F-4G Wild Weasel in Desert Storm: Spike Benyshek

[@Tunafisher69]

"Tuna" Fisher here (fourth from the left, front row, kneeling in the squadron photo from 1991, part of the PEF and attached to the 81st for the war). I have some corrections/additions/embellishments to add to some of the stories Spike told about flying out of Turkey in 1994 for Provide Comfort (protecting the Kurds in northern Iraq). Being crewed with Spike for this deployment was highly entertaining. We both have a fairly similar sense of humor, so we had about as much fun as you can have drilling holes in the sky waiting for something to happen (and it never did during that deployment). First, our MiG story. We both liked the idea of being the first F-4 to shoot down a MiG since the Yom Kippur War, and the first American F-4 since Vietnam to do so. There was no AWACS supporting us that day if I remember right, and we were weapons free, meaning that if the MiG went north of the 36th Parallel in violation of the no-fly zone, then we could shoot him. We fully intended to do that. We were fangs out, ready to do so. I had identified him as a MiG-21 based upon the radar he was using (our detection system was fantastic), and we tracked him, ready to shoot as he flew north towards us. In my memory, he turned a mere mile short of the line, and flew west, parallel to the line, before turning south. Damn! We can't shoot him! He then turns eastbound, then north, then descends, slowing down. We continue to track him, and he continues north, speeds up, and climbs. We get excited again, ready to shoot, when he repeats his turn to the west and then south. As we watch this repeat, we realized this poor gomer wasn't trying to mess with us. He was in a practice pattern for his airbase, just doing low approaches. But if he had screwed up and flown one more mile to the north.....! As for using the speed brake wells to drop stuff, we dropped more than just sea dye markers. We also took pork patties from our MREs and stuffed them in the speed brake wells. We would drop down from high altitude over northern Iraq, boom the Iraqis (we were later told to stop doing this by our "bosses"), and then approach the Iraqi army troops doing their early morning calisthenics in formation. We came from behind, at about 600 knots and at 100 feet above the ground, and fanned open the speed brakes, ejecting the pork patties into the turbulent mass of air and "atomizing" them into pork dust over the troops below us. We felt we were somehow dissing them/defiling them based upon their beliefs. Of course, they had no idea, but just surprising them at 600 knots and 100 feet was enough to scare the crap out of them and make them scatter. Loads of fun. One more related story. We grew bored of sea dye markers and pork patties and wanted to do something more outrageous. We had noticed a concrete windowless building below us during several missions and deduced that this was the sector operations center (SOC) for the local Iraq air defense district. What a great target! But booming them wasn't enough. The thick concrete walls would dull the sound of our jet passing overhead. What to do? We decided to take some D-cell batteries and load them into the speed brake well, and then perform a low angle bomb pass on the SOC, dropping the batteries. But it didn't work. The batteries got stuck on some ridges in the speed brake well. So, this was my moment of brilliant inspiration. I suggested we use some oranges and grapefruit from the chow hall. Insert a battery, wrap it in duct tape, and place in the speed brake well. By doing this, the fruit would roll out freely, and once it hit the airstream it would "vaporize", leaving the battery to continue the trajectory and impact the SOC. It worked like a champ. Imagine being inside a concrete block building when about 10 D-cell batteries going 500 knots hit the side of the building. I imagine it was quite noisy. I doubt if they penetrated far into the concrete, but still........ BTW, most of the upside-down flying was done by me and Spike, not our wingman. For some reason Spike loved to hang in the straps. I was not so fond of it. Many more stories, not enough time to type them all out.

[@jettsetter7]

Awesome, thank you for sharing, I love to get my eyes on every F-4 story I can. My grandfather was shot shown 03/21/1968 and killed on a night mission bombing a truck convoy in Laos in an F-4D. Last word’s were “FAC’s in sight, 4’s in.” Next thing FAC observes is 2, 37mm positions open up and my grandfather presumably flew right into their kill box. Both pilots dead before they even hit the earth. They were both 25 years old. Shitty thing is Lead had already made 2 passes. Damn gomers were zeroed in and ready for the third one. Not to mention by 68 the NVA had every American encrypted radio compromised in would listen in. After my grandfather’s shoot down, his squadron stopped announcing their roll in and would do steeper dive angles than the sketchy night time 30 degree dive angle.

[@Tunafisher69]

Wow, your gramps must have been something else. Something to be very proud of.

