Burt Rutan

Hi Ed

Dick flew F-100F's as a Misty FAC. His callsign was 'Misty 40'. Dick
flew 105 missions in country.

Cheers...Chris

P.S. I asked you along time ago if you had ever run across Ray Huot.
Ray was my old squadron commander. He was also DCANR at the same time.

av8r wrote:


Hi Ed

Dick flew F-100F's as a Misty FAC. His callsign was 'Misty 40'. Dick
flew 105 missions in country.

Cheers...Chris

P.S. I asked you along time ago if you had ever run across Ray Huot.
Ray was my old squadron commander. He was also DCANR at the same time.

Sorry if I didn't respond previously. No, never ran across Ray.
DCANR--would that have been during the F-105 period?

Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (ret)
***"When Thunder Rolled:
*** An F-105 Pilot Over N. Vietnam"
*** from Smithsonian Books
ISBN: 1588341038

Hi Ed

Here's a brief outline pertaining to Ray's career with the F-105 and
when he was the Deputy Commander of the Canadian NORAD Region here at 22
Wing, North Bay.

Cheers...Chris
PAO 722nd SUS



June 1968 - March 1969, student, F-105 combat crew training, McConnell
Air Force Base, Kansas.

March 1969 - July 1970, F-105 fighter pilot, 12th Tactical Fighter
Squadron, Kadena Air Base, Japan

July 1970 - October 1970, F-105 fighter pilot, Takhli Royal Thai Air
Force Base, Thailand

October 1970 - April 1971, wing air operations staff officer, Nakhon
Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand.

Here's an extract from a three part story I wrote about him back in 1993.

"In July 1970, General Huot was assigned as a line pilot with the 44th
Tactical Fighter squadron, 355th Tactical Fighter Wing at Takhli Royal
Thai Air Force Base Thailand. There he flew the D model of the F-105.
The 44th known as the 'Vampires' had moved northwest from Korat RTAFB
the previous October to Takhli, thus consolidating all F-105 operations
in Southeast Asia. He mainly flew missions into southern Laos in an
area called 'Steel Tiger'. These missions were in direct support of the
war in South Viet Nam, intended to interdict North Vietnamese traffic
along segments of the communists' major supply artery, known
as the infamous 'Ho Chi Minh Trail'. This portion of the trail ran
along the Laotian panhandle from Mu Gia Pass to the border with
Cambodia. The weather made flying quite a challenge. On a hot and
humid day, with a full combat load of 14,00 pounds, you could expect to
use damn near the whole ten thousand feet of available runway.

Around the eight thousand foot marker, with all three gear still on the
runway, the pucker factor would start to take effect. Once airborne,
you'd climb straight out until you burned off some fuel. The
thunderstorms in that area are very fierce. Cumulus clouds with tops of
60,00 feet were common sight. The rain comes down so hard that it
literally takes your breath away.

During late 1970 with President Richard Nixon's' Vietnamization program
well underway, the Air Force de-activated the 355th TFW. In October
1970, General Huot said good-bye to Takhli, albeit temporarily and
returned an F-105 stateside. In short order he was back to the 'Kingdom
of Siam' as Thailand was now known as. His new assignment was as Wing
Air Operations Staff Officer at Nakhon Phanom R.T.A.F.B. Nakhon Phanom
was affectionately referred to as simply 'NKP' or 'Naked Phanny'.
General Huot spent the next five months forward air controlling with
'Task Force Alpha' . This was an infiltration surveillance center to
which was transmitted 'Igloo White' data'. Igloo White was a
surveillance system consisting of hand implanted or air delivered
electronic sensors that blanketed the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Their job was
to transmit enemy movement information through a relay aircraft back
to the center.

The system although somewhat flawed, did nurture some outstanding
results, particularly in vehicle movements. When a North Vietnamese
convoy was pinpointed, strike aircraft including the Air Forces' F-4
Phantoms, Navy and Marine A-6 Intruders under of the direction of
General (Captain at the time) Huot, would pulverize the enemy into
oblivion. He recalled the great feeling he got when they were able to
knock the hell out of a convoy that was vital carrying war material
south. General Huot flew the Wing's two types of FAC (Forward Air
Control) aircraft; the Rockwell OV-10A Bronco and Cessna 0-2A checking
on the sensors and to gather intelligence for future target
acquisitions. In April of 1971 General Huot departed Thailand for the
last time."


September 1993 - May 1995, Deputy Commander, Canadian North American
Aerospace Defense Region, North American Aerospace Command, North Bay,
Ontario, Canada. He was also the Commanding Officer of my unit, the
722nd Support Squadron. It was a dual role for all USAF 07's assigned
here as DCANR .


When the Canadian Air Force's Fighter Group disbanded in 1997, the
position of Deputy Commander of the Canadian NORAD Region relocated to
Winnipeg with the newly formed 1 Canadian Air Division (now called 1
CAD/CANR) My squadron maintains an OLA at Winnipeg. The current
commander of the 722nd SUS is an 05.

av8r wrote:

Hi Ed

Here's a brief outline pertaining to Ray's career with the F-105 and
when he was the Deputy Commander of the Canadian NORAD Region here at 22
Wing, North Bay.

Cheers...Chris
PAO 722nd SUS

Never encountered him, but I was at ATC Hq when he graduated from
pilot training and got his F-105 assignment. I was the OIC of the
Student Rated Assigment section of ATC Personnel, so I originated the
orders that sent him off to 105 training.

Here's a full bio of Lt. Gen Huot:
http://www.af.mil/bios/bio_5890.shtml


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (ret)
***"When Thunder Rolled:
*** An F-105 Pilot Over N. Vietnam"
*** from Smithsonian Books
ISBN: 1588341038