Arrival in Aden
After departing Wheelus, the team made the final trip to its Intermediate Staging Base in Aden. The team’s base of operation was the Royal Air Force’s airfield at Khormaksar. While the aircraft remained at the base, the team and aircrews were billeted in a hotel in the nearby city. Working closely with the British, excellent liaison was maintained with them and the MPs established a positive working relationship with their British counterparts for the duration of their stay at RAF Khormaksar.
All that remained was for the team to remain alert and be ready to deploy. If Armstrong and Scott did come crashing down nearby, the two astronauts would have had more than just the harsh terrain and climate to deal with. The Marxist Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen was waging an active insurgency against British authorities. Falling into the hands of such a group would mean disaster. Not only would the lives of Armstrong and Scott be in peril, but the technology aboard the Gemini capsule could also fall into the hands of the Soviets.
Royal Air Force Airbase Khormaksar, Aden 1966 (Image Credit: Ivor Davies,http://pembrokeshires-pictures.co.uk.raf)
Splash down
Just prior to Gemini VIII’s launch, the team packed their mission essential equipment and assembled with the aircrew plane side. There, the waiting game began as the mission launch window opened. Tuned to their communications equipment, the team waited for the launch, hoping that all would go according to plan. With the successful launch, the team was relieved but their mission was not yet complete. The team returned to their quarters but gear and equipment remained at the ready. The mission was scheduled for three days and so the team remained on standby. That wait time however would be cut short by the near-disastrous events unfolding in space.
Because of the near-deadly complications after the docking with Agena, the Gemini VIII was ordered down in the Pacific Ocean. Armstrong and Scott immediately began the reentry procedures and prepared the spacecraft for landing. Meanwhile, Team Aden received word that they would not deploy, however under different criteria, the capsule could have been directed to terminate the flight and land in the Arabian Sea near Aden instead of the Pacific.[xix]
As the Gemini VIII crew prepared for reentry, initial reporting indicated difficulties sustained in spacecraft attitude control during the pass over the tracking ship Coastal Sentry Quebec near the West Pacific landing area. Following this report, forces in the West Pacific zone were alerted for a possible landing in that area. A short time later the decision was made to terminate the mission in the Pacific landing. Recovery forces were notified of this decision and proceeded toward the aiming point.[xx]
Rescue forces on alert at stations in the Far East went into action. A rescue crew from Naha Air Base, Okinawa, flew to the predicted splashdown area and arrived in time to see the spacecraft under parachute hit the water. Three Pararescuemen parachuted into the ocean and had flotation equipment attached to the capsule within 20 minutes. The Pararescuemen stayed with the astronauts until a Navy destroyer USS Leonard Mason arrived three hours later to take them all aboard, ending one of the most dramatic missions of the Project Gemini.[xxi]
On March 17, 1966, Gemini VIII astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott sit in their spacecraft while waiting for the arrival of the recovery ship, the USS Leonard Mason. They are assisted by three U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen. (Image Credit: NASA).
End of Mission
After the recovery of Armstrong and Scott, Team Aden received notification to stand down and redeploy. After loading the C-130, the team returned to Wheelus Air Force Base in Libya where they debriefed with their sub-section commander and communications personnel. Brief stops were made on the return flight, first to the U.K. once again in the Azores and Bermuda before finally touching back down at Pope Air Force base on 22 March, six days after Gemini VIII was recovered. Fortunately, the team never put into effect their training but had something gone terribly wrong and Gemini VIII crashed in Arabia or its surroundings, the team of 3rd Special Forces Group MPs along with the Army Aviation UH-1 were ready to execute the recovery mission. In an article published in the Military Police Journal in 1966, one of the 3rd Group MP team members, SGT Paul Woodring wrote “The team experienced a deep feeling of accomplishment and personal satisfaction which came from being given a mission of significant importance and then doing the job well”[xxii]
On 28 November 1969, General Orders Number 192, dated 28 November 1969 ordered that the 81st Military Police Detachment was relieved from attachment to 3d Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, and attached to 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne). This was just days before the 3rd Special Forces Group itself was deactivated on 5 December 1969. As the war in Vietnam drew to an end, the Army determined that it needed fewer Special Forces Groups and the men of the 3rd Special Forces Group were reassigned to other operational groups. With the conclusion of Project Gemini, Army Special Forces would cease performing the contingency recovery mission for future space missions.