[@jettsetter7]

@@Tunafisher69 He sure was. He was on his 70th something mission and was due to meet my grandmother in Hawaii in 1 week. DPAA believes they found the crash site no remains were recovered. He flew with General “Boots” Blesse many a times.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

@@jettsetter7 I heard Boots speak at Spangdahlem around 1992. He was a legend, and impressive.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

@@jettsetter7 …and a nickel on the grass for your Grandpa and his pilot…

[@sennen222]

Great podcast, one of your best guests! These long chats are very absorbing, and the photos add an extra dimension

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Thanks! Planning one on the T-38 next Spring.

[@solarwizzo8667]

Having been a HARM shooter WSO myself with the German ECR´s from Lechfeld, I really enjoy to listen to your WEASEL related podcasts. Brings back many memories!

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Vielen Dank! 😎

[@Bsquared1972]

During Desert Storm I was a KC10 Boom Operator, and we often supported the Weasel Ops. One mission we took off from our base at Jeddah and met the F4Gs around Kuwait, and flew up the Saudi border with them. If they picked up a radar, they would tell us "Orbit here" and off they would go into the night (it was about 2am). They would come back with some of their HARMs gone, and we would continue up the border until they told us to orbit and wait for them. They ended up shooting almost all their missiles that night, then we drug them back to around Kuwait, keeping them topped off. What a great aircraft.

[@dawightg9787]

The Fact is the Phantoms problems in Vietnam wasn’t due to it couldn’t manuver.. But that the Phantoms had to engage in Gunfights with missiles that failed 90% of the time with pilots who wasn’t trained to Dogfight Due to the BVR ONLY Doctrine of that day. However when you had WWII pilots who knew how to Dogfight they would became ACEs in the phantoms, and when had Dan Pedersen the founder of Top Gun and the other trained Top Gun phantom pilots who was able to change the ratio from a 2:1 to 24:1 with the phantoms during the end of the Vietnam war ( which you never hear about) combined with the outstanding job of the Wild Weasels , I would say you would be hard pressed to find a greater all around Fighter than the F4 Phantom !

[@scottherrmann9050]

Back again...and delighted to say so! Brilliant interview~! Better screen presentation than the OV-10 bit, I can see his pointer!! Sooo cool! Spike, you should be a public speaker if you're not already! Man, I love these stories! I've shared this string of stories with ALOT of my pals! Keep up the good work! God Bless!!

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Thanks, Scott, I appreciate it! ☺

[@juliussokolowski4293]

Hands down, THE best military aviation content on YT.

[@mlcochran78]

Agree wholeheartedly

[@gotanon9659]

I mean he is a well known Mil aviation author.

[@mattbushman9622]

Absolutely 💯

[@kuryakin2483]

Just want to add this was an amazing presentation. Bravo to both involved and thank you! I was at Clark AB in 1990 and loved watching the F4s.

[@stearman]

This is hands down the best interview I have seen since I came home from desert storm. I was a wild weasel crew chief at George Air Force Base. This brings back so many memories that I can’t count them. What an honor to have served with these men. It was always humorous to me that after that Spang jet crashed from fuel starvation, and they took the wings off, put it on a flatbed trailer, and some local rear ended the truck that was carrying this plane back to base it, I took photos of the airplane sitting there in a pile, but I never pilfered through it. It was just a relic of the war in which we kicked ass.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Thank you, Stearman! I still have a few pieces of 571, and the loss of that airplane I put squarely on 1. Tanker planners who put too many jets in one place, and 2. AWACS not telling my wingman: “Hey, don’t go to KKMC…the VFR wx forecast actually went zero-zero, and the Army accidentally cut the electrical cable to the runway lights and ILS.” 😡 Incidentally, we tried to smuggle the tail of 571 back to Spang to put in the squadron bar…we put it on a pallet, and were going to cover it with mobility bags. 😝 But…it was a little too big, and a corner of it stuck out. So, we sadly left it behind. 😢😭

[@StephenBogdan-nv3iu]

I miss you guys. I was at Spang from 92 to 94. I was the music teacher at Spang Middle Sch. I also ran the Evangelical Protestant Chapel Choir. I had a boat load of you guys who played along with my school kids in the school band. We'd shoot the yearbook pictures under your jets and had to make sure that the kids were in front of the pods that weren't to be photographed. When Col. Brake found out what a Weenie Wannabe I was, he had your Squadron CO stick me in the Link "stimulator." What a blast. Aerial refueling...shoot a bogie and I even landed without crashing. Yep. I finally did get my pilot's license and I flew the mighty PA-28 and the macho Grumman Trainer and AA5B Tiger. You guys couldn't even get off the ground at the speeds that I flew. George Day and his wife, MaryAnn, played in both the chapel and school band. I made quite a bit of music with so many folks there. It was the best 2 years of my DoDDS career. Unfortunately, I blew the whistle on a principal in Daegu S. Korea and got fired in a pretty damnable case of due process denied. She allowed her son to access my personnel info and her husband was banging and 8th grade female student. DODEA finally canned her years later on Guam. Again, I miss you guys and the sounds of F-4s going out in burner. I worked very closely with Chaplain Steve Keith and I'm still in contact with him. You guys were a total blast. BTW, my name is Steve Bogdan but feel free to call me "Weenie." I'm a 65 year old fart now. The 6 years I spent at Zweibruecken H.S. were also good. F4 recce pukes are great guys, too. But, my Spang years were the most plain old fun.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Thanks, Steve, and sorry to hear about the troubles you had. Glad you got to fly the sim!

