| Date: 31 July 1965 |
| Aircraft type: EF-10B Skyknight |
| Serial Number: 125806 |
| Military Unit: VMCJ-1, MAG-11 |
| Service: USMC |
| Home Base: Da Nang |
| Name(s): |
| 1Lt Milton Keith McNulty (KWF) |
| CWO Vernard Jay Small (KWF) |
| In March 1965 the US Marines began to build up their base at Da Nang and brought in the first of its jet squadrons. Marine Aircraft Group 16 was formed on 9 March and an advanced command post of the 1st Marine Air Wing was established on 11 May to control the Marine squadrons at Da Nang as they arrived. The first fixed wing unit to deploy was VMFA-531 which arrived on 10 April with 15 F-4B Phantoms to provide close air support for Marine operations in I Corps. The Phantoms would also be available for operations in North Vietnam when required. The second jet unit to arrive was VMCJ-1, a composite squadron equipped with six ancient EF-10B Skyknights and a few RF-8A Crusaders. The EF-10Bs arrived on 10 April to be followed by the rest of the Squadron later in the month. The Crusaders provided photographic reconnaissance but the Skyknights, a Korean War-vintage aircraft, were specially modified to provide electronic countermeasures support and electronic intelligence gathering. VMCJ-1 flew its first ECM mission from Da Nang on 21 April. The Skyknights operated in both North and South Vietnam and were particularly useful for locating and jamming enemy fire control radars used by AAA and SAM units. MAG-11 arrived at Da Nang on 7 July and the fixed-wing squadrons on the airfield were assigned to it a few days later.
VMCJ-1 lost its first EF-10B during a night ECM mission when one of the aircraft flew into the sea off Da Nang soon after taking off. The crash was thought to have been accidental, rather than caused by hostile action. |
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