Vizcarra, Victor

Victor Vizcarra

Preferred Name: Vic

Date of Birth: October 13, 1936

Highest Military Grade: 0-6 – Colonel

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

Colonel Vic Vizcarra (USAF, Ret.), a 24-year Air Force veteran, followed his older brother’s footsteps and was commissioned in the United States Air Force. upon graduation from Loyola University of Los Angeles in 1960. “A high ranking in his pilot training class allowed him to choose the F-100 from the list of available assignments. After completing F-100 training, he was assigned to the 31st TFW, 309th TFS at Homestead AFB, FL where he flew the “Hun” for 16 months.”(1)

“After finishing his first tour of duty he was again assigned one of the most technologically advanced fighters ever designed, the F-105 Thunderchief. The war in Vietnam was growing and the F-105 was bearing the brunt of the air war hitting key targets in the most hostile and dangerous battle space in the history of air warfare.

In 1965, while flying with the 80th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Colonel Vizcarra flew a historical combat mission “Operation Spring High,” the first Counter-Air Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) mission ever conducted in the history of aerial combat and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1966, while on a combat mission over North Vietnam, he was forced to eject from his crippled F-105. If it were not for the brave crew of HC-1 off of the USS Halsey who rescued him out of the jungle, he would have not returned from that mission.

Too many combat rescues in Vietnam were made under fire with the rescuers flying in slow and vulnerable machines, yet The HC-1 Search and Rescue Crew remained way past the available fuel needed to get back to their ship, searching for him. The “Gray Ghost helicopter had stayed well past their bingo fuel and if not for the ship intercepting at maximum speed they would have had to water ditch in the Gulf of Tonkin. He would return back to Vietnam flying the F-100D Super Sabre in 1970 and accumulated a combined total of 185 combat missions between his F-105 and F-100 tours in the war. Colonel Vizcarra continued to fly throughout his 24-year career flying the F-5 Tiger II and the F-4E Phantom.”(2)

Vizcarra is the author of 2 books; HUN PILOT: A PILOT’S ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST USAF SUPERSONIC FIGHTER and “THUD PILOT: A PILOT’S ACCOUNT OF EARLY F-105 COMBAT IN VIETNAM”, see his “Books” tab for additional information.

Sources:
(1) https://www.amazon.com/Victor-Vizcarra/e/B01MSRGQHZ
(2) Thudpilot.com

Units Assigned

1960 Commissioned by ROTC at Loyola University
1962-1963 309th & 307th Tactical Fighter Squadron/31st Tactical Fighter Wing, Homestead AFB, FL (F-100)
1970 352nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, Phang Rang AB, Vietnam (F-100 D/F, F-105D)
35th Tactical Fighter Wing, Deputy Commander Maintenance

Awards & Decorations

Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster

Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Air Medal with 9 Oak Leaf Clusters

Purple Heart

Combat Readiness Medal

National Defense Service Medal

Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal

Vietnam Service Medal with Silver Star

Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm

Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal

Presidential Unit Citation

AF Outstanding Unit Award with Silver Oak Leaf and Oak Leaf Cluster

Flight Info

T-33 – 732 hours
T-37 – 110 hours
T-34 – 30 hours
F-100 D/F – 663 hours
F-105 D – 1120 hours
F-5 E – 791 hours
F-4 E – 120 hours

Total Hours – 3590
(185 combat missions between his F-105 and F-100)

Military & Civilian Education

Military Education:

Air War College (seminar)
Air Command and Staff College of the Armed Forces (correspondence)

Civilian Education:

1960 Bachelor of Science/Mechanical Engineering, Loyola University of Los Angeles
Master of Science/Aerospace Operations Management

Hun Pilot by Victor Vizcarra

Hun Pilot examines the first of the “Century Series” of new fighters of the mid-’50s from a young fighter pilot’s perspective. The North American Aviation F-100 Super Sabre was the first U.S. fighter capable of exceeding the speed of sound in level flight. Designed as a day superiority fighter, it quickly morphed into the Air Force’s mainstay fighter-bomber. The F-100 design and its Pratt and Whitney J-57 engine were a quantum leap in aeronautics and engine technology that expanded the day-to-day operational flight envelope into the aeronautical flight regime previously flown only by the X-series of specialized experimental test aircraft. Pioneering supersonic operations opened previously unknown aeronautical phenomenon that challenged new piloting skills.

Over its quarter of a century operational career, the F-100 suffered one of the highest accident rates in the fighter inventory, with 38.75% of the fleet destroyed in aircraft accidents and killing 324 pilots. Yet, with properly trained pilots at its controls, the aircraft fulfilled the requirement for a worldwide deployable deterrent against the growing nuclear Communist threat. In its latter years of operation, the Hun remained an effective weapon system, flying 360,283 combat sorties in Southeast Asia, more than any other fighter.

Thud Pilot by Victor Vizcarra

Thud Pilot is the personal account of a combat fighter pilot who flew the Air Force’s premier fighter-bomber in the most dangerous skies over North Vietnam. In the first five years of the Vietnam War, the F-105 Thunderchief conducted 75 percent of the Air Force bombing missions over North Vietnam. Thud Pilot tells the story of the courageous men who flew the F-105 from its earliest combat deployment in 1964, and on through 1966, the year of its heaviest losses. The author’s more significant missions, including his ejection and rescue over North Vietnam, are described in detail and are accompanied by map drawings depicting the mission routes from take-off to refueling orbits, the target, and return. The book is full of several ‘firsts’ in the expanding air war over North Vietnam, including ‘Operation Spring High,’ the first counter Surface-to-Air-Missile (SAM) strike in the history of aerial warfare. The personal perspective from years of combat experience reveals just how the political mismanagement and inane Rules of Engagement made them as much the hunted as they were the hunters. Thud Pilot goes beyond the battle airspace and shares the emotional impact on the families left behind.

Both books are available on Amazon.com

Today in History – July 15, 1967 – T.H. Herndon ejects from F-100D #563275

Victor Vizcarra

Units Assigned

Awards & Decorations

Flight Info

Military & Civilian Education

Wall of Honor Location

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