Posted on 04/02/2003 7:18:24 PM PST by doug from upland
ABOARD THE USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT -- They share the same long hours, the same stress of fighting in war, but those in supporting roles receive little of the glory showered on combat pilots.
Still, aviators like Lt. Kyle Horlacher whose squadron has had the task of refueling the gas-guzzling supersonic jets before they go to fight over Iraq, wouldn't have it any other way, most of the time.
"There's a part of you that sometimes wishes you could get over there and see some action," acknowledges Horlacher. "But generally, we're happy to be doing what we need to do."
It is only one of the low-profile but crucial flying tasks enabling the combat pilots aboard F/A-18 Hornets and F-14 Tomcats Hornets to perform their jobs.
No combat mission leaves the deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt without the radar jammers aboard EA-6B Prowlers or the command and control crew on an E-2C Hawkeye to hold the mission together.
Providing an additional layer of support, search and rescue helicopters launch in the event of an accident while jets take off and land.
On any strike mission, the snub-nosed S-3B Vikings flown by Horlacher and his squad take off first. Minutes later, the Hornets and Tomcats go up to rendezvous with the Viking's trailing fuel hose before zipping over Iraq to their targets.
A few hours later, the Vikings go up again, waiting for the jets running with near empty fuel tanks.
"Before they go out, we top them off," explains Horlacher, 30, of Jacksonville Fla. "Then, we're up there to meet them when they come back."
Their work does not go unappreciated.
"They're critical," says Lt. Cmdr. Mike Ruhsenberger, a Hornet pilot from Fort Worth, Texas. "Without these guys we can't do our missions."
Like the other pilots, Horlacher and his squad members return exhausted night after night, their faces smudged and lined with fatigue. But in a fashion typical of the hundreds of other airmen, they play down the dangers of the job.
"It does get tiresome," Horlacher says. "But if you're flying with good buddies you can pretty well smoke and joke the whole time."
But the flights require no less focus.
Fighter pilots say more of their buddies have been killed in accidents than in combat, and the same dangers lurk for those flying Vikings, Prowlers and other aircraft from flight decks less than one-tenth the length of normal airstrips.
Lt. Charlie Pugh, 23, of Beckley, W.Va., Horlacher's navigator, says several of the twin-engine Vikings have "come back on single engines" since the start of the war.
And a two-man Viking crew had to be rescued at sea on Tuesday when their aircraft's brakes gave out after landing and skidded off the deck of the USS Constellation.
For the Prowlers, who are closer to the action over Iraq, there are other dangers - anti-aircraft fire and missiles fired by the enemy. Flying all out, the planes can do 622 miles an hour, about one-third the speed of a Hornet or Tomcat, making them easier to hit.
Still, the support pilots say they're happy with the crucial roles they play.
"If we don't fly, the strikes don't go out," says Lt. j.g. Keith Litrell, 24, a Prowler pilot from Jacksonville, Fla.
Horlacher says Viking pilots take pride is making sure the fighter jets get home safe.
"They have aces and flags on their planes on how many guys they shot down," he said. "We have pictures of Hornets or Tomcats of how many guys we saved."
I have been out of the loop for quit a while, but, the EA6B used to be a tanker, the S-3 is anti-submarine, I doubt it is a tanker. Maybe someone in the loop can clarify.
I'm not in the loop, but most of what I've read recently says the S-3Bs are being used as tankers on most of the carriers. The reasons are its large fuel capacity and lack of a mission (helos are doing most of the ASW work). Since the elimination of the EF-111s from the Air Force inventory the EA-6Bs fly all electronic warfare missions for both Air Force and Navy. They are in extremely short supply.
The ultimate solution for for both roles is probably a modified F/A 18E-F. I saw a story yesterday that said the Super Hornets from the Lincoln are already being used to supplement the Vikings in the tanker role. In fact they are so successful that four Super Hornets from Nimitz are making a 4,400 mile one way flight (with refueling stops) to the Lincoln to supplement their tanker fleet.
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