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OUA
1964 – Page 4 |
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the two aircrews and C-130 aircraft positioned at Sondrestrom
were called to Thule, Greenland, on a search mission to locate a downed F-102
presumably in a 30 mile square area in the near vicinity of Thule. Flying practically around the clock, they were relieved by two other aircrews on 20
December who continued the search until the 22nd. The C-130 portion of the search was to fly at approximately 4000 feet absolute and drop flares
while other aircraft flew below on visual and photographic search. Seeing in total dark- ness at that time of the year, airdropped flares did not yield
the illumina- tion urgently needed. An
enterprising member of the 17th Squadron, who was participating in the search and was subsequently decorated,
devised a method of lashing flares into bundles and trailing them from the open
cargo hold at the end of long steel cables.
While the search itself was not successful, its hazardous nature can best be established by pointing out
that two other participating aircraft went down on the ice cap while it was in
progress. During that same month two emergency air evacuation missions
were flown. One was to Nord to airlift a Danish national back to Thule. The stricken man was suffering from acute appendicitis and only the quick
response of the C-130 aircrew saved his life. The other mission was flown on New Year's Eve from Sondrestrom to Andrews to airlift an Air Force major in
critical condition following a coronary attack. Medical facilities at Sondrestrom were not adequate to furnish the treatment required. |
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g. More
conventional missions laid on the aircrews of the 17th Squadron during
the last half of 1962 included participation in the aerial delivery demonstration
staged for U.S. Army ROTC Cadets at Fort, Lee, Virginia, from 9-11
July. Each cadet was afforded the
opportunity to observe the drops from
inside the aircraft as well as from the drop zones on the ground. Dur- ing
the first two weeks of August 1962, a major portion of the 17th Squadron was
deployed in support of EXERCISE SWIFT STRIKE II. They were tasked to provide
airlanding and airdrop for both the Red and Blue Forces
pitted against each
other in this joint Army-Air Force tactical exercise. The eight parti- cipating
C-130's of the 17th
Squadron flew 280 hours during 125 sorties in connection
with this exercise. In addition to
representing the parent wing in
the Annual. TAG
Lead Crew Competition in late August, this unit also dis- patched
two aircraft to the Mauritius Island Contingency Recovery Area in support
of PROJECT MERCURY (MA-8) in early September 1962. The purpose of this
mission was to provide an emergency search and recovery capability in the
Indian Ocean in the event needed.
Other specialized missions laid on the
17th Squadron during this period included participation in RAPID ROAD; the
air delivery of GAM
83 missiles from Homestead AFB, Florida, to Nellis AFB, Nevada; airborne support for the U.S. Army Quartermaster
Research and Evaluation
Tests being conducted from Luguna Army Air Field at Yuma into the
Arizona deserts; a VIP airlift support mission in conjunction with the late
President John F.
Kennedy's return from Mexico City following his State visit
to Washington between 1 and 3 July; an aircraft ferry mission to Japan between
10 and 25 September. In routine support operations during this period,
the 17th Squadron executed a total of 470 drop operations; 291 of these
sorties were for personnel drops and the other 179 for heavy equipment. |
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h. An interesting note is that of the 1266:05 hours of
flying time logged
by this unit in connection with its Ice Cap Operations from 1 January through
30 June 1963 only
657:30 were flown from Sondrestrom to and from the |
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