Magazines

[Joe Copalman]

I've been writing more and more historical articles with none of my photos, but I'm particularly excited about this one that just came out in the August 2020 issue of Combat Aircraft Journal.  In the last 1990s, I learned about the Marine Corps' use of TF-9J Cougars in the fast-FAC role in Vietnam, and have been obsessed with learning more about them since then.  Since only two squadrons flew them for a brief period between August 1966 and December 1967, with each squadron only having four jets each, finding vets who flew the Cougar in Vietnam was extremely difficult.  I finally managed to get in touch with one pilot from each of the two Cougar squadrons and had some awesome interviews with them.  Photos were hard to track down as well, and the Tailhook Association was of immense help with that, just as they were for my EA-6A article last year.  Anyway, for as short-lived as the Cougar's combat career was in Vietnam, it was a very busy one, with most of their missions being solo armed reconnaissance missions over the heavily-defended A Shau Valley and other 'off ramps' into South Vietnam from the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  So stoked to be able to tell this story.

COUGARS OVER THE A SHAU VALLEY by Joe Copalman, on Flickr

https://shop.keypublishing.com/issue/View/issue/CAM2020/combat-aircraft-journal-august-2020

[Tower Guy]

Very interesting subject Joe. I've never heard of these guys but I'm looking forward to reading your article.

[Brian Corbett]

Very cool, Joe. Need to track that article down!

[Joe Copalman]

I've got two articles in the February 2021 issue of Combat Aircraft, both commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Gulf War. 

The first is on the Air National Guard's contribution to CENTCOM's photoreconnaissance efforts with detachments of RF-4Cs during Desert Shield and Desert Storm.  A lot of the information in previous articles about RF-4s in the Gulf War is wrong, and I was able to speak with many of the pilots and WSOs involved to get a clearer picture of what the Guard recce Phantom crews did during the war.  I actually wound up having to trim a ton of good stuff from this article to make a word-count limit, so I'm hoping to write more about RF-4s in the Gulf in the future. 

The second article is - to my knowledge - the first ever written about the AH-1J SeaCobra at war in the Gulf.  Only two Marine Corps Reserve squadrons flew the AH-1J at the time, and both deployed to the region for Desert Storm, mostly to provide escort for Marine transport helicopters, freeing the AH-1Ws to go hunt tanks and other threats to Marines advancing north through the desert to Kuwait City during the ground war.  Additionally, a small det of AH-1Js remained at sea providing armed escort for helicopters conducting countermine operations.  Not a conventional shoot-em-up war story, but a nonetheless interesting look into how pilots tried to squeeze as much capability out of legacy platforms as they could (which is personally one of my favorite aspects of Desert Storm, how it happened in that transition from Vietnam-era hardware to several of the types that are still in service today). 



https://shop.keypublishing.com/issue/View/issue/CAM2026/combat-aircraft-journal-february-2021

[Tower Guy]

Congrats on both articles Joe, sounds like you are very busy these days. Stay healthy for you and your family.