The Silent Screwtop of VAW-123, Part 2

Near the E2-C Hawkeye on static display at Ely Park on Naval Station Norfolk stands a monument to three naval aviators lost on August 15, 2007, when their Hawkeye, Greyhawk 620, crashed shortly after launch from USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) during training operations in the Atlantic. (M.C. Farrington)

By Captain Alexander G. Monroe, USN (Ret)
HRNM Docent & Contributing Writer

In the last post exploring the history of the E-2C Hawkeye on static display at Ely Park at Naval Station Norfolk, some operations in which Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 123 (VAW-123) took part in were outlined briefly. Now may be an appropriate time to learn more of its rich heritage.

An E-2A Hawkeye with VAW-123 sits on the flight line at NAS Norfolk, Virginia, in June 1967.  (Defense Visual Information Archive) 

During the Vietnam War, the initial 1967 combat deployment for the squadron was aborted by the terrible fire aboard USS Forrestal (CVA 59) in which 134 crewmen were killed. Though one Hawkeye was on the catapult awaiting launch when the fire began, it was rapidly cleared of personnel, and there was only minor damage to squadron aircraft. On April 8, 1972, VAW-123 again deployed for wartime operations as part of Carrier Air Wing Three, embarked in USS Saratoga (CVA 60). The early part of the transit to Vietnam was devoted to preparation for hostile operations. Included in the topics reviewed were rules of engagement for Linebacker I and II operations, E-2 coordination during downed pilot evolutions, navigation assistance available to attack aircraft, flight coordination to coast-in-points and targets during armed reconnaissance operations. Careful preparation bore fruit during the deployment which included 175 days spent in operations on line. The squadron was instrumental in conducting a five-hour operation resulting in rescuing and returning to the ship an aviator who had been downed by anti-aircraft missiles near Vinh and was stranded 17 miles within enemy territory.

On December 18, 1972, the squadron returned to Yankee Station for its last on line period,[1] and the ship returned to Norfolk on February 13, 1973. The squadron had provided 97 percent of Airborne Early Warning coverage for Commander Task Force 77 during Linebacker I and II. It had played a key role in Operation Ironhand, in which the Navy and Air Force worked together to suppress surface-to-air missile sites. Additionally, it earned the Naval Air Force Atlantic Fleet (AIRLANT) and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Safety Awards. A key aspect of the April 9, 1973 change of command was the squadron being awarded the AIRLANT Battle Efficiency E. Commander James D. “Jack” Larison, the outgoing squadron CO, observed that combat gave the opportunity to see the result of training and readiness.[2]

Times since the end of the Vietnam War have been eventful for this country and for VAW-123. The nation has faced a series of challenges as a result of shifts in world order and the alliances to which we are a party. Adversaries also broadened from the armed forces of nation-states to nonstate actors, culminating in a direct attack upon the United States. From 1989 to the present, domestic and international operations have involved the squadron and the eight aircraft carriers in which they have been embarked. The names of operations in which they have participated are a partial catalog of contingencies in which national power, often in tandem with that of other nations, has been applied: Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Deny Flight/Deliberate Force, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, Inherent Resolve, and New Dawn. Their consistent performance[3] in highly diverse operational settings has played and continues to play a vital role in maintaining world stability and national safety and survival.

An air-to-air silhouetted left side view of an E-2 Hawkeye airborne-early-warning (AEW) aircraft assigned to the aircraft carrier USS America (CV 66), May 6,1981. (National Archives and Records Administration via Naval History and Heritage Command) 

