RIP Jeff Ethell gone so many years now. Still a legend in these aviation programs from the 90s. Learned so much from him in all these programs. Taken too soon doing what he loved.
Holy crap, me too! lol Was some kind of an award for finding a mistake in the TO for the canopy bottle. There wasn't one for the rear bottle so I wrote one at the suggestion of my supervisor. They wanted me to go to some kind of fancy dinner. I said can I fly instead? And they let me! BEST experience of my life.
I spent 2 years with the 3rd SPS guarding them at Clark AB Philippines. I was posted as Close Boundary Sentry during the ORI in 1988, and a maintenance troop decided to push the throttle forward as I was walking behind one, and it got real warm real quick, inspite of wearing full MOPP IV gear in 90*+ temperatures. Did you know that you CAN smell burned jet fuel through an M-17 gas mask.
I was stationed there then. Till the end. What did they do with the base? I heard it was going to be a college or something with Fed X or along those lines. I moved back to Ohio.
@@johnclark333 Hello John. Great video. Thank you. I've always wondered though why the F-4 was used when the F-18 Growlers were around. I'm know the Growlers were used. I figure the F-4 missions were different Growlers in some respects, but it's not that easy to tell. From a distance of course.
@@roderickcampbell2105 this was well before the growlers time. The Navy and Marines used the Prowler. there was plenty of work to go around for everyone. The F-4G was more about shooting than being a Jamming platform
One of the most beautiful planes ever to fly. Stand under it landing as a child...you don't forget. Big. Black. Nasty. Scary. Those wings. What a plane. What a plane.
I remember one summer day back in ´96 riding my bike home from school: The sounds from our (RDAF) F-16 i knew very well, but that day a new howling screaching sound came alive behind the forest, and then woosh, two Luftwaffe F-4 Phantoms came right over me with two RDAF F-16 right behind them. Whenever im at that location or near it, i always remember that very moment, even 24 years later. Those Phantoms sounds and size left a permanent memory, one i always look back at with joy.
@@sevenrats as odd as it sounds, you are right. It was a big ugly pig. It wasn't an F-15, which by comparison looks like a Botticelli. But, the F-4 was just cool.
I went to Aircraft Maintenance School at George AFB. I learned on F-4G and F-4E models. Was A Assit. Crew Chief on a F-4D. 184th TFG. 66-7605 was my Bird. Loved Running Them On The Trim Pad.
...1979...sheet metal, machine shop, welding and corrosion control were under the same roof...flight line truck with the black cat emblem was at the paint shop... we (nightshift structural airframe repair technicians) stole that truck and joy rode through the base having a good time... we should have stayed out of base housing though...that was our downfall ...we think the crew chief saw us... hey that’s my truck...💪🤣👍🇺🇸
Holy cow, I was 35th AMS ( Avionics Maintenance Squadron) at George AFB from July 1974 till I got out June 15th, 1979!!! Those are our birds. I worked all F-4 models plus the F-105 and a few other birds that showed up at times. This brings back memories. 👍👍👍
I remember deploying to Spain during Operation Desert Shield, Spending a week at Marron AB, and coming home. My unit returned to base in Arkansas, and my next shift back I had orders to Turkey. I spent Desert Shield & Desert Storm securing an empty Alert Aircraft Parking Area, because ALL of our B-52s & KC-135s were deployed to the war.
...there was a crooked bird, it had a crooked nose, it had crooked wings and it had a crooked tail... Love that GA or WW on those babies. Used to convert E models to G’s at Dynalectron on George AFB Victorville, CA. New wings, smokeless engines, new electronics, new glass cockpit, beefed up the stabs, new windscreens, fittings for the centerline fuel tank, the list goes on...💪😎👍🇺🇸
The MOD wasn't done at George AFB, they were converted at Depot at Hill AFB. I was at George when my squadron, 561st TFS, got the LAST G model from Depot ; 69-0274. I arrived at George in late 1978 and crewed F-4E 69-0245. About a year later it went to Hill for MOD and returned to me as a "G" model. I was her Crew Chief until June 1982 when I PCS'd to Carswell AFB and crossed to crewing B-52D and H. Both were awesome aircraft, but the Phantom will always be my favorite.
I was 35th AMS (Avionics Maintenance Squadron) on all versions of the F-4 and the F-105 from July 1974 to June 1979! This brings back such memories. There’s NO sound like the B-52, or the F-4!
My Father flew B-66 Destroyers in Veit Nam and became a "Wild Weasel" later flying F-4's from 73' - 77' outa George AFB. Bad-Ass birds. Loud and fast. Sonic booms were a daily occurrence growing up on air force bases. Not anymore- Still hear em' at Nellis AFB once in a while, but not hardly ever at Edwards AFB which is were you'd expect to hear it more often. It took me a long time to learn to sleep again after he retired and we moved away from all the noise. Music to my ears.
Cool, I was stationed at .George AFB from 86 to 92 crew chief on F4E&G Weasels and was at Nellis a lot for Red Flag exercises and other deployments including the Gulf!
@@nicholasklangos9704 Wow! I bet you got great memories and got some great stories as well. The Phantom is probably my favorite of all jet fighters/ bombers. Shame to see em used as drones for target practice.
@@TheCleansingx Very few are in the desert now. The vast majority that weren't preserved as gate guards, VFW planes, or museum planes were scrapped. That still leaves well over 100 preserved. There are 59 F-4s stored at AMARC as of Dec 20th. That's the "desert fleet."
My grandpa flew with the wild weasels. Thing is he always talked about how his job was to get shot at so he could find there gps location for the rest of the wild weasels to shoot them down. He would also talk about how his planes only offense was it’s chain gun. He would say his plane was red black and white to be seen and shot at.
Then if he had a gun he was flying the F4E Phantom part of the Wild Weasel mission the F4G were the radar seeking jet and often the E models would shoot the SAM site or bomb it! I was a crew chief on both and in Bahrain during Desert Storm 1.
One of the Recon wings had a practice run that took them over our shop. Love them when the blow over us at 250 feet at 500 knots. The dust would trickle down off the rafters when the building shook. Every now and then one would light his after burner or roll when they saw us outside. You could see their faces they were so close when coming over on their side. Good times!
