The Crazy Cats: The Mission (Part 1)
February 162010
From 1967 to 1972 the Crazy Cats fought upon the electronic battlefields of Vietnam. Their efforts would ultimately affect the outcome of battles on the ground and, perhaps, the outcome of the war itself.
Designated the 1st Army Security Agency (ASA) Company, like other ASA units in Vietnam, it operated under a ‘Radio Research’ cover designation. The men of the 1st Radio Research Company, however, adopted a more colorful nom de guerre: “The CRAZY CATS.”
Their Top Secret missions operated from the Naval Air Facility at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. Their crew of 12 to 15 flew aging Navy P-2E Neptune aircraft over the Ho Chi Minh Trail and other areas to intercept, decipher, translate, analyze and disseminate enemy radio communications intelligence (COMINT).
In this role, the Crazy Cats became the Army’s most prolific airborne COMINT collector in the Vietnam War.
Duration : 0:8:6
[youtube M3l6s47Ym6U]
February 16th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
Thanks for posting …
Thanks for posting this short. came by it by accident–barely remember the crews, but looks like Clemmer in the pix…Had a real crazy CO too who flew our missions—was there 1/68–69. ditty bopper…can’t believe how many times the recip engines would catch fire or the jets start with a whoosh and huge ball of flame—wiping down the nacelles from the leaking oil was the last thing we did on a mission—thanks for posting!
February 16th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
wow … the crew …
wow … the crew includes John (indian) Steele linguist friend of mine so it must be 1969. He later became president of the Pine Ridge lakota sioux and has served in that capacity at intervals up to the present.. Listen to that engine purrrrrr…
we had to ‘wipe down’ the plane after mission to remove alll that oil … oh yeah we linguists had to wipe it down!
February 16th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
Lots of narrative ” …
Lots of narrative “ELONGATION” here
February 16th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
Welcome Home, ASA …
Welcome Home, ASA all the way!
Thanks for posting this important
historic video.
February 16th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
rob combs sergeant …
rob combs sergeant USAF
20th SOS Green Hornets
Nha Trang AB RVN
1968-69
welcome home brothers
February 16th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
I remember seeing …
I remember seeing your planes on the Tarmac at Cam Rahn Bay (I think) when we landed for some reason. I was aircrew in VO-67 out of NKP flying the same Neptunes over the Ho Chi Minh trail and the DMZ
February 16th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
Nice series, it was …
Nice series, it was actually General “Weyand” not Weyland. Pretty dumb to say “welcome home”
since you are still there!