The Warner Robbins Air Materiel Area (WRAMA), now the Warner Robbins Air Logistics Center, was the USAF organization responsible for the development and oversight of the EC-47 program, beginning with project HAWK EYE in 1962. Located a few miles south of Macon, Georgia, Warner Robbins remains one of the largest facilities of its type in the country.
The WRAMA history of the EC-47 describes in detail the challenges, technical and otherwise, faced in converting the WWII Goony Bird into an electronic warfare platform. It is not an operational history. Nonetheless, some of the modifications are interesting—for example, the HAWK EYE aircraft was originally intended to be equipped with a camera, the idea apparently being to photograph the ARDF fix location for further study.
Chapter three, “Project Red Chief”, relates to a separate program, possibly under the aegis of the CIA, in which a small transmitter (or transponder) could be clandestinely placed on or in an object, presumably a vehicle, thus enabling tracking by the specially equipped C-47. Strictly speaking, Red Chief was not part of the EC-47 ARDF project, but we’ve left the story as a bit of historical trivia.
Click here to view the history. To reduce the pdf file size, footnotes have been removed from this on-line version.
Article posted 17 June 2020
DISCLAIMER
We make no claim for the completeness or accuracy of the contents herein, nor can we advise as to an individual veteran's entitlement to the ribbons accompanying these unit awards or how to obtain such information.
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Both the TEWS (front end) and 6994th Security Squadron (back end) units received multiple awards and citations during their service in Southeast Asia. The 6994th and its detachments laid claim to being the most decorated unit in USAFSS history. The tables below were extracted from Air Force Pamphlet AFP 36-2801, vol. 2 (corrected as of 30 Jan 1989) superseding AFP 900-2, which listed most of the Vietnam War awards. We'll update if/when better info comes to hand.
How to interpret the tables:
1. The numbers in parentheses indicate the campaigns in which the unit participated. (See chart above.) In the case of the 6994th, the original campaign streamers are in the custody of the 94th Intellignce Squadron, Ft. Meade, Maryland. However, the Herritage Chapter (San Angelo, TX) of the Freedom Through Vigilance Association (FTVA) purchased exact replicas to be used at squadron reunions or other functions.
2. PUC = Presidential Unit Citation; AFOUA = AF Outstanding Unit Award; W/V = with V device (Valor); RVN GC W/P = RVN Gallantry Cross with palm leaf.
3. Inclusive dates for which the award was made.
4. DAFSO = Dept. of the Air Force Special Order. GB - XXX/YY = Special Order number/year issued.
The write-in for the 361st is for the PUC, 1 Sep 72 - 22 Feb 73, S.O. GN-46, no year noted.
Click HERE for the orders we currently possess relating to the 6994th Security Squadron. There may be discrepancies between the listing above and the orders themselves. Again, we'll update/correct if additional info comes to light.
Article updated 10 March 2020
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Uploaded 19 April 2019
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The SIGINT community is notoriously loath to completely declassify it's historical materials, even documents over a half-century old. But thanks to an FOIA request submitted in 2015 by Dr. Christine Lamberson of the Angelo State University History Department, we have now received copies of almost all the 6994th Security Squadron histories, including those of the detachments. Beginning in January, 1966, these classified, limited distribution histories were compiled and published twice yearly, representing the periods 1 January-30 June and 1 July-31 December.
The format of the histories, which varied somewhat over the years, appears to have been dictated by USAFSS Headquarters in San Antonio. The first chapter was generally titled “Mission and Organization”, followed by “Tasking and Collection”, then one or two more chapters dealing with “Processing and Reporting” and occasionally one-time topics such as “Special Projects” or “Hostile Activities.” For the years 1966 through 1968, the detachment histories are embedded within the main 6994th histories, along with the histories for the ARDF Coordination Center (ACC) when those histories were included.
The quantity and quality of operational details—that is, mission objectives and results—vary greatly. For instance, the early histories contain a fair amount of data relating to supported ground operations which, when viewed side-by-side with contemporary After Action Reports and “official” war histories written years later, make it possible to “connect the dots” and understand the impact our EC-47 crews and their support functions made on the conduct of the war. Some histories contain fewer operational details but shed light on the technical, tactical, and political considerations which influenced EC-47 operations.
The supporting documents appended to most of the histories represent the documentary foundation around which the histories were written. Unfortunately, much of this material remains redacted due, apparently, to the various intelligence "equities" involved, each of which must separately agree to release "their" material—a process that would add years to the already interminable delays encountered in receiving answers to an FOIA request. Regardless, these unit histories probably represent the nearest thing to an ongoing account of the SIGINT aspects of EC-47 operations—written more or less as the events occurred—that still exists.