I lived very close to MacDill Air Force Base starting in 1969. Back then they had f4 Phantoms and b57s on the base. It was also a sac base so we had B-52's, a few SR-71, and every transport in the Air Force in inventory flying in and out of that base. BF4 Phantom is easily one of the most impressive and noisy Fighters I've ever heard. It never ceases to amaze me that people would move close to an Air Force Base and then complain about the noise of the planes. Some people are just born stupid. I call it the sound of freedom.
George AFB was my first duty assignment. I got to the base a few months before Iraq invaded Kuwait. That jet was the loudest plane I’ve ever heard! WW is an awesome mission, those guys are awesome.
I was there from 86 to 92 was in Bahrain and Khobar Towers I was a crew chief in the 37th TFW and 35th then went to kc135r model tankers for the rest of my career! Tons of fun!!
@@nicholasklangos9704 Me too! Same time as well. I ended up in the flyable storage team getting rid of them. I decided to just get out when the base closed. Should have stayed in looking back. I was a dumb kid with a new wife and a kid on the way. Same thing too, started in the 37th and then went to the training unit. I may have worked for you lol. Tiny little guy, kind of worthless lol. Airman Mohr. If you ever heard this on the expeditor radios : High wind adversery.....Airman Mohr is NOT to leave the truck. They were talking about me lmao. I once got picked up and thrown down by a wind gust between two buildings having a smoke. Never lived it down. I got threw off the wing of a jet once too. I was like a buck 10 back then.
Back in the 70's I was developing simulations of the Hawk surface-to-air system and modeling it's performance against the then F-100 Wild Weasel maneuver. At that time the SAM radars lost lock when the aircraft closing rate dropped below a certain value. The WW aircraft would fly at a constant radius (zero doppler as it were) and turn hard toward the SAM site achieving another constant radius, closer to the site, prior to being engaged. This would continue until the WW could engage the site. Some of the actual testing took place at Ft. Huachuca, NM.
@ricktompkins Huachuca in in Az down by Tucson, so maybe White Sands. My Father was a Hawk guy in Yuma and 29 Palms, 2nd LAAMB. Sometimes I got to tag along with him to the Hawk site out in the desert southeast of MCAS Yuma. Can’t remember what that place was called but the Marines still use the place, just not for Hawks
I was in the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, 35th Avionics Maintenance Squadron at George AFB from June 1974 until June 15th, 1979 when I left the Air Force. I have no doubt that I probably worked on ever one of those birds shown in the video at one time or another. I watched Desert Storm, I had no idea.
@@SailfishSoundSystem Precisely that XD Apparently it was the first five words out of the mouth of the guy who was to become the first WW squadron leader when they told him exactly what Wild Weasel had to do.
@@sgtrpcommand3778 You want me to fly in the back of a tiny little jet with a crazy fighter pilot who thinks he's invincible, home in on a SAM site in North Vietnam, and shoot it before it shoots me? You've gotta be shittin' me!
Hi. When the 35th TFWg was stationed at George AFB, Victorville, CA, I was the Asst. Shop Chief for the Radar Calibration Docks of the 35th AMS, from 1977 - 1980.
I know where this was filmed, I was there on Shik Isa Air base on Bahrain back then! I was ammo and worked with thos HARM 88 Missiles! Still my favorite deployment!
The 157th Fighter Wing of the South Carolina ANG flew the same missions in different areas with their “plain Jane” F-16s and basic iron bombs and had outstanding success
Ol Double Ugly! Mannnn, I wish I could have flown this in real life. I love the F4 Phantom. Whenever I get a chance in video games that have the option of flying the Phantom, I take it
Btw even though he said the mission was 4 hours long, that it just when they are engaging. Their overall mission length (time in cockpit) is around 8 to 12 hours and consists of one or multiple air refueling. John Boy would have just had an extremely physically taxing and looks it, yet he talks perfectly clearly to the camera and is ready for another day. Respect.
@Otto_Maddox googole: AF 74-626 DET 1/82 ATRS. Drone rarely fit with hardware, operated by lucky humans. Used for many Heritage Flights, football games, Bataan Memorial March on WSMR at least once.
In the early eighties we had in Germany USAFE F-4C, F-4D, F-4E, F-4G and RF-4C, german F-4F and RF-4-E and british FGR1 and FGR2 in our german skies. Sometimes we had Phantoms from Greece, Turkey and Spain on visit in Germany. I've seen so many Phantoms (and Starfighters, Fighting Falcons, Eagles, Mirages, Warthog, Aardvarks...) that it is unbelievable. Now they are all gone and the sky is sadly silent nowadays... ☹️
@@joeertz3809 The F-4G where at Spangdahlem. A base very close to Bitburg. Bitburg had until the late seventies the F-4D and changed after that to the F-15. They are also gone... 😭
Love the F-4 Phantom. Saw them fly ground support missions in Vietnam and later saw them in training missions. Was offered a backseat ride in the early 80’s but a different event took priority. This needs to be put delicately, but must be said: Wild Weasel missions were developed and perfected by the Israelis who in turn trained the US military - lessons learned from the Vietnam war only illustrated the weakness of the USN and USAF. The US lost more than 210 fixed wing aircraft to SAM missiles and at war’s end still had no defense against the SAM’s. Insane! Israeli trained USAF Wild Weasels went into Desert Storm and it was like ‘shooting fish in a barrel’. And yet, we still did it wrong, in part because the enemy was entirely overrated. Yet, we still did it wrong. The lesson learned by that escapade is illustrated by the later military stalemates of Afghanistan and Iraq that were or are the results of unclear strategic military objectives (If the truth be known - perhaps the Russians, later the Chinese, were formidable adversaries after all - they certainly are now!). We now are a nation with a military that is twisted by social experimentation led by admirals and generals who were promoted for their politics not for prowess in military command and doing what is right. Visit any US Navy facility right now and be astounded or embarrassed with the sight of physically obese enlisted females and males in uniform waddling the walkways. Seriously.
I have predicted that when we finally withdraw from Afghanistan we WILL see a repeat of Saigon 1975, except the Taliban WILL make the Khemer Rouge and NVA look like rank amateurs by comparison. "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it over and over again."
@@scallen3841 I'm old enough to remember the talking heads on the news in the early 1980s discussing how badly the Soviets had erred by invading Afghanistan. They said that the British had been defeated there, they then asked why the Soviets thought that they were any different. I have been asking why we thought we were any different since October of 2001. Several years ago I read an essay by a US Army Captain explaining why we were going to lose in Afghanistan. As I read EACH of his points I kept asking myself where I had read them before. EVERY SINGLE ONE of his points as to why we were going to lose in Afghanistan was also a point of why we lost in Vietnam. Every mistake that the Departments of Defense and State made in Vietnam, we repeated in Afghanistan. The only significant difference is that in Vietnam, the North Vietnamese Air Force was a near peer adversary, and Afghanistan didn't have one.