[@yanniskouretas8688]

I'm active duty WO in the Hellenic Air Force with 28 years of service , my dad was a pilot , I've spent my whole life in the aprons , I've listened to countless air stories (also lived some myself) but this IS GOLD !!! Fabulous Phantom !!!!

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

😎Ευχαριστώ...χαίρομαι που το απολαύσατε!

[@getyoursupervisor8519]

nonono, Yannis, its a Phabulous Phantom... :-) !

[@nick10596nb]

From the US, I'd like to thank you for your service! One of the best Air forces in the world!

[@dukecraig2402]

What do you fly? Did you fly, or still fly, F4's during your career?

[@GR-vm9qb]

Εύγε φίλε Γιάννη...

[@rebreaville9332]

Spike, I don’t think we flew together but I was at the 563d at George 86-89 and 561st at Nellis from 92-95 but was mostly flying at the 422 with Toomey and Dowden. The guys from Spang mentioned you a lot as they filtered into Nellis, especially Ned. Great memories. I was on an exchange tour 90-92 with the USN flying Prowlers off of the USS Kennedy during Desert Storm. I missed being a weasel for the war but ended up with 1000 hours as an EWO. My daughter went through Columbus when you were still there, because she mentioned there was “this legendary Weasel pilot instructing in 38s named Benyshek” (she was on the heavy track for KC10 reserve slot at Travis, now flies C-17 at McChord and A320 for Delta). You bring to life the chaos of our existence despite all of the incredible training we had. PS, I knew Star Baby really well when he got to Nellis. Great guy. Be well! Hoops.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Wow…Thanks Hoops! “Legendary Weasel in T-38s..” 😂 Holy crap…even the T-1 guys knew of me?!?!? 😳😝 I often joke that “famous and infamous are only two letters apart.” 🤣 Thanks for the kudos. Obviously I know Tooms and Ned well, and Paul Dowden was a legend, although I don’t think he and I ever met in person. It really was an honor to be a member of such an august group. Of all my assignments in the air force, the one where I maintain the most friendships is the Weasel…and students from CBM. Thanks again, and take care!

[@rebreaville9332]

@@brrrtbacheniraq873 Be well, and yes, even the T-1 crew knew about you. Ned and I were crewed up for months during OSW, great guy and we had a lot of laughs. I will never forget Ned blowing a tire on a 3 bag jet at Dharan. We were offset 3 in a 4 ship and a Saudi F-15. thought it would be cool to cut in front of us as we taxied out heavyweight. Ned jammed the brakes and said “That’s blown for sure.” The tire held out for about a quarter mile. Then we developed a list. Didn’t get to sandbox that day and Ned was furious. Which was hilarious given he was so mild mannered.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

@@rebreaville9332 😝👍🏻

[@soulmanm12954]

Hoops - Soulman here. Where you be?

[@rebreaville9332]

@@soulmanm12954 that you, Marc? Gig Harbor Washington. Love the PNW and Puget Sound. You?

[@fredhi2912]

I was a weapons loader at George AFB, CA from 1976-1980 and 1982-1991. I have 15 yrs working on the F4C/E/G.

[@yan24to]

I have an awesome photograph of an aircrew standing in front of their Ww F 4, At Mildenhall airshow 1981.

[@SailfishSoundSystem]

YGBSM. 121.5 or 243? Worked with a 2nd seater once. Cool guy.

[@lukasikmarcin]

I expected a good interview from a Weasel but this is just absolutely superb. One of the most enjoyable videos on the channel.

[@mattbushman9622]

Absolutely 💯 💯 Steve, please bring Spike back on, OV-10, T-38's... he's just a phenomenal storyteller. Wow what a great interview sir, ranks right up there with Paco and Sly. 💯❤️❤️

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

@@mattbushman9622 I plan on it! Thanks!

