From: skunk-works-digest-owner@pmihwy.com To: skunk-works-digest@pmihwy.com Subject: Skunk Works Digest V6 #35 Reply-To: skunk-works-digest@pmihwy.com Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@pmihwy.com Precedence: Skunk Works Digest Wednesday, 19 March 1997 Volume 06 : Number 035 In this issue: Re: John Boyd reference needed Cobra or Decele Maneuver U-2R Retires from active servive. Was Credible Sport Black??? Re: Arizona "UFO" Col. John Boyd EAGLE CLAW by Mason (long) Re: Arizona "UFO" [Fwd: a link to 'Aurora' North Sea sighting] Re: John Boyd reference needed See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the skunk-works or skunk-works-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Terry Colvin" Date: Wed, 19 Mar 97 10:53:58 GMT Subject: Re: John Boyd reference needed Bill Riddle wrote: > > Forwarded from Skunkworks ... I thought someone on Mahan (perhaps > USNA?) might be able to help this gentleman. > Subject: John.Boyd reference needed -repost > Author: Terry Colvin at FHU2 > Can anyone assist me in finding references to a book or monograph on air > combat and/or maneuver warfare by Col.John Boyd. Col. Boyd, as many > readers will know, was the developer of the notion of the OODA Loop and > the principle of operating inside of the adversary's decision and > response cycle. Is the (book?) in question from, and the author a Col. in the, US Army? There is a book THE AIR CAMPAIGN, which suggests "centers of gravity" and "operating inside the enemy's decision cycle" concepts for Air Warfare, but its author is Col. John Warden III, US Air Force. I suspect that is the possible source of any confusion as to book, with somewhat similar subject and same rank and first name. - -Brooks A Rowlett Tom Robison wrote: To answer the above, no. I think the John Boyd that the original poster was referring to was a Colonel in the USAF, retired in 1975, died this past week at age 70. I have studied Air Force history extensively, and I'm ashamed to admit I've never heard of the man. He must've been something special, however. This week's U.S. News and World Report (March 24, "One Week - A priceless original" by James Fallows) has a full page obituary of him. Tom Robison Ossian, Indiana tcrobi@mindspring.com ------------------------------ From: "Terry Colvin" Date: Wed, 19 Mar 97 11:19:26 GMT Subject: Cobra or Decele Maneuver Site below has impressive photo stills and videos: http://aeroweb.lucia.it/~agretch/RAFAQ/cobra.html ------------------------------ From: patrick@e-z.net Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 10:43:28 -0800 Subject: U-2R Retires from active servive. From Air Force News Service was this piece yesterday: > 970315. U-2R Dragonlady flies last sortie > by Senior Airman Tracey DuBord > 9th Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs > > BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) -- After 30 years of > service, the R-model U-2 reconnaissance aircraft flew its last > operational sortie from Istres Air Base, France. > > Maj. Domenick Eanniello, 99th Reconnaissance Squadron, flew > the flight in support of Operation Deliberate Guard Feb. 21. This > was the last of more than 30,000 operational missions flown by the > R-model Dragonlady. > > "This was a major milestone in aviation history," said Brig. Gen. > Robert Behler, 9th Reconnaissance Wing commander. "The U-2 > program in total has been an American aviation success story from > its genesis in 1956." > > "It was pretty momentous. The airplane has served the Air Force > and the nation extremely well with 30 years of faithful service," > said Eanniello. > > Beale's four overseas detachments are now operating the U-2S. > The U-2S has an upgraded engine which is lighter and more fuel > efficient allowing the aircraft to fly higher and farther. > > All remaining R-model aircraft have returned to Beale and will be > upgraded to S-models within the next two years. In the meantime, > the aircraft will be used for training purposes. (Courtesy of ACC > News Service) patrick cullumber patrick@e-z.net ------------------------------ From: gregd@cambertx.com (Greg Fieser) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 97 13:54:53 PST Subject: Was Credible Sport Black??? The recent 'revelation' of the Credible Sport C-130 variant seemed to imply that the effort was just now surfacing after (17+?) years of being suppressed as a "black" program. Is this in fact the