It fascinates how the lessons learned in Vietnam were passed down younger pilots to create a system so deadly and precise that those Iraqi didn’t know what hit them. They got it down to a science and capitalized on all the experience from the costly mistakes from the past. I’m glad there is still some serious folks flying these missions.
Yea, one of the most badass fighter / bomber/, recon, jets ever. They say at full throttle in 60 seconds it uses enough fuel to drive a car across the US. 👍👍
At Clark AB Philippines, for fun, we'd park our M-1026 HMMWVs in the elephant grass & glide path at the north end of the runway and practice leading the landing F-4s with 1/2 loaded M-60s mounted on the truck's pintal mount.
462, Spanglehm Air Base Germany, C's, D's, E's and G's. Awesome grease pig. I'll do it again. 77-80. F-15s for 8, A-10s for 3, DS/DS, Provide Comfort/Resolve. Awesome American Airpower. I'll do it again. Call me.
Your dad was NOT a Navy F-4 pilot. He was a naval AVIATOR!! (Air Force has “pilots”, the Navy has “aviators.” Only aviators can land on the pitching deck of a carrier, any pilot can land on a straight flat runway. It’s a joke between the Navy and the Air Force. My dad was Navy, I was Air Force.).
I graduated High School at Zweibrucken AB. Used to watch the RF-4Cs landing all of the time. Enlisted right out of High School, and my first duty was with the 3rd SPS at Clark AB Philippines guarding the F-4Es & Gs of the 3rd TFW, amongst other things. The last time I saw a Phantom was a TAF F-4E at Incirik in 1995.
There from 1985-91. Our OIC flew an f4 and was in Desert Storm when the hunter/killer teams went for the radar sites. Had five radar silhouettes painted on his aircraft when he returned.
@@joeparks614 When I got to Clark in 1988, several of our F-4Es had Red Vietnamese stars on the air intakes. I don't know if they were the pilot's stars, or the aircraft's.
@@SandsOfArrakis The only A-4s in any kind of service are operated by private companies that contract with the military to simulate aggressor aircraft. Draken International is one company, for example.
It always says something when they pick what has become an obsolete aircraft to do a particular job ... Good old F4's ... I can remember them flying when I was in high school ... smoker engines ... .
Got a chance to fly the F-4G in "SFMC" on the PC. AGM-88s are the order of the day against the radar sites though engagement with MIGs is not advisable with just one AIM-7.
See. It's things like this that convince me Desert Storm was basically clubbing baby seals. If jets that weren't new in Vietnam are being effectively employed, how serious am I supposed to take the enemy?
HEY SSGT. ALL THE BIRDS WERE MINE. FUEL SYSTEM SPEC. I WAS ASSIGNED TO THE 20TH SPEC OPS. THE " TRIBE " AS WE CALL THEM. I WAS WITH RF4C " RECCCE DUDES ". THEN ASSIGNED TO THE 20TH. HH53, AC130 J GUN 🔫 SHIP. , A10'S ACTUALLY OA - 10'S, AND FOUR OV- 10'S,. PLUS FOUR AIRCRAFT I STILL CAN NOT MENTION. THATS FOR YOUR SERVICE BROTHER. USAF RET 20TH SPEC OPS DET 67TH RECON WING BAFB TX, 35TH AEF.
I'm wondering if what we're seeing is what's actually there: I'm thinking the runway mirage is cutting off the bottom of the aircraft and maybe it's the tail and top of a commercial jet, that the runway mirage only makes it look that thin? At any rate it isn't a mig 25: though that was my first thought too with the gigantic tail, the tail of the 25 is swept at 45° where this is standing much more proud (P51 he he he🤣😂🤣😂)
@Adrian Simmlekark absolutely, but in order to effectively counter the HARM as in your example, by using terrain. They have essentially blinded themselves to do it and wouldnt be able to effectively defend an area from attack as they would only be able to engage incoming aircraft at such short range.
@@n0rman908 how you actually solve it is by turning on and off the radar intermittently, this bascially makes HARM missiles useless. When NATO tried to do the same in Yugoslavia, which was using this simple technique, the Americans fired 1,000s of HARM missiles, they thought they'd destroyed the entire anti aircraft defense system in Yugoslavia, which confused them seen as the intensity of Anti aircraft fire they received didn't change. It seems out of the 1,000s of HARM's fired 14 hit their mark in the entire war, but a lot of these have damage from other sources, making it highly doubtful it was the US Airforce that even did those 14.
@Adrian Simmlekark how you actually solve it is by turning on and off the radar intermittently, this bascially makes HARM missiles useless. When NATO tried to do the same in Yugoslavia, which was using this simple technique, the Americans fired 1,000s of HARM missiles, they thought they'd destroyed the entire anti aircraft defense system in Yugoslavia, which confused them seen as the intensity of Anti aircraft fire they received didn't change. It seems out of the 1,000s of HARM's fired 14 hit their mark in the entire war, but a lot of these have damage from other sources, making it highly doubtful it was the US Airforce that even did those 14.
@Adrian Simmlekark Firstly HARMS have an accuracy of 9m when everything goes right, so yeah that memory function isn't very useful. Secondly Dome? Thirdly yes that's why most SAM and Radar sites are moveable. Fourth if you read how many were fired, you would have obviously saw that hardly any hit their mark, making your point obviously useless because the idea in your head doesn't match reality.
@@Alex-cw3rz Another thing to consider is that the radar has to stay off for the duration of the missiles flight, if at any point it comes back on the missile will receive the signal to track to again. Essentially as i said, If they are using the radar to see you then they are also vulnerable to being hit by HARM. Also in the case of Yugoslavia their most effective forms of AA were not radar guided. Strella and their own improved variant of it were IR systems and many of their best systems were SACLOS. Their only radar AA pieces were old shilka type vehicles with one or two long range missile systems like the kub. Add to this the fact the kosovo and the balkans in general are an air defense systems paradise in terms of terrain and you can explain why SEAD was largely ineffective during the campaign.
