The rescue of Bat 21 Bravo, the call sign for Iceal "Gene" Hambleton (a navigator aboard an EB-66C aircraft shot down behind North Vietnamese lines), was the "largest, longest, and most complex search-and-rescue" operation during the Vietnam War. Five additional aircraft were shot down during rescue attempts, directly resulting in the deaths of 11 airmen, the capture of two others, and another airman trying to evade capture.
On 2 April 1972, the Easter Offensive, the largest combined arms operation of the entire Vietnam War, was in its third day. An early morning flight of two United States Air Force EB-66C aircraft was led by Bat 20. Hambleton was a navigator aboard Bat 21. The two aircraft were escorting a cell of three B-52s. Bat 21 was configured to gather signals intelligence, including identifying North Vietnamese anti-aircraft radar installations to enable jamming. Bat 21 was destroyed by an SA-2 surface-to-air missile (SAM) and Hambleton was the only survivor, parachuting behind the front lines into a battlefield filled with thousands of People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) soldiers.
Hambleton had Top Secret access to Strategic Air Command operations and was an expert in SAM countermeasures. The PAVN may have possessed information about his presence in Vietnam and his capture would have meant a huge intelligence bonanza for the Soviet Union.
Hambleton and 1st Lt. Mark Clark, who was shot down during rescue operations, were recovered from behind the front lines on two different nights in covert, night-time rescues carried out by U.S. Navy SEAL Thomas R. Norris and Republic of Vietnam Navy (RVNN) commandos. For their actions in rescuing the two men, Norris was awarded the Medal of Honor and RVNN Petty Officer Nguyễn Văn Kiệt was recognized with the Navy Cross. Nguyen was the only South Vietnamese sailor given that award during the war.
The Air Force did not put limits on what it took to rescue a downed airman. The direct and indirect cost of rescuing Hambleton was enormous and became a watershed event in Air Force search and rescue. To prevent friendly fire incidents, the Americans imposed a standard no-fire zone within a radius of Hambleton and diverted aircraft to aid in his rescue. In addition to the direct casualties caused by the rescue mission, it is likely that South Vietnamese soldiers indirectly died as a result of their inability to obtain fire support.
The added deaths, loss of aircraft, and length of the rescue operation led the USAF to change the way they planned and conducted search and rescue missions. As a result, they developed new techniques and equipment to improve their ability to rescue downed airmen.
Operational background
At the time of Bat 21'''s mission, American combat forces had been vastly reduced in South Vietnam under President Richard Nixon's Vietnamization policy. The PAVN launched the Nguyen Hue Offensive against the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and U.S. military on Friday, 30 March 1972. It was their largest attack of the war and was timed to take full advantage of the bad weather typical during monsoon season, offering low clouds and poor visibility. About 30,000 heavily equipped PAVN troops from the 304th and 308th Divisions and three separate infantry regiments of the B5 Front crossed the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) into I Corps zone across the five northernmost provinces of South Vietnam.
In the area between the Cam Lộ Bridge and Dong Ha Bridge, the PAVN were supported by two tank regiments of 150 Soviet T-54 and PT-76 tanks, 75 tracked anti-aircraft vehicles, an artillery regiment of 47 towed 130mm guns and the largest concentration of anti-aircraft weaponry of the entire war, including the advanced SA-2 SAM. Their main line of advance was along the axis of the north–south national highway QL-1.
When Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) headquarters in Saigon learned of large PAVN movement south of the DMZ, a number of B-52s had been sent on Arc Light missions without escort, but were experiencing significantly increased SAM activity. The 42nd Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron (42 TEWS) was tapped for assistance. The draw down of US forces had left the unit shorthanded and Hambleton was the senior officer among a group of senior navigators.
Hambleton assigned himself as navigator on the older EB-66C, which was configured to gather signals intelligence. The newer EB-66E was tasked with jamming SAM radar guidance systems so their missiles could not accurately target the aircraft. The EB-66's mission was to trawl for missiles, let them lock on to their aircraft, and then execute a SAM break, a violent turn and dive designed to throw off the pursuing missile. The SA-2 was the size of a telephone pole and carried a proximity fused warhead that was lethal within about . Their guidance systems failed at about 2 Gs, while the EB-66 could achieve 5 Gs in its avoidance maneuver. The crew had successfully pulled a SAM break more than 100 times. The presence of North Vietnamese SAMs south of the DMZ had been tracked by Hambleton, but not everyone agreed they were present that far south.
Aircraft shot down On Easter Sunday, 2 April 1972, two six-seat EB-66s (call signs Bat 21 and Bat 22) were flying pathfinder escort for a cell of three B-52s, which were given assignments to bomb Mu Gia or the Ban Karai Pass, the two primary access routes to the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos.
Hambleton was aboard Bat 21, EB-66C serial number 54-0466, over Quảng Trị Province, South Vietnam, just south of the DMZ. The airmen were surprised by the intensity of the anti-aircraft fire and SAM activity. The PAVN 365th Air Defense Division fired two volleys of SA-2 SAMs at the U.S. planes, but the EB-66s successfully thwarted the first volley. The PAVN pointed their Fan Song radar at the B-52s, targeting them unsuccessfully with radar guided anti-aircraft fire. When those missed, the PAVN fired two more SAMs optically at Bat 21, only turning on the guidance and radar system after the missiles were launched, which delayed the targeted aircraft's ability to detect and avoid them.
