![]() I think the red stuff was ZSUs – it was disturbing enough, but you knew they weren’t all radar-guided because you didn’t have a lot of radar warning about everything. Then you had some big AAA, big white bursts up at our altitude, but it was less frequent. We’re getting up there over the salt marshes, and little stuff – red tracers – was arcing below us, with bigger stuff, white tracers, reaching up higher to about 20,000 ft. Rob’s got his head in the boot, doing updates. `Off to the left side, as we’re crossing the Gulf, you could see the SAM launches and AAA in Kuwait City – huge, holy shit, look at this stuff. You thought you were rendezvousing on Battlestar Galactica because of all the different lights. Some lights had burned out, which meant you couldn’t tell what was what. This was the first time we had actually flown with the lights out and relied on the green formation lights instead – the lights on every jet were different. `First night we flew, we’re heading into Iraq, and we’re heading into Shaibah airfield. The first night of the war we came back with better BDA than the F-117s had. We’d try to pickle the LGBs right in the middle of the basket. We’d use a mix, since the weather was shitty 2000-lb LGBs and 2000-lb “steel nose cone”. `In the first part of the Gulf War we started out with deep strikes on Basra, Shaibah and Tallil. Uryga was one of the USMC A-6 pilots involved in the early strikes of ODS Truly an all-weather, day/night precision bomber, the A-6 was still the most potent USMC strike aircraft during Operation Desert Storm (ODS) in 1991.Ĭapt Tom Uryga was a graduate of Eastern Washington University and he joined VMA(AW)-224 `Bengals’ in the early spring of 1990. The Grumman A-6 Intruder was the ‘Main Battery’ of carrier aviation throughout the Vietnam War, and it remained in service with the US Navy and US Marine Corps (USMC) until 1996. Two A-6s did more damage than a B-52” Capt Tom Uryga, former USMC A-6 pilot None had the external racks they used in Vietnam. It was later converted to an E model in 1977 and was station with VA-205 at Naval Air Station Atlanta before retirement in 1994.“During Operation Desert Storm the B-52s heavily involved in CAS missions flew ten-hour missions from Diego Garcia. The “C” variants were specially equipped with additional sensors and avionics to improve their attack capabilities on convoys moving equipment and supplies down the Ho Chi Minh Trail during the Vietnam War. In June of 1969, it became one of only twelve intruders, out of 693 built, to be converted to an A-6C. The A-6 (Bu # 155648) on display at the Aviation History & Technology Center started its life as an A-6A in November 1968. ![]() During the Vietnam War, 68 were shot down by enemy forces. However, its slower speeds and low-level roles meant that it was one of the most vulnerable aircraft to enemy anti-aircraft weapons. Its design meant it was adaptable as technology advanced and capable of a variety of missions, including refueling via the “buddy store” system, laser targeting, electronic warfare, and other specialized missions. It could carry 18,000 pounds of ordinance, including nuclear weapons, on missions over 500 miles away without refueling. While it may not be considered the sleekest design, the A-6 had ample power and range complimenting its all-weather capability. The flight crew sat in side-by-side configuration, further improving visibility to the bombardier/ navigator and improving crew communication. Technologically advanced for its time, an integrated suite of avionics and sensors allowed Intruder crews to carry out missions, even when visibility was extremely limited. Before the A-6, combat flight operations were severely limited in inclement weather, low cloud ceilings, or low light. It is the first aircraft to offer the United States Navy an option for combat operations in any weather, day or night. The A-6 is a jet-powered, carrier-based, medium duty aircraft that entered service during the Vietnam War.
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