Was a crew chief on F-4E's at Clark in the Philippines in 78-79, TDY to Osan Korea. Very tough airplane. It gets in your blood and stays,more so for the pilots.
These guys are the opposites of stealth. They want to be seen on enemy radar. HARM is fire and forget. Its a wonder the missile can’t be seen incoming by the enemy. Just turn off the radar for a few minutes. 😂
If you turn off radar these missiles home in on the last active location of the radar signal so even turning it off wont help. Better way is to have decoy signals to take a brunt
I'm willing to bet, nowadays, this mission would be handled by two seat F-18s. I don't think the AF is willing to gamble an F-35. If one got shot down like an F-117 did over Kosovo, the secret would be out, and those billions of dollars wasted.
@@tomupchurch4911 not compared to the other aircraft serving alongside them, they weren't. The Phantoms were simply well equipped for the job at the time. The Wild Weasel program wasn't a new invention in '91, and these planes were already set to go. Nowadays, Growlers, Vipers, and Strike Eagles do most of Wild Weasel work. Had nothing to do with the Phantoms being fast.
RIP Jeff Ethell gone so many years now. Still a legend in these aviation programs from the 90s. Learned so much from him in all these programs. Taken too soon doing what he loved.
At least he went out doing what he loved. That can't be said of a lot of poor bastards on this rock.
Didn't he crash in a ww2 plane he was flight testing? I read his articles as a kid.
He died in a p-38 at an airshow. He was a great author and a great person.
Hey, nice profile picture
Agree about Jeff… His reporting and documentary work on the old “Military Channel” was my absolute favorite program to watch on tv
Nice hearing those WW’s beer call signs ahead of our F-15E strike force in Desert Storm. They were always right on time in my F-15E missions.
YGBSM
I got an incentive flight in my F4E Phantom in 91 before I left for the stratotankers ! What a ride flew Mach in full burners over Death Valley
Holy crap, me too! lol Was some kind of an award for finding a mistake in the TO for the canopy bottle. There wasn't one for the rear bottle so I wrote one at the suggestion of my supervisor. They wanted me to go to some kind of fancy dinner. I said can I fly instead? And they let me! BEST experience of my life.
Was a crew chief on f4’s love the sound of those J79’s
The J79, the most efficient way ever created to turn JP4 into smoke and noise.
F4 proves a brick house can fly given enough thrust
@@phoneticau We seem to remember the same quotes.
Was it my imagination or is that the loudest jet I ever hurd?
I spent 2 years with the 3rd SPS guarding them at Clark AB Philippines. I was posted as Close Boundary Sentry during the ORI in 1988, and a maintenance troop decided to push the throttle forward as I was walking behind one, and it got real warm real quick, inspite of wearing full MOPP IV gear in 90*+ temperatures. Did you know that you CAN smell burned jet fuel through an M-17 gas mask.
Used to watch the Wild Weasels at George AFB Victorville growing up in the 80s! Those J79s were just monsters in the skies! Love the Phantoms!
I was stationed there then. Till the end. What did they do with the base? I heard it was going to be a college or something with Fed X or along those lines. I moved back to Ohio.
F-4's were cool as hell...
@@06fz1000 Sadly Japan has signed on to replace them with the JSF
They flew like a bus!
Still are even through they don’t serve in any western nations
@@James_T_Kirk_1701 still flying well in South Korea, 50+ F-4Es. Can see them easily around Suwon AB
@@briancooper2112 says a person who never flew one.
I remember Col Walton. Talked with him often while I was doing Desert Storm..... He was a really good guy.
I’ll tell him you said “hello”. 👊🏼🇺🇸
@@johnclark333 Thank you... he probably won’t remember me. Saw him in the Command Post in Riyadh several times.
@@johnclark333 Hello John. Great video. Thank you. I've always wondered though why the F-4 was used when the F-18 Growlers were around. I'm know the Growlers were used. I figure the F-4 missions were different Growlers in some respects, but it's not that easy to tell. From a distance of course.
@@roderickcampbell2105 this was well before the growlers time. The Navy and Marines used the Prowler. there was plenty of work to go around for everyone.
The F-4G was more about shooting than being a Jamming platform
@@johnclark333 if you know Col Walton, please tell him "Hello" from Stu Hannah. I worked at the Superior Valley Bombing Range from 1985 to 1992.
One of the most beautiful planes ever to fly. Stand under it landing as a child...you don't forget. Big. Black. Nasty. Scary. Those wings. What a plane. What a plane.
I remember one summer day back in ´96 riding my bike home from school:
The sounds from our (RDAF) F-16 i knew very well, but that day a new howling screaching sound came alive behind the forest, and then woosh, two Luftwaffe F-4 Phantoms came right over me with two RDAF F-16 right behind them.
Whenever im at that location or near it, i always remember that very moment, even 24 years later.
Those Phantoms sounds and size left a permanent memory, one i always look back at with joy.
The F-4 was one of the most ugly fighters ever made. That is what made it beautiful.
@@sevenrats as odd as it sounds, you are right. It was a big ugly pig. It wasn't an F-15, which by comparison looks like a Botticelli. But, the F-4 was just cool.
and you Never forget that smell
I went to Aircraft Maintenance School at George AFB. I learned on F-4G and F-4E models. Was A Assit. Crew Chief on a F-4D. 184th TFG. 66-7605 was my Bird. Loved Running Them On The Trim Pad.
www.alamy.com/stock-photo-23d-tactical-fighter-squadron-mcdonnell-f-4d-30-mc-phantom-66-7605-57801466.html this is your bird i believe.
...1979...sheet metal, machine shop, welding and corrosion control were under the same roof...flight line truck with the black cat emblem was at the paint shop... we (nightshift structural airframe repair technicians) stole that truck and joy rode through the base having a good time... we should have stayed out of base housing though...that was our downfall ...we think the crew chief saw us... hey that’s my truck...💪🤣👍🇺🇸
I was at George 69-70. Weapons Control Field shop. At the the it was 479 FMS part of 479 TFW.
Holy cow, I was 35th AMS ( Avionics Maintenance Squadron) at George AFB from July 1974 till I got out June 15th, 1979!!! Those are our birds. I worked all F-4 models plus the F-105 and a few other birds that showed up at times.
This brings back memories. 👍👍👍
@@axjohn hello, brother. I trained on the nav and WRCS for F4s in ‘77, but ended up at the 55th AMS in Omaha. Small world.
