My military service...

[John HOLBROOK]

If there is one thing of which I am most proud, it's my service to this country in the U.S. NAVY...

I liked what I did and I was really good at it!!!

Now let me explain the Loft Manuever when delivering nuclear weapons... When we first started planning for war targets in the Soviet Union, we flew a high profile. That meant that we launched from the ship, climbed to 35,000 feet and flew at that altitude to deliver the weapon.. That was fine until the Russians developed the SA 2, which you might ask Gary Powers about!!!!

So we developed alternate methods, of which the most sucessful was the Loft Manuever, or "Toss" bombing!! We would approach the target at 500' AGL at a True Airspeed of 500 Knots which is 575 MPH..

I would track the aiming point on my radar bombing computer, and at approximately 25 miles from the target I would get a signal, at which the pilot would start a 2.5 G climb. At 51.5 Degrees in the climb, the computer in the LABS System (Low Altitude Bombing System) , which I helped to develop BTW, would open the bomb bay doors and release the MK 28, a 1 Megaton Thermonuclear weapon.

The pilot would immediately roll the A/C over on it's back make a 135 degree heading degree change, apply full throttle to the engines and head for the deck!!! This was of course to escape the detonation!! The weapon would fly a parabolic curve and detonate at approx. 5,000' above the target.. Now remember that we had no GPS or even electronic calculators in those days. The bombing computer we used was an upgraded Norden Bombsight with a more sophiscated radar system The CP 66A computer was an analog device, not digital. It had gears and motors......

The letter below is from my service record and was the second award for the Boardman Range for a Loft Bullseye!!! I recieved a total of four awards for the Boardmen Range, and had 2 previous awards for the Lake George Range in Central Florida... Very few B/Ns, Air Force or Navy ever scored a single bullseye with the Loft delivery...

Now collecting guns is really fun, however anyone can buy a gun or a gun collection.. No one else in the world could deliver weapons like I could, and as Joe Namath said after winning the 1969 Super Bowl, "If you can do it, it's ain't bragging"... Here is an article concerning Loft Bombing..

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...867115,00.html



And here is another commendation from NASWF. What it fails to mention was that the A4D was carrying a LIVE , fully operational MK 28 nuclear weapon on it's centerline bomb rack!!! Trying to salvage an aircraft with a nuclear weapon aboard will certainly concentrate you thinking!!!

[JohnMOhio]

There is little if anything I could add except my personal thanks for your courage and dedication in service to our Country.

John

[Scott Gahimer]

John, I am utterly impressed...once again! There truly should be a forum specifically for you to post your awards, commendations, personal photos and military service record...and to tell all your stories. Or perhaps even an entire web site. In fact, have you considered posting all this personal information about yourself on your Holbrook Device site? Or...maybe even a book about yourself and all your heroic exploits? A pistol forum just doesn't give you all the attention or recognition you deserve. As always...a truly impressive story and photos, to boot! Thanks.

I think you should re-up! The Navy could use you today!

[John HOLBROOK]

Actually, I am currently writing an autobiography..

BTW, here is another one....

An SLPU is a Short Look Pop UP to deliver a small tactical nuke on an airfield. We would come in again at 500 Knots and pop up to 5,000" over the airfield and drop the weapon which was parachute retarded with a timing device to allow us to get away before the detonation...

Piece of cake!!!!

[John HOLBROOK]

How about a bullseye (Shack) on Target "Golf" in Naples, Italy?? The score of all zeros is good!!!!

The comment on the bottom is just a bit of military humor!!!!! The Skipper of my squadron added that comment when he gave me the score sheet!!

[John HOLBROOK]

John, I am utterly impressed...once again! There truly should be a forum specifically for you to post your awards, commendations, personal photos and military service record...and to tell all your stories. Or perhaps even an entire web site. In fact, have you considered posting all this personal information about yourself on your Holbrook Device site? Or...maybe even a book about yourself and all your heroic exploits? A pistol forum just doesn't give you all the attention or recognition you deserve. As always...a truly impressive story and photos, to boot! Thanks.

I think you should re-up! The Navy could use you today!

Scott, I did it to protect people like you!!!!

John

BTW, I have a new gig, I just can't seem to stay retired!!! It is nice to be wanted!!!

[Scott Gahimer]

Congratulation!. Be sure to give Hayes my best regards.

Scott

[thorin6]

John,
First, thanks to you and people like you, we never had to use your skills in a war.
Second, there was a time when many wondered if the balloon went up, would those of us in charge of nuclear weapons actually follow orders to use them; I think your service answers that question.
Third, not to take anything from your skills, but for a time (1971-1973) I could achieve a much better accuracy with my nucs. As a Platoon Leader of an Atomic Demolitions Munitions (ADM) platoon in Germany, we could achieve a CEP of zero on target. Our problem was getting far enough away before the weapon went off.
Finally, thanks not only for your service, but for advancing our hobby of saving these artifacts of history.

[mike24d20]

While in the Army in Korea , it was known that the bad guys could release before our max missle range ( slant range ). But anything within range was toast. ADA all the way.

[John HOLBROOK]

John,
First, thanks to you and people like you, we never had to use your skills in a war.
Second, there was a time when many wondered if the balloon went up, would those of us in charge of nuclear weapons actually follow orders to use them; I think your service answers that question.
Third, not to take anything from your skills, but for a time (1971-1973) I could achieve a much better accuracy with my nucs. As a Platoon Leader of an Atomic Demolitions Munitions (ADM) platoon in Germany, we could achieve a CEP of zero on target. Our problem was getting far enough away before the weapon went off.
Finally, thanks not only for your service, but for advancing our hobby of saving these artifacts of history.

Thanks, we were scored by our CEA, Circular Error Average. I was fortunate enough to end my bombing career with the lowest CEA of all A3 Bombardiers. I was an Instructor B/N for the last 8 years of my service. Many of the A6 B/Ns that flew in Vietnam were trained by me, and they proved to be great B/Ns, Many have contacted me over the years...

I have always wondered if I would have delivered a live nuc.... When I was attached to NATO, my two war targets were Vilnius, Lithuania, and Riga, Latvia... Each were to receive a 1 Megaton weapon in the middle of the city... My two 6Th Fleet targets were the Soviet Naval Base at Sevastapol on the Black Sea.... And the city of Dnepropetrovsk, in the Ukraine.. I suspect that at the time I would have, however I would not have been able to live with the guilt of incinerating millions of humans.... I doubt that any of us would have survived the mission anyway!!!

Anyway, it is all academic now, however one has to wonder what he would have done.... I was at Operation Hardtack II, the last above ground atmospheric nuclear weapons tests at Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1958. I was upclose and personal with about 20 detonations ranging from nuclear depth charges to one hung from a balloon at 100,000', to surface shots of up to 2.5 Megatons. It actually went overyield by about 50%. I was 20 miles away from one of the big ones and I was, to say the least, really impressed.... To watch the shock wave come at me across the lagoon got my attention!!!!! It actually blew the hanger doors off the tracks in the only hangar on the island......

I just remembered something about Eniwetok.. We lived in tents near the Pacific side and one day we were digging in the beach sand to make a volleyball court and discovered the body of a U.S. Marine.. He had been buried during the invasion and unrecovered.. There was no soft tissue left, however his BDUs were really in good shape as was his helmet. Remember that this was just 13 years after the end of WW II. We immediately contacted the Army Hospital and they recovered the remains. His dogtags were there and I still remember his name!!! That young Marine was a hero, certainly not me........ Dang, that is hard to talk about, even now!!!