After graduating from college with 1A draft status in 1969, John Clark applied and tested for Air Force OTS and was accepted. Because of “a bad eye … correctable,” but not good enough to be a pilot, he went to flight school at Mather AFB to be a navigator, then survival training in Spokane, followed by six months of electronic warfare training, then water survival training at Homestead in Florida, and finally EB-66 training at Shaw AFB in Sumter, South Carolina. He arrived in theater as a first lieutenant in 1971, and was stationed at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base with the 42nd TEWS. While a “newbie,” he served as the ELINT (electronic intelligence) duty officer, but was soon flying cover for bombing missions: “… we would jam the acquisition radars, the early warning radars, and then the target-tracking radars, specifically the SA-2, Fan Song, and then also any AAA radars.” This protective capability meant they were “first in and then pretty much the last out.” Clark remembers some close calls, describes missions over the Ho Chi Minh Trail, Laos, Cambodia, North Vietnam Haiphong Harbor, the Ia Drang Valley, and the Mu Gia Pass. He offers thoughts on chaff, and SEALs, and MiGs, and antiaircraft guns, and rules of engagement, and Wild Weasels, and SAC, and Jolly Green Giants. Clark shares his broad array of knowledge and experiences with vivid memory and detailed recall, including the Bat-21 saga from first-hand experience.
Key Words: OTS (Officer Training School), Mather Air Force Base, Sacramento, navigator training, T-29, electronic warfare, survival training, Spokane, Washington, water survival training, Homestead, Florida, EB-66 training, Shaw Air Force Base, Sumter, South Carolina, Bear (electronic warfare officer) Raven, ELINT, electronic intelligence collection, SA-2, Fan Song, AAA radar, MiG-21, jungle survival training, snake school, Clark Air Base, Philippines, Krung Thep, Korat, Thailand, F-105G, Wild Weasels, anti-radiation missile-45, Shrike, AGM-78 Standard ARM, Bar Lock (P-35 radar), Vinh, APR-2526, RHAW (radar homing and warning), SAM (surface-to-air missile), AAA (antiaircraft artillery), Bat Lakes, RF-4s, Bat 21, Quang Tri, E&E, escape and evasion, acquisition radar, tracking radar, GCI radar, ground control intercept, Mu Gia Pass, RC-135s, B-52s, SAC, Strategic Air Command, Ellsworth, Rapid City, South Dakota, Guam, Anderson Air Force Base, DASC (Direct Air Support Center) formation, celestial navigation, periscopic sextant shots, Haiphong Harbor, Gulf of Tonkin, Big Mama, Navy Jolly Green Giant, CH-53, Red Crown, Bullseye, tee-ball, Red Bandit, MiG-17, White Bandit, MiG-19, Blue Bandit, Fish's Mouth, OV-10, FAC, Medal of Honor, MARS, circuitous travel, Offutt Air Force Base, FOBs, forward operating bases, BULLET SHOT, Yom Kippur War, U-Tapao, ARC LIGHT, B-52Ds, unity of command, LINEBACKER I, LINEBACKER II, Red Flag, Top Gun, Full Metal Jacket, MiG CAP (MiG Combat Air Patrol)
Key Names: Ed Daly, Mike Vasiljevic, Colonel Leonard “Lucky” Ekman, Jane Fonda, General John D. Lavelle, Lieutenant Colonel Iceal "Gene" Hambleton, Lieutenant Thomas R. Norris, Lieutenant Mark Clark, Senator Barry Goldwater, Rudyard Kipling, Lee Kuan Yew, Major Bob Lodge, Captain Roger Locher