Number 94 in Osprey's Combat Aircraft series is on the Phabulous F-4 Phantom II in USMC service during the Vietnam War. The Phantom II was originally designed as a fleet defense interceptor, but it was also designed to carry a goodly amount of ordnance and the aircraft was used as a fighter-bomber for the most part by both the USAF and the USMC. In this role it was particularly effective. The USAF did 'group bombing' for the most part while the USMC used theirs mostly for troop support. To be sure, they were used for air defense and one Phantom crew operating from the USS America did get a MiG kill, but that was pretty much an anomaly for USMC Phantom crews. Moving mud was their prime directive.

Pretty much every active USMC Phantom unit did at least one tour of Vietnam and that is what this book covers. The first ones in were VMFA-531 and due to their experiences in country, they were designated to be the Phantom training unit once they returned to the US. They passed on their experiences and tactics to later units. Eventually they were back in a standard role after VMFAT-101 was created to take over the training job.

So what is in the book? Well, it is pretty much a chronological story of every USMC unit that deployed to Vietnam. In each unit's section there are stories from the pilots and crews who participated along with a goodly number of period photos of their planes, most of them in color. Background information on each unit is provided to give you an idea of how these folks operated from the various bases to which they were assigned.

The book also covers the RF-4Bs which were so crucial to getting the photos needed to plan strikes and see how they turned out. I found it interesting that most recce pilots preferred the RF-8A they were flying as the Crusader had better cameras. The RF-4 nose limited the size of the cameras and the longer focal length ones carried by the Crusader just would not fit. I also learned that the RF-4 had SLAR antennas built into the nose section, something I never really realized until now. These were right behind the cooling intakes.

As with all of the books in this series, there are several pages of full color profiles, the sort of thing that modelers love to see. In the back is an appendix of all the units that participated along with their disposition and aircraft lost. In all, it makes for another great F-4 book that no Phantom Phanatic should be without. Highly recommended. You will not be disappointed.

January 2013

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