I hate to say this, as I'm sure generations before my own thought the same... However, Men like these are becoming a rarer breed all of the time...
I remember watching this war on the news everyday, as a 10 year old and then watching it on the discovery channel... wings over the gulf.
Yep... 11 for me. Raced home after class and glued myself to CNN, back then they still reported the NEWS.
Back when Discovery Channel showed real stuff.
I remember deploying to Spain during Operation Desert Shield, Spending a week at Marron AB, and coming home. My unit returned to base in Arkansas, and my next shift back I had orders to Turkey. I spent Desert Shield & Desert Storm securing an empty Alert Aircraft Parking Area, because ALL of our B-52s & KC-135s were deployed to the war.
I was on one of the air craft carrier's in the Persian gulf , I was jet engine mechanic on fa-18c's .
@@scallen3841 thank you for your service.
...there was a crooked bird, it had a crooked nose, it had crooked wings and it had a crooked tail...
Love that GA or WW on those babies. Used to convert E models to G’s at Dynalectron on George AFB Victorville, CA. New wings, smokeless engines, new electronics, new glass cockpit, beefed up the stabs, new windscreens, fittings for the centerline fuel tank, the list goes on...💪😎👍🇺🇸
The MOD wasn't done at George AFB, they were converted at Depot at Hill AFB. I was at George when my squadron, 561st TFS, got the LAST G model from Depot ; 69-0274. I arrived at George in late 1978 and crewed F-4E 69-0245. About a year later it went to Hill for MOD and returned to me as a "G" model. I was her Crew Chief until June 1982 when I PCS'd to Carswell AFB and crossed to crewing B-52D and H. Both were awesome aircraft, but the Phantom will always be my favorite.
I was 35th AMS (Avionics Maintenance Squadron) on all versions of the F-4 and the F-105 from July 1974 to June 1979! This brings back such memories.
There’s NO sound like the B-52, or the F-4!
My Father flew B-66 Destroyers in Veit Nam and became a "Wild Weasel" later flying F-4's from 73' - 77' outa George AFB. Bad-Ass birds. Loud and fast. Sonic booms were a daily occurrence growing up on air force bases. Not anymore- Still hear em' at Nellis AFB once in a while, but not hardly ever at Edwards AFB which is were you'd expect to hear it more often. It took me a long time to learn to sleep again after he retired and we moved away from all the noise. Music to my ears.
Cool, I was stationed at .George AFB from 86 to 92 crew chief on F4E&G Weasels and was at Nellis a lot for Red Flag exercises and other deployments including the Gulf!
@@nicholasklangos9704 Wow! I bet you got great memories and got some great stories as well. The Phantom is probably my favorite of all jet fighters/ bombers. Shame to see em used as drones for target practice.
a total of 5004 of those were built in St. Louis, MO by McDonnell Douglas. Phantom F4
Now they're all rusting away in the desert..
@@TheCleansingx Very few are in the desert now. The vast majority that weren't preserved as gate guards, VFW planes, or museum planes were scrapped. That still leaves well over 100 preserved.
There are 59 F-4s stored at AMARC as of Dec 20th. That's the "desert fleet."
@@AvengerII it
But only around 100-120 were modified to F-4G standard as Wild Weasels
McDonnell Aircraft when I worked there in ‘63-‘67. 45000 employees working 24/7 putttin’ out the F-4.
My grandpa flew with the wild weasels. Thing is he always talked about how his job was to get shot at so he could find there gps location for the rest of the wild weasels to shoot them down. He would also talk about how his planes only offense was it’s chain gun. He would say his plane was red black and white to be seen and shot at.
Then if he had a gun he was flying the F4E Phantom part of the Wild Weasel mission the F4G were the radar seeking jet and often the E models would shoot the SAM site or bomb it! I was a crew chief on both and in Bahrain during Desert Storm 1.
One of the Recon wings had a practice run that took them over our shop. Love them when the blow over us at 250 feet at 500 knots. The dust would trickle down off the rafters when the building shook. Every now and then one would light his after burner or roll when they saw us outside. You could see their faces they were so close when coming over on their side.
Good times!
I lived very close to MacDill Air Force Base starting in 1969. Back then they had f4 Phantoms and b57s on the base. It was also a sac base so we had B-52's, a few SR-71, and every transport in the Air Force in inventory flying in and out of that base. BF4 Phantom is easily one of the most impressive and noisy Fighters I've ever heard. It never ceases to amaze me that people would move close to an Air Force Base and then complain about the noise of the planes. Some people are just born stupid. I call it the sound of freedom.
George AFB was my first duty assignment. I got to the base a few months before Iraq invaded Kuwait. That jet was the loudest plane I’ve ever heard! WW is an awesome mission, those guys are awesome.
Dean, I was GAFB 35th TFW 35th AMS 1974-1979! 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
I was there from 86 to 92 was in Bahrain and Khobar Towers I was a crew chief in the 37th TFW and 35th then went to kc135r model tankers for the rest of my career! Tons of fun!!
@@nicholasklangos9704 Me too! Same time as well. I ended up in the flyable storage team getting rid of them. I decided to just get out when the base closed. Should have stayed in looking back. I was a dumb kid with a new wife and a kid on the way. Same thing too, started in the 37th and then went to the training unit. I may have worked for you lol. Tiny little guy, kind of worthless lol. Airman Mohr. If you ever heard this on the expeditor radios : High wind adversery.....Airman Mohr is NOT to leave the truck. They were talking about me lmao. I once got picked up and thrown down by a wind gust between two buildings having a smoke. Never lived it down. I got threw off the wing of a jet once too. I was like a buck 10 back then.
You know "John Boy" definitely has a tight seal on his mask with all the marks it left on his face.
Habit, what is a HAARM launch altitude, back then ?
Back in the 70's I was developing simulations of the Hawk surface-to-air system and modeling it's performance against the then F-100 Wild Weasel maneuver. At that time the SAM radars lost lock when the aircraft closing rate dropped below a certain value. The WW aircraft would fly at a constant radius (zero doppler as it were) and turn hard toward the SAM site achieving another constant radius, closer to the site, prior to being engaged. This would continue until the WW could engage the site. Some of the actual testing took place at Ft. Huachuca, NM.
Ft Huachuca is in Arizona, fyi.
"Notching", right?
