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Index The Beginning of Tactical Electronic Warfare by Otis McCain The history of Tactical Electronic Warfare (TEW) in the USAF Tactical Air Command started in the Summer of 1952 during the Korean war. It consisted of two WWII TB-25J aircraft modified for ECM training of ground search radar crews. The modifications consisted of radar receivers, pulse analyzers, electronic jammers and chaff dispensers. The aircraft crews, ECM maintenance and aircraft maintenance personnel were assigned to the 5th Radar Calibration Flight, 507th Tactical Control Group and stationed at Pope AFB Ft. Bragg, NC. Spare parts and test gear for maintaining electronic equipment was almost non-existent and on one occasion, I was authorized TDY to return a faulty jammer magnetron to the factory and obtain a replacement. The chaff, was left over from WWII and much of it was in sad condition due to improper warehouse storage resulting in numerous dispensing malfunctions and chaff packages failing to open. The flight crews consisted
of two pilots and three ECM officers, specifically: On 30 Oct 1952, this group (including maintenance support personnel) received orders transferring the effort to the 363rd Tac Recon Wg, Shaw AFB, SC. Soon after arrival, the misfit crew members and aircraft were assigned to the 16th Tac Recon Sq, a photo reconnaissance unit which was flying Douglas RB-26C aircraft. Initially, the 16th TRS didn't want us, did not have support for the aircraft and didn't know what to do with us since our capability was not compatible with theirs. For this reason, these personnel had a lot of free time and the aircraft remained grounded until the early part of 1953. To my knowledge, no other aircraft in the USAF tactical inventory at that time possessed any ECM or electronic warfare capability. This alone helps to explain at least in part the high USAF tactical aircraft & crew losses during the Korean war and the early part of the Vietnam conflict. During 1953,
the ECM cell grew with the addition of additional aircraft and personnel and on
12 Nov 1953, the 363rd Tac Recon Wing published orders transferring personnel
to the newly re-activated 9th TRS. A partial list of those officers which were
on Special Orders # 175 par. 16, 17 & 18 follows: How the 9th Tactical Reconnaisance Squadron (TRS) Began by Bill Starnes The 9th TRSq (E&W) began in January 1954 using the ECM Cell (under Captain Sid Crews) from the 16th TRSq(photo). We first tactical ECM types belonged to the 16th until the 9th was activated. The 16th TRSq (photo) had Bill Allen as a pilot along with H Lobdell flying the photo RB-26B machines. I can't remember whether Bill Allen was in that ECM Cell or not, but I was standing over his shoulder in the TB-25J jamming machine when he checked out in the bird. His first landing in the TB-25J was a "grease job" like all the rest of his landings. Our 16th ECM Cell had pilots: Sid Crews, Pete Osterhouse, Dad Farley, Rex Deaton, Paul Henkle; and ECM types: Bob Assanakis (Keesler classmate of mine), me and the rest of the original TAC ECM bunch (George Geisler and four or five others) before I arrived. You three along with Bob Williams and others arrived after the 9th was activated. I can't remember when Jerry Sensabaugh got there but it was after Bob Assanakis and me. I think that in late 1953 Charles A. Callahan was assigned to the 363rd TRWg or 363 TRGp temporarily until the 9th TRSq (E&W) activated and he was assigned as the first Squadron Commander. I do know that before we activated he assigned me the additional duty as "Tech Supply Officer" to make up 60+ tool boxes for squadron maintence and to set-up the tech supply tool crib including spare aircraft parts. I remember the assignment of this "additional duty" well. It went like this, after I saluted... Colonel Callahan said "2nd Lt Starnes I noted in your 201 file that you have a college degree in accounting?" I replied "yes sir". He said "have you noticed that stack of boxes in the northwest corner of the TB-25J, TB-26J and B-26B hanger the ECM Cell is using?" I said "yes sir." He said "there are about 16, 000 tools and two hundred tool boxes in that pile -- ALL RECOVERABLE OR ACCOUNTABLE AND YOU NOW OWN THEM!!!!." I replied "yes sir". Then, he said "here is the Tech Order list of how many of what type tools go in which specific maintenance man tool boxes and I want you to go down there and COUNT those tools and NOT LOSE ONE OF THEM OR YOU WILL PAY FOR THEM AFTER A REPORT OF SURVEY IF YOU ARE FOUND NEGLIGENT!!!!" September of 1953, there were three B-26Bs equipped with ECM operator back- to-back with the Navigator. I think that these were the aircraft scheduled for Korea, but the war ended before they were so configured. Consequently, the 9th TRS got them at Shaw, AFB, SC to start Tactical ECM. As an afternote, the 1953-54 accounting system that I set up with signed tool inventory lists signed by each enlisted man that had a tool box and the shadow/compartment Tool Crib tool inventory system could be 100% inventoried in less than thirty minutes at anytime (16,000 tools). Plus I never lost a tool. All kinds of big shots from USAF Supply came to see this so called "marvel of inventory control" and the inventory performed by my many time busted WWII Congressional Medal of Honor guy in the 9th TRSq(E&W) maintenance section that stayed drunk all the time -- mostly on after shave lotion and such. Incidently, I got him up to two stripes and Callahan promoted me to 1st Lt a month early. The early days of tactical ECM were a great indoctrination into the Air Force for us "Direct Commissioned from Civilian" types. I would not have missed it for the world. The B-26B was a hard-nosed bomber version of the Douglas B-26 (Called the A-20 in WWII, because the Martin aircraft had the B-26 nomenclature). B-26Bs had 4 or 6 cannons in the hard nose and cannons or something under each wing. The waist gunner helped staff the ground radar site on practice homing missions. The "ECM Guy" used an APR-54, ALA-5 and an APA-17B for homing in on the radars in the S-Band. The ECM guys with me were John Rispoli, Vince Strianese, Bob Assanakis, and pilots Rex Deaton and Paul Henkel flew lots of sorties in that machine from Shaw in the ECM Cell of the 16th TRS (PhotoRecom) until we formed the 9th TRS (Electronics and Weather Recon) which was the Tactical Air Command's (TAC) first ECM squadron in January of 1954. Soon, the 11th TRS (E&W) was activated in the 67th TRW at Yakota AB, Japan, and the 41st TRS (E&W) started in the 10th TRW at Spangdahlem, Germany. These units were equipped with some RB-26Cs, WT-33D (Weather Recon) aircraft. We sent one hard-nosed B-26B (ECM hunter killer) to the 41st TRS from the 9th TRS in late '54. (I think that Rex Deaton ferried it over from Shaw to Spang). It was a great machine and easy to trim out. I talked to a pilot in May, 2000 at the 42nd TRS reunion in Saint Petersburg, FL and he said the B-26B tail #54-35186 was a dream to fly in Europe as well. The three B-26B "Hunter Killers" assigned to the States after Korea were 54-35207, 54-35208 and 54-35186. I had an exact model of 207 made when I was stationed in Japan in 1965, since it was my favorite of the three. I think all three were retired in 1955 or 1956 when we got the RB-66Cs. Bob Williams would know more about that than me since he was the 9th TRS (E&W) Commander at Shaw for the transition from seven RB-26Cs, two TB-25Js, several WT-33Ds, three B-26Bs (hunter killers), and three B-26J soft-nose jammers with the equipment in the waist, where us ECM types were supposed tooperate the guns as well. FYI: The first flight of the B-66 aircraft was RB-66A (S/N 52-2828) in 1954 Submitted by Clifford A. (Polly) Parrott |
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