Spaceman Spliff

I know you're a pilot, but I think you've succinctly summed up many EWOs right there..."dating themselves." Blow-up dolls of star trek alien chicks don't count...

Ftrooppilot

No. They were "very close" (about 3-4 feet) to their pilots.

The new Weasel crews were shocked to hear of their new mission, which was nothing short of a suicide mission. One of the new weasels, EWO Captain Jack Donovan, summed up the feelings of all the Weasels about their new mission, when he said, " You want me to fly in the back of a little tiny fighter aircraft with a crazy fighter pilot who thinks he's invincible, home in on a SAM site in North Vietnam, and shoot it before it shoots me, you gotta be ****tin me!" Despite the apprehension, the Weasel crews went forward with their suicide mission, and in early November 1965, they deployed to Korat AFB in Thailand to begin their Wild Weasel missions.

In addition to the threat of the SAM and AAA sites, the Weasels also had to contend with Soviet built MIG fighter jets that were supplied to the North Vietnamese Air Force. In April of 1967 Weasel pilot Major Leo Thorsness and his EWO, Captain Harold Johnson shot down a MIG –17 over Hanoi to become the first Weasel pilot to claim a MIG kill. Major Thorsness flew over 90 Weasel missions over North Vietnam, including a mission in which he took on several MIG fighters and saved countless American lives. For this he received the Congressional Medal of Honor. Major Thorsness and Captain Johnson were shot down and spent six years in an NVA prisoner of war camp.

Retired United States Air Force Colonel George Acree also served as a Weasel pilot in the Vietnam War. Colonel Acree amassed over 200 missions into North Vietnam, some in an F-105D bomber, and some in an F-105G Weasel aircraft. Colonel Acree stated that the Weasel pilots, "were some of the bravest men I ever met." Over and over again the Weasel pilots distinguished themselves in combat, and they also sustained heavy losses throughout the war. In all the Weasels lost twenty-six aircraft, and forty-two Weasels either Missing in Action (MIA), Killed in Action (KIA), or Prisoner of War (POW). Despite these conditions, the Weasel pilots persisted in executing their mission.

http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com...ildweasel.aspx

1Seat 1Engine

Intel? I said they were EWO's not retards.

They have no airborne crew responsibilities if that's what you're asking. They're qualified to jump in any open back seat when they're not busy working on the wing standard jamming pod program or making power point slides for ALR-69 academics.

Most of the EWO's I knew sandbagged quite a bit, and although they're easy to make fun of, the good ones are worth their weight in gold.

Ftrooppilot

Before they were replaced by automated systems, EWOs were "worth their weight in gold." Many paid the price. Each of the ten B-52s shot down over N Vietnam had one and the four EB-66s shot down had four in each aircraft. Numerous POW returnees were EWOs.

Read a book "The Little Toy Dog" about the RB-47H shot down by the Soviet Union to gain some perspective about their jobs.

Sorry if I reminisce. We are just past Memorial Day weekend and Cold War / Vietnam memories and friends lost etched my mind the last few days

I thank each of you who have served or are serving.

reCALcitrant

Ok. Twice in 1 thread I laughed out loud. Must be the EW talk. You are right about EW's. Mostly weirdos. However, the good ones are awesome dudes and integral parts of their weapons.

webecheck

and the term "YGBSM" was born......and worn on our patches to this day.

cave putorium. (fear the weasel)

Slice

I thought it stood for Young Gay Black Single Male?

Spaceman Spliff

wow. I guess that would explain why you've been showing up to work with a black eye for the past few years...

Flyinhigh

What years were you at Westover? I had the honor of being there when we closed out the 99th Bomb Wing in 1973. We had to redeploy from LinebackerII (Bulletshot, Arc Light, Young Tiger) or whatever cute nickname we were deployed on in 1972/73.
Talking about Wild Weasel EWO's, our class commander at Moody in 1969 was a F-105 Wild Weasel EWO. The night of the Dining In, he made most of the IP corp look a little underdressed in the medal department.
Sure seems like time has flown since the Westover days.

Ftrooppilot

348th Bomb Sq 1961-1964