[@bladekeeper2]

I was a weapons loader on F-4Gs from 1990 to 1996. Started at Spandahlem and finished up with the Weasels at Nellis. I did deploy to Shaikh Isa. After the war had settled down, I remember one late night at the little “gym” we had there. Myself and another airman had a brief but enjoyable conversation with Spike that evening. That was just prior to the move to Dahran. Glad to see you are doing well sir! Thanks for the great interview!

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Thanks, Gabby! It was a lot of fun for me, and appreciate all your work getting the HARMs ready to fly!

[@DJ1BigTymer777]

Same here, Gsel 462 from 91 to 96!!! Started at Spandahlem and finished up with the Weasels at Nellis. Missed out on Shaikh Isa but got to know Dhahran/Khobar really well. D. "Joey"

[@BrandonNauta]

Spike was one of my instructors in UPT… one of the best! FILO!

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Thanks! But so far…I haven’t decoded your user-name! 😎😂🤷‍♂

[@robjansen4551]

Great stories/memories; thank you for taking the time to share them.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Thanks, Rob; you’re welcome!

[@andreinarangel6227]

One night during Desert Storm, I'm CICO in my warship. Listening to the net a strike package begins to check in the radio. All of the sudden the strike lead said ".....any beers up?", and in reply quickly said "COORS41 flight up!". The whole CIC busted up laughing!

[@katout75]

Great interview and amazing candor for Lt. Col. Benyshek. Also happy to hear the ALQ-131 EW pod did it's job and kept he and WSO safe with that SA-2 launch

[@johnsheeley8599]

Great memories Spike, thanks for this! I didn't realize we got to Spang at the same time. I think this was the best assignment (outside of being JSTARs crew) in my career. Definitely some of the best people and best experiences ever.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

It was the best, Joh, because of guys like you! 🙂🫡

[@eicjc]

Awesome episode. Definitely need to hear more from Spike on ANY subject!!

[@TheGarydl71]

Urgent Fury was Grenada in 1983; Just Cause was Panama in 1989

[@lourdesgallardo22]

13:00

[@justsmy5677]

Great interview! Good to see Spike again after all these years, we went to F-4E RTU together at George AFB.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Thanks, Smy! It was great hearing from Jason, too! Have him forward the “Jabba” story and pictures to you! 😂

[@TheSarge1991]

Man this brings back a flood of memories. I arrived at Shake Easy in early September as an augmentee to the 35th TFW. Was in transportation. We had to build the enlisted tent city to the north of the chow halls. It was MRE'S for the first month until they got the chow halls up and running. There was no South Loop until November when it was finally built. The main ramp was packed with aircraft. The Air Force had F-4G's, the Marines had A-6's from Cherry Point, F/A-18's from El Toro, and AV-8B's from Yuma. The Harriers left in early October. Watched the Patriot launch right over our heads, stood there in awe, then realized holy shit, Scud attack! Got our gas mask and chem suit on in record time. Went out and seen the bomb crater the next day, couldn't believe how big the crater was. Between Christmas and New Years was when the additional Fry's from Spang, and the RF-4's from Bergstrom and Nevada Air National Guard came in. We sent a tractor/trailer up to KKMC and loaded up the wreckage and brought it back to Isa. Was an incredible seven months of my life.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Great account, Sarge! Glad you enjoyed the pics! And yes, the tent-city supposedly had 5000 guys in it. I still have a few scraps from tail 571 that you brought back. It truly was the most memorable chapter of my life, too.

[@dutchbrotherfan1284]

The Weasley’s are my favorite have photo albums from air show 70 thru the 2000 and have an F-105G at McClellan AFB 1979

[@darrylnelson6264]

I was in tents (not intense) at the base. Nice to see some old stuff. CNN asked about the base before it was common knowledge. I came with the RF-4C's but worked all of them in shop.

[@TheMunt2000]

Yeah so. I know you like the faster planes but I am obtusely fascinated by the bronco. And that 😊platform type seems to be seeing a renaissance. So I reckon another interview on that subject would be welcome if spike is willing!