@ricktompkins
Huachuca in in Az down by Tucson, so maybe White Sands. My Father was a Hawk guy in Yuma and 29 Palms, 2nd LAAMB. Sometimes I got to tag along with him to the Hawk site out in the desert southeast of MCAS Yuma. Can’t remember what that place was called but the Marines still use the place, just not for Hawks
I was in the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, 35th Avionics Maintenance Squadron at George AFB from June 1974 until June 15th, 1979 when I left the Air Force. I have no doubt that I probably worked on ever one of those birds shown in the video at one time or another. I watched Desert Storm, I had no idea.
I worked on the AN/ALQ-184 program. What a great ECM Pod!
@F-15 Hurler where can I buy a pod
@@Paddy-zn4oo You can't afford it. Buy something cheap like a Ferrari instead.
YGBSM - the Wild Weasel motto.
What does that mean?
@@ivannieves5708 You Gotta Be Shitting Me!
@@SailfishSoundSystem Precisely that XD Apparently it was the first five words out of the mouth of the guy who was to become the first WW squadron leader when they told him exactly what Wild Weasel had to do.
@@sgtrpcommand3778 You want me to fly in the back of a tiny little jet with a crazy fighter pilot who thinks he's invincible, home in on a SAM site in North Vietnam, and shoot it before it shoots me? You've gotta be shittin' me!
Hi. When the 35th TFWg was stationed at George AFB, Victorville, CA, I was the Asst. Shop Chief for the Radar Calibration Docks of the 35th AMS, from 1977 - 1980.
I know where this was filmed, I was there on Shik Isa Air base on Bahrain back then! I was ammo and worked with thos HARM 88 Missiles! Still my favorite deployment!
My favorite F-4...the Wild Weasel.
They pulled mad service in Viet Nam.
The 157th Fighter Wing of the South Carolina ANG flew the same missions in different areas with their “plain Jane” F-16s and basic iron bombs and had outstanding success
Ah memories... the F-4D was the first Aircraft on which I got to work in the USAF.
First airplane model I ever built. Brutally beautiful bird.
While not my 1st by a long shot it is the one I'm building now. The 1/32 Revell F4G Phantom II.
Ol Double Ugly! Mannnn, I wish I could have flown this in real life. I love the F4 Phantom.
Whenever I get a chance in video games that have the option of flying the Phantom, I take it
Btw even though he said the mission was 4 hours long, that it just when they are engaging. Their overall mission length (time in cockpit) is around 8 to 12 hours and consists of one or multiple air refueling. John Boy would have just had an extremely physically taxing and looks it, yet he talks perfectly clearly to the camera and is ready for another day. Respect.
I was there in Bahrain and Khobar during Desert Storm1 and later! Wild Weasels rocked Iraq!! What a time oh to be that young and strong still!!
Loaded the AGM-88 on G's in the PI. F-4 was a beast!!
Loaded F4E/G at Clark 80_81. GOOD TIMES
3rd SPS & guarded them 88-90.
With them at Dhahran '91. Composite sheetmetal shop, worked our F-15C-D-Es plus A-10s, EF-111s, F-16C-Ds & transient aircraft. Good times.
@Otto_Maddox googole: AF 74-626 DET 1/82 ATRS. Drone rarely fit with hardware, operated by lucky humans. Used for many Heritage Flights, football games, Bataan Memorial March on WSMR at least once.
In the early eighties we had in Germany USAFE F-4C, F-4D, F-4E, F-4G and RF-4C, german F-4F and RF-4-E and british FGR1 and FGR2 in our german skies. Sometimes we had Phantoms from Greece, Turkey and Spain on visit in Germany. I've seen so many Phantoms (and Starfighters, Fighting Falcons, Eagles, Mirages, Warthog, Aardvarks...) that it is unbelievable. Now they are all gone and the sky is sadly silent nowadays... ☹️
wasnt Bitburg a base for them in Germany?
@@joeertz3809 The F-4G where at Spangdahlem. A base very close to Bitburg. Bitburg had until the late seventies the F-4D and changed after that to the F-15. They are also gone... 😭
Love the F-4 Phantom. Saw them fly ground support missions in Vietnam and later saw them in training missions.
Was offered a backseat ride in the early 80’s but a different event took priority.
This needs to be put delicately, but must be said: Wild Weasel missions were developed and perfected by the Israelis who in turn trained the US military - lessons learned from the Vietnam war only illustrated the weakness of the USN and USAF. The US lost more than 210 fixed wing aircraft to SAM missiles and at war’s end still had no defense against the SAM’s. Insane!
Israeli trained USAF Wild Weasels went into Desert Storm and it was like ‘shooting fish in a barrel’. And yet, we still did it wrong, in part because the enemy was entirely overrated. Yet, we still did it wrong. The lesson learned by that escapade is illustrated by the later military stalemates of Afghanistan and Iraq that were or are the results of unclear strategic military objectives (If the truth be known - perhaps the Russians, later the Chinese, were formidable adversaries after all - they certainly are now!). We now are a nation with a military that is twisted by social experimentation led by admirals and generals who were promoted for their politics not for prowess in military command and doing what is right. Visit any US Navy facility right now and be astounded or embarrassed with the sight of physically obese enlisted females and males in uniform waddling the walkways. Seriously.
I have predicted that when we finally withdraw from Afghanistan we WILL see a repeat of Saigon 1975, except the Taliban WILL make the Khemer Rouge and NVA look like rank amateurs by comparison.
"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it over and over again."
@@earlwyss520 yes and the media will say it was all our fault , yet the Afghanistan government has wanted us out for years
@@scallen3841 I'm old enough to remember the talking heads on the news in the early 1980s discussing how badly the Soviets had erred by invading Afghanistan. They said that the British had been defeated there, they then asked why the Soviets thought that they were any different. I have been asking why we thought we were any different since October of 2001.
Several years ago I read an essay by a US Army Captain explaining why we were going to lose in Afghanistan. As I read EACH of his points I kept asking myself where I had read them before. EVERY SINGLE ONE of his points as to why we were going to lose in Afghanistan was also a point of why we lost in Vietnam. Every mistake that the Departments of Defense and State made in Vietnam, we repeated in Afghanistan. The only significant difference is that in Vietnam, the North Vietnamese Air Force was a near peer adversary, and Afghanistan didn't have one.
@@earlwyss520 ok and that has to do what with the f-4 wild weasel ?
@@scallen3841 Just commenting on your last paragraph from your earlier post.
