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From: mpm@cbnews.att.com (Michael P Millar)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: F-14 in VietNam
Message-ID: <1991Jan14.012840.8561@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 14 Jan 91 01:28:40 GMT
References: <1991Jan12.013542.26088@cbnews.att.com>
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
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From: mpm@cbnews.att.com (Michael P Millar)
>From article <1991Jan12.013542.26088@cbnews.att.com>, by tighe@hydra.convex.com (Mike Tighe):
>  
> The only VietNam era F-14 missions I know of were CAP missions. The first
> was for the evacuation of Saigon in April of 1975, and the other was for
> the Mayaguez rescue in May of 1975. As far as I know, they did not engage
> any enemy aircraft.
  
I was stationed in Hawaii in 1975 with a Navy Patrol Squadron and 
went down to Pearl to see the Big "E" pull in after the Frequent Wind
operation.  I had a very good buddy who was in VF-1 on this first deployment
of the Tomcats.  I recall asking him if they had flown missions 
while on station off the coast of Vietnam. He said there were still 
so many bugs in the aircraft that very few left the deck during that
time.  I also think they were also afraid of losing any at that stage of 
the war.  His and My opinion was that having the Tomcats there was really
a show of force that if necessary could be put to use.  But what did we
know being your basic Navy Petty Officers?   While I suppose technically
you could call the F-14 a Vietnam-era aircraft, I don't believe there is
the remotest chance anybody flew it in combat during that time.

On another F-14 topic, it is not in "Flight of the Intruder".  I saw the 
film at a sneak preview in Columbus Ohio on 10 Jan.91 and if the aircraft
was in it then it was flown at night with no lights on!  I will not 
spoil the film for you but I will say this,  I thought it a better
picture than TOPGUN but still not all it could of been.  The character
portrayal was pretty weak.  Willem Defoe was pretty good as "Cole, Virgil Cole"
i