Over the Beach

[dvm]

I am reading this book and it is very good. I made two deployments to Yankee station (Enterprise 1968 VA113 and the Oriskany 1970 VA155). The book brought back memories and also enlightened me to things I was unaware of at the time. I was an AQ involved in weapons control equipment maintenance on A4s and then A7s. The AQ & AX rates no longer exist and were absorbed by the AT rate in 1991. Spent my days on the flight deck or the hangar deck depending on my 12 hour shift. Didn't really think too much about the pilots and the risks they were taking as I was young, selfish and self centered. I didn't even think about my own risks working on the flight deck. If a pilot was lost or a maintenance guy was killed or injured no big deal you just moved on.I had several close calls but was unaffected except it made for great bar talk. I do remember some of the pilots were obviously scared and nervous before launch and happy as clams on their return to the ship. Young men fight our wars, most old men would say: "no way"! To Bloviate is an old mans right !

https://www.amazon.com/Over-Beach-Air-W ... +the+beach

[Lewis - A2A]

Interesting, is it pilot account of the war or a general overview more like a reference book?

thanks,
Lewis - A2A

[dvm]

It is not one person's story it is a first hand story of the pilots that were in VF 162 deployed on the Oriskany in 1966 and 1967. If you want to get an idea of what they faced and life aboard for the air wing during combat I highly recommend this read. As I said I was involved in two deployments to Yankee station and had first hand knowledge of what was going on. But I learned a lot of things that I was not aware of from the pilots point of view. We lost a lot of guys to flac, sams, small arms fire and accidents. We often overlook the courage our warriors display in combat.

"While the jet-jockey competitiveness, the undercurrent of fear, the victories and foul-ups of jet sweeps have been described many times, few such chronicles have done it so grippingly and with such a ring of accuracy. Mr. Grant explores the emotions felt not only by the men in battle but by the wives and others left behind, and the questions the war raised in their minds. To put in larger context the war's impact on individual participants, the author periodically reviews the high-level struggles over how to fight the air war. "What is most impressive is to find an analysis so clearly stated, so seemingly on track in locating the weak spots in the policies of various political and military officials....Written in a straightforward yet stylish prose, Over the Beach carries tremendous conviction."―Richard Witkin, New York Times Book Review

[Lewis - A2A]

Nice, thanks for the recommendation

What aircraft feature in the book?

cheers,
Lewis

[dvm]

VF162 in 1966 and 1967 had F8s which were getting long in the tooth. The F4 was taking over the Navy fighter squadrons. The NV sent up very few MIGS so the role of the fighter was upstaged by bombing missions. The F8s were loaded with bombs as were the F4s and they were sent out on bombing missions. The F4 could carry a heavy bomb load as compared to the F8 or any Navy combat aircraft of the time.VF162 made six deployments to Vietnam all with F8s. The dedicated Navy bombers were the A4 and later on the A7. The A6 was the Navy's all weather bomber. The carriers I was on had F4s, A4s then Aa7s and A6s as far as combat aircraft go. If you want to get a feel for the Navy's role in the air war in Vietnam this book is worth a look.

[Lewis - A2A]

Ahh neat, I love those jets awesome

[dvm]

I want to make a correction as after 50 years ones memory may be suspect. I went back and took a look at the Oriskany history for my 1970 service on this ship. The fighter complement was F8s not F4s. I was in a A7 squadron at the time. The Oriskany was considered too small for the F4 as were some of the other carriers that deployed to S/E Asia and they all had F8s I believe. My first cruise on the Enterprise the fighter compliment was the F4.

[dvm]

In the interest of accuracy, I implied that the F4 could carry the largest bomb load of the aircraft deployed with the Navy during Vietnam. Actually the Grumman A6 could carry a couple thousand pounds more than the F4 based on my research. The A6 was the Navy's all weather attack aircraft. They went out in bad weather when the other bombers were grounded. I remember some A6s were lost and only floating debris were located. Some of the structure was made of a honey comb material that would float like a cork and I recall it laying on the flight deck after it was recovered. It was assumed that they just flew into the water because of equipment or pilot error. Flying blind can kill you quick.

[Tutmeister]

Thought I'd take a punt on it. Just ordered through Amazon, should be here tomorrow.
Chris

[dvm]

Chris,

Hope you enjoy it.

Vince

[Tutmeister]

Thanks Vince, I’m sure I will. It has great reviews and write ups and is exactly the sort of book I enjoy.
Chris