case? Or is it the release of video that has caused the recent stir? I read about, but have not yet seen, the photos in WAPJ#7 (circa 1991). Here is why I am asking: after reading Andreas' excellent EAGLE CLAW post, I was looking through one of my C-130 books and found the following in the book "Lockheed Hercules" by Francis K. Mason (Patrick Stephens Limited, publisher; ISBN 0-85059-698-X). Please note that the first printing (which I am reading) was done in 1984! (Note - all run-on sentences courtesy of F.K.Mason :) Three alternative plans were studied, including one involving a flight of specially modified STOL C-130s equipped with downward- firing rockets direct to a stadium in Teheran where the aircraft would land and, following an assault by Delta forces covered by AC-130 gunships, take on board the hostages who would then be flown to Manzariyeh for airlifting out of Iran by a pair of Lockheed C-141 Starlifters. This plan was discarded owing to the obvious vulnerability of the C-130s from SAMs whose crews would have been fully alerted. (Three Hercules, C-130Hs 74-1683, 74-1686 and 74-2065, were eventually fitted with the STOL rockets, but '83 crashed later in 1980 during a landing demonstration when the computer accidentally fired the rockets too soon). The second plan involved flying helicopters from USS Nimitz to Desert One where they would refuel from large fuel blivets air- dropped by Hercules; they would then fly to Teheran where, with covert assistance from pre-positioned CIA and other personnel, assault parties of Delta and a Joint Task Force would secure the hostages' release for airlifting out as in the previous plan. This idea survived for some time, but during the first night rehearsal in the States, all but two of the huge blivets burst when their parachutes failed. When they were eventually dropped successfully they were found to be unmanageable on the ground, and to have to hand-pump fuel to the helicopters too time consuming. The final operation plan - Operation 'Eagle Claw' - ......... The text goes on to recount the Desert One incident at great length, with all the names, dates, events and serial numbers matching those already posted. Note the three 'Credible Sport' serial numbers in the above text match those in Tom Robison's post earlier this month, lending credibility to the text (or to Tom :o). The name 'Credible Sport' is not mentioned anywhere in the book. Remember, this is from a book first printed in 1984, and presumably researched and written one or two (or more) years prior to publication. Sooooo, when was 'Credible Sport' really 'declassified'? %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Greg Fieser 3/19/97 gregd@cambertx.com 1:54:53 PM (aka habu@why.net) %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ------------------------------ From: "Lee Watters" Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 13:48:25 -0800 Subject: Re: Arizona "UFO" > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > From: Kathryn & Andreas Gehrs-Pahl > Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 21:59:41 -0500 (EST) > Subject: For Black Triangle/Silent Vulcan fans... > > Anybody saw that (live or on tv)? > > - -- Andreas > Saw the footage. Pretty interesting. It looked the lights ringing half of a baseball stadium -- like Chavez Ravine on a balmy summer night. The story showed the surrounding area -- nothing there that would be an obvious source. Also didn't appear to be any clouds that would reflect spotlights. Who knows... Lee ------------------------------ From: Ron and Louise Crawford Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 18:22:22 +0000 Subject: Col. John Boyd Yes, the late and very special Col. John Boyd was, in fact, the colonel to whom Tom Robison refers. Col Boyd's work originated in studies of air-to-air combat, instigated by the change in friendly vs adversary loss ratios from WWII into Korea and then Vietnam. Col Boyd's findings became the framework underlying Top Gun and most other modern air combat curricula. He is popularly most remembered for his OODA Loop or Decision Cycling formulation (to the extent that some refer to it as 'Boyd Cycling'). That is, getting and retaining the upper hand by Observing (detecting), Orienting (assessing), Deciding, and Acting more rapidly than the adversary. His even more impressive thinking, IMHO, occurred in his assessments of the differential effects of continued decision