Fun_People Archive
20 Jun
The Scott "Zulu" O'Grady Rescue -- The Rest of the Story

Date: Tue, 20 Jun 95 15:38:50 PDT
From: Peter Langston <psl>
To: Fun_People
Subject: The Scott "Zulu" O'Grady Rescue -- The Rest of the Story

Forwarded-by: bostic@CS.Berkeley.EDU (Keith Bostic)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
To: jfj@bedford.progress.com
     Jeff,
     Don't know if you have seen this yet.  Thought you'd enjoy
     it.     Bob

     PS.  Half of the story is the route this has taken to get
     here from the Bosnia.  We now have given warriors the
     technology to report directly from the battlefield rather
     than leaving it to the news anchors to garble the story.
     Could be a defining moment in news history.

 Subject: FW: RESCUED! -- The Rest of the Story
 Author:  TDOLAN at PTPLAN2
 Date:    6/14/95 2:18 PM

FYI
Tom Dolan
__________________________________
 Subject: FW: RESCUED! -- The Rest of the Story
 Author:  matos@ccmailpc.ctron.com at INTERNET
 Date:    6/14/95 1:05 PM

I thought you guys may find this interesting.

Tony
P.S.  BEAT NAVY!!

 Subject: FW: RESCUED! -- The Rest of the Story
 Author:  wp-forum@pencom.com at !INTERNET
 Date:    06/14/95 10:12 AM

=*=
=*= AOG-NET Message Router, Majordomo (1.93), wp-forum
=!= PENCOM (PSW) does NOT guarantee the technical accuracy nor any
=!= claims made nor does PENCOM necessarily agree with the
=!= issues/topics discussed in this list.
=*=

Check out the forwarding history on this one!  Original E-mail from the F-16
squadron at Aviano.

Mike Cochrane '79

 Subject: FW: RESCUED! -- The Rest of the Story
 Author:  Timothy Clapp at ~tea06
 Date:    6/14/95 9:38 AM

Best story I've read in a long time.  Enjoy!

 Subject: FW: RESCUED! -- The Rest of the Story
 Author:  ,"Avery, Mike MAJ (USACAP)" <averym@shafter-emh3.army.mil> at
DDN/Internet
 Date:    6/13/95 1:18 PM

 Originated-by: "Avery, Mike MAJ (USACAP)" <averym@shafter-emh3.army.mil>
 To: Timothy Clapp <clappt@baileys-emh5.army.mil>
 Subject: FW: RESCUED! -- The Rest of the Story
 Date: Tue, 13 Jun 95 13:18:00 PDT

Hey Tim,

Here's a true story for you.

Mike
 ----------
 Originated-by: Woltz, Al LTC
 To: VanDyke, L. MAJ (Div Chem); Boaldin, Bob; Davis, Walter C. MSG (DCSOPS);
Neal, Barry MAJ; Toyama, Jann; Tune, John MW4; Wolozyn, Michael D. LTC;
Avery, Mike MAJ (USACAP); 'MAJ Tom Woloszyn'
 Subject: FW: RESCUED! -- The Rest of the Story
 Date: Monday, June 12, 1995 4:50PM


 ----------
 Originated-by: Scott, Thomas D. COL (DCSOPS)
 To: Patykula, T. LTC; Aguigui, Henry SGM; Bailey, Kenneth R. (ADCSOPS);
Ball, Stephen C. LTC; Belleperche, Keyko CPT; Carr, Audrey LTC; Durante,
Kirk L. LTC; Gibson, Joe LTC; Krammer, Frank LTC; Sorensen, Clark LTC;
Welch, Douglas LTC; Woltz, Al LTC
 Subject: FW: RESCUED! -- The Rest of the Story
 Date: Monday, June 12, 1995 4:35PM

FYI
 ----------
 Originated-by: Pernell, Mark COL (DCSINT)
 To: Hale, David R. E. MG (DCG); Ord, Robert L. III LTG (CG); Wintrich,
Frederick COL(DCofS); Scott, Thomas D. COL (DCSOPS)
 Subject: RESCUED! -- The Rest of the Story
 Date: Friday, 09 June, 1995 12:25

