My dad was commissioned in the Air Force in 1956 and trained as a fighter pilot on the F-100. If the crash that killed him hadn’t happened (and all other attempts to claim him from the Grim Reaper had also been likewise repelled) would he have ever pulled a tour of duty in Southeast Asia?
Wikipediasays that the plane he flew served throughout the war, but I’m just not that familiar with military assignments. Would a 1st Lieutenant in 1958 still be piloting jet fighters after 1961?
Normally fighter pilots ate utilized longer than 4-5 years. So yeah, your Dad could have flown there had he survived.
It depends on whether he stayed in the service. In those days he may well have been eligible to leave for a civilian life along about 1961. Nowadays the initial commitment is much longer.
If he stayed in and made the USAF a 20+ year career, he almost certainly would have flown in the war, either in the F-100 or some other type.
Had he gotten out in 1961, he couldn’t have flown in the war.
And there are a range of intermediate possiblities, including being in the Guard or Reserves after leaving active duty any time between 1961 and 1976.
As a separate matter …
In those days the USAF had a lot of different aircraft types and the fact he started out on F-100s implies he’d probably stay on them for at least the first 4 years. But retraining to other types was common after the initial assignment was up. So he could easily have be re-trained on anything else UASF had in the early to mid 60s. At that time frame that was F-101, -102, -104, -105, and F-4, plus possibly A-7.
If he went to the Guard or Reserve he could have retrained on older stuff like F-86 or F-89 or even A-1.
And there are other non-fighter aircraft types which significant numbers of fighter pilots flew at various points in their careers. O-1, L-19, OV-10, and O-2 come to mind.
My best friend’s dad was a heli pilot in Korea and was called back during Viet Nam.
My uncle was a lifer in the Army and volunteered for combat in Vietnam. In those days (maybe still today) combat duty was pretty much a requirement for promotion in the higher ranks. So if your father was still in the Air Force at the time, if he was still qualified to fly the F-100 AND he wanted promotion, he probably would have served at least one tour.
I just want to say, good God that is a cool-looking plane. I’ve seen pictures of Super Sabres before but I forgot just how cool they were.
In my opinion, and it is just opinion, he had enough time in (and age) to have avoided Vietnam if he had chosen too. But and this is a big but, I knew of no jet jockeys who opted out. There was something obsessive about them that they all seemed to have to fly in Vietnam for some reason.
Nevertheless there were very few flying aces during Vietnam. The Navy had two, Randy “Duke” Cunningham and “Willy Irish” Driscoll, and the Air Force had three, Richard Ritchie, Charles DeBellevue and Jeffrey Feinstein. Feinstein though was a Weapons Systems Officer and did not actually pilot the plane.
If he was a 1Lt in 1958 and he did not get himself into any trouble by 1961 he probably would have been a Captian maybe a major. And yes he could still have been flying. Or he could have gotten out.
Thanks for the insight. Does anybody have any guesses as to the probably time line he would have served his tour?