Captain Charles “Buddy” Weber (Ret.)
US Naval Aviator F-4 Phantom
USS Saratoga - Vietnam
1968-1995
US Naval Aviator F-4 Phantom
USS Saratoga - Vietnam
1968-1995
Charles Weber, Jr. was born in Baltimore in 1946. “I’d always wanted to fly.” Buddy told his high school guidance counselor that he wanted to fly and get an RTOC scholarship from the Air Force. His counselor recommended he join the Navy. Buddy said he wanted to fly so the Air Force seemed the way to go. His counselor told him the Navy had planes and they had scholarship money which the Air Force didn’t. Buddy received a Navy ROTC scholarship to the University of Virginia (UVA) and majored in chemistry. While attending UVA he was able to get into a Flight Indoctrination Program where the Navy paid for flight training. Buddy said this training proved invaluable later when he attended the Navy’s Flight school.
Buddy graduated from UVA in 1968 and in August of that year he married his sweetheart Sue (they were married for 51 years). From there he headed to flight school for the next 14 months. He started in Pensacola, FL. and from there was sent to Meridian, MS and then to Kingsville, TX
After completing flight school, Buddy received orders to join an F-4 Phantom squadron in Virginia Beach. The F4 Phantom was known as the deadliest and most feared fighter bomber in the Vietnam War. It was a twin engine, two-seater capable of supersonic speeds of Mach 2. 98% of the time Buddy flew with the same rear seater, Jack Laren. Jack was responsible for operating the aircraft’s powerful radar system.
The culmination of flight school is a daytime landing on a carrier. When Buddy reached the Fleet, they practiced night landings on the carriers. “Day time is easy. Nighttime, your hearts pounding and adrenaline pumping. Its infinitely more difficult because you don’t have the depth perception or the peripheral vision. The deck of the carrier is 600’ long but the plane hits the deck about 200’ feet down. When you hit the deck, you keep the plane at full throttle until the tailhook catches the arresting cable and the plane come to a complete halt, possibly right at the edge of the carrier.”
Buddy received orders to the Saratoga and went on his first cruise to the Mediterranean. In January of ’72 they began a workup for another deployment to the Mediterranean. In April there was a last minute change and they received orders to head to the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam. “We were part of the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club.”
Before they arrived in Vietnam they made port in the Philippines where they conducted some additional training that lasted a week including requalifying for carrier landings. From there they deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin for a 45 day period of operations. In 1972 the North Vietnamese had moved most of their heavy artillery including their Surface to Air Missile (SAM) capabilities deep into Northern Vietnam to protect the heartland. The first week was spent flying missions in South Vietnam “To get you used to being shot at.” Gradually the missions extended further north into the southern part of North Vietnam. After building experience and confidence in lesser contested airspace they began carrying heavy strikes into Hanoi, Haiphong and other areas north of the 20th parallel.
I asked Buddy if it was nerve racking when he was flying so deep into enemy airspace. He said the first time you do anything new its nerve-racking. The pilots would gradually become accustomed to taking enemy fire. That’s why they started new pilots with missions in south where the airspace was not heavily contested before they were sent into the highly contested northern airspace.
During training the pilots had been instructed “as soon as you go ‘feet dry’ (over land) start jinking every 2 to 3 seconds”. Jinking is a term to describe an aircraft rolling from side to side to avoid enemy weapons lock. Buddy recalled his first flight which was over South Vietnam. He was in the wingman position in a group of four with the CO in the lead position. As soon as they went feet dry, he began jinking but soon saw the more experienced pilots flying straight. From their experience they knew there were no weapons in South Vietnam that could lock onto them at 15,000 feet. Every day was a learning experience.
On missions deep into North Vietnam Buddy’s squadron protected the strike group which consisted of A6 and A7’s which were armed with air to ground ordinance. Buddy’s F4 typically carried air to ground and air to air ordinance. If the strike group came under attack the F4’s would jettison their air to ground ordinance and engage the enemy aircraft. If they didn’t come under attack, then the F4’s would roll in last on the target and drop their ordinance.
Mission could last between 45 minutes to 2 hours. “You’re going pretty fast. One run on a target. Exit as fast as you can.” Pilots typically flew one mission everyday, sometimes two. Buddy flew 130 missions in the year he was in Vietnam.
It was routine to receive heavy anti-aircraft fire including SAM’s (Surface to Air Missiles) on missions deep into North Vietnam. If an aircraft was fired upon it would deploy countermeasures such as chaff, which were bundles of small, thin pieces of aluminum that would defeat the radar guided missiles, or flares that were used to defeat infrared seeking missiles.
Buddy’s most memorable mission is one he remembers not for the success of the mission but rather for benefit of the learning curve. A brand new aviator was assigned to Buddy’s squadron and he did not receive the training to help him gradually grow accustomed to taking enemy fire. This mission was the new pilots first. They were headed to Vinh, located in the southern part of North Vietnam and their mission was to protect the strike group which would be targeting a railroad yard in Vinh. As they approached the target Buddy could see black bursts 105MM air to air artillery fire. They hit the target and as they began to head back to the carrier, they saw the red flashes of a 57MM gun coming from the side of a mountain. They began to jink as they had been trained to do. When they returned to the carrier Buddy asked the newbie if he had seen all of that fire. “Sir, I didn’t see a damn thing, I was holding on to you for dear life.”
Buddy returned to the US in 1973 and his next assignment was as a flight instructor in Pensacola, FL but after 5 months he was selected for test pilot school. Buddy headed to Patuxent River, MD and between 1974 and 1978 spent one year in school and three years as a test pilot. “Test pilot school was hard. You had to learn to test airplanes without any of the modern instrumentation. You had to learn to calculate and record everything by hand.” Buddy flew test flights in A-4’s and A-6’s but mostly in F-14’s. “There was no such thing as a routine test flight. You could lose an airplane in a heartbeat.”
A very important aspect of a test pilots’ job was writing reports with the results of the test flights. Buddy said that the ability to put the results of a flight into a report that could be understood by other pilots, engineers and designers was important and difficult. He needed to be fluent in trigonometry and have a strong mastery of the English language.
Buddy’s next stop was on the USS Constellation in the role of Catapult and Arresting Gear officer. This group is responsible for setting the catapult used to launch the aircraft off the carrier deck and to