Sir, FYI.
 ----------
 Originated-by: Boyd, Kenneth K. CPT
 To: Pernell, Mark S. COL (DCSINT)
 Subject: FW: Fwd: RESCUED!
 Date: Friday, June 09, 1995 11:45AM

For your reading pleasure,

     Capt Boyd
 ----------
 Originated-by: DOTW_Westberry
 To: ALL/DO
 Subject: RE: Fwd: RESCUED!
 Date: Friday, June 09, 1995 8:02AM

Lets here it for the good guys!!!

Westy
____________________________________________________________________________
___
_
 Originated-by: LVCrab@aol.com on Fri, Jun 9, 1995 3:57 AM
 Subject: Fwd: RESCUED!
 To: jlengyel@txskf.ang.af.mil; t.tousignant@genie.geis.com; EnosF16@aol.com;
EdianeW@aol.com; F16Schwack@aol.com; JohnBarney@aol.com; DSimonsen@aol.com;
PKLASVEGAS@aol.com; 73501.146@compuserve.com; JoeyF4G@aol.com; DJL1@aol.com;
MCFLYFAM4@aol.com; TGKrazy@aol.com; Hitopf1@aol.com

An awesome story...

Crab
 ---------------------
Forwarded message:
Originated-by:   71713.506@compuserve.com (Scott Zobrist)
To:     72212.2224@compuserve.com (STEPHEN G BOJACK),
72734.1711@compuserve.com (EDWARD W BROCKHAUS),
lvcrab@aol.com (Manning, Crab),
74717.353@compuserve.com (JAMES C FOGLE),
cca@hq.centaf.af.mil (Jane/CCA),
74717.241@compuserve.com (BRIAN J MCCULLOUGH),
millertj@emh.misawa.af.mil (T.J. Miller),
71700.2735@compuserve.com (GREGORY A MOORE),
72612.2375@compuserve.com (PARKER J PENNINGS),
74717.30@compuserve.com (MARC SASSEVILLE),
74534.357@compuserve.com (TODD K SHEEHY),
cweggema@emh.kunsan.af.mil (Chris Weggeman),
35FSDOW@emh.kunsan.af.mil (Kunsan Weapons)

Date: 95-06-08 19:32:48 EDT

(8 Jun 95)
To all my Viper buds and other Shit Hot Fighter Gods on the net -

	It was a good day at Aviano!  As you guys have no doubt heard, we
rescued Scott "Zulu" O'Grady today after 6 days of E&Eing in the Bosnian
countryside.  We had an idea that he was still out there but hadn't had
positive radio contact until about 0000Z this morning when Capt T.O. Hanford
had some extra gas so he stayed in his CAP a little longer and tried to
reach Zulu on the SAR A (PRC-112) freq from the day of the shoot down.
After about 40 minutes of calls in the blind, T.O. started getting some
suspect clicks on the mike.  Finally, Zulu came up voice.  T.O. didn't have
all the info from Zulu's ISOPREP so he came up with a quick way to verify
it was indeed Zulu, although it sounded like Zulu recognized T.O.'s voice
and called him by name (although the comm was weak since T.O. (Basher 11)
was about 70 miles away).  The comm went something like this.

"Basher 52 this is Basher 11"
click
"Basher 52, this is Basher 11, are you up on this freq"
"This is Basher 52"
"Say again, understand this is Basher 52"
"This is Basher 52...I'm alive"
"Say again, Basher 52, you are weak and unreadable, this is Basher 11"
"This is Basher 52!"

pause

"Basher 52, what squadron were you in at Kunsan?"
"Juvats!  Juvats!  I'm alive!"
"Copy that, you're alive!  Basher 52, sit tight and come back up at 15 past
the hour"

	T.O. then started coordinating with Magic to pass words to the Deny
Flight CAOC (command center) that he had positive radio contact with Basher
52.  They replied that T.O. should pass the word "manana" to Basher 52.
When he did, Zulu replied "I want to get picked up tonight!" (imagine that).
So T.O. passed that to the CAOC and the decision was made to press with a
rescue.  We were 2 hours before sunrise so it would be daylight but there
was concern (rightly so) that word would get out to the press and every SA-6
in the AOR would be mobile and spiking us and the rest of the rescue
package.  So they went ASAP.

