Official Report, ER-4112, C-130 Fulton Skyhook Aerial
Recovery System , Lockheed Aircraft Corp., 8 February 1960,
Combat Talon Archive, HQ AFSOC/HO, Hurlburt Field, Fla.,
1.
50. Ibid., 3.
51. Ibid., 3–4.
52. Ibid., 4–5.
53. FM, Partial Flight Manual, C-130E Skyhook , TO 1C-
130E(I)-1, 23 March 1967, Combat Talon Archive, HQ AF-
SOC/HO, Hurlburt Field, Fla., 4-18–4-19.
54. Ibid., 4-18.
55. Ibid., 4-25.
56. Ibid.
57. Ibid.
58. Ibid.
59. Ibid.
60. Ibid., 2-26.
61. Ibid., 4-26.
62. Ibid.
63. Ibid.
64. History, 15th Special Operations Squadron, 1 July–30
September 1968, USAF HRA, Maxwell AFB, Ala., K-SQ-A-
CMDO-15-HI, 10–11.
65. Big Safari Reunion, 6–7.
66. 19th Special Operations Squadron (SOS), MC-130E
Combat Talon Pilot Student Study Guide, Hurlburt Field,
Fla., 30 December 1998.
67. FM, USAF Series MC-130E, TO LTM 1MC-130E-1, 1
October 1981, Combat Talon Archive, HQ AFSOC/HO,
Hurlburt Field, Fla., 4-315.
68. Technical Report, High Speed Low Level Aerial Delivery
System (HSLLADS), OT&E Final Report, March 1974,
prepared by Irl L. Franklin, Combat Talon Archive, HQ AF -
SOC/HO, Hurlburt Field, Fla., 1.
69. Ibid.
70. Ibid., 1–2.
71. Ibid., iii.
72. Ibid., v.
73. Ibid., v–vi.
74. Ibid., vi.
75. Big Safari Reunion, 22.
76. Maj Robert L. Berry, ed., 1st SOW Pilot/Navigator
Textbook, n.d., Combat Talon Archive, HQ AFSOC/HO,
Hurlburt Field, Fla., 4-2.
77. Ibid.
78. Capt Raymond L. Harris, USAF, and Edward I. Seto,
C-130 Aerial Refueling Evaluation, April 1977, Final Report,
Combat Talon Archive, HQ AFSOC/HO, Hurlburt Field, Fla.,
38.
79. Ibid., 23.
80. Ibid., 25.
81. Ibid., 17.
82. FM, USAF Series MC-130E, 4-359.
57