They look like flying scorpions with a lot of sting!
I love the motto of the the wild weasels-YGTBSM
There is a job that will age you prematurely, if you live long enough.
It fascinates how the lessons learned in Vietnam were passed down younger pilots to create a system so deadly and precise that those Iraqi didn’t know what hit them. They got it down to a science and capitalized on all the experience from the costly mistakes from the past. I’m glad there is still some serious folks flying these missions.
Colonel George "John Boy" Walton reminds me a lot of Neil Armstrong in character.
i was there for that ! good times , nice to see your machines in action
F4G is an E that has had the nose gun removed and ECM equipment installed in the space. More instruments related to ECM. The radar stays the same.
I am fucking Flabbergasted there were PHANTOMS running WILD WEASEL in Desert Storm. Holy christ.
F4 had the same job in Vietnam. Amazing the F4 can even fly with the size of the balls on those pilots.
I would argue that the F-105G had the wild weasel job during Vietnam. The F-4G didn't come until later.
that's why the phantom was a 2 seater, one for the pilot, one for his balls
Not very original.
My Dad flew em in Nam
@@kamraam1464 The F-100 had the original Wild Weasel role in Vietnam. The 105s took it over after that.
Yea, one of the most badass fighter / bomber/, recon, jets ever. They say at full throttle in 60 seconds it uses enough fuel to drive a car across the US. 👍👍
Cool vid.. Thanks from NZ 👍🇳🇿
Torrejon AFB 614th TFS
I was 25 sitting behind my m60 and other team members.
At Clark AB Philippines, for fun, we'd park our M-1026 HMMWVs in the elephant grass & glide path at the north end of the runway and practice leading the landing F-4s with 1/2 loaded M-60s mounted on the truck's pintal mount.
The F4 is the visual equivalent of the Vulcan bombers distinctive howl - it's appearance says, I get the job done, no matter what the job.
Weapons loader on G’s and E’s at George in mid eighties. 462. 563rdTFS.
Me, George AFB 35th AMS (Avionics) 1974-1979.
462, Spanglehm Air Base Germany, C's, D's, E's and G's. Awesome grease pig. I'll do it again.
77-80.
F-15s for 8, A-10s for 3, DS/DS, Provide Comfort/Resolve. Awesome American Airpower.
I'll do it again. Call me.
So was I.
Had no idea F-4s were still flying I used to see rows of them at the boneyard at Davis Monthan
Long since retired. That was from Desert Storm... 30 years ago.
@@GrizzAxxemann still flying in multiple Air forces around the world.
My Dad was a Navy F-4 pilot
Your dad was NOT a Navy F-4 pilot. He was a naval AVIATOR!!
(Air Force has “pilots”, the Navy has “aviators.” Only aviators can land on the pitching deck of a carrier, any pilot can land on a straight flat runway. It’s a joke between the Navy and the Air Force. My dad was Navy, I was Air Force.).
Tell your dad, Thank you sir for your service and sacrifice.
Fueled RF4C's at Bergstrom AFB, 77 - 80. Awesome ac.
Was stationed in West Germany at Spangdahlem A.B. and had Wild Weasels and Tactical Nukes 1980 to 1983 .
There at Spang from 74 to 78......good times with Bitburg beer !
I graduated High School at Zweibrucken AB. Used to watch the RF-4Cs landing all of the time. Enlisted right out of High School, and my first duty was with the 3rd SPS at Clark AB Philippines guarding the F-4Es & Gs of the 3rd TFW, amongst other things. The last time I saw a Phantom was a TAF F-4E at Incirik in 1995.
@@rbmoose22 I was there 76 -79 in the Weapons Control Systems shop.
There from 1985-91. Our OIC flew an f4 and was in Desert Storm when the hunter/killer teams went for the radar sites. Had five radar silhouettes painted on his aircraft when he returned.
@@joeparks614 When I got to Clark in 1988, several of our F-4Es had Red Vietnamese stars on the air intakes. I don't know if they were the pilot's stars, or the aircraft's.
Wow... this is old coverage. They were still flying with OD green flight suits over the desert.
“John Boy”...now that’s a handle!
He sort of looked like him to!! K thought it was very fitting!
f4 was my first ride
nice going from THUDS to F4's
Steve Ramsey-is that you?
Sweet!!
My brother always said,,,If you put a big enough engine on it you can make a brick fly.
Oh yes you can.
Damn 1991 seems like a long time ago. Were we still using A4 Skyraiders too?
No, those were long gone over 20 years before Desert Storm.
A1 or A4? Quite a difference between the Skyraider and Skyhawk :)
@@SandsOfArrakis The only A-4s in any kind of service are operated by private companies that contract with the military to simulate aggressor aircraft. Draken International is one company, for example.
Ha , speaking of A4 , liberation of Kuwait was joined by a majestic Kuwaiti A4 pilot that was the real deal
It always says something when they pick what has become an obsolete aircraft to do a particular job ...
Good old F4's ... I can remember them flying when I was in high school ... smoker engines ...
.
damn that last one looks HEAVY lol
👽 Next time you see a solar eclipse double check because it could be a Wiild Weasel pilots balls blocking the sun .
Got a chance to fly the F-4G in "SFMC" on the PC. AGM-88s are the order of the day against the radar sites though engagement with MIGs is not advisable with just one AIM-7.
amazing
See. It's things like this that convince me Desert Storm was basically clubbing baby seals.
If jets that weren't new in Vietnam are being effectively employed, how serious am I supposed to take the enemy?
Good point which is something that Saddam missed. If you punch a big guy in the face don't be surprised if they kick your ass.
Long Live Phantom II
Everyone always has to make these videos, somehow, about themselves.
It takes a special person to come in and get shot at
Ssgt. Pankop USAF 7023rd my aircraft was there. Blue tails
HEY SSGT. ALL THE BIRDS WERE MINE. FUEL SYSTEM SPEC. I WAS ASSIGNED TO THE 20TH SPEC OPS. THE " TRIBE " AS WE CALL THEM. I WAS WITH RF4C
" RECCCE DUDES ". THEN ASSIGNED TO THE 20TH. HH53, AC130 J GUN 🔫 SHIP. , A10'S ACTUALLY OA - 10'S, AND FOUR OV- 10'S,. PLUS FOUR AIRCRAFT I STILL CAN NOT MENTION. THATS FOR YOUR SERVICE BROTHER. USAF RET 20TH SPEC OPS DET 67TH RECON WING BAFB TX, 35TH AEF.
