SAMs were oloaded from ships and sent
out to all areas of North Vietnam. The
toughest assignment the EF-10B had was
trying to get these operations on ilm.
Many pilots agreed that sorties into
the north to ind out where any new
hot-spots had cropped up were the
most dangerous. Capt Young recalls one
such hazardous sortie deep into enemy
territory. ‘The air force asked us to take
some pictures of Haiphong harbor. Our
photo oicer, Capt Chuck Houseman, said
it made sense, so he was all for it. We were
always escorted by a couple of marine F-4s
and that was about the only time they
came that far north because they wereusually tied up in the south supporting the
ground troops.
‘We took of and went to Haiphong,
where we were going to ease over the
harbor. Houseman said, ‘You slide about
100 yards of my right wing, we can get
both our K-10 cameras working and get
some great pictures, and rendezvous with
the F-4s and then inish out the mission
before we head home’. We crossed the
coastline [at about 14.00hrs] and all of a
sudden the sky started opening up with
lak bursts all around us. We were catching
everything, and I was yelling ‘lak’ but
Houseman did not see any of it because
he was in front, lying lead.‘I am watching all of this stuf walk right
up to me and I’m lying in a slow straight-
wing EF-10B that is lying at about
230mph instead of an RF-8 doing Mach
1.2. Houseman only stated, ‘Hold it steady
as she goes...’ We inally broke right and
came out of the area.
‘When the CO found out about this
mission, he was very upset. He called the
air force and told them if they needed any
more pictures of Haiphong assets on any
more missions like this one, that he would
send one of his RF-8s and he was not
going to risk his EF-10B. I believe this was
the last mission we lew over the harbor
in the ‘Drut’.’
The EF-10Bs were also sent on
numerous ‘Fogbound’ missions, pinning
down the locations of enemy radar
station and passing of their co-ordinates
for attack aircraft. They were good
at blinding the radar with chaf and
electronic jammers.
Despite their age, the EF-10Bs were
very efective and they were heavily
tasked well into 1966. By this time, the
RB-66 Destroyers were taking over the
countermeasures role for the air force in
Vietnam. However, the EF-10Bs lew in the
theater until 1969. The type was inally
removed from operational service in 1970.
It’s an often-overlooked aircraft, but the
Skyknight gave good service, in the hands
of extremely brave airmen.Above: An EF-10B
heads north
to sniff out an
enemy radar unit.
The Skyknight
carried one of the
most effective
recce cameras
and made regular
low passes
off Haiphong
harbor to record
Russian freighters
unloading SAMs.
Jerry Parks via
author
Left: VMCJ-1
personnel pose
with an EF-10B
at Da Nang.
Standing second
from left is Capt
Chuck Houseman,
who flew the
dangerous
mission into the
Haiphong area.
Chuck HousemanGLORY DAYS // EF-10B IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA
68 October 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net