Classics: A-7D SLUF

Flight Journal, Aug 1999 by Thompson, Warren E

The Vought A-7 Corsair II, in any of its variations, has never been called "pretty." In fact, it had barely landed in Vietnam before its unique appearance earned it the nickname of "SLUF," which stood for "short little ugly fella." The A-7D could best be described as a long-legged, heavyordnance carrying and close-airsupport fighter/bomber. Armed with 1,000 rounds of ammo and eight Mk 82 bombs, its external fuel tanks gave it a combat radius of 480 nautical miles. Ugly or not, the airplane really carried destruction to the enemy, and the USAF relied heavily on it during the Vietnam War.

On October 16,1972, the 354th TFW flew the first missions out of Korat. Due to its impressive record established early on, the A-7D quickly became the forward air controllers' weapon of choice when they needed to pound a target they had spotted. The A-7D's destiny would, however, be in carrying out search-and-rescue, or "Sandy," missions.

In its first 10 weeks of combat, the 354th averaged 62 missions a day with an astounding combat-loss rate of only 0.03 percent. The lion's share of the search-and-rescue missions were flown by the 3rd Tactical Fighter Squadron commanded by Lt. Col. Ed "Moose" Skowron. They escorted the big "Jolly Green" helicopters deep into enemy territory to rescue downed airmen.

One of the longest Sandy missions was logged by Maj. Colin "Arnie" Clark. He spent over nine hours (!) orbiting an area in which an F-105 Wild Weasel crew had gone down. The rescue was successful, and for his contribution, Clark was awarded the Air Force Cross.

Prior to the appearance of the A-7D in Vietnam, the primary Sandy aircraft was the A-1 Skyraider. By the early '70s, however, the A-1 was being phased out of U.S. inventory and turned over to the Vietnamese Air Force. The SLUF was the perfect replacement!