Another mission that VAW-123 and other carrier airborne early warning squadrons have been deeply invested in was alluded to in the squadron’s 1990 Command History. Commander Michael L Maurer noted that VAW-123 “opened the year with a detachment to NAS Key West, Florida, as part of the Congressionally mandated War on Drugs.” According to some observers, what was needed to stem the flow of dangerous drugs into the country was a robust anti-drug campaign that only the armed forces could conduct. Because of the restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act, armed forces could only provide “detection and monitoring,” with “interdiction and arrest” left to civilian law enforcement authorities.[4] The squadron sent detachments to NAS Key West in January and May 1990 and to Howard Air Force Base in the former Canal Zone to participate in Panama Surveillance Operations from August 13 to September 1, 1990.[5] Detachments of the squadron deployed to the Naval Station at Roosevelt Roads Puerto Rico[6] from August to October 1996 and worked in “close conjunction with Coast Guard and DEA assets to hold a non-stop vigil in a dedicated effort to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the United States…”[7] The Drug War goes on to this very day, and seizures have been impressive.[8] Overall effectiveness is hard to evaluate because while amounts of illegal drugs seized are known, amounts shipped are not[9]

Pilots from Airborne Early Warning Squadron 123 (VAW-123) takes notes in the ready room of USS America (CV 66), probably during Operation Desert Shield. (Defense Visual Information Archive)

Desert Shield/Desert Storm (August 2, 1990-January 16, 1991 and January 17, 1991-February 28, 1991) were responses to the invasion of oil rich Kuwait by its neighbor Iraq on August 2, 1990. The Saudi Arabian government requested assistance four days later, and by November 29, 1990, the United Nations Security Council issued Resolution 678, which included a demarche requiring Iraq to leave Kuwait by January 15, 1991, or face forced ejection. VAW 123 was embarked in USS America (CV 66) as part of Carrier Air Wing One and had left Norfolk on December 28, 1990. Following this rapid deployment, it arrived in the Red Sea on January 17th, 1991, the day after commencement of Desert Storm operations. It operated from the America in the Red Sea and from a detachment based ashore at Sheik Isa airfield on Bahrain. It provided traditional VAW functions of threat detection and control of raids against coastal and strategic targets in Kuwait and Iraq. Its aircraft controlled successful destruction of two Iraqi MiG 21s by F-18 aircraft, and in February 1991 controlled eleven delivery packages that destroyed two Scud missile sites.[10]

The wide variety of and location of VAW-123 operations is shown among other places in 1993 in Operation Deny Flight a NATO effort to enforce a “no fly” zone over Bosnia Herzegovina set forth in UN Resolutions 781 and 816. On August 30, 1993, it became the second Hawkeye Squadron to conduct overland air operations in the area, and these continued until October when the squadron embarked in USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), transited the Suez Canal enroute to Somalia to provide humanitarian assistance in Operation Restore Hope. To that date the squadron had flown 25 years of accident free operations, had flown 51,526 hours and recorded 11,755 arrested carrier landings. In Somalia it provided flight following operations for United Nations’ humanitarian relief flights in and out of Mogadishu.

Petty Officer 1st Class Jonathan Butler from Norfolk, Virginia, verifies the torque on a pitch actuator on an E-2C Hawkeye assigned to the Screwtops of VAW-123 in the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69). As an aviation machinist mate aboard Ike, Butler is responsible for maintaining and troubleshooting aircraft components.  Ike and its carrier strike group are deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, maritime security operations and theater security operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class J. Alexander Delgado/ Defense Visual Information Archive)

The most involved of the contingency operations has been Enduring Freedom, which resulted from the attack on the United States by Islamic extremists. On September 11, 2001, 19 individuals hijacked four commercial airliners and flew two of them into the World Trade Center towers in New York City and one into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and in so doing murdered over three thousand innocent citizens. Enduring Freedom, which began on October 7, 2001, was fashioned to destroy places of refuge chiefly in Pakistan and Pakistan for Al Qaeda and Taliban insurgents, though other locations such as the Philippines were involved in the nascent Global War on Terror (GWOT). The effort resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden, sponsor of The 9/11 attack and neutralization of considerable insurgent strength. The scope and variety of operations marked a shift for VAW-123 to support expeditionary warfare from land based detachment such as Udeid Air Base in Qatar. The 2003 squadron history noted ability to provide “an airborne element of theater command… supporting air, ground and Naval Operations.”

