Hawai'i planes root out al-Qaida
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
Navy Cmdr. Robert Lally likens flying patrols over the desolate terrain of southern Afghanistan to flying over the Mojave Desert.
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"There's just nothing there," he said. "Nowhere to hide."
The P-3 Orion is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft, developed as a sub hunter during the height of the Cold War.
Al-Qaida and Taliban forces tried anyway and, daily, P-3 Orion aircraft from Lally's Kane'ohe squadron rooted them out.
From the start of the war Oct. 7 until they recently returned home, the "Golden Eagles" of Patrol Squadron 9 flew combat missions day and night in the region, pinpointing targets for fighters and bombers, dodging ground fire and — in a first in the 40-year history of the aircraft — firing missiles at the enemy over land.
With mop-up operations under way in Afghanistan, that story now is being told.
"I think what we did was very high-risk, and very high-reward, and I think we got a lot of momentum in terms of the role P-3s will play in the future," said Lally, the commander of Patrol Squadron 9, or VP-9.
The four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft, developed as a sub hunter during the height of the Cold War, performed their special mission over land: with the legs to fly two hours, remain "on station" for another five to six, and then make the trip back to base, the Hawai'i-based P-3s were key players in what became a long-range air war.
In 2 1/2 months, squadron aircraft logged 3,000 hours flying 100 combat missions over Afghanistan, providing "force protection" for U.S. Navy ships off Pakistan, and patrolling the Persian Gulf. During the six-month deployment the P-3 crews saw more flying time than any other VP squadron since the Vietnam War.
Patrol Squadron 4, the "Skinny Dragons," took VP-9's place last month, and set about searching for any al-Qaida and Taliban seeking to flee to Yemen by boat. P-3s flying out of Oman more recently began conducting surveillance in Somalia, a possible site of future U.S. strikes.
Three squadrons of P-3s are based at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i in Kane'ohe, each with about 10 aircraft and 400 Navy crew members and support personnel.
The Golden Eagles deployed in June to Bahrain, Oman and the Indian Ocean island base of Diego Garcia for a scheduled six-month tour, but were pressed into combat following the Sept. 11 attacks and start of the offensive in Afghanistan Oct. 7.
Lally said the squadron kind of "evolved" into the role.
"You go from an ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) platform to precision strike targeting in one mission — those are (usually) two separate worlds," Lally said. "There are not too many platforms in the Navy that can do what the P-3s do — ISR and deliver weapons."
The Orions can carry 20,000 pounds of ordnance, including Harpoon, Maverick and Standoff Land Attack, or SLAM, missiles, as well as torpedoes, rockets and 500-pound bombs.
The overland P-3s, armed with SLAM and maverick missiles, reportedly hit Taliban aircraft and at least three buildings, including an SA-13 missile control center. Lally only would confirm the squadron fired missiles "multiple" times.
Taliban forces "wanted something they could put on CNN" and tried repeatedly to shoot down a P-3, B-52 or a fighter, said one VP-9 crew member who asked not to be identified because he had not received authorization to grant media interviews. The slow-moving P-3s became a favorite target.
"We would get shot at by anti-aircraft fire every time we went out there," the crew member said. "You could see them, but the anti-aircraft fire would never get high enough — (although) it would look like it was getting high enough."
Taliban ground forces also fired unreliable MANPADS, or shoulder-fired rockets, and surface-to-air missiles, one of which rocked a P-3 when it exploded close by. None of the P-3s was damaged or brought down, through.
Seeing the ground fire "was like a fireworks show," Lally, 42, said. "When you see triple A and surface-to-air bursts, it's like the muzzle of a rifle — you see the flash."
The squadron commander, who flew on 30 missions over Afghanistan, said that the first time out the tension ran pretty high.
"The hair stands up on the back of your neck, but you get used to it, and you get into that mindset of having been in Indian country," he said.
The 11 crew members aboard the P-3s used sophisticated electric optics, including high-resolution cameras, to track movement on the ground. One P-3 would patrol the skies at a time.
Often, the aircraft conducted surveillance on truck convoys or compounds that dotted the region. The information would be relayed in real time to commanders who would make the decision whether to call in a strike. During and after a strike, the P-3 would remain over the target to assess the damage.
Lally recalls "having eyes on target" during a coalition attack on Taliban forces in Kandahar, seeing three to six trucks escaping, calling in the information, and continuing to monitor the battle as U.S. fighters swooped in and hit several of the vehicles minutes later.
The success of the missions was a boost not just for the squadron, but the P-3 itself — an aircraft at a crossroads in its life. The Navy is faced with the decision whether to replace or upgrade the Orions, a craft based on a 1950s design that hasn't been manufactured since 1990.
Nearly 2,300 Navy personnel were transferred with 29 P-3 Orions and nine SH-60 Seahawk helicopters to Kane'ohe when Barbers Point Naval Air Station was closed in 1999.
Lally said the eagerness of flight crews and maintenance personnel to perform their missions was impressive.
"There was a desire to get that plane off the deck as soon as possible, and stay on station as long as possible," he said.
Support personnel changed 33 engines in six months, and loaded 2 million pounds of weapons — efforts Lally called "phenomenal."
Hawai'i-based P-3s flew largely maritime missions in the Gulf War, and Orions from outside of Hawai'i saw duty in Bosnia and Kosovo. But Lally believes the success of P-3s over Afghanistan has opened a new chapter for the venerable aircraft.
"We've got a lot of value added now to have a P-3 working for the battlefield commander," he said.
