FIGHTER SQUADRON ONE SIX TWO, VF-162 HUNTERS

VF-162 F-8A 143752 on 1-19-63. Rud-der, chin stripe, and wing stripes were black with yellow stars. Stripe below fin tip is yellow. (Clay Jansson)

On 1 September 1960 at NAS Cecil Field, Florida, VF-162 was es¬tablished along with VF-161, VA-163, VA-164, and VA-165, as well as the parent organization Carrier Air Group Sixteen. Congress had granted the Navy permission to organize the Air Group for one year only, and its exist¬ence beyond this time was in doubt.


Unlike the other elements of CVG-16, VF-162 had no problems in finding aircraft to equip with. The F4D-1 Skyray had already been phased out of the Pacific Fleet, and was reduced in favor of the F3H in the Atlantic Fleet. The squadron would be the all-weather fighter element of CVG-16 which would be needed to replace squadrons temporarily taken out of service for retraining in the new F4H Phantom II.


In the spring of 1961, VF-162 transferred to Carrier Air Group Six, changed its tail code to "AF", and re¬placed VF-74 aboard the USS Intrepid (CVA-11). On 3 August VF-162 de¬parted for an extended Mediterranean cruise which ended when the squad¬ron returned to Cecil Field on 28 February 1962. The squadron imme¬diately prepared to move to NAS Miramar, as CVG-16 had been or¬dered to the Pacific Fleet.

On 2 April the Hunters began painting out their squadron markings on the Skyrays, and by the 4th. most of their personnel had left for VF-124's "Crusader Col¬lege" at Miramar.


Flying the F-8A, the Hunters made their first WESTPAC and their first Crusader cruise aboard the USS Oriskany (CVA-34) from September 1963 until March 1964. After returning, the squadron did not deploy again for over a year, during which time VF-162 converted to the ail-weather F-8E.


VF-162's next deployment took the squadron on its first war cruise, from 5 April until 16 December 1965. On 5 October LTJG Rick Adams in F-8E 150848 (#227) was hit by a SAM while over North Vietnam, and res¬cued. Although on fire, Adams flew his aircraft out to sea with the face curtain half pulled before he ejected. This would be his first of two shootdowns.


After a quick turnaround VF-162 left on its second war cruise on 26 May 1966 with CDR Richard Bellinger as the CO. CDR Bellinger, while the squadron X0 in 1965, had been Rick Adams' wingman. On 12 July 1966, Bellinger once again saw Adams go down when he had been hit with MA. Adams, thus became the first US pilot to be shot down and recovered twice. The powers that be decided that twice was enough for one war and Adams was censured from further action in Vietnam.


On 16 July 1966, four days after Adams had been shot down, CDR Bellinger decided to set a MiG trap. Since the MiGs had been following the strike group back to the sea, VF-162 would hang way back behind them on their exit to the coast. That way the trailing F-8s would catch the MiGs when they came out. The trap worked and you soon had three F-8s and two MiG-17s flying in a ever-tightening circle as each aircraft was trying to get a shot at his attackers.

The fracas continued and Bellinger was hit, but managed to nurse his riddled F-8 to the sea, where he ejected and was picked up uninjured.


On 9 October 1966, Bellinger a¬venged his downing by the MiG-17 in July. He had been hiding below ene¬my radar in mountainous terrain and had been given constant updates on on the incoming MiGs.
Once in range, the F-8s popped up from where they were hiding at 300 feet above the rice fields. The MiGs were at 3,000 feet and the F-8s entered a tail chase in which Bellinger fired two Sidewinders while following a MiG-21 into a split "5". The MiG shed its wing and Bell¬inger killed the Navy's first MiG-21.


The Hunters proved to be a color¬ful lot and certainly the most colorful pilot was the squadron CO, CDR Ri¬chard "Belly" Bellinger. Bellinger (call sign "Belly-One") was six feet tall and over 200 pounds with a beer belly, hence the name. Belly had even worked a trade with some Army folks for came flightsuits to enhance his squadron's colorful image.


Belly-One tried another experi¬ment during the cruise which intended to help eliminate or minimize SAM launches against the strike force. Bellinger and his wingman launched with clean-winged F-8s which would be used as SAM decoys for the strike group (unarmed precursors of the Air Force wild weasels).

The two Crusad¬ers simulated A-4s by popping up near the target in preparation for a diving attack. Eight SAMs were launched and the clean maneuverable F-8s succeeded in defeating the SAMs. The strike force was able to complete the attack without any SAM interference.

On 18 August 1966 LCDR D. A. Verich was shot down in 150300 by AAA. He, like Rick Adams, would be shot down twice. The -squadron lost two other F-85 on the cruise; 150924 on 6 October 1966 and 150919 on 19 July 1966. LT R. D. Leach was recov¬ered, but LT T. A. Dennison who was downed by a SAM died in captivity.


The cruise ended prematurely when, on 26 October, a fire started in a flare locker which killed 44 and de¬stroyed one A-4, two UH-2s, and damaged three other A-45. After re¬pairs, the Oriskany and the squadron returned to Vietnam on 16 June 1967 for the squadron's third war cruise.


LCDR Verich returned for this cruise and was rewarded with being the second VF-162 pilot to be shot down and recovered twice. He was downed in 150925 on 16 July 1967 by a SAM, and unlike Rick Adams, con¬tinued to combat.Three more VF-162 Crusaders would be downed in com¬bat, but the pilots would not be as lucky as Verich. On 19 July CDR H. P. Hunter, the X0, was killed in 150899 by AAA fire. On 26 October 150310 was shot down by a SAM and LTJG C.

