A Vietnam War era 552nd AEW & C "Big Eye" Task Force patch

[Patchcollector]

Happy Friday all,
Here from my collection is an Air Force piece for the 552nd Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing.This unit flew the Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star,a large prop driven Militarized version of the Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation.It was designed to serve as an airborne early warning system to supplement the Distant Early Warning Line, using two large radomes, a vertical dome above and a horizontal one below the fuselage. EC-121s were also used for intelligence gathering (SIGINT).

These Aircraft were very useful to our Forces during the Vietnam War.

 

 

Here is some WIKI info I found about the unit and how these interesting planes were utilized:

Vietnam War
EC-121s were used extensively in Southeast Asia between 16 April 1965, and 1 June 1974, particularly in support of Operation Rolling Thunder and Operation Linebacker/Linebacker II to provide radar early warning and limited airborne control of USAF fighter forces engaging MiG interceptors.Flying orbits over the Gulf of Tonkin and later over Laos, they were the forerunners of Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft. The U.S. Navy used a variant,the NC-121 in their Blue Eagle unit from 1965–1972. The Blue Eagles were radar jamming and radio broadcast airplanes. The Blue Eagles were based in Patuxent River MD and were part of oceangraphic squadron VXN-8.

Big Eye
At the onset of Rolling Thunder, the North Vietnamese had an advantage in that their radar coverage could detect most U.S. strike aircraft flying at 5000 feet or above virtually anywhere in the country, using a system that was difficult to jam. U.S. forces countered with radar ships (Crown) in the Gulf of Tonkin and a ground site at Nakhon Phanom RTAFB, Thailand, but both systems were line of sight and had serious gaps in coverage.
To increase coverage the Seventh Air Force (7 AF) requested airborne radar support and the Air Defense Command (redesignated Aerospace Defense Command in 1968) was directed to set up the Big Eye Task Force. Five EC-121Ds and 100 support personnel of the 552nd AEWCW at McClellan Air Force Base, California, were deployed to Tainan Air Station, Taiwan, with four of the EC-121s sent on to a forward operating location at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, near Saigon, Republic of Vietnam.
The EC-121s were designed for detection of aircraft flying over water, and ground clutter (spurious signal returns off of terrain features such as mountains) caused interference with their radar pictures. Their crews, however, were experienced in tracking Soviet aircraft over Cuba and had developed a technique whereby an EC-121 flying at 50 to 300 feet could bounce a signal from its bottom-mounted APS-95 Search radar off the surface of the water and detect aircraft at medium altitudes out to 150 miles. Operating in pairs, one Big Eye EC-121 flew a 50-mile race track pattern approximately 30 miles offshore (the Alpha orbit), with the orbit's center at 19°25′N 107°25′E. The second flew a track at 10,000 ft (the Bravo orbit) farther from the coast, acting as a spare for the Alpha EC-121.
This provided a practical detection range of 100 miles, just enough to cover the Hanoi urban area and the main MiG base at Phúc Yên. A major disadvantage of this arrangement, however, was that most MiG contacts were beyond the 70-mile range of the Big Eye's APS-45 Height Finder radar, so that they were unable to provide this crucial data to USAF strike forces. Furthermore, technical shortcomings in the EC-121D's systems precluded either controlling a fighter intercept or identifying a specific flight under attack.
The missions from Tan Son Nhut began 21 April 1965, using the call signs Ethan Alpha and Ethan Bravo, which became standard. After refueling at Da Nang Air Base, Ethan Alpha made a wave-top approach to its orbit station, where it remained five hours. Because of the threat of MiG interception, EC-121s were protected by a MiGCAP of Lockheed F-104 Starfighters, and if for any reason the MiGCAP could not rendezvous, the EC-121s cancelled their mission. Air conditioning systems aboard the EC-121 were virtually useless in this profile and the heat produced by the electronics, combined with the threat of being shot down, made Alpha orbit missions in particular highly stressful.On 10 July 1965, in its first airborne-controlled interception, an EC-121 provided warning to a pair of U.S. F-4C fighters, resulting in the shooting down of two MiG-17s.

