| Tom "Parky" Parkinson, e-mail, 23.08.2012 18:45 Was involved with the Intruder from early 1968 to Dec 71. VA-42, VA-85, VA-165. West Pac 1971 on the USS Constellation. The A-6 was a work horse. To borrow a phrase "It took a licking - and kept on ticking" reply |
| Freddie Curry, e-mail, 19.07.2012 16:07 The A-6 was first taken into battle in 1965 aboard the aricraft carrier USS Independence. Several of the planes and their crews were lost as soon as they went into service. I was there. reply |
| joe b, e-mail, 29.05.2012 03:30 was pn3 with 75 on kh dec67-june68 reply |
| krunch, e-mail, 20.05.2012 20:34 18 yrs on intruders and prowlers life just didn't get no better. miss the flight deck and the people. the people made them work reply |
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| Anthony Aguirre, e-mail, 26.04.2012 08:29 I was in VA-75 as an AQB2 during the westpac deployment aboard the Kitty Hawk in 1967-1968. I believe we were the first to test the Arm Bird in a combat situation. I think there were 2 aboard. reply |
| allen smith, e-mail, 16.04.2012 01:52 Served as a planecapt with VMA(aw)533 with the A6a Intruders at CherryPoint, and went to ChuLai with them in 1967-68. Great aircraft. I understand they stayed in service almost 40 years. That alone says alot for the Intruders. reply |
| george Cook Ret MSGT, e-mail, 23.03.2012 19:50 Grew up working on the A6A , attended first Marine class in Oceana Va . Had the most excitement actually flying right seat due to shortage of B /Ns . Actually performed almost everything needed from replacing fuel cells to changing wings and engines. Absolutely loved the aircraft . ended up as Maint /material chief for VMAQ-2. If able to do again would change nothing !!!! reply |
| Brian Wood, e-mail, 27.05.2011 22:07 My dad flew the A6 as part of VA-115 in the later hours of Vietnam. Was also at the retirement at Oceana. You could say the A6 was like my big sister. Miss seeing her fly reply |
| Tom Ockuly, e-mail, 15.05.2011 06:14 I was in the RAG (VA-128) for two years and made one cruise to Viet Nam on the Kitty Hawk with VA-52 as a Fire Control tech. The Avionics were state of the art when it came to navigation, bombing and terain avoidance. To say it was a work horse was an understatement; we flew 10 missions a day, seven days a week and were the first squadron to deploy the Standard Arm missile. When the A-6 left the deck every SAM site in Viet Nam shut down. What a great weapon system. reply |
| Bob Bloor, e-mail, 27.04.2011 03:13 I was in VA 75 from 3 /63 to 3 /15 /66 We were the first sea going squadron to get the A6. We also were the first squadron to take it into Viet Nam in 65. The first A6 we had had a lot of problems, and one of the biggest was the leaky wing fuel cells. We were kicked off the Indy, and told not to bring the planes back until we had the fuel leak problems fixed. We never did until we got the newer planes, which weren the ones we took to Viet Nam. We lost four planes to enemy fire. Two crew members were captured, two were killed, and four were rescued. I worked for Gruman for a while after I got out. reply |
| kirk kuykendall, e-mail, 24.04.2011 16:44 was in VAH123 /VA128 when the A6 first arrived at Nas Whidbey Island. I later served in VA 115, VA 145, VA 128, VA 165, and was at the A6 retirement, Was very proud of the A6 and all of its accomplishments! What a work horse! reply |
| JOHN R KRUGER, e-mail, 24.04.2011 09:27 I WAS A MARINE PLANE CAPTIAN FOR VMA (AW) 242 IN DANANG FROM SEPT 69 T0 SEPT 70. WHAT A WORK HORSE THIS AIRCRAFT IS, WE USED TO FLY 28 500 POUNDERS ALL THE TIME. SOMETIMES WE WOULD FLY 4 2000 POUNDERS WITH 36 INCH DAISEY CUTTERS TO MAKE A LZ IN THE JUNGLE. IT WAS A GREAT BIRD! reply |
| Harry Barnes, e-mail, 10.04.2011 07:08 I was a structures mechanic with VMA (AW) 242 when we first received the A6 in Oceania Va. Being a new aircraft for the Marine Corp. I was sent to Plane Captain School and worked on the line until we brought our squadron back to Cherry Point. I truly enjoyed every minute of my time spent with the A6 and the men that in our unit. reply |
| AL Almore, e-mail, 28.03.2011 03:32 I was a sheetmetal mech. on this bird in te Marine Corps (VMA 224). I did a tour in Nam on the USS Coral Sea 71-72.This was a tuff aircraft that could take a lot of punishement and still get the crew home most times. A great bird. reply |
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| Bob Beckmann, e-mail, 26.03.2011 17:14 I was a tool designer at Grumman and worked on the assembly tooling for the wings and control assemblies of the A2-F as the A-6 was originally designated. GRUMMAN had a "Name the Plane" contest before the A-6's first flight. I am one of the 10 employees who named the A-6 the Intruder. reply |
| GATOR, e-mail, 14.03.2011 02:03 I like most of those above flew all models of the Intruder from 1970-1991. The "BUF" and its crews proved themselves in every threat environment and against every possible target set from Hanoi to Libya to Iraq. The guys flying the jets evolved tactics to maximize effectiveness and minimize risk, but were never hesitant to go in harms way, as it should be! Fuzed Bombs On Target First Pass! reply |
| Carl Newman, e-mail, 07.03.2011 04:50 I was a pilot in VA35 on the USS America from 1972 through 1974 and survived 135 missions in Vietnam and a "Med" cruise with 300+ landings, 110 at night. I flew all models, A /B /C /D /E, although our Es were converted A models which Grumman converted to Es after returning from Vietnam. The digital system was a big improvement over the old analog Litton computer system. Seven years, I ended up in the Air Force flying F-111s and was shocked to find the F-111A still had basically the same old system as the A6A. Both planes had the same mission, but because of the swing wing the F-111 was a real Cadillac down low. Where the A6 did normal low levels at 360Kts the F111 did 480 or 540Kts. reply |
| John Ochs, e-mail, 17.02.2011 21:50 I was a pilot with the Attack Squadron Sixty Five (VA-65) from 1974-1976. The aircraft picture above is painted with our livery. I flew every model of the Intruder ever made. I also flew the four seat electronic warfare model, EA-6B Prowler. I also flew the F-14, F-4, F-9, and all models of the A-4. My favorite was flying the low level flight profile of the Intruder! In addition the Intruder was second only to the B-52 in total bomb load. reply |
| Don Ohnemus, e-mail, 08.02.2011 01:20 I was an A-6 B /N from 1968-1979, and flew in every version of the A-6 ever built. It was a magnificent bird even if it wasn't a supersonic "godaddy". I had the pleasure of flying with some great pilots, and the thrill of having SAMs shot at me in Vietnam. Thank goodness they missed. Many of my best friends are from the A-6 community, because they were genuinely great people. reply |
| Phil Fusilier, e-mail, 02.02.2011 00:20 Was in VA-75 for a few months before it departed onboad the Sara for Yankee Station during Linebacker II. The squadron lost excellent men and officers during that tour. Have Florida "Navy" tag # VA-75 in memory of them on my car. Former VA-75 B /N and retired Capt. John Peino lives here in Tallahassee along with Old skipper of VA-72. reply |
