RILLING, Robert G. (Lt. Colonel)

Call No.: K239.0512-178

IRIS No.: 00904021

IRIS Tape No.: 009040022-00904023

Accessibility: OPEN

Pages/Time: 64pp/1:24

Class: U

Date/Location: 25 August 1968/U-Tapao Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand

Interviewers: Gene Plunkett

Source: Project CORONA HARVEST Collection

Topics:

(1962-1968) Oral history interview with Lt. Colonel Robert Rilling, F-105 pilot, 333d Tactical Fighter Squadron, 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB), Thailand; B-52 commander, 393rd Bombardment Squadron, 509th Bombardment Wing, U-Tapao RTAFB, Thailand. Topics include the difference between F-105s and B-52s and their missions, cattle damage from missions over North Vietnam, rational for switching from fighters to bombers, professional appraisal of effectiveness of B-521 and family life relative to consecutive remote tours. Also discussed was the degree of involvement of bomber crews in ground action, importance of tail gunner in B-52 missions, fatigue as factor in B-52 missions, careful control of bomb drops, moral questions of bombing unseen targets, lack of quick follow-up information on B-52 strikes and B-52 strikes an extension of artillery.