<p>The F-4 Phantom was the workhorse of the war in Southeast Asia, and got most of the attention. One unsung operational hero was the 'Aardvark', as the General Dynamics F-111 models were generally known, and perhaps here is an appropriate place to pay tribute to the much-maligned aircraft.
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<p>In the spring of 1967, a test evaluation called Combat Bullseye I proved that the F-111 bombing systems were excellent, and that the early deployment of the plane to Southeast Asia would be desirable. The F-111A, although quite suitable for such tests and evaluation, was far from a combat-ready fighting machine. A modification program called Harvest Reaper began in June to make the plane suitable for war, to fix the existing problems, and to add more avionics, specifically ECM gear. That done, a test detachment of F-111As began the Combat Trident program which included 500 bombing sorties and logged 2,000 flying hours by 6 March 1968. Nine days later, the 'Aardvark' was headed for the wars.
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<p>The Combat Lancer deployment sent six F-111As as Detachment 1, 428th TFS, 474th TFW, from Nellis AFB to Thailand. They left on 15 March, arrived on 17 March, and by the end of the month had flown 55 missions against targets in North Vietnam. Two of the planes and their crews had been lost. Two replacements arrived, but when a third F-111A was lost on 22 April the planes were removed from combat and saw little action until they were returned to the United States in November, ending the Combat Lancer deployment and combat evaluation.
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<p>After a detailed investigation of the probable causes of the accidents, the F-111s were run through a modification program to fix the mechanical problems that had been blamed for the losses. They redeployed to Southeast Asia on 27 September 1972, to become part of the Linebacker operation.