[@10percenttrue]

We recorded two hours on the OV-10 last night 🤙🏻

[@los6091]

Awesome video… very true on all details, including that Scud attack. Had it not been for the Patriot missile it would have hit us. Big crater. You could tell where the Scud went and what direction the camels took off running 😂. A day or so after that attack, I spoke the Army Patriot missile operators and I asked about the whole incident. They told me, they were on “Death Star mode”, automatic fire. When the Scud came into their sector, it automatically shot two missiles; that caught the missile crew by surprise - they were on a smoke break and “all of a sudden the battery fired”. . As the missiles took off, supersonic, they broke the sound barrier; that was the first “explosion”. Then they came into contact with the Scud, that was the next series of explosions. I think I went to the site the next day or so with SSgt. White my cameraman: 33d Combat Comm Sqdn, Tinker AFB. I was a USAF Capt, and we provided communications for the 35th TFW…

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Thanks, and thanks for your account of the attack! I was airborne and only heard about it from the guys on duty. Never heard they were outside on break! The tower-cab guys’ story was the most harrowing. 😬

[@sugarpuddin]

I remember well those Wild Weasels (SJ AFB) at Nellis in 1983. I took some photos

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Seymour was straight E-models, not Weasels, or did you mean you were a Seymour guy deployed to Nellis in 83?

[@TheNorbica]

Spike rocks! Thank you for this experience!😊

[@ronschilreff3414]

I was stationed at George AFB back in 84 to 85 as a Fuels Specialist so I guaranteed I refueled your F-4 back then. Loved being stationed at George back then. Some of my buddy’s later deployed during the Gulf War. 7:08

[@drseadog2]

Excellent interview, Spike!

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Thanks, Seapup! Coming from a Weasel Brother, it means everything!

[@rudeone4life]

Wow so nice to see this! Great story and photographs. Brings back good memories, seems just like yesterday working AMMO for all those F-4's. Thanks for posting. Paul "Rudy" Perron USAF AMMO 1981-2007 561st Deployed AMMO

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Paul, thanks for keeping us armed all those years!! (Shot 11 HARMs, two Shrikes). (And dropped a zillion BDU-33s) 😂

[@rudeone4life]

@@brrrtbacheniraq873 My pleasure. I got to George AFB, Jan 1990 and was assigned to the 21st CMU supporting the F-4E training. Went to war, came back and my squadron was already deactivated. Then moved over to the 562nd CMU and stayed there until the base deactivated. Yeah a zillion BDU-33's built! LOL... In our maintenance bay during the war we had a banner hanging up that we updated every few days, the last count I remember was over 1,000 HARMs expended. Yeah we broke out the 45s towards the end of the war and were getting ready to start building up CBU's and MK-82s but the war ended. Phantoms Phorever!

[@HarvestTexas]

OV-10 Bronco and F-4 Phantom, my favorite USAF planes. Awesome stories!

[@colocopper8464]

I spent 4 years working with the Wild Weasels both at George AFB and the gunnery range about 60 north of George, Cuddeback air-to-ground gunnery range. This was from 1975-79. For the first three years they were flying the F-105G and then in 78 started converting to the F-4G.... so there was a bit of an overlap period. By 79 the Thuds had been transferred to the Air Force Reserves.... somewhere in Georgia as I recall. So by then the F-4G were the only Weasel unit at George. Working at the Cuddeback range was something I really enjoyed, especially because it was so small and the aircraft were extremely low and close to us. Very small group of people worked there most of whom either took a Huey that flew back and forth from George once in the morning and back to pick everyone up in the evening. There was an even smaller group of people who lived at the tiny facility at Cuddeback out in the middle of the Mojave Desert totalling about 6-8 people. Great assignment.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Cuddeback was closed some time ago. I was at George from 1984-1988, and we always went to Superior Valley, about 20 miles east of Cuddeback. Everything at Cuddeback is gone now, even the tower. 😢 There may be some outlines of roads. Not sure why they moved it, but it may have had something to do with NASA’s Goldstone tracking station, and aircraft causing interference.

[@colocopper8464]

@@brrrtbacheniraq873 I have some photos of it while it was in use but don't think there's any way to post them here. At one time there was a small online site devoted to the range but I can't find it anymore.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

@@colocopper8464 If you senf them to Steve at 10%, he can forward them, and I could try to use them in the OV-10 segment when we do it.

[@edjohnson7394]

Enjoyable tales. Was after my time at Spang in the G (left in 82) but supported the Weasels from Eglin (SEAD flight) until the very end. As Spike says, best flying ever! ET

[@gascan1201]

Always great to see F-4 content. Just finished the "Tug" Wilson episodes, awesome stuff.

[@RickEllington]

Spike and LA are both friends of mine Great Videos

[@PappyGunn]

Great friggin interview. Beer and popcorn.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Thanks, Pappy!

[@bulldog282]

I love a good slide show. Thanks!

[@brucejohnston4908]

Thanks so much! 1:49:36 of the best entertainment ever!

[@TheGreekbull]

Great interview!