The Big Eye Task Force remained at Tan Son Nhut until February 1967, when the threat of Viet Cong ground attacks prompted a move to Thailand.

 

On 1 March 1967, Big Eye was renamed College Eye Task Force and relocated at Ubon RTAFB.

 

On 1 July 1974, the Air Force redesignated the 552d Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing as the 552d Airborne Warning and Control Group when it was downsized to a single squadron.

The patch is hand embroidered,and incountry made.Notice the long,densely woven thread on the blue background.I have a few pieces in my collection that exhibit this style of embroidery.This IMO was an uncommon method of manufacture due to the excessive use of materials.

[Patchcollector]

Back view

[nguoi tien su]

Nice one.

[Squeaker]

Very nice! I missed this post the first time. My uncle was on board one of the first ships that searched for survivors of the EC-121 shot down by North Korea in '69.

[Patchcollector]

Thanks for the comments guys.

 

Squeaker,it must have been a very tense time for your Uncle.I'm sure he was probably wondering if more attacks would come.

 

The treacherous,cowardly shooting down on 15 April 1969 (Korean time) of the unarmed Navy VQ-1 EC-121/WV-2 Aircraft,Callsign Deep Sea 129 is a sad event in Military history.The entire crew,31 brave men, perished.

 

North Korea not only acknowledged the shoot down, they loudly and boastfully celebrated their action.

 

 

Here are the names of the crew of Deep Sea 129:

 

LCDR James H. Overstreet, LT John N. Dzema, LT Dennis B. Gleason, LT Peter P. Perrottey, LT John H. Singer, LT Robert F. Taylor, * LTJG Joseph R. Ribar, LTJG Robert J. Sykora, LTJG Norman E. Wilkerson, ADRC Marshall H. McNamara, CTC Frederick A. Randall, CTC Richard E. Smith, * AT1 Richard E. Sweeney, AT1 James Leroy Roach, CT1 John H. Potts, ADR1 Ballard F. Conners, AT1 Stephen C. Chartier, AT1 Bernie J. Colgin, ADR2 Louis F. Balderman, ATR2 Dennis J. Horrigan, ATN2 Richard H. Kincaid, ATR2 Timothy H. McNeil, CT2 Stephen J. Tesmer, ATN3 David M. Willis, CT3 Philip D. Sundby, AMS3 Richard T. Prindle, CT3 John A. Miller, AEC LaVerne A. Greiner, ATN3 Gene K. Graham, CT3 Gary R. DuCharme, SSGT Hugh M. Lynch,(US Marine Corps) [* Recovered]

 

 

Here is a link to the site where I found the info,and image:

 

https://www.navalhistory.org/2010/04/15/15-april-1969-deep-sea-129-shootdown

 

 

 

 

Here is an artists rendition of what the final moments of Deep Sea 129 must have looked like:

[Randy]

The crews that did the searching and fighter alerts had a patch done. Note anchor on the EC-121 and angel's wings. Pueblo II was a reference to the ship seizure that happened in 1968, also by North Korea. I have no idea what's on the sign though.

 

Randy

[Patchcollector]

The crews that did the searching and fighter alerts had a patch done. Note anchor on the EC-121 and angel's wings. Pueblo II was a reference to the ship seizure that happened in 1968, also by North Korea. I have no idea what's on the sign though.

 

Randy

 

Amazing patch.Thanks for posting it.The symbolism speaks volumes.I could be wrong,but to me it looks like it may be "U.S.?" written on the sign.

[Randy]

 

Amazing patch.Thanks for posting it.The symbolism speaks volumes.I could be wrong,but to me it looks like it may be "U.S.?" written on the sign.

 

Could be. Looks like a question mark after. Maybe a white flag symbolizing the US essentially not retaliating? Wish I knew for sure.

 

Randy

 

[smwinter207]

Another version:

[firefighter]

Another version:

 

Saw that one on eBay.That had a whole different designation.Something really weird, they had the '&' as an 'E'.

[Patchcollector]

 

Saw that one on eBay.That had a whole different designation.Something really weird, they had the '&' as an 'E'.

 

And the last letter should be a "C". The correct unit designation was "552nd AEW & C " I too saw that one on eBay recently.It looks OK,just has the typos.