On March 20, 2016, an E-2C Hawkeye assigned to the Screwtops of VAW-123 performs pre-flight checks on the flight decks of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) during a Composite Training Unit Exercize (COMPUTEX) in preparation for a future deployment. (Defense Visual Information Archive) 

Finally and most important, the display at Ely Park recognizes the service and sacrifice of three aviators from the VAW-120 Greyhawks, the replacement training activity for all aviators bound for the VAW community, who were lost in a crash after launching from USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75).[11] They were Lieutenant Ryan K. Betton, the Aircraft Commander, Lieutenant Cameron “Gazer” Hall, and Lieutenant junior grade Jerry R. Smith.[12]

Results of the Judge Advocate General’s Manual investigation were released about a year after the crash. It recited known facts: that the aircrew was practicing take offs and landings from the ship in clear weather and calm seas, about 150 miles southeast of its Norfolk, Virginia homeport. It was Lt. j.g. Smith’s first night catapult shot. Just after the 2300 launch it appeared to climb, then lost altitude and crashed in 3000 feet of water after about ten seconds of flight. Investigators considered any and all explanations for the mishap. The Truman deck log shows that the aircraft entered the water at 2311. Twenty-four seconds later, rescue personnel were notified and Truman’s engines were stopped on an emergency basis and placed on “maneuvering” combination. The commanding officer and navigator were on the bridge. A plane guard helicopter from HS-7 searched, as did other aircraft. By thirteen minutes later both port and starboard Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boats (RHIBs) were in the water and searchlights energized and scanned the surface. Though a “green light at bearing 220 (R)” was noted, only a fuel slick and aviator’s helmet were found.

Though there was some indication of malfunction of an angle of attack indicator the day before the fatal crash, the problem could not be duplicated and the plane’s original maintenance record was on board the aircraft and lost in the crash. The Board held that, "the evidence is not sufficient to form an opinion on the cause or causes of the crash," adding that no debris had been recovered or was likely to be recovered that "will adequately explain the cause of this crash."[13]

A memorial service held at Norfolk Naval Station’s David Adams Memorial Chapel on August 23, 2007, was a poignant time of remembrance in which common threads joining the three aviators emerged: (1) love of flying and the Navy; (2) love and support of family; and (3) respect and admiration of those with whom they served. Commander Jeff Trent, the Greyhawk Commanding Officer eulogized them as those “who embodied the best about our Armed Forces…they didn’t sit on the sidelines.” He continued, noting that, “he couldn’t imagine the depth of grief of the families.” He added a note of lightness to the proceedings by noting that “Gazer” Hall had a reputation abound the squadron as a “joker” and that he liked to invite him to his stateroom “so he could hear his hunting and fishing stories.[14]

Equally moving were the tributes of others. Lt. Jason Buckley recalled Lt. Betton, the aircraft commander and a Virginia Military Institute graduate, as a “true southern gentleman even though he was from Michigan and spoke Canadian French.” Lt. Josh Wenker described Lt. Cameron Hall from Louisiana as, “a little cocky…such a kid at heart that you couldn’t help but like him.” Lt. John Horn remembered that Lt. j.g. Jerry Smith, “gave him a phony winning lottery ticket on his 24th birthday,” and that most important, “whenever I needed someone to talk to, Jerry was always there.” [15] Lt. Betton’s widow moved some present to tears when she described how their son Ian ran to his father a few weeks before at a fly in. Eric Smith, Lt. j.g. Smith’s brother, noted that he thought of his brother’s philosophy–of living each day as it were one’s last. The families and others in the congregation were surrounded by the elements of Navy ritual and ceremony from which they seemed to gather strength and solace from hearing of the lives and achievements of these young men.[16]

The E2-C Hawkeye on static display at Ely Park on Naval Station Norfolk. (M.C. Farrington)

The display and associated monument provide lessons in performance, perseverance and sacrifice. In May 2018, Norfolk television channel WTKR named the Screwtops “Squadron of the Month” after it was awarded the Battle Efficiency E for the second consecutive time. Commander Patrick Dzieken, VAW-123’s Commanding Officer, stated that the cameras were standing among, “the best men and women in the U.S. Navy” and, “that awards such as the E don’t happen by themselves, but fine men and women of the Screwtops make them happen.” Lt. j.g. Smith’s brother spoke of perseverance, taking each day after the terrible accident as it comes.