Thus ended one of the more interesting operations ever to be assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group. It remains one of the least known but historically fascinating missions in the annuals of Army Special Forces history, one that is in keeping with their legacy as the “Quiet Professionals.”
Notes:
[i]James R. Hansen, First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong, Simon &Schuster Paperbacks, New York, 2005.
[ii]The Gemini Program, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/gemini.html, Accessed 18 May 2020.
[iii]Gemini Program Mission Report, Gemini VIII, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, April 1966. file:///C:/Users/Richard/Desktop/43455667-Gemini-Program-Mission-Report-Gemini-Viii.pdf. Accessed 19 May 2020.
[iv]Bob Granath, “Gemini’s first docking turns into wild ride in orbit”, Kennedy Space Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, https://www.nasa.gov/feature/geminis-first-docking-turns-to-wild-ride-in-orbit. Accessed on 18 May 2020.
[v]Bob Granath, “Gemini’s first docking turns into wild ride in orbit”, Kennedy Space Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, https://www.nasa.gov/feature/geminis-first-docking-turns-to-wild-ride-in-orbit. Accessed on 18 May 2020.
[vi]Granath, “Gemini’s first docking turns into wild ride in orbit.”
[vii]Gemini Program Mission Report, Gemini VIII, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, April 1966. file:///C:/Users/Richard/Desktop/43455667-Gemini-Program-Mission-Report-Gemini-Viii.pdf. Accessed 19 May 2020.
[viii]Gemini Program Mission Report, Gemini VIII, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, April 1966. file:///C:/Users/Richard/Desktop/43455667-Gemini-Program-Mission-Report-Gemini-Viii.pdf. Accessed 19 May 2020.
[ix]Gordon Rottman, U.S. Army Special Forces 1952-84, Osprey, Great Britain, 1985, p.25.
[x]3rd SFG (A) History, United States Army Special Operations Command, https://www.soc.mil/USASFC/Groups/3rd/3rdSFG(A)History.html. Accessed 17 May 2020.
[xi]Paul Woodring, “81st sends men on special mission in Aden”, Military Police Journal, 1966.
[xii]Aden, The British Empire, https://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/aden.htm. Accessed 21 May 2020.
[xiii] Aden, The British Empire, https://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/aden.htm. Accessed 21 May 2020.
[xiv]Paul Woodring, “81st sends men on special mission in Aden”, Military Police Journal, 1966.
[xv]David Langbart, Apollo 11: The Department of State Prepares for Launch, National Archives, https://text-message.blogs.archives.gov/2019/07/02/apollo-11-the-department-of-state-prepares-for-launch/. Accessed 20 May 2020.
[xvi]David Langbart, Apollo 11: The Department of State Prepares for Launch, National Archives, https://text-message.blogs.archives.gov/2019/07/02/apollo-11-the-department-of-state-prepares-for-launch/. Accessed 20 May 2020.
[xvii]Paul Woodring, “81st sends men on special mission in Aden”, Military Police Journal, 1966.
[xviii]Woodring, “81st sends men on special mission in Aden.”
[xix]Woodring, “81st sends men on special mission in Aden.”
[xx]Gemini Program Mission Report, Gemini VIII, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, April 1966. file:///C:/Users/Richard/Desktop/43455667-Gemini-Program-Mission-Report-Gemini-Viii.pdf. Accessed 19 May 2020.
[xxi]Pararescue History Short, Air Force Special Warfare, https://afspecialwarfare.com/pararescue-history-short/. Accessed 18 May 2020.
[xxii]Paul Woodring, “81st sends men on special mission in Aden”, Military Police Journal, 1966.
________________________
This first appeared in The Havok Journal on June 1, 2020.
As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.
Buy Me A Coffee
The Havok Journal seeks to serve as a voice of the Veteran and First Responder communities through a focus on current affairs and articles of interest to the public in general, and the veteran community in particular. We strive to offer timely, current, and informative content, with the occasional piece focused on entertainment. We are continually expanding and striving to improve the readers’ experience.
© 2024 The Havok Journal
The Havok Journal welcomes re-posting of our original content as long as it is done in compliance with our Terms of Use.