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 CHERRY POINT, N.C. (10/24/2012) - Fifty years ago this month,
RF-8A Crusaders sped hundreds of miles per hour only 50 feet above
the surface of the Caribbean Sea. Their mission: to enter hostile
airspace above Cuba and capture photographs.
Unbeknownst to
the pilots, their targets were nuclear missiles, and their photos
would provide intelligence that helped the highest levels of
command, including President John F. Kennedy, shape American policy
and actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
During Operation
Blue Moon, American military photo reconnaissance aircraft flew over
the island every two hours collecting vital information on the
Soviet progress in building missile sites. The Navy's Light
Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron 62 was the primary Navy unit
for the mission, which flew with four pilots and aircraft from
Marine Composite Reconnaissance Squadron 2. The Marine squadron was
later re-designated Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 2.
Marine Captains Ed Love, Richard Conway, John Hudson and Fred
Carolan flew the VMCJ-2 Crusaders during Blue Moon.
In a time
before the emergence of mass communications technology, the pilots
were more concerned with executing their assigned mission than with
the potential for nuclear apocalypse.
“We were so far down
the chain, we weren't concerned with all the implications of
everything that went on,” said retired Col. Ed Love, the senior
Marine pilot during Blue Moon. “No one [in the squadron] knew they
had nukes down there. We were aware they had missile sites that put
Washington, D.C., and a few other places in range of their ICBMs
(intercontinental ballistic missiles) if they launched those.”
Their mission, with or without the threat of nuclear weapons,
was dangerous and difficult. From Key West, Fla., the pilots flew
between 50 and 75 feet above the sea. When they came to the island,
they jumped up to about 1,000 feet and proceeded from target site to
target site, often dodging anti-aircraft artillery. After leaving
the island, the aircraft refueled at Key West and then flew to an
airfield near Jacksonville, Fla., to drop off the film.
“The
Blue Moon pictures provided the most timely and authoritative
intelligence on Soviet military capabilities in Cuba, during and
immediately after the crisis,” wrote Michael Dobbs in the
Smithsonian Magazine article The Photographs That Prevented World
War III. “They showed that the missiles were not yet ready to fire,
making Kennedy confident that he still had time to negotiate with
(Soviet Premier Nikita) Khrushchev.”
Before the Blue Moon
pilots could take pictures of missile sites, mission planners had to
know exactly where they were, so they could plan flight routes. As a
composite between photo reconnaissance and electronic warfare,
VMCJ-2 had unique capabilities for this planning stage. The nuclear
launch sites were protected by surface-to-air missiles to deter
airstrikes, and electronic warfare could determine exactly where the
radars guiding the missiles were located.
“We would go around
the island and triangulate to find the radar sites,” said retired
Lt. Col. Richard Conway, a VMCJ-2 pilot who flew missions during the
crisis. “We sent that back to Washington, so when they planned our
targets, they knew where the sites were. They could direct us over
one [site], over another and another in a straight line because we
had located those sites for them.”
Eventually, negotiations
prevented the war. Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles from
Cuba if the United States removed missiles from Turkey. However,
Blue Moon continued because the president and top commanders needed
make sure the Soviets kept their word and dismantled the missile
sites.
During the crisis, the squadron did not know exactly
what was happening. Only after they went home and watched the news
did they realize the magnitude of their mission.
The actions
became a source of pride for the pilots and the squadron. All of the
pilots received distinguished flying crosses. VMCJ-2 became the
first Marine Corps unit to receive the Navy Unit Commendation during
a time of peace. VFP-62 also became the first Navy unit to receive
the award during a time of peace.
“Sitting there watching the
TV, you feel really proud about what you contributed,” said Conway.
“It was a very rewarding experience.”
By USMC Cpl. Scott L. Tomaszycki
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2012
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