AFTER-ACTION REPORT FROM THE 14TH REUNION
by The Staff
Although the 14th Reunion of the F-86 Sabre Pilots Association was another complete success, it almost started out with a disaster. Sunday morning, the first actual day of the 14th Reunion, President Jerry Johnson received a call from Dee Harper, Chairman Emeritus; of the Association. Dee felt like hell and his heart was jumping out of his chest. Dee Said he felt so bad and that he might not make the start of the reunion.
Jerry calmly told Dee to "stop talking to me, call 9-1-1, and get your ass to the hospital!" Jerry then talked with Dee's daughter who then called the paramedics who rushed Dee to the hospital. Luckily, it was not a heart attack Typically, Dee had overextended his body working on the reunion and was suffering from exhaustion. The hospital inserted a pacemaker and brought Dee's heart back to a normal rhythm. Dee went home at the end of the week, missing the entire 14th Reunion. He was sorely missed.Despite the shock surrounding Dee Harper's condition, the 14th Reunion opened at 2 pm Sunday at the Monte Carlo Hotel. When registralaort closed on Wednesday, a total of 594 members and guests were on the rolls. The $55 registration fee brought every member a Sabre Pilots coffee mug, American flag lapel pin, a "Mach Busters Laa,emt" audio tape, two brunches, a cocktail party, bus service to Red Flag, and seven drink tickets. It was quite a bargain in anyone's book.
A number of organizations either dovetailed or piggybacked their reunions with us, including the River Rats at the Riviera Hotel, the 4th FTW, 44th FBS, 42nd/7I st FIS, several pilot classes, the 21 st FBW, and the "Recce Sabres", who flew the RF-86 on highly classified missions. Each group had their own table at the banquet. A new feature for the women this year was supposed to be a fashion show at the ladies luncheon. But none of the stores wanted to participate. Instead, Ardith Freebaim gave a very entertaining talk about her expenses in China.
John Lowery accompanied a group of relatives of Korean War POW/MlAs in the Hospitality Suite every day. This group of fine people talked with any and all regarding their (still) missing loved ones.
There were two major events that took place outside the confines of the Monte Carlo - a trip to the Red Flag facilities at Nellis, and the golf tournament. Over 260 people signed up for the 160 space Red Flag low. Many went away disappointed but understanding. We're looking at possibly running two separate tours at the next reunion, to accommodate twice as many members. The golf tournament saw 55 of our members, and 23 River Rats, hit the links at Nellis.
Two important meetings were held during the reunion. Board Chairman Dan Druen called a meeting of the Board of Directors on Monday. Following a report on the association finances, President Jerry Johnson informed the Board That the Association had 1914 active members, of which 188 were delinquent in their dues. The Board approved a new $100.00 Life Membership fee for all members over the age of 75. Glenn Carus talked about the Smithsonian Museurn opening scheduled for December 2003. Our Association has over 500 members already penciled in on the 'tablet' which will be at the entrance. Those interested in getting their names on the 'tablet' can apply using the form enclosed in this issue of Sabrejet Classics.
The Membership Meeting was called to order by President Johnson on Wednesday morning. President Johnson then introduced the new slate of Officers and new Board of Directors. The new Board includes Dan Druen - Chairman, and Directors Bruce Hinton, Pat Hughes, Bob Matasick, Bob Slater, Loyd Ulrich, and Lon Walter. The new slate of Association officers includes President Jerry Johnson for a second term, Bob Smith as Vice President, and Rich Geiger as Treasurer. Larry Davis, Editor of the SabreJet Classics magazine, Bill Weiger will continue as Webmaster, Diane Weiland as Secretary, and PolIv Winesett as Data Processor. An updated list of e-mail addresses is on page 4 of this issue of Sabrejet Classics.
Rich Geiger, Treasurer, reported the Association had a balance of $239,000.00 at the beginning of the 14th Reunion. Mike Freebaim reported that $55,000.00 worth of Flight Line Sales merchandise was available, but jackets would only be available in blue, Shirts still come in red, white, or blue. Glenn Carus gave his report on the Smithsonian, and Ead Severe gave a press sentation on the Aviation Cadet Museum, along with a plea for donations to finish the project. The banquet was held on Wednesday evening and had an especially patriotic theme due to the fact that our brothers in-arms were facing combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Following the Nellis Color Guard's presentation of the colors, President Jerry Johnson offered a toast to all our departed comrades, to the ladies, to President George W. Bush, and in all our troops.
A sumptuous meal was again provided by Carolyn Welch, Catering Manager at the Monte Carlo, which was topped off by a dessert that was almost too pretty to eat - but everyone did! Our speaker was Major General Stephen G. Woods, Commander of the Air Force Weapons Center at Nellis, who gave an informative talk on new aircraft and system being used in the skies over Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as things coming in the future of military avaition. President Johnson presented him with a model of the F-86 Sabre, which With that, the banquet broke up into small individual parties. But not before the announcement that everyone had waited for - the 15th Reunion of the F-86 Sabre Pilots Association will be held in 2005 in Las Vegas. I have already cleared my calendar for the entire month of April for that year. See you there!