[@nukinhp]

Amazing interview! Nothing but respect for these flight crews of the weasel. I was lucky enough to work on the F-4G sim program for the AF from 82-96 (George, Spangdahlem, and Clark). Getting ARN-101 into the trainer was a highlight (as well as going from the 38->47 and all the various updates). I was able to finally fix the visual/sim interface so the tanker didn't jump all over the place when trying to refuel. Best job I ever had. I remember that it wasn't very often that a 'sim' sortie made it back without taking a sam/aaa hit (hard slap on the side of the trainer, kick the flight controls under the cockpit, then start taking an engine out). So glad that wasn't the typical case in the real world. Awesome jet and crews, could listen to these stories all day. Keep up the good work!

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Chris, were you the Spang Contract Sim guy, 1988-93? I used to slap the sim for SAM hits when I was working a crew onnthe console! 😝 I only remember one guy my entire time at Spang, and then they got rid of the sim, around 1993.

[@nukinhp]

@@brrrtbacheniraq873 Sorry... no. I left Spang in 86 to go to George to work on the initial anry prototype sim upgrade, then on to Clark, and finally back to Spang in 88 (last trainer to update). Back to Clark when that was done, then returned to George to work in the F-4 software support center. Then followed the G to Boise in 92.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

@@nukinhp Well you were a busy guy! Thanks for all the dedication and support!

[@bb.1062]

Spike! Another great session. It’s been a hoot watching your videos and hearing your stories. Cheers, Jason 🍻

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Thanks, my friend!

[@SFsc616171]

Sir! Hello from the former Asst. Shop Chief of the 35th AMS Radar Calibration Docks, 35th TFWg, George AFB, 1977 - 1980, sir!

[@Aruchan16]

Great interview ! And the calssign "Lola" 😂. Cheeky, Spike !

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

😂🤣

[@10percenttrue]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@BChopko32]

Great episode, Spike was great.

[@davidd708]

The content of this channel NEVER disappoints! So, so good.

[@rostamr4096]

Great interview, I enjoyed it a lot...

[@lourdesgallardo22]

The Cunard Countess, the cruise ship for R&R, looked different from the fancy ship in the TV show because they were different ships. The Love Boat was not a Cunard ship but a P&O Line ship. Most of the scenes of The Love Boat were filmed onboard the Pacific Princess. I enjoyed the great number of photos used in this video. Excellent.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Thanks, and thanks for that bit of history! I figured the Tv show was mostly shot in a studio. 🙂

[@richskinns]

This interview is brilliant many thanks for sharing gents thoroughly absorbing Your channel Steve is sensational

[@10percenttrue]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@brianthomas9254]

Love the pics and the stories. I would really like to hear more about the OV-10. It was my dad’s favorite aircraft in Vietnam (marine recon) and they were still flying them when I was stationed next to New River in 1993.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Plan to do one in the near future, probably this summer.

[@laMoort]

Another magnificent episode with alot of details and stories, hopefully he'll be back for more.

[@dannybell926]

Hope you're doing well. Don't take too long of a youtube break, there's lots of people who really enjoy your videos. I admire the cap badge and that dark blue wine bottle is something special looking

[@TheKevintegra19]

Great stuff...some of the years best, “a must see” for aviation fans and those in the know about all things Weasel...”You gotta be shitting me..!”

[@charlesbukowski9836]

I am 6'3 and sat in a pit of the F4 and I felt like a jolly green giant... it was so small and uncomfortable... then I went and sat in a Viper pit and it was like sitting on my recliner at home.. it was so comfortable..

[@sidv4615]

Ever tried the Eagle Cockpit? Much bigger although less comfortable than the vipers seat.

[@samcowell7969]

Wow what memories....I was assigned to the P-3's there with ya......

[@ArdennesEindhoven]

Good stuff!! I was with 2/325 82nd Airborne over there…. 11b1p.

[@jamcdona]

James "Dibbs" Dibble says hi to Spike and anyone else in the F4G community from that era! I'll bet a few of you know each other. Dibbs is my big brother.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Hell yes I know him! Not only in F-4Gs together…but also in the OV-10! Tell him I said hi right back, “YGBSM,” and “Chicks dig Weasels.” 😎😝 He’ll know what I mean!

[@jamcdona]

@@brrrtbacheniraq873 Very Good! He's actually on a trip to Germany right now. I will screen shot this and send it to him.

[@acefox1]

Great interview! Thank you! 👏👏👏

[@forthwithtx5852]

Loved the interview!

[@kevinkocher9347]

16:02 thank you for that too funny

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

😝🤷‍♂

[@kevinkocher9347]

@@brrrtbacheniraq873 ?

[@sedlo]

Anxiously waiting for this one, time to dig in!

