Chapter 5USAF ARDF Program Matures: 1967-1968 The USAF ARDF program reached its full proportions in 1967, as the programmed 47 EC-47 aircraft became available. They flew 10,891 sorties during 1967, of which 2,574 were flown over Laos and 478 in the area off North Vietnam. By August 1967, the crews would point to a record of 25,000 fixes and 10,000 missions, since the program begun in May 1966. One report of the effectiveness of the EC-47 came during a conversation between Gen. William W. Momyer, Commander, 7AF, and Col. Robert G. Williams, Commander 460th TRW, in May 1967. Colonel Williams quoted General Momyer to the TEWS personnel:
the primary and basic source of intelligence in this country comes from COMPASS DART (now COMBAT COUGAR) and I want the people in these squadrons to know it." Recurring reports from the ground commanders supported General Momyer's statement. Not all of the reports are used in this study. Only those which give an insight into ARDF in one of its demensions are considered at length; other typical operations which repeat points already made are summerized. One of the war's major operations in 1967 was the two-phase Operation JUNCTION CITY in Tay Ninh Province. Several divisions, supported by 5,002 tactical air and 126 ARC LIGHT strikes, hit the enemy in an area reported to be the center of important Viet Cong activities. U.S. and Allied Forces claimes 2,728 Viet Cong and NVA dead, 99 prisoners and 137 returnee, plus a considerable amount of enemy material destroyed or captured. During the first phase of JUNCTION CITY, UASF and Army aircraft contributed 903 "immediate interest" fixes in an 1,558 ARDF total. The II Field Force planners used the fixes to plan their operations. On 5 March, an ARC LIGHT strike hit "the center of a mass of ARDF fixes". As many as476 rounds of various types of artillery fire hit six fixes over a ten-day period. In the second phase of JUNCTION CITY, there were 1869 "immediate interest" fixes in a total of 2,850. The ARDF information alerted the ground forces to an enemy move culminating in "human wave" attacks on 17 March and on 1 April. The alerted ground forces killed 777 of the enemy.
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