D. Rice became a POW. Then on 4 January 1968 150865 was also downed by a SAM and LTJG R. W. Minnich was listed as missing in ac¬tion. Two other aircraft, 150916 and 150910, were lost during non-combat operations on 20 Jury and on 11 Sep¬tember 1967 respectively.
On 14 December 1967 LT Rich¬ard E. Wyman was flying in 150879 when he downed the 12th. MiG lost to Crusaders while operating 32 miles southeast of Hanoi. The aerial battle began developing when four MiG-17s jumped an A-4 and an F-8 flying at 18,000 feet and 32 miles southwest of Haiphong. LT Wyman's flight was alerted and they engaged the MiGs in a fierce dogfight which lasted six min¬utes before the enemy aircraft disengaged and headed northwest.
Responding to the alert, LT Wy¬man and his skipper, CDR C. A. L.
Swanson, arrived on the scene and began making close passes and firing their 20MM cannons at one of the fleeing MiGs. 'The skipper and I made alternate passes at him," Wymen said, "and he kept wheeling and firing back.



The front of his plane was lit up with cannon fire. I got my sights on him once but he turned so hard I couldn't get off a shot. The skipper made an¬other run and then i went in again."

"The air was hazy and the MiG had olive drab camouflage that blend¬ed in with the terrain. It was tough to keep him in sight. I tried to get him over the horizon so I could see him against the sky. I had to bite my tongue to keep from firing --- I didn't want to waste a shot. I turned into him as hard as I could and followed him into a bank. He started to roll out of the bank, then he seemed to change his mind. I was right behind him and I fired a missile."

The missile hit the MiG's left wing near the fuselage. LT Wyman report¬ed that, "the wing tell off then red fire streaked along the left side of the plane as it cartwheeled down into a rice paddy. There was a big ball of flame when it hit. The dogfight started at high altitude but we were barely above the ground when it ended."

In January 1968, just prior to leaving Vietnam, CDR Swanson went locomotive hunting with his Sidewind¬ers. He launched one Sidewinder and scored a direct hit. The teat was re¬peated by LCDR John S. Hellman two days later, again with positive results when his Sidewinder hit behind the locomotive's stack.

The cruise ended on 31 January 1968 and CVW-16 regrouped, transi¬tioned to the F-8J, and shifted to the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) for a cruise from 1 February 1969 until 18 September 1969. Compared to the 1967-68 cruise when CVW-16 lost 39 aircraft and twenty airmen, the 1969 cruise was uneventful. During this cruise only one aircraft, 150656, was lost during a non-combat operation.


The squadron returned to Viet¬nam one last time from 5 March 1970 until 17 December 1970 aboard the USS Shangri-La (CVS-38) and was reassigned to CVW-8 with a new tail code of "AJ". The squadron also switched their F-8Js to F-8Hs for this deployment. In 1970 the Al Ft WING lost only one A-4C and its pilot to combat. VF-162 lost three Crusaders (148650, 148660, and 148643) during non-combat operations with no loss of life. After returning to Miramar from this cruise the squadron was decom¬missioned.

VF-162 F-8E 150911 on display with the "Y" missile pylon and two Sidewinders on each side. Snoopy riding a missile has been added to the fin tip. (Jansson)

LTJG W. F. FLAGG's F-8E on 9-12-64 at NAS Miramar. (Swisher)

LT Rick Adams' F-8E 149207 prior to the 1966 cruise where he would be shot down and recovered for a second time. (Clay Jansson, 2-19-66)

CDR "Belly" Bellinger in camo flight gear. He was the first Navy pilot to down a MiG-21. (USN)

LT Rick Adams' F-8E 149207 prior to the 1966 cruise where he would be shot down and recovered for a second time. (Clay Jansson, 2-19-66)

Weathered F-8E 150913 on 1-28-67 after the 1966 cruise with wing pylon. (W. S.)

VF-162 F-8E 149195 lands on the Oris-kany on 12-5-67. Corrosion had set in and the paint around the service panels is showing through. "THE HUNTERS" was painted In black on the yellow raised wing's shoulder bulkhead. (USN)

VF-162 switched to the F-8J for the 1969 cruise aboard the Ticonderoga. The squadron was seen here at NAS North island on 1-28-69 just prior to loading aboard the Tico. Wing stripes were black bordered by yellow. (Harry Gann)

CO of VF-162, CDR "StoIly" Stollen-wergn's F-8H 148628 at Miramar on 3-19-70 prior to the start of the 1970 cruise. (Clay Jansson)

VF-162 F-8H 148643, seen here on 3-14-70, would be lost to a non-combat accident during the 1970 cruise on 20 October. Markings new for this cruise were the black stripe bordered by yellow with three yellow stars on the ventral fin and yellow shading on the new "AJ" tail code. Also USS SHANGRI-LA was in red on many of the squadron's aircraft in¬cluding 643 and 628 above. (Swisher)

At left and below, LCDR J. O. Kennedy Esq's F-8H 148650 at Da Nang, Vietnam, In May 1970. USS SHANGRI-LA was black. This aircraft was lost on 29 April during non-combat ops. (B. Miller)

VF-162 F-8Hs; 147070 (#202), 148691 (#203), and 147049 (#205) operating out of NAS Atsugl in July of 1970. THE HUNTERS can
be seen painted in black on the yellow wing shoulder bulkhead on 147070 and 148691. (T. Matsuzaki)