Talk:346th Tactical Airlift Squadron

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 * "===1968-1970 ===

In early February 1968, the 346th began a 3-month rotation to RAF Mildenhall, UK to fly NATO support that included flights in the three Berlin Corridors, which were still active. In early March, the squadron was informed that it would move directly from Mildenhall to Clark AB, Philippines to commence combat operations within South Vietnam. This move was in response to the Tet Offensive that had begun on 31 January. The other C-130 squadron at Mildenhall was extended from a 3-month to a 6-month rotation. A raucous party at the Officers Club followed these announcements, broken up in the early morning hours by the Air Police. The move to Clark took the squadron about ⅔ of the way around the world. One path taken was 11.3 hours flying time, Mildenhall to Loring; 7.75 hours, Loring to Dyess, where two nights were spent to see wives and do laundry, or vice versa; 13.8 hours, Dyess to MacClellan to Hickam; 12.3 hours (crossing the date line), Hickam to Wake to Guam; 5.5 hours, Guam to Clark.

At Clark AFB, the squadron was on loan to the 463d Tactical Airlift Wing (PACAF). Within Vietnam, the squadron operated on PACAF temporary duty orders (TDY) at of Cam Ranh Bay AB. At Cam Ranh, the squadron was under the control of the 483d Tactical Airlift Wing (PACAF) and the 834th Air Division based at Tan Son Nhut AB. The 834th supplied daily fragmentary orders that defined each aircraft/aircrew's mission, and provided high-frequency (HF) radio support to mission aircraft as "Saigon Tea," aka "Mother." At Cam Ranh, many of the crews were housed on RMK-BRJ Hill. It was noisy, being located under the downwind portion of the traffic pattern and having only screens in the windows, and of course it was not air-conditioned.

The 346th returned to Dyess in May 1968. In December, the squadron deployed to PACAF again, this time at Tachikawa AB. There, the squadron was probably under the control of the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing at Naha AB, Okinawa as part of the 313th Air Division. Again, the squadron worked out of Cam Ranh Bay while in country. In December, the new C-130 crew quarters, called Herky Hill, opened on the west side of the Cam Ranh runways, a long bus ride away from ops—there was no hot water at first, but it had single rooms and air conditioning. In late January, the squadron learned that the rotation at Tachi was to be cut short so that the squadron could prepare for a unit move from Dyess AFB to CCK AB in Taiwan. In other words, the squadron was being transferred out of Tactical Air Command (TAC) and into Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). The squadron supported exercises such as Boldshot/Brimfire and Focus Retina from Dyess for a few months. In and around May, the whole squadron, including all aircrews, aircraft, squadron maintenance personnel, and maintenance equipment moved to CCK. During the remainder of 1969, the squadron again worked out of Cam Ranh Bay while in country. In about January 1970 the C-130 B-model operations at Tan Son Nhut AB switched bases with the E-model operations at Cam Ranh Bay. Thus, the 346th worked out of Tan Son Nhut AB in 1970 while in country."

The source cited in the header appears to indicate this addition was based on the personal experience of a pilot assigned to the squadron. I'm moving it here so that if a WP:RS is added, it can be returned to the article. --Lineagegeek (talk) 15:03, 14 June 2014 (UTC)