cycling on those who inflict it versus units upon whom it is practiced. Col Boyd contributed no less in applying his thoughts about air combat to warfighting in general. If one could single out one person who formulated, and as important sold, maneuver warfare as a doctrine, that would have to be Col Boyd. An excellent summary of Col Boyd's work and its impacts can be found in LtCol HT Hayden's introduction to the Greenhill Books edition of the USMC Warfighting manual FMFM-1, entitled 'Warfighting: Maneuver Warfare in the US Marine Corps (1995). Particularly pp 19-20. Robert Leonhard's 'Art of Maneuver' (Presidio, 1991) and William Lind's 'Maneuver Warfare Handbook' (Westview, 1984) give other appreciations. Col Boyd modestly attributed the germ of his ideas to Ardant duPicq, SLA Marshall and other researchers. I equate that with Kelly Johnson crediting Leonardo DaVinci for his design inspirations. The title for Col Boyd's book or monograph mentioned in passing in USNI Proceedings 1995 (no reference given- Col Boyd was mentioned as a conference speaker) is 'A Discourse on Winning and Losing'. A course handout from the USMC Command and Staff College carries the same title. The book may have been privately printed, as there is no copyright or other listing under that author or title going back to the mid-1980's. Regardless, we have lost another giant. Ron ------------------------------ From: gregd@cambertx.com (Greg Fieser) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 97 17:06:59 PST Subject: EAGLE CLAW by Mason (long) Due to the assumed limited availability of the aforementioned book (Lockheed Hercules by F.K.Mason) I have transcribed Mason's version of EAGLE CLAW, which may include information (including sernos?) not previously posted. Mason's book is an excellent account of the development and history of all C-130 variants (civilian and military, including all foreign sales) through the early 1980s. Highly recommended. Again, all run-on sentences (and British spellings) courtesy of F.K.Mason, while all typos are mine :) The final operation plan - Operation 'Eagle Claw' - involved staging three MC-130 command and communication transport aircraft (including an MC-130E-Y, 64-0565, and an MC-130E-C, 64-0572, of the 8th Special Operations Squadron) together with three EC-130Hs equipped as tankers with wing probes (62-1809, 62-1818 and 62-1857 of the 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron) to Masirah Island; all these aircraft were upgraded to include T56A-15 engines. Meanwhile USS Nimitz would sail into the Gulf of Oman with eight RH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters of Navy Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron HM-16 embarked from USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63), as the C-141 Starlifters and a C-9 Nightingale transport carrying a hospital and burns unit deployed to Eqypt. The six Hercules, carrying some 120 Joint Task Force and Delta Force specialist assault personnel, under the command of Colonel Charlie Beckwith aboard the MC-130Es, and with large fuel containers in the EC-130Hs, would fly to Desert One, jamming Iranian radar en route if necessary and arriving there in darkness. The helicopters would fly the 900 miles from the Nimitz to Desert One, (timed to arrive 30 min after the Hercules) position themselves near the tankers, refuel and then fly the assault force to the Hide Site at Garmsar, where they would lie-up during daylight under camouflage netting. On the second night Delta Force would then be taken into Teheran in Mercedes coaches, already assembled and concealed in Iran for the purpose, for the final rescue attempt. The helicopters would then lift the 53 hostages and the assault force out of the Embassy grounds, or the neighbouring stadium, to the airfield at Manzariyeh, which would by then have been secured by a force of US Rangers. The final act of preparation would be to discover whether the desert floor at Desert One would be adequate to support the weight of heavily-laden Hercules without their sinking too deep and being unable to take-off for the return to Masirah. Towards the end of March 1980 a twin-engine STOL aircraft with three crew members aboard was secretly flown to the proposed Desert One site where soil and rock samples were gathered and runway lights (which could be switched on by the approaching Hercules pilots) laid. This group confirmed that the