MC-130P dedicated in ceremony remembering Son Tay Raid

Photo By Tech. Sgt. Shelby Kay-Fantozzi | U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Nathan Scopac, 9th Special Operations Squadron commander, and Col. Benjamin Maitre, 27th Special Operations Wing commander, reveal a plaque celebrating MC-130P Combat Shadow Lime 02 in a ceremony Sept. 3, 2015, at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M. The aircraft, long an asset of the 9th SOS, was dedicated in a ceremony remembering its role in the Son Tay Raid, an attempt to rescue U.S. Prisoners of War from a camp in Vietnam in 1970.  

CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, NM, UNITED STATES

09.03.2015

Story by Airman 1st Class Shelby Kay-Fantozzi 

27th Special Operations Wing

CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. - The cover of darkness. Air Force, Army and Navy coordination. A daring rescue requiring flexibility, precision, and tactical excellence. With news and entertainment depictions of special operations missions saturating our senses, it may be easy to forget that at some point in history, service members had to attempt these operations for the first time.

In the presence of AFSOC and community leadership, 27th Special Operations Wing commander Col. Ben Maitre dedicated the MC-130P “Lime 02” static display Sept. 3. During the ceremony, Maitre reminded attendees of the storied past of Air Force Special Operations, particularly their critical role in a Prisoner of War rescue mission that took place on Nov. 21, 1970.

On that night, Lime 02 played an essential part in the Son Tay Raid, an attempt to recover dozens of American POWs from a camp within 25 miles of Hanoi and five miles from12,000 North Vietnamese troops.

“As one of the most complex missions of the Vietnam War, the Son Tay Raid laid the groundwork for joint operations by serving as a model of organization and adaptive execution,” Maitre said in a speech celebrating the aircraft. “This MC-130P and that mission reflect not only the proud history of this aircraft, but of the Air Commandos that came before us and the responsibilities we shoulder on their behalf today.”

Maitre elaborated on Lime 02’s mission during the raid, a silent and blacked-out aerial refueling that took place over the jungles and mountain passes of Southeast Asia.

“After joining the helicopters in flight, the Lime element refueled the five HH-53s and one HH-3 helicopter in total radio silence,” Maitre said. “According to an aircrew account, ‘the HH-3 stayed close behind our left wing in order to maintain the speed required by the rest of formation.’”

“That simple description is generally akin to drafting behind a semi-truck on a highway, except that the semi is instead driving on a single-lane dirt road in the mountains, at night, and with its lights off,” Maitre continued.

Though the assault force arrived at Son Tay only to find no prisoners there, Maitre cited the mission as a strategic success that improved the lives of American prisoners in Vietnam, as well as the planning and execution of future missions — including our modern Air Force special operations mission.

“In this story of over a thousand flight-hours of rehearsals even before the actual mission, mostly at night with dissimilar aircraft in low-level formation while blacked out, we find a lesson that this aircraft’s mission 45 years ago holds for us today,” Maitre said. “To put it simply, practice does make perfect, and when it comes to the no-fail missions we are tasked to execute, ‘perfect’ is not optional.”

Maitre closed his remarks by cementing the connection between Lime 02’s long history and today’s Air Commandos.

“This aircraft and the Airmen who flew and maintained it did so for almost 50 years,” said Maitre. “As Air Commandos, we would do well to remember the example of this aircraft and of our forebears — we owe it to them, to ourselves and to our nation.”

• Date Taken: 09.03.2015
• Date Posted: 09.14.2015 16:58
• Story ID: 176011
• Location: CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, NM, US