OVERFLIGHTCol LaVerne H. Griffin
My part in the tactical reconnaissance missions involving overflight of denied territory began in June 1953. 1 was assigned to the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron operating out of K-14 (Kimpo) Air Base near Seoul, Korea. One thing I remember that occured just before the cease-fire was the day Vice President Richard Nixon visited our unit. I am sure that he was sent over by President Eisenhower to see what was going on, became Ike had pledged during the presidential campaign that, if elected, he would go to Korea with the intention of ending the war. It was my job to brief the Vice President on the capabilities of the RF-86. One of his questions was, "Son, what do you need this airplane for?" This was a fair question since the rest of the squadron consisted of straight-wing RF-80A's. I replied, "Well, if we get caught up there, we can get away from anything they have became the 86 is faster."
It is difficult for anyone today to understand the tension existing in the world at that time, the polarization developing into two armed camps; democracy vs. communism. Tensions were not only high in the Far East, but throughout Western Europe as well. The Soviets had the Hydrogen bomb and they were building more modem bombers capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Their action was an omen of aggression and NATO was only just developing as a viable counter force to huge Soviet armies in Europe. We did not know whether communist efforts to expand would break out anew in the Far East or in Europe. It was with this understanding of communist expansionism threatening us and our allies and perhaps our very survival that strategic planners decided that we most know much more about the Soviet and Chinese capabilities. If all out war became a reality our bomber forces in Strategic Air Command needed to know not only the enemy order of battle, but also their radar capabilities, in range, altitude, as well as operational frequencies. SAC needed to know how to jam those frequencies and be knowledgeable of the best avenues of penetration.It was then decided at the highest level - I later learned it was from the President himself - that we would be launched on Top Secret overflight missions; first over the Vladivostok area, later to places like Pon Arthur, Darien, Shanghai, Mukden, Koborosk and Soviet submarine pens. As the Squadron Operations Officer and the most experienced RF-86 pilot in the unit, I was designated to select pilots and plan for a maximum-range Top Secret mission, but for the time being, given only the distance that the mission would require. Before we could fly the mission, we had to fly practice missions locally, using the same distances we would be required to cover on the actual flight. This would allow us to check our cruise-control procedures, power settings, and included dropping all external ranks at the appropriate times to determine how long we could remain airborne and still have minimum fuel for landing. We practiced this profile over the Sea of Japan a few times, recording data and determining that we could indeed complete the mission in this newer, but somewhat restricted model RF-86 aircraft. About the only charge required for optimum performance had the North American Tech Reps installing 'rats' and mice' in the engine to increase the tailpipe temperature so as to maintain 640º above 40,000 feet.
My last prfile mission; 14 Match 54, was for two hours and fifty minutes. Our actual mission was planned for two hours and forty minutes. I told the Intelligence planners that we could make it with fuel to space.
On the first mission we were briefed by a couple of field-grade planners that we would stage out of Korea over the Sea of Japan, into the Vladivostok area of the Soviet Union. We would obtain photos of select air bases, and recover into Misawa Air Base in Northern Japan. The briefing included the targets, the route to be flown, the altitudes to fly, and of course the cover stories we had to have if we were forced to come down in Russian territory. Being much younger then, and eager, I wanted to believe these stories. In reflection the stories seem pretty weak. I doubt if the enemy would have believed that we were lost while flying a local mission out of Nagoya, Japan, some 300 miles to the south; especially since we were wearing 'people suits', those rubber exposure suits almost guaranteed to keep you alive thirty minutes longer in ice cold water in case of a ditching at sea.
Some smart electronic guys had calculated that the Russian radar would not be able to see us above 38,000 feet, so that before crossing the 40th parallel, we had to clim above 38,000, above which we were assured we would be invisible to Soviet radar. Our flight would stage out of Osan, Korea (K-55), where there was a long runway. We would top off all four external tanks of fuel; two 200-gallon ran and two 120-gallon tanks, head out over the Sea of Japan and drop the 200-galIon tanks, which still contained some fuel, so that we could climb above 38,000 feet before reaching forty degrees North Latitude and eventually reaching 42,000 feet before entering Soviet airspace. We would carry the 120gallon tanks until we exited the Russian main land and at least 12 miles out to sea. No sense in leaving a couple of fuel tanks in Vladivostok that said, "Made in USA."
On the 21st of March 1954, six RF-86F Sabres departed Komaki Aerodrome, Japan, for Osan, Korea, about an hour and a half flight. The pilots with me were Lt Bill Birsett, Major George Saylor, Lt Larry Garrison, Lt Sam Dickens, and Lt Pete Garrison. Dickens and Garrison would be spares who would return to base if the first four aircraft dropped tanks and got to 38,000 feet without any problems. Upon landing at K-55, our aircraft were met and whisked inside a huge hangar so as not to be detected by my outsiders, such as members of the United Nations Inspection Team, who might wonder if these '86s with the bulges on the nose were legitimately in Korea.
