Thanks,

Puma - out

194th Fighter Squadron
GangNeung Airbase, South Korea
July 13, 2000

The air and ground campaign has been going very well since our offensive started. Allied forces have besieged Pyongyang and it should fall any day. The battle around Wonsan has not gone quite so well. North Korean forces in the area have been heavily reinforced by crack Chinese troops and Chinese SU27s have made flying in the area extremely hazardous. I have been flying A10s with the 25th in support of our Pyongyang campaign and have thoroughly enjoined flying the Hog. My squadron has rained iron bombs, mavericks and napalm on the North Korean army. Our focus has shifted to the attack on Wonsan as enemy troops in this area are in serious need of attention from allied air. After my last mission in the area I was forced to make for the divert field at Gangneung due to battle damage. While waiting for my plane to be serviced I walked over to the operations area of the 194th where I had some old buddies from the F16 community. Setting around smoking and joking with the boys of the 194th, of course I had to endure all the hog jokes. Since I had several hours to kill and the 194th had sorties scheduled throughout the day, I was able to finagle a ride in one of their vipers. The task was to search and destroy enemy ground units back up near Wonsan. Since I was still rated as a F16 strike leader I was allowed to lead the flight. The load out was pre-determined:

6 AGM Mavericks
4 MK77 Napalm
1 ALQ Jamming pod
2 AIM 120 Amraams
2 AIM 9m Sidewinders

Our call sign for this mission will be Serpent71 and 72. There is no escort as we can handle our own air-to-air defense.

During the briefing we go over pertinent radio frequencies, emergency procedures, threats in the target area, etc. There will be no diverting field as GangNeung is the closet allied airfield in the area to the FEBA. I spend a little more time with the preflight inspection, as it has been some time since I flew the viper but once I am satisfied that the plane is mission ready I climb the ladder and, with the assistance of the crew chief, I strap in. The F16C cockpit seems like a space ship compared to A10 but all is familiar for me and after the start up procedure we are taxiing to runway 26. We hold short of the runway, number 3, and 4 for takeoff, a Barcap flight preceded us. After the Barcap had cleared the runway we were given permission to take off. I push the throttle forward slightly and inch onto the runway. Once I am lined up on the centerline I push beyond the military power detent and dump fuel into my engine. Flame shoots out the tail of my viper and my body is pushed hard against the seat and headrest. I have forgotten how much thrust the F16 produces and almost wait to long to raise my gear. I get the gear retracted just before reach a speed that would damage them. After getting safely airborne I call for 72 to close up and we swing north towards Wonsan.

Our flight is uneventful for the first several minutes there is much air activity but after interrogating many of the contact it is clear that we own this part of the Korean sky. As we push further north things start to change a bit. With my radar looking out to 80 miles many of the contacts are enemy airplanes. Or target area is not that far north and there are some allied fighters up there keeping the North Korean and Chinese fighters busy. When we are within 20 miles of the target area I notice flashes on the horizon and see tracers flying horizontally across the ground, all indicators of a ground battle in progress. I bring my radar to GMT mode and make my mavericks the active weapon. Swinging my target designator over the enemy column I give my wingman the order to attack. After he closes a little on the target he calls " Rifle, Rifle, Rifle," sending mavericks into the column. I see what appears to be a SAM site and decide that that is the greater threat. I send a couple mavericks into the site and follow up with a napalm canister for good measure. Once the SAMs are on fire I turn back towards the ground battle, just as 72’s bombs hit the column. It looks like 72 did a pretty good job on the enemy armor formation so I decide we should continue to push north and search for more targets. I call 72 to rejoin and we continue north. It does not take long before we are presented with more targets. A very long line of enemy logistics comes within view of my GMT radar and I lock up the lead vehicle and fire a maverick. I then give 72 the attack my target command as I line the target up for a napalm run. I am lined up to fly the length of the column but from about 7 miles out I release the last of my mavericks. I start a shallow dive and adjust my death dot just as 72s napalm hits the column in the same area I was shooting for. I adjust further down the column and punch off a pair of bombs I pull up, banking hard and strain to get a look at my impact site. What I see is not good! A smoke trail coming up from the ground was and tracking my airplane. I have made a major mistake, flying below 10000 feet on my attack run, a nice target for any soldier with an SA7 on his shoulder (To much Hog driving for me). I pump flares out of the back of my jet but I have lost too much energy in my quest to see my bombs impact and the missile detonates near my right rear quarter.

My HUD instantly goes out, as do both of my MFDs. Instinctively I reach down and punch off my remaining ordnance and racks. I climb to safety and call for 72 to rejoin. My plane seems to be flying ok but every so often my controls go spastic and I have to make a large correction to put her back on course. As we approach Gangneung I have not decided if I should try to land the jet or leave it. I decide that the plane is flying well enough for me to at least make one try at landing. I give 72 the return to base command and then I contact the tower and declare an emergency. I get permission for a straight in approach and pull back on my throttle, pop out the brakes and reduce to landing speed. All is going well I have the proper speed, my rate of decent is correct and I an on the glide path. I drop my gear just before crossing the threshold of the runway but when I do so my plane pitches up suddenly. I have no idea what caused this, something from the battle damage I’m sure, but I push the throttle to full afterburner to avoid stalling. I put my gear back in the retracted position and abort the landing. I contemplate another attempt just as my plane pitches again. "The hell with this," I contact the tower and inform them that I cannot make a safe landing. I continue south to an uninhabited area, radio my position, and punch out. Before I hit the ground a UH-60 is hovering near my position.

The mission was rated as excellent as between us 72 and I destroyed 21 vehicles. Following our mission debrief our intelligence briefs that they have been intercepting some strange radio traffic out of Pyongyang. They did not go into any great detail but we were told to insure that our Nuclear Biological and Chemical (NBC) fighting procedures were well practiced (not the kind of information you want to end your day with).

Maj. Arnold "Puma" Bell
194th Fighter Squadron
Gangneung, South Korea
July 13, 2000