European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 15, 1969, Darmstadt, Hesse                              It is future is up to Nixon by Donald May up staff writer on March 15, 1968, six camouflage fill fighter bombers took off fro Nellis air Force base in the Nevada desert and flew West to Thailand tonight in Vietnam. Eight months later on nov. 19, the fill detachment then numbering five planes two of them replacements re turned to Nellis their combat Over. Since then there has been much controversy Over what they accomplished. Opinions Range from those who see the fill As a monumental bungle to those who see it As a  task of the Nixon administration will be to decide the plane s  Story of the fill in combat has been old mostly in Brief chapters Many entering on mishaps. Now it is possible to put some of these chapters in perspective. T,.he Story begins in april 1967, when . Commanders renewed re quests for a better Way to bomb tar gets in North Vietnam at night and sinbad weather. F4s and floss already were using a Blind bombing radar technique called msq77. Ground radar stations in Friendly territory guided planes to their tar gets and told them with the Aid of computers when to release their bombs. The system was limited in accuracy and Range however by the fact that the wide portion of North Vietnam which includes Hanoi and Haiphong was far from by area where ground radars could be located. The fill features a radar bombing system wholly contained with the plane and which Early tests showed capable of accuracy As Good As Daylight visual  combat Crew training began at Nellis in july 1967. In february 1968,Crews and planes were declared ready. The joint chiefs of staff recommended deployment and this was approved by the defense department during the Las Days of Robert s. Mcnamara s Secre tar ship. During the eight months in which they were based at Rakhli Thailand the fills completed 55 Coin but sorties individual flights against North Viet Nam the planes finding their targets dropping bombs and returning safely. It. Col. Benjamin c. Murph 42, Ofsan Antonio tex., who became com Mander of the combat detachment injure told United press International in an interview that All these flights Whereat night and All also were in what pilots Call weather meaning instrument rather than visual flight conditions. The air Force won t declare the exact number of sorties which were launched but not completed claiming this would be of value to an enemy. The number is fewer than 15. It includes three planes lost on com Bat missions. One crashed in Thailand. Its two pilots parachuted safely. The crash was blamed on a tube of sealant carelessly left in the plane s innards which lodged in the flight control sys  other two lost planes and their Crews were never found. The air Force believes they also crashed in the Jungle one in Thailand the other in Thailand or Laos. The other incomplete sorties involve mechanical troubles which under the applicable combat evaluation rules caused pilots to turn Back. In a More desperate situation they might have pressed on. He fills flew their first combat missions March 25, starting with relatively Low danger targets in the North vietnamese Panhandle. Before they took on More important and dangerous tar gets farther North president Johnson in april limited the bombing to below the 19th parallel. As a result the fills were never use against the targets for which they had been requested. Most of the targets the did hit were truck Parks and troop bivouac  various reasons the Thailand crashes a . Crash a structural fail ure during a Metal fatigue ground test at san Diego and the investigation Sand changes which All these required tile fills were Able to Fly combat mis Sions on Only 22 Days out of their eight month tour. Much of the time they were restricted to training flights or grounded entirely. They returned to the United states after the Complete bombing halt began nov. 1 and after their six months com Bat trial period extended 45 Days was  Pentagon has held studies of its own and has consulted outside research agencies on what this combat trial proved. Varying interpretations have been made of the Small statistical Sam ple involved but air Force official make these general Points the fill demonstrated a capability for night All weather Low level approach bombing better than any other air Force plane. Post strike photog Raphy when the weather cleared identified bomb craters of 31 fill sorties and All were in the target area. Some bomb strings went so accurately across the targets that a decision was made to switch to few Rand. Heavier bombs so As not to waste those on the ends. The plane s Terrant following radar which allows it to hug the ground at High Speed worked Well and enabled it to pass Over antiaircraft positions so fast it was never shot at until it was past and it was never hit. It was not shot at by surface to air  the other hand it did not Fly against highly defended areas such Ashanti and Haiphong and therefore is still untested for such areas. Where does Alt this leave the fill the air Force is convinced it has a plane that will perform a Mission it has always Felt necessary Long Range Low level penetration night and bad weather tactical bombing. Officials believe that if flight tests Tun lout As expected the air Force also Tave in the fill a strategic nuclear  difficulties appear on the Foad to solution. Strengthening the which once seemed an almost sible undertaking will according estimate Cost Only $30,000 to 0 per plane when done As part Ofer All modernization of the fills modernization of the roughly ills already built will take a year months. It will bring Early Model the Standard of those which went Ailand. It will also incorporate improvements suggested by the East Asia experience. Most of Thi Saul program had Long been  fill still faces some Large is sufi which the Nixon  to review these include its the air Force is convinced it has cost$7 million per copy in relation to other weapons systems. They also include How Many should be bought and at what rate. For example the nuclear bomber ver Sion of the fill could be delayed to save Money. But the air Force say that if it is delayed too Long even More Money will have to be spent remodelingb52s. Procurement of fill tactical bombers could be slowed Down. One reason for doing so would be to include better engines and belter electronic equipment which is being developed. On the other hand every year that an individual plane is delayed adds through the proc Ess of inflation about 5 per cent to its  one air Force officer summing it All up yes it s a Good plane. Yes it costs too  a plane that Ivill perform a Mission it has always Felt necessary iongrange9 Lois level penetration night and bad Vieather tactical bombing. Page 12 the stars and stripes a camouflaged Al 11 taxis Down the runway for Takeoff from base in Thailand. For Black actors an age of Tea Greg Morris and Barbara Bain in a scene from Mission  by Vernon Scott up staff writer if you Are a caucasian television set owner you play Host to a growing number of Black men and women i your living room. In the majority of cases one suspects this electronic mixing is the sole con tact Between Black and White socially. But from Peyton place to Julia Ironside Hogan s heroes and a dozen others negroes Are entering your Homes. Almost without exception they Are excellent actors. They also share Pride of race and a determination to Hel other Blacks in television. Whether it be Bill Cosby or Diahan Carroll it is difficult to interview this Black cadre of television players with out discussing race. The Novelty of Black strides acceptance and Equality in show business remains fresh and newsworthy. In a sense it is unfair to the by arc Art or to discuss Only racial matters but it is still an intriguing phenomenon. So it was the other Day with Greg Orris the handsome electronic expert in the Mission impossible  was t chosen for my role because of Ray color Morris  Geller the producer said if he could t have had me for the role of Barney Collier his next Choice was a Blue eyed scandinavian. We be been the stars and stripes on the air three years now. And so Farno hate  Morris stands about 6-feet 2-inches.his features Are Fine his voice modulated and actor trained. He is a genial Man modest and thoroughly likable. He does not speak in terms of Whit Power Structure revolution equal rights or in the ghetto patois. I m fortunate to be in Holly Wood during an age of realization he said. Those of us who Are fortunate enough to find some degrees of Success have to reach Back and help others Smuch As we  Morris is confident producers Are no handing out parts to Black men and women just to improve their own images or to meet quotas. The growth of work for Black actors in Hollywood is honest he said. If Black performers could t do t h Ejob they would t be working. It s that  More than one third of the roles i be played have been designated fora Black actor. That s real  like most actors in video Blacker White Greg aspires to movie Star Dom lie has made his living for seven years in television but he wants to do More than  the moment i m a television personality. But i m heading in the direction of motion picture work,1 he Eon eluded. Page 13