By the fall of 1971 the drawdown of U.S. forces in Vietnam was well underway. The 460th Tac Recon Wing stood down on 31 August; the TEWS were subordinated to the 483d Tactical Airlift Wing, presumably to consolidate units flying prop-driven aircraft. When the 483d in turn went away, the remaining EC-47 squadrons were assigned to separate 7th Air Force wings. Det 1 of the 6994th (Phu Cat) was inactivated on 31 October, its personnel absorbed by Det 2 at Da Nang. Det 3 continued to operate out of NKP.
The histories from 1966 through 1971 are linked below. Histories not received are so indicated. Whether these were never written, have been lost, or simply not yet declassified, we don't know. The post-1968 histories are larger files. As a matter of convenience and to shorten download times the detachment histories have been extracted and processed as separate files. (Beginning with 1970, Det histories were received separately.) To reduce file size, some supporting documents have been extracted as well.
NOTE: These files may be viewed in your web browser. However, the histories have been booked-marked for easy access to the various sections. For optimum viewing, right-click on the link then "Save link as ... " to a location on your hard drive.
At the end of November, 1972, operations at Tan Son Nhut ceased. The 6994th moved to NKP, while Det 2 hung on at Da Nang until the end of February when it was inactivated. By that time, all USAF EC-47 operations had moved to NKP. Listed are the histories for that timeframe:
6994th History, January-June, 1972
6994th History, July-December, 1972 (Not Received. Unit moved to NKP 1 Dec 1972)
Det 2 History, January-June, 1972 *
Det 2 History, July-December, 1972 (Inactivated 28 Feb 1973)
Det 3 History, January-June, 1972
Det 3 History, July-December, 1972 (Not Received)
6994th History, January-June, 1973
6994th History, July-December, 1973 (Not Received)
6994th/Det 3 History, July 1973-January 1974
? ? ? January-May, 1974 ? ? ?
In January, 1974, operations moved from NKP to Ubon Royal Thai AFB. The last USAF EC-47 missions flew from Ubon on 15 May 1974. In 1971, the South Vietnamese began training to take over 33 Electric Goons and by late 1972 the lone VNAF EC-47 squadron was operational. When Saigon fell on 30 April 1975, those EC-47s still flyable took off for Thailand, just ahead of onrushing NVA troops.
If you can elaborate on some aspect of these histories, or if you have a comment or question, by all means let us know!
Historical Resume
USAF Airborne Radio Direction Finding
Its Development and Use
April 1962 – 31 May 1968
This document represents one of the few USAFSS‐generated studies which has made its way into the public domain essentially as it was written. It is one of several background documents used in the writing of the 1968 project CHECO report, The EC‐47 in Southeast Asia, which is linked elsewhere on the site.
Although the original classification markings were never lined out, the document is now UNCLASSIFIED.
The narrative ends rather abruptly (chapters 3 and 4 are missing) but includes 40 or so pages of ARDF feedback data provided to the 6994th and/or the TEWS. The files linked below are scans of second or third generation photostatic copies in the archives of the USAF Historical Research Agency (AFHRA) at Maxwell AFB, Alabama. Many of the pages are of such poor quality that reading is difficult. Even under magnification a few words remain illegible.
- Click HERE to view the narrative portion of the document as scanned.
- Click HERE to view a transcript, produced in typescript font to preserve a sense of the orginal document's appearance.
Probably the most interesting and historically valuable portions of this short paper are feedback reports from supported ground units, dating from 1967-68, which were inserted towards the end of the narrative. Some pages are practically illegible, but others tell of specific actions taken by ground units in response to ARDF fixes taken by EC-47 crews. In some instances, crew members are named. In the feedback for March, 1968, for example, we find that
A fix obtained by the crew of Podonsky, Weggers, Hawkins, Veal, McDullough, O’Neill, Jordan, Valdez and Borselino that fell within the operation area of the VC 5th Light Infantry Division was hit with a B-52 strike, one day after their fix on the 25th. A FAC [forward air controller] conducted BDA [bomb damage assessment] after the strike and found all ordnance on target with 7 tunnels uncovered, 2 large trench complexes uncoverd and numerous fighting positions uncovered.
Click on the links below to view these feedback reports, scanned from hard copy made at AFHRA almost twenty years ago. (Note: These are PDF files ranging in size from 1 to approximagtely 2.5 kb and may be slow to load.)
#1 Feedback, May-July 1967, based on Army after action reports
#2 Two feedback reports, September & November 1967
#3 Feedback from December 1967 and January 1968 (Contains some crew names)
#4 After Action Report from Operation Shenandoah II (Poor legibility)
#5 Fragmented report from the 25th Infantry Division
#6 Feedback from January 1968 (Contains some crew names)
#7 Feedback from February 1968
#8 Feedback from March 1968 (Contains some crew names)
#9 More feedback from March 1968 (Contains some crew names)
Almost 50 years after the events, these reports may well represent the most detailed accounts still surviving of the impact made by the Electric Goon on the ground war in South Vietnam.