[@pugloverg6671]

Worked on the Eand G models at George and E models at Osan

[@NSBlack_Stallion]

Bob also has another meaning.

[@josephmack864]

Great interview Lola!

[@ga9633]

I worked on the radar (F-4E and G had the same APQ-120) and remember Pat Pence telling me he locked up a MiG during the war but was told to knock it off and let an F-15 take care of it, but the MiG was gone by the time the F-15 got there. Regarding the potential encounter of an incoming MiG-29 and trying to blast it with a HARM, the pilot did have the auto acq function (nosewheel steering button) to lock up a fighter that popped up in front of the jet and hit it with an AIM-7.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

“Curly” Pence is an old friend! He and Steve Brown also locked up two MiG-23s in the Northern No Fly…and they had crossed the line. About to take the shot…their F-16 wingman dragged out of the fight. Why? Because he was weak. Probably would have been the last MiG kill by an F-4, ever.

[@robertmoffitt1336]

I was with the AF security forces at Shaikh Isa (Shakey's) arrived XMas day 1990. I regularly visit two F-4s now in The National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. They have an F-4G Wild Weasle and an RF-4 Recce. Short drive for me to go out there. I was on a mobile security patrol on the flight line, the night the war started.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Thanks for your work guarding the jets for us!! 🫡

[@dollarbillme]

Great interview. One of your best yet. Almost as good as Paco 😅

[@toddbollinger3902]

I was there with GAFB.

[@tobedetermined638]

top level content

[@samcowell7969]

the mission was IRON HAND when the A8 did this in Vietnam

[@forthwithtx5852]

22:48. Totally missed the reference due to audio. (Still gets to me).

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

As we taxied out for the first mission, here was a GIGANTIC US flag on a tall flagpole, illuminated by spotlights. Everyone admitted afterwards…aircrew and maintainers alike…to feeling overwhelming and unexpected pride and patriotism when we saw it.

[@workinprogress2077]

Ah, there was just as many criminals back then, sir. You just didn't know it.

[@davidgoddard594]

L,O,L A Lola….. It’s a keeper

[@bryanbernart439]

Try to get Spike and Starbaby on the same podcast. Also hire some riot control people...

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

😝😂🤣👍🏻🎯

[@upload00]

This Is amazing

[@WhiskeyTango84]

I may have misheard, but Operation Just Cause was invasion of Panama. Operation Urgent Fury was Grenada. I may got them messed up, but forgive my obnoxious comment.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

I think you are right.

[@ghostdog688]

Assuming it’s fit for general public release now, I’d really love to hear the cockpit tapes mentioned 47:00 in. It would make for a wonderful comparison with the wild weasel recordings on Wikipedia from Vietnam.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

They aren’t classified, but my first two sorties on tape…I don’t know where they are. It was mostly chaos, beeps, garbled radio calls, and a lot of profanity! 😝

[@ghostdog688]

@@brrrtbacheniraq873 thanks for replying. I was wondering if you’ve heard the tapes I’m referring to on WikiMedia’s commons. For a fan of the Wild Weasel mission it’s very enlightening and your tapes may make for an interesting comparison in how pilots of a different generation flew, fought and thought.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

@@ghostdog688 I haven’t heard them, and will check them out! Unfortunately, there was a lot of chaos in keeping personal items organized back in theater…and then getting home…so those tapes seem to have been lost to the sands of time, just like my film of my first HARM shot. 🙁

[@ghostdog688]

@@brrrtbacheniraq873 I’ve tried twice to post the link but unfortunately YT keeps confusing me with spam and is obviously blocking any comment posting the link. Looking up “Wild Weasel mission 5 November 1967” and finding the source wikisource will likely yield results. There are other examples under the “See Also” section of the page as well as transcripts

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

@@ghostdog688 Thanks…I’ll check it out!

[@StingrayMK1987]

OMG. The picture on Spikes wall. I had that as a poster from a jet magazine when I was a kid in the 90s and am since the looking for it. Any Ideas, where to find it? Thx :)

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

It’s called “Weasel in the Weeds” by Mark Waki. He was the staff artist at Morton Thiokol, who made the solid rocket motors of nearly every missile. Should be able to find it on the web. He retired only a few years ago. I think he, or Northrop (they bought Morton Thiokol), has a video and or web page for his work….which is just phantastic.

[@plflaherty1]

Hes a great interviewer.

[@EX141FE]

Great presentation! Does he know what happened to Maj. Lamb-Lambo?

[@jcheck6]

He is still alive.

[@EX141FE]

@@jcheck6 Right on! He's a good man and was one of my ERAU instructors. Nothing but respect for him.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

@@EX141FE Lambo and I talk regularly! About once a month.