site was adequate for use by the C-130s. One extra provision was added to the plan: two AC-130Hs (plus two back-up aircraft) were to be deployed to Iran, to keep station over the final rescue assault and prevent any interference by Iranian Soviet-made ZSU-23-4 AFVs which mounted four 23-mm guns with target-acquisition and tracking radar. They were to protect the Embassy compound and stadium while the helicopters were awaited, and then, using their 105-mm howitzers and 40-mm Bofors guns, utterly destroy the Embassy to prevent any subsequent intelligence gathering by the Iranians. It was not discovered until a late stage that the Navy helicopter pilots of HM-16 were unable to cope with the difficult flying conditions likely to be encountered over Iran in the darkness, so Marine Corps assault pilots, under Colonel Edward Seiffert USMC, were introduced into the training programme and then transferred to the Indian Ocean. On April 21st the C-141s landed at Wadi Kena with the men of Delta Force and two days later carried on to Masirah Island, where the C-130s had arrived from Hurlburt Field, Florida, (flown by the 8th SOS), having staged through Europe and picked up a special assault party in Germany. At 18:00 hours on the 24th the first MC-130 took off from Masirah for Desert One, carrying the Delta Command element and part of the assault force, together with a jeep. motor cycles and a satellite communications module. Four hours later the Hercules touched down safely at its destination, soon followed by the other five aircraft. Almost immediately, as the troops were disembarking to await the arrival of the helicopters, an Iranian bus with 45 civilians stumbled into the site; it was quickly stopped and its passengers assembled under guard nearby. It was now that matters started to go seriously wrong. The planned time of the helicopters' arrival came and went, and all the time the engines of the Hercules had to be kept running. With dawn at Teheran at 05:30 and the time necessary to refuel the Sea Stallions, it soon became all too obvious that the helicopters could not reach the Hide Site until after daylight. Eventually the first two Sea Stallions arrived - 90 min late and from different directions, followed by four more. It soon transpired that they encountered severe sand storms; one had had to land in the desert with a rotor blade malfunction (its crew being picked up by another helicopter), and another had turned back with instrument failure. Contingency planning had, however, allowed for the operation to go ahead with a minimum of six RH-53Ds, so their Marine pilots quickly positioned themselves near the Hercules tankers and began the long job of refuelling in the darkness. Then one of the Marine pilots reported his aircraft to be unserviceable with a major hydraulic fault. Faced with an agonising decision whether to recommend going ahead with only five helicopters, and being forced to leave behind 20 vital members of the assault force, Colonel Beckwith also had to consider the likelyhood of the loss on a further helicopter later on, which would have left insufficient capacity to recover the hostages and the assault force. Just as the order was being given to disembark from the Sea Stallions and return to C-130s, one of the helicopters, flown by Major James Schaefer USMC, which was moving away from its tanker amidst a great swirling cloud of dust and sand, seemed to sink backwards and struck the port side of the EC-130H, 62-1809, of Major Richard Bakke. At once there was a colossal explosion as the fuel erupted in a great fireball and Redeye missiles started discharging in the intense heat. The operation was finally ruined. Now faced with immediate withdrawal, Delta Force was rapidly embarked, together with the Marine helicopter pilots, in the C-130s. It was intended to lay on an air strike to destroy the remaining helicopters, but in fact this was never carried out. The Iranian bus passengers were left huddled in the desert. Miraculously Major Schaefer had escaped with his life, although suffering from severe burns; he, as well as the bodies of five airmen and three Marines, were brought back to Masirah. The MC-130E-Y in which Colonel Beckwith was flying almost crashed on take-off from Desert One; it struck a high sand ridge just as it was becoming airborne and reared up steeply, only being saved by the pilot easing the nose down and slamming open the throttles; the 5g load however, severely overstressed the C-130's structure. As news of the mission abort was flashed to those waiting at the Hide Site, the C-141 medevac aircraft and the C-9 with its burns unit now flew to Masirah to meet the returning assault force. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Greg Fieser 3/19/97 gregd@cambertx.com 5:06:59 PM (aka habu@why.net) %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ------------------------------ From: Kathryn & Andreas Gehrs-Pahl Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 18:37:04 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Arizona "UFO" Here is some additional material, regarding the "Black Triangle" sighting, from Steve Douglass' Intercepts Newsletter: >>MASS SIGHTINGS IN ARIZONA >> from NACOMM - http://www.nacomm.org/ >> source Tom King - xalium@netwrx.net >>Orange globes or large balls of light >>have been videotaped and reported across Arizona since last Monday. At >>least 3 videos were taken last night between 8:00 to 10:00 pm and one >>shown on TV had 6 lined up in a row. Reports have been fielded by one >>airline pilot but did not show up on radar. News report 1000s of >>witnesses. It is already being called the most documented mass sighting >>in the last 10 years. >>Hovering very slow and moving in a line, Tom King of Phoenix also >>captured footage [estimate on size of 30 feet minimum, flickering orange >>lights and moving in formation, low altitude-1000 feet and 2 to 4 miles >>distance, no visible structure]. At least 1 news station, Tom and >>numerous other people are doing a stakeout 4 miles south of Phoenix. The >>objects were reported last night in Phoenix, Tucson, Prescott and other >>locations. Objects were also witnessed by Bill Hamilton. Extensive media >>and press coverage is ongoing. Steven Greer is also in Phoenix. This >>follows a trend of a tremendous escalation of orange globes worldwide. >Editor's Note: I have seen the video of the orange lights and although I >am no expert and wasn't there they looked like atmospheric reflections >(mirages) of sodium vapor street lamps. >-Steve - -- Andreas - --- --- Andreas & Kathryn Gehrs-Pahl E-Mail: schnars@ais.org 313 West Court St. #305 or: gpahl@raptor.csc.flint.umich.edu Flint, MI 48502-1239 Tel: (810) 238-8469 WWW URL: http://www.umcc.umich.edu/~schnars/ - --- --- ------------------------------ From: "Michael J. Poirier" Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 19:03:54 -0800 Subject: [Fwd: a link to 'Aurora' North Sea sighting] Received: from lists1.best.com by bbs.cruzio.com id aa14846; 18 Mar 97 22:47 PST Received: (from daemon@localhost) by lists1.best.com (8.8.5/8.7.3) id MAA16960 for area51-errors@lists.best.com; Tue, 18 Mar 1997 12:55:05 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: <199703182055.MAA16960@lists1.best.com> From: James R Graham Subject: AREA 51: a link to 'Aurora' North Sea sighting Date: Tue, 18 Mar 1997 14:14:16 -0500 (EST) BestServHost: lists.best.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: area51-errors@lists.best.com Errors-To: area51-errors@lists.best.com To: area51@lists.best.com For those of you interested, here is a link to a post from the horse's mouth about the North Sea sighting of a triangular craft: http://www.ufomind.com/ufo/updates/1997/mar/m18-008.shtml james .- ------------------------------ From: habu@why.net Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 21:43:28 -0800 Subject: Re: John Boyd reference needed > Can anyone assist me in finding references to a book or monograph on > air combat and/or maneuver warfare by Col.John Boyd. Col. Boyd, as > many readers will know, was the developer of the notion of the OODA Loop > and the principle of operating inside of the adversary's decision and > response cycle. > I have found references to a Major John Boyd, USAF pilot, quoted as developing OODA while at Nellis in the late '50s. The same John Boyd was an instrumental part of the legendary "Fighter Mafia" during the formative years of the F-X vs. LWF (F-15 vs. F-16) battle. The best reference I have is Jay Miller's 'Aerograph' on the F-16 program - now long out of print. Greg Fieser ------------------------------ End of Skunk Works Digest V6 #35 ******************************** To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe skunk-works-digest in the body of a message to "majordomo@pmihwy.com". 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