As William Faulkner put it in accepting a 1949 Nobel Prize, “I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail.” The monument below the Hawkeye at Ely Park is a powerful reminder that, as the Betton family said in a statement, “Freedom sometimes requires the ultimate sacrifice, but we are thankful that Ryan was willing to protect the liberties on which the country was founded.”[17]

Notes:

[1] This period saw the massive bombardment of the Hanoi/Haiphong area known as Linebacker II, generally thought to have ended the conflict.

[2] CO VAW-123 Ltr 5700 ADMIN/bah Ser 98 Command History dated February 11, 1973.

[3] On October 16th, 1993, while conducting Deny Flight operations, the squadron completed 25 years of accident-free operating.

[4] The U.S. Coast Guard has law enforcement power under Title Four of the United States Code.

[5] CO VAW-123 Ltr 5750 Ser 00/CO/11 Command History 1990 dated April 13, 1991.

[6] The Coast Guard was loaned Hawkeye aircraft but after a fatal crash of Coast Guard aircraft number 3105 on August 24, 1990, it returned the Hawkeyes to the Navy.

[7] CO VAW-123 Ltr 5750 Ser 00/47, Command History dated March 18, 1997.

[8] The squadron sent detachments to Naval Station Roosevelt Roads Puerto Rico in August, September and October 1996; See CO VAW-123 Ltr 5750 Ser 00/47 of March 18, 1997

[9] Caribbean Barrier: U.S. Atlantic Command Support of Counterdrug Operations 1989-1997, U.S. Joint Forces Command Special Historical Study, Office of the Command Historian, Headquarters, U.S. Joint Forces Command, Norfolk, Virginia, December 1990, pp. 79-80.

[10] VAW Ltr 5750 Ser 00/C011, Command History dated April 13, 1991, and VAW LTR 5750 Ser00/004 dated February 25, 1992

[11] “E2C Hawkeye Crashes, Navy conducting Search,” Navy News Story 070816, Commander Naval Air Force Atlantic Fleet Public Affairs Office, August 16, 2007; See also USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) Deck logbook of August 15, 2007.

[12] “Navy identifies 3 aviators lot in crash off carrier,” Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, Kate Wiltrout and Louis Hansen, August 17, 2007.

[13] “Navy can’t pinpoint the cause of fatal Hawkeye crash,” Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, Kate Wiltrout, August 26, 2008; See Also SIR Form 3750/8.

[14] “Memorial Service held for fallen aviators,” Navy News Story 070831, Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Elizabeth Gilson, August 31, 2007 and “Family, Friends Recall Aviators,” Newport News Daily Press, Stephanie Heinatz, August 24, 2007.

[15] Ibid.

[16] “1500 gather to remember 3 Navy fliers killed at sea,” Norfolk, Virginian-Pilot, Kate Wiltrout, August 24th, 2007; See again Heinatz above

[17] See Channel Three Squadron of the Month program of May 31, 2007 and also “Suffolk Navy Pilot Lost,” Newport News Daily Press, Stephanie Heinatz, August 18, 2007.


About the author: Captain Alexander "Sandy" G. Monroe, a retired surface warfare officer, is the author of In Service to Their Country: Christchurch School and the American Uniformed Services (2014) as well as official histories on U.S. Atlantic Command counternarcotic operational assistance to civilian law enforcement agencies and the treatment of Haitian asylum seekers at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was also dispatched to the Arabian Gulf on assignment for the director of naval history during Operation Earnest Will.

Editor's note: This and every HRNM blog post by a contributing writer reflects the opinions and core beliefs of the writer and should not be construed as representing the official policies or opinions of the museum, the Department of the Navy, or the United States Government.