5/7/2023 0 Comments War thunder victory day![]() ![]() Anderson of the 45th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS), maneuvered in three dimensions to dodge a MiG gun attack and achieve a position to fire upon and shoot down a MiG. Mink 04, 64-0679 (in the 123rd FIS from Sep 1980 to Aug 86) flown by Capt. Taking advantage of the enemy’s habit pattern to go after F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bombers and force them to prematurely jettison their bombload, and/or shoot them down to stop the damage and destruction they inflicted, Mink Flight, four F-4Cs took off late on Jin order to simulate a last, late flight of F-105s, flying F-105 flight paths, speeds and altitudes to fool the enemy.Īlthough the plan didn’t work out as cleanly and precisely as hoped, the Phantoms successfully engaged and shot down two MiG-17s with AIM-9B Sidewinder infra-red guided-missiles. The twin-engine, two-seat jets soon encountered the enemy.į-4C serial number 64-0679 (in the 123rd FIS from to ) was one of two jets which achieved the first USAF aerial victories of the war. This article will focus on those 10 aircraft and highlight some of their victorious aerial encounters over MiG fighters of the Vietnamese Peoples Air Force (VPAF).įirst USAF Aerial Victories in Vietnam – July 10, 1965ĭue to the aerial threat posed by MiG fighters when the Rolling Thunder air campaign commenced in March, 1965, after the MiGs began air combat in April, 1965, the USAF deployed 18 F-4Cs to Southeast Asia where they served under the command of the Second Air Division. And 10 of those jets were credited with 12 aerial victories over North Vietnamese MiG fighter jets between 19. Many Oregon Phantoms were combat veterans of Southeast Asia. Ultimately, some 78 different F-4Cs served at one time or another for various lengths of service in the group’s two fighter squadrons, the 123rd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (123rd FIS) at Portland ANG Base and 114th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (114th TFTS) at Kingsley Field. ![]() And with it came some of the F-4C aerial victors of the Vietnam War. Some nine million served in the armed forces during the time of the war, and 58,000 names of the fallen are remembered on the Vietnam War Veterans Memorial in Washington DC.įor this commemoration, we take a look at some of the steeds our nation’s air warriors rode into battle in the war-torn skies over Vietnam during the Rolling Thunder air campaign which survived the war and eventually served in the Oregon Air National Guard (OreANG).Īs the OreANG converted from the McDonnell F-101B Voodoo fighter-interceptor to the McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II fighter in late 1980 and early 1981, the F-4 Phantom era of the 142nd Fighter Group began. ![]() On National Vietnam War Veterans Day, we remember those who served and sacrificed during the nation’s longest war of the 20th century. ![]()
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