Chapter 5Security Restrictions Security requirements will not allow the inclusion of the full record of the accomplishments of the USAF ARDF program in this study. Airborne Radio Direction Finding has the preponderant role in the intelligence picture used by the ground commander, but ARDF, in itself, is not the full picture. Even the "front end" personnel in the TEWS are only generally aware of the effectiveness of their mission. Maj. Gen. Gordon Blood, Deputy Chief of Staff/ Operations, 7AF, advised the TEWS parent unit, the 460th TRW, on 28 September 1967:
Security Squadron, oral feedback of information obtained at weekly scheduling meetings, and congrat- ulatory messages from MACV, although not completely satifying, must suffice." This account is similarly limited to the sources mentioned by General Blood. As such, it must be a "mixed bag". Reactions of Comsumer The ground war in Vietnam is largely one of small, but bitter actions. the major contribution of ARDF has been in its assistance to the ground commander in anticipating enemy movements before such actions begin. On those rare occasions when battles on a larger scale have occured, such as during the 1968 TET Offensive, ARDF has played a correspondinly large role.
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