Next morning was a beautifully clear day, and we checked our enroute weather and winds, refined the flight plan for the winds and briefed for the mission. The aircraft were towed out of the hangar and up on to some 2-by-6 boards and fuel added to the drop tanks until they overflowed. We cranked up the engines and taxied to the runway without delay; using a green light from the tower for clearance; there would be absolute radio silence on this flight, except for an emergency. We departed to the east, using a lot of take-off roll with a heavy load and headed out on course. The climb to altitude was uneventful and eight 200-gallon tank from four aircraft were jettisoned successfully over the Sea of Japan. I rocked the wings as a signal to close up the formation and we looked each other over, giving the 'thumbs up' to signify that the drops were clean and the aircraft looked okay. At this point, the disappointed spare pilots waved good-bye and returned to Komaki Air Base, Japan.
Four of us continued on in tactical formation, wingmen with their eyes on a swivel to detect possible MIG-15 interceptors. As we approached the coast near Vladivostok, the two elements split up as each element had specific targets to photograph. It was shortly after this that I heard the transmission, "Alabama!". This transmission brought a tingle down my spine; "Alabama" was the code word of our companion element for pulling contrails which would be a dead giveaway to revealing our presence over the Soviet mainland. The codeword for our element was "California." I looked at my wigman, Bissett, and since he was not pulling contrails, I continued to press on over the Vladivostok area; nervously, I might add. Forecasters had predicted little chance of cons. I did not know it at the time, but the other element aborted their mission and headed for Miisawa, Japan. We flew over the airfields at Vladivostok, proceeding as far north as Artem and exposed over 90 frams of film on several airfields. We had no airborne aircraft sightings to worry about, and we proceeded to exit the area out over the Sea of Japan, on course for Misawa.
Inbound to Japan we were to exercise the Japanese Air Defense Force to see if they could pick up aircraft incoming from the Soviet Union at high altitude. I would have to rate their effort a failure. Without the IFF on, they couldn't pick us up, and with it on they did a poor job of intercepting us. I doubt that the Soviets would have their IFF's on. At any rate we recovered at Misawa Air Base where we were met by a C-47, which took us to Tokyo where the film was processed and interpreted by SAC Photo Interpreters. They told us that the results were excellent. We were not allowed to view the film ourselves! But it must have been successful as the next morning we were summoned into the Office of the commander of the Far Eastern Air Forces (FEAF), General O.P. Weyjaud where he pinned the Distinguished Flying Cross on the four of us. His exact words were: "Boys, I'll take care of the paperwork later, but here is a little something for a job welldone." Looking back, we would have done just about anything for General Weyland because of the time he took for that impromptu ceremony. I believe he was just as glad to see us get back in one piece, as he was to get the photography.
I was the leader of the next two missions, which were in the same general area, Vladivostok, one of them on 3 April 1954, and one on 22 April 1954. On these missions we refueled at Missawa and flew the film down to Tokyo ourselves. I selected a few different pilots for thew flights, my motive being to insure that all the qualifted RF-86 pilots had a chance to get a mission and obtain a DFC for their efforts. My wingman on the 3 April mission was Lt Sam Dickens, and on the 22 April mission, Lt Frank Halstead. On the last mission we sighted an airborn MIG about 5000 feet below us as we were exiting the area. After determining that he did not see us I maneuvered over top of him and took his picture. Upon examining the film, the photo interpreter rushed out of the lab and says, "Do you know what you got on this film?" I said that I hoped I had gotten the targets, and he said, "No, I mean the airplane." I said, "You mean that MIG-15 that flew under us? He said, "That is not a MIG-15. it is a MIG-17, and we didnit know that they were deployed east of the Urals." And that is how a 'lucky strike' extra picture became a valuable intelligence find.
During my time at Komaki, I also flew a few test flights in the RT-33, which was being delivered to Nationalist Chinese pilots in the Republic of China on Taiwan. The airplane had a 172-gallon fuel tank in the rear seat that added much extra range, and the same camera configuration of the RF-80. It was a nice reconnaissance airplane, but not around MIGs.
I rotated back to Shaw AFB, South Carolina on the lst of May 1954 and thus ended my career as an overflight pilot. While at Shaw I received two more Distinguished Flying Crosses for the last two missions I had flown in April 1954. 1 know that all the pilots who were with me on the first three overflights received a Disunguished Flying Cross. I never knew if there were other missions, although I expected that more had been flown. But what was probably the highlight to a 28-year air force career was something I could not talk about for 46 years. I am glad that this forgotten episode of tactical reconnaissance is finally being documented, and will take its rightful place in our military history.