	T.O. stayed airborne (now at about the 4 hour point in his sortie
- one note here:  T.O. got high marks for wingman consideration for
advising his wingman that it was a good time to take a piss on the way to
the tanker!  That video clip probably won't make CNN ) and the 510 FS
Buzzards scrambled our alert guys (I was #2).  Unfortunately, Vaughn "Slot"
Littlejohn and I had just gone from 60 minute alert to 180 minute alert and
I had headed home to get some sleep.  The phone rang at about 0255L (after
about 10 minutes of sleep) telling me to get in there ASAP.  I was back at
the SQ in 15 minutes.  Before I was even in the door, our ADO, Phil "Psycho"
Sever told me we had positive radio contact, get dressed, step, crank, and
taxi ASAP - I would meet SLOT in EOR whenever he made it in.  We were in
the air at about 0400L (1+05 from a dead sleep at home) loaded with
2xGBU-12s, 2 slammers, 2 9Ms, a 131 pod, and 2 tanks (Standard DF SCL).  We
swapped out with T.O. manning the cap and staying in touch with Zulu every
15 minutes.  A SEAD package was getting airborne as T.O. started his RTB.
We had a plan with the F-18Ds (Harm shooters (kind of), with NVGs and a
WSO), EFs, and EA-6Bs to try to establish contact.  But since we already
had contact, the F-18s just did a recce run to get a good fix on him and to
check the weather.

	Meanwhile, Zobe the hero, callsign Rock 42, was hanging on Slot's
wing 70 miles away listening to the whole thing, ensuring my tape was on.
I can't wait to tell my grandkids about the day I put all my Weapons School
training to use - "No shit, kids, there I was - tape on, tape off, tape on,
tape off.  The pressure was incredible!"  Seriously, although I didn't do
shit, it was shit hot to listen to the entire mission unfolding.  The helos
were inbound, authenicating Zulu (they asked him what he was called in high
school when he got drunk!)  With a good ID they moved in, had Zulu pop some
smoke, and picked him up.  The whole thing from the authentication to the
pick-up was about 10 minutes (seemed like an eternity).  To hear comm like,
"Basher 52, got you in sight", was pretty moving, especially after thinking
for most of the week that Zulu was a mort ("Wilbur" Wright didn't see a
chute, no radio contact, etc.)  I've never been choked up in the jet before,
but I was this morning.

	Unfortunately, they weren't out of danger yet.  We hit the tanker
and when we came back up to Magic freq the helos were about 13 miles from
feet wet.  Then I heard the escort chopper, c/s Bull, say, "Bud, impacts
underneath you.  SAMS IN THE AIR!  SAMS IN THE AIR!"  FUCK!!  Luckily, they
missed, although they took some small arms fire and apparently the gunner
from Bull silenced that.  About 10 minutes later, we heard the call that
they were feet wet, then shortly after that that they had "mother in sight"
(the ship), two more bits of comm that I will never forget.

	So we got one of our own back.  What a day.  I wish we could have
done more in the rescue but it was almost entirely a Navy and Marine show
(we and the mud-eagles were in the cap) and they kicked ass.  So don't bad
mouth the squids and jarheads too loudly - they put on a good act today and
we've got a Viper driver back because of it.

	I thought you might enjoy hearing the story straight from the CSAR
Commander of VTR Ops!  Hope it wasn't too mushy, but after all, I did cry
when I watched Old Yeller.  That's just the emotional type of guy I am!
 Hope all is well with you guys at your various bases.  Drop me a line and
let me know what's up.  Fly safe, check six, and pray for the UN leadership
to get a clue and let us blow these bastards back into the stone age!

Zobe

© 1995 Peter Langston