Tactical Air Command Formal Flying and Related Training Publication Phase Manual USAF Operational Training Course F-4; Ground Attack (WRCS] 479 TFW Phase Manual Course 111507B

[2], iii, [1], GARa - GAR u, [3], GAS 1-40. Most sheets printed on both sides. Illustrations. References. Three-hole punched and stapled at upper left corner. Small portion of lower right corner of cover sheet torn off. This Phase Manual was published under the guidance contained in TACR 8-1. This is a single source document containing pertinent information from the 111507B Syllabus, TAC Phase Manuals, TACM 55-4, and Chapter 8 to TACM 5504. This manual is designated as standard for RTU Training and will be used by all pilots assigned and attached to the 479th Tactical Fighter Wing who are engaged in the RTU mission. The Training Analysis and Development Section is responsible for evaluation of suggested revisions, changes or corrections to this manual; and for review, publication and distribution of revisions, changes and corrections. Deviation from procedures contained herein will not be made unless specifically authorized in writing by the Wing Commander, Vice Commander or Director of Operations. RTU stood for "replacement training unit." It was called RTU because pilots were being trained to replace other F-4 pilots in Vietnam after they finished their one year tour of duty. On 1 December 1952 the unit was established as the 479th Fighter-Bomber Wing at George AFB, California, replacing the Federalized Missouri Air National Guard's 131st Fighter-Bomber Wing, which had been brought to active duty during the Korean War. The 479th FBW inherited the F-51D Mustangs of the ANG unit as well as becoming the host wing of George AFB for almost the next 20 years. Its operational squadrons were the 434th, 435th, 436th, and the wing squadrons participated in numerous exercises, augmented air defenses of the West Coast, and deployed overseas to support both USAFE during periods of tension in Western Europe; to Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis and to PACAF during the Vietnam War. The 479th was the only USAF wing to take the F-104C into combat when in April 1965, the 476th TFS deployed to Kung Kuan Air Base, Taiwan. From its base in Taiwan, the squadron began a regular rotation to Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam where its mission was to fly MiG combat air patrol (MiGCAP) missions to protect USAF F-100 fighter bombers against attack by North Vietnamese fighters. The effect of F-104 deployment upon NVN and PRC MiG operations was immediate and dramatic. NVN MiGs soon learned to avoid contact with USAF strikes being covered by the F-104s. During the entire deployment of the 476th only two fleeting encounters between F-104Cs and enemy fighters occurred. During the Vietnam War, the 479th became the premier F-4 Fighter training wing of the USAF, and F-4D pilots appeared in Southeast Asia for the first time in May 1967. From the spring of 1967, the F-4D gradually began to replace the earlier F-4C in combat over the skies of Vietnam. The first F-4D MiG "kill" took place on 5 June 1967, when crewmen Maj. Everett T. Raspberry and Capt. Francis Gullick shot down a MiG-17 near Hanoi. Since the pilot and the WSO operated as a well-integrated team, both of them were credited with a kill when they scored one. The 479th Tactical Training Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Tactical Training, Holloman, stationed at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. It was inactivated on 26 July 1991. Upon inactivation, all personnel, equipment and aircraft were transferred to the 479th Fighter Group. Contemporary Xerox type copy, may be as originally issued.…