Operation Bolo …birth of the Wolf Pack

  • Published
  • By Donald May
  • 8th Fighter Wing Historian
KUNSAN AIR BASE, South Korea --  Today we call the 8th Fighter Wing the "Wolf Pack," but the wing did not always have this nickname. The term "Wolf Pack" originally described German U-boats, which prowled the Atlantic during World War II. Later during the war, an American fighter unit adopted the Wolf Pack as its nickname. The original Wolf Pack was the 56th Fighter Group. The group flew in Europe and shot down more than 660 enemy aircraft. 

The 8th Fighter Group in World War II had 446 aerial victories in the Southwest Pacific and had no ties with either the 56th FG or the Wolf Pack nickname. It was during the Vietnam War, when the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing adopted Wolf Pack as its nickname.

The name originated with one special mission the 8th TFW flew over North Vietnam. The mission, Operation Bolo, established the unit as the leader in defeating enemy MiG fighters.

Operation Bolo took place Jan. 2, 1967. Before this, political restrictions gave the North Vietnamese Air Force a distinct advantage in defending against U.S. air attacks. Though the American fighters were allowed to engage the MiGs while airborne, they could not attack enemy aircraft on the ground. This restriction prohibited U.S. forces from bombing MiG bases in the Hanoi and Haiphong areas, giving the MiGs a safe haven. Because of this, the MiGs could choose when to fight. 

The MiGs launched attacks only against aircraft that did not offer much of an air-to-air threat, such as the F-105 fighters loaded with bombs. Since the enemy could afford to wait until they had an advantage, MiG kills were rare in those days.

Since arriving at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base in 1965, the 8th TFW had scored six MiG kills, but more often the MiGs escaped. The situation became more critical when the North Vietnamese added the newer and more capable MiG-21 to its existing fleet of MiG-17 and MiG-19 fighters in late 1966.

In order to counter the MiG defenses, the 8th TFW and 7th Air Force developed a plan to trick the North Vietnamese into committing their Mig-21 fighters against an American force, which could meet them on equal terms. Colonel Robin Olds commanded the 8th TFW. He also served in World War II and earned 12 aerial victories against German fighters to make him a double ace. The wing's vice commander, Colonel Vermont Garrison, also had extensive combat experience, becoming an ace in World War II, and later scoring 10 more kills in Korea to become a triple ace.

To draw the enemy into combat against a force of F- 4C fighters configured for air-to-air combat, Operation Bolo was implemented to fly a large package of F-4D Phantoms to simulate the tactics used by F-105 bombing missions. The plan called for the 8th TFW to simulate the tactics used by the F-105 package by flying at the same altitude, speed and route common to F-105 strikes. The term "Bolo," refers to a cane-cutting machete which doubled as a Filipino martial arts weapon. Sharp and deadly, the Filipino bolo does not appear to be a weapon until the opponent is drawn in too close to evade.

The Phantoms used the same call signs, tanker rendezvous points and approach routes, and made false radio calls to trick the communist ground controllers. To further convince the enemy, the wing modified its aircraft to carry electronic countermeasures pods previously used only on the F-105. Operation Bolo used the 8th TFW as the "West Force" to simulate an F-105 strike in the Hanoi area, while F-4 aircraft of the 366th TFW from Danang Air Base, served as the "East Force" to cover the bases in the Haiohong area and block the MiG attacks by the West Force from escaping over the border into China.

The "West Force" consisted of 11 four-ship flights, with five minute spacing between flights to allow coverage over the MiG bases for 55 minutes, which was the estimated unrefueled flight time of the MiG-21. To prepare for the mission, crews underwent three days of planning and briefings. During the final pre-flight briefing, Colonel Olds closed by saying "All right you Wolf Pack, let's go get them."

Although heavy clouds in the target area almost forced cancellation of the mission, it did mostly go off as planned. The first flight, called Olds flight led by Colonel Olds, arrived over Phuc Yen Airfield at 3 p.m. The enemy had been fooled and took off to attack what they assumed were bomb-laden F-105s. Due to the undercast, Colonel Old's flight could not engage the MiGs until they broke through the clouds. When they did become visible, Colonel Old's flight scored three kills.

Ford flight, led by Colonel Daniel "Chappie" James, the wing's deputy commander for operations (later vice commander) and who later became the Air Force's first black four-star general arrived at 3:05 p.m. and shot down one enemy MiG. The next group, Rambler flight, reached Phuc Yen at 3:10 p.m. and added another three kills. Later flights did not encounter MiGs, as the remaining fighters that had launched for Phuc Yen had escaped into the clouds.

In one mission, the 8th TFW had shot down seven Mig-21 fighters in 12 minutes. In addition to the seven confirmed kills, two more downed MiGs had probably been destroyed, but these could not be confirmed due to the clouds. All of this took place without a single loss for the 8th TFW. One Phantom received minor damage, but this resulted from the F-4 flying though debris from an exploding MiG.

After Operation Bolo, the wing began to call itself the Wolf Pack. In time, other units also referred to the 8th TFW as the Wolf Pack, influenced by the wing's further success in air-to-air combat against the North Vietnamese. By the end of the war, the 8th TFW had logged 38.5 confirmed MiG kills to lead all other wings in the Air Force, and the nickname survives today, more than 40 years after the mission that earned the name for the wing.