Those F4's look so old now. Still a great jet though.
They don't look old at all...They are a timeless aircraft in my opinion
Fuck Duke Nukem, these are the real balls of steel...
Mig 21 sam 75 miss f 4 in 1965 1972 vn
Did that say “After 5 1/2 watts
It’s Personal!”?
5 1/2 months I believe
months
RIP Frank O`Donnell
3:22 F-117 ?Nighthawk?
Nighthawks were the only planes that dare fly into downtown Baghdad
Goes by many names
Speaking of really obsolete . THE NIGHTHAWK9
Are those AGM 45's or AGM88's. I can't tell the difference.
AGM 88's
Grunt leg airplanes best ever made they can still be used even in 2021 this air plane here is named wink
Is this was Sheik Isa
AB, Bahrain...and it was DS/DS....i was there!
Wild Weasels Rock ;-)
Badass!
Many not familiar with the F-4 don't realize the speed it could fly!..
4:18 what aircraft is that 👀👀👀
Looked almost like a Mig 25.
I reckon its actually a P51
Wow..good catch
Even better question!...looks kind of SR-71/X-15 ish...
I'm wondering if what we're seeing is what's actually there: I'm thinking the runway mirage is cutting off the bottom of the aircraft and maybe it's the tail and top of a commercial jet, that the runway mirage only makes it look that thin? At any rate it isn't a mig 25: though that was my first thought too with the gigantic tail, the tail of the 25 is swept at 45° where this is standing much more proud (P51 he he he🤣😂🤣😂)
@@wilfdarr P51 comment was a joke. ✌
Were you in the 90th John Clark?
On the arm patch it said wild weasels take it down. The RF version the arm patch said we fil'm and kil'm
Wild Weasels vs radar SAMs is like a parent playing peakaboo with their kid. "Remember, if you can see me then i can see you"
@Adrian Simmlekark absolutely, but in order to effectively counter the HARM as in your example, by using terrain. They have essentially blinded themselves to do it and wouldnt be able to effectively defend an area from attack as they would only be able to engage incoming aircraft at such short range.
@@n0rman908 how you actually solve it is by turning on and off the radar intermittently, this bascially makes HARM missiles useless. When NATO tried to do the same in Yugoslavia, which was using this simple technique, the Americans fired 1,000s of HARM missiles, they thought they'd destroyed the entire anti aircraft defense system in Yugoslavia, which confused them seen as the intensity of Anti aircraft fire they received didn't change. It seems out of the 1,000s of HARM's fired 14 hit their mark in the entire war, but a lot of these have damage from other sources, making it highly doubtful it was the US Airforce that even did those 14.
@Adrian Simmlekark how you actually solve it is by turning on and off the radar intermittently, this bascially makes HARM missiles useless. When NATO tried to do the same in Yugoslavia, which was using this simple technique, the Americans fired 1,000s of HARM missiles, they thought they'd destroyed the entire anti aircraft defense system in Yugoslavia, which confused them seen as the intensity of Anti aircraft fire they received didn't change. It seems out of the 1,000s of HARM's fired 14 hit their mark in the entire war, but a lot of these have damage from other sources, making it highly doubtful it was the US Airforce that even did those 14.
@Adrian Simmlekark Firstly HARMS have an accuracy of 9m when everything goes right, so yeah that memory function isn't very useful. Secondly Dome? Thirdly yes that's why most SAM and Radar sites are moveable. Fourth if you read how many were fired, you would have obviously saw that hardly any hit their mark, making your point obviously useless because the idea in your head doesn't match reality.
@@Alex-cw3rz Another thing to consider is that the radar has to stay off for the duration of the missiles flight, if at any point it comes back on the missile will receive the signal to track to again. Essentially as i said, If they are using the radar to see you then they are also vulnerable to being hit by HARM. Also in the case of Yugoslavia their most effective forms of AA were not radar guided. Strella and their own improved variant of it were IR systems and many of their best systems were SACLOS. Their only radar AA pieces were old shilka type vehicles with one or two long range missile systems like the kub. Add to this the fact the kosovo and the balkans in general are an air defense systems paradise in terms of terrain and you can explain why SEAD was largely ineffective during the campaign.
Back Seat was very busy
Without a doubt
Sméagol flies his f4 against the nasty hobbitses to get the precious!!
Why does the back end of the F4 look like it does anyone ?
FILO! First In Last Out!
God bless the GIB
Ace Combat Infinity! 😅
K2 taegu 497tfs had them Osan Clark They were all over
Was a crew chief on F-4E's at Clark in the Philippines in 78-79, TDY to Osan Korea. Very tough airplane. It gets in your blood and stays,more so for the pilots.
Yes in Korea the Wild Weasels would've been the first planes flying into N Korea if the Ballon went up.
These guys are the opposites of stealth. They want to be seen on enemy radar. HARM is fire and forget. Its a wonder the missile can’t be seen incoming by the enemy. Just turn off the radar for a few minutes. 😂
If you turn off radar these missiles home in on the last active location of the radar signal so even turning it off wont help.
Better way is to have decoy signals to take a brunt
I'm willing to bet, nowadays, this mission would be handled by two seat F-18s. I don't think the AF is willing to gamble an F-35. If one got shot down like an F-117 did over Kosovo, the secret would be out, and those billions of dollars wasted.
Yep, he Navy with their F-18 G's Growlers provide all of that support now.
I think the secret is already out and the millions wasted. Yeah you put that right over the plate. Thank You.
@@warrensmith2902 For everyone? I doubt that the current USN with current leadership could protect anything other LGBT non binary rapid promotions.
All due respect, but let me have a pull of a leg. -This is a professional. his facemask and helmet formed on top of him. -He didn't 'grow into it'....
YGBSM!
Why did they chose F4s? Isn't that a rather old airplane for a modern war?
Because they're way way fast
They were still in service in the 80s and 90s. The last of the G's were retired only about 15ish years ago.
@@tomupchurch4911 not compared to the other aircraft serving alongside them, they weren't. The Phantoms were simply well equipped for the job at the time. The Wild Weasel program wasn't a new invention in '91, and these planes were already set to go. Nowadays, Growlers, Vipers, and Strike Eagles do most of Wild Weasel work. Had nothing to do with the Phantoms being fast.