When the aircraft crew spotted the missiles, the pilot assumed they had as usual been fired from north of the DMZ. He began a SAM break to the south, away from the direction he assumed the missiles had been fired. One of the EWOs called "Negative! Negative!", and the pilot flipped the plane over on its other wing. This time the pilot was unable to evade the missiles. The first missile exploded immediately beneath the aircraft striking it at .
Hambleton, whose call sign was Bat 21 Bravo, was the mission navigator and automatically set to be the first to eject in the event of an emergency.The Rescue of BAT-21 He was positioned immediately behind the pilot, who gave the signal for everyone to eject. Hambleton pulled the ejection seat handles and made eye contact with the pilot as his seat rocketed out of the dying plane. A moment later, the aircraft was struck by a second SA-2 and exploded. The remainder of the aircraft's six-man crew—Major Wayne L. Bolte, pilot; 1st Lieutenant Robin F. Gatwood, co-pilot; and EWOs Lieutenant Colonel Anthony R. Giannangeli, Lieutenant Colonel Charles A. Levis and Major Henry M. Serex—were unable to eject and they remain listed as missing in action.
Hambleton was due for some R&R, and his wife Gwen was planning to meet him in Thailand the next week. She received airplane tickets for her trip on the same day that her husband was shot down. Instead of going to the airport, she collapsed after seeing an Air Force officer and a chaplain walk up her sidewalk.
Surrounded by North Vietnamese
Maj. Jimmy D. Kempton from the 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron was leading a flight of four F-4 Phantoms on a bombing mission when he got SAM warnings. He saw four SA-2 missiles emerge from the clouds about ahead of him and saw one strike Bat 21. At a lower altitude, 1st Lt. Bill Jankowski and Capt. Lyle Wilson in an O-2 (Bilk 34) forward air controller (FAC) aircraft saw Bat 21 explode.
Hambleton parachuted into the middle of more than 30,000 troops pouring across the border into South Vietnam. When Hambleton's URC-64 rescue radio beeped, Jankowski responded, and was surprised to learn that Hambleton was above him descending in his parachute. Jankowski followed Hambleton down. Hambleton was concealed by a low fog bank as he landed in a dry rice paddy, unseen by the PAVN troops.
As Jankowski observed Hambleton land, his aircraft came under heavy antiaircraft fire. He was astonished at the huge number of PAVN troops, equipment, and heavy weapons in the area. Hambleton found refuge in a group of bushes in the middle of the rice paddy. PAVN troops were less than away. Jankowski fixed Hambleton's location north of the Cam Lo Bridge and just north of TL-88, a major east–west secondary road.
Kempton and Jankowski relayed Hambleton's coordinates to King 22, a HC-130 search and rescue (SAR) aircraft operating just south of Quảng Trị. Recovering Hambleton quickly was essential, as the odds of recovering downed airmen dropped below twenty percent if the aircrew member was on the ground after four hours. But their efforts would be severely hampered by the huge number of troops and large quantity of anti-aircraft fire in the area, some of it supporting the PAVN's efforts to capture and protect the Cam Lo Bridge near Hambleton's position.
At about the same time that Hambleton was shot down, Capt. John Ripley, adviser to the Vietnamese 3rd Marine Battalion, blew up the key Highway QL-1 bridge over the Cua Viet River, east of Hambleton's position, at Đông Hà. The PAVN re-routed thousands of troops, dozens of tanks and other equipment west along TL-88, immediately in front of Hambleton's position, to the Cam Lo River bridge to the west.
Intelligence value Hambleton had more than 20 years of military service. He had served in the Army Air Force as a radio operator during World War II, though not in combat. After World War II, he was recalled to active service by the USAF in the early 1950s. During the Korean War he flew 43 combat missions as a navigator in a B-29 bomber. He then worked during the 1960s on various USAF ballistic missile projects including the PGM-19 Jupiter, Titan I ICBM and Titan II ICBM. He had been the deputy chief of operations for the USAF Strategic Air Command 390th Strategic Missile Wing before the Vietnam War.
In April 1972 he was reassigned from the SAC to TAC and to the 42nd TEWS, 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, at Korat, Thailand. He was familiar with targeting both SAC missiles and SAC airplanes, was one of the most knowledgeable missile and electronic counter-measures experts in Vietnam, and it is likely that his situation was quickly reported to U.S. intelligence services. Very few Americans remained on the ground in Vietnam, and the PAVN made it a point to track particularly valuable personnel, even in Thailand.
The North Vietnamese were probably supported by the Russians with decrypting American message traffic and they likely knew exactly who had parachuted into their midst. This ability was likely enabled by the then unknown American spy CWO John Anthony Walker, who had given the Soviets a radio cipher card and other high-value intelligence. Hambleton's capture would be a terrific blow to American airpower around the world and a huge prize for the North Vietnamese and indirectly, the Soviets. Hambleton said after the war that he felt sure if he were captured that he would never have been taken to Hanoi.
Air rescue attempts
Hambleton had received water survival training at Turkey Run, Florida, and escape and evasion training and survival basics at the Pacific Air Command Jungle Survival School in the Philippines.