[@EX141FE]

@@brrrtbacheniraq873 Tell him George R. sends his regards; I'd be surprised if he'd remember, LOL!

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

@@EX141FE I will!! If you want: send contact info to Steve using the 10%contact info, and maybe he can forward to me.

[@sugarpuddin]

The Iraqis would not be able to hear UHF communication (RT 1168) due to its unique styled 'encryption' methodology

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

While Have Quick is “kind of” secure, in theory, it COULD be intercepted. Personally, even if the Iraqis HAD the sophisticated equipment required…the likelihood that individual SAM operators would have been told “Someone just called Magnum on the radio!” is laughable. 😎

[@captaintoyota3171]

Legend says Stroke 3 still defending somewhere out there

[@samcowell7969]

Did you ever work with the A-6's hunting SAM's?

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

I don’t think assigned directly, if you mean A-6Es, and definitely not with EA-6Bs. After the first week of the war, we would be assigned to support a specific strike mission, but if we still had HARMs (and we usually did, as the Iraqis weren’t turning their radars on), we would orbit in various sectors, and if anything turned on while we were there, we would try to hit it.

[@sidv4615]

41:30 😂😂😂😂. I got that euphemism

[@villafish1]

Gee Bruce (Spike!), I didn't realize that you could grow a mustache!

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

I didn’t either!! 😂

[@samcowell7969]

I agree we were ALL scared but it only got worse when they set the oil wells on fire and NOT many Airforce Planes came up with us being Navy (another story about that)

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

Not sure what you mean. I remember flying over the wells as they were being blown up. They actually had us go supersonic over them (could only do about two runs, about a minute each, for gas), under the theory the booms would make the Iraqis think they were bomb explosions. Didn’t work…saw wells blow up at night while we were doing it.

[@sulufest]

@13:00 Grenada was Urgent Fury. Just Cause was Panama. Jus sayin

[@jerrydedge5223]

You need to talk to my golfing buddy Fred Olmsted! Shot down two Mig’s during the Vietnam War.

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

He needs to be a guest with Steve!

[@viksaini]

Looks like Steve needs a Kinks concert t-shirt 😆.

[@stuartb9194]

Lola FTW

[@bmwr9tracer668]

Bob is my mom

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

😳😎

[@henryschaup5847]

Lost respect when he made that dumb Biden comment, at least our current president knows Putin isn't our friend. This guy should too.

[@robertcarlson4666]

Fuck Biden, we need another Ronald Reagan democrats and communists are the same

[@glennandrews7883]

ASU - USA

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

😝👍🏻

[@pimpked]

2 minutes in and your guest’s comments turned me off to what just may be a potential great video. Keep your personal ideologies to yourself on a informative video.

[@briancooper2112]

The F-4, flew like a bus with 2 great engines!

[@NeroontheGoon]

JP233, Durandal?

[@brrrtbacheniraq873]

No, a specific Brit weapon.

[@NeroontheGoon]

@@brrrtbacheniraq873 I thought the runway denial weapon was a Durandal in the JP233 dispenser. My bad.

[@ghostdog688]

@@NeroontheGoon it’s far nastier (in theory) than durandal. It was a collection of a few hundred bomblets, of which about 1/3rd of the bomblets had parachutes and would make craters much like Durandal (much smaller). Another 1/3rd of them were AP mines designed to disrupt the defending force’s Combat Engineer’s efforts to repair the runway. The last 1/3 are anti-tank mines designed to damage or immobilise the Combat Engineer’s bulldozers.

[@NeroontheGoon]

@@ghostdog688 Basically a shitty day for anyone cleaning up the mess.

[@ghostdog688]

@@NeroontheGoonexactly - the premise was that spending longer time with cleanup would add delays in resurfacing the runway. More delays in the runway repairs meant no enemy planes taking off, giving you as the attacking force more options and the ability to better control the sky

[@yomommaahotoo264]

LOLOLOL - Says astronauts were his heroes..... Including the ones that staged the moon landings

[@gotanon9659]

Hell atleast they got to somewhere unlike you who still stuck in your mom basement believing in some dumb conspiracy

[@smudent2010]

if you didn't talk then no one would know how stupid you are

[@z33r0now3]

Common, ask him concretely. He was so high up, he would have seen the curvature of earth. As well as noticing Tacan/VOR Signals that get obscured by the earth it self. But I bet you know jack shit about any of these effects, because your head is stuck up your own butt. Or Telegram. W/e

[@yomommaahotoo264]

@@z33r0now3 None of that matters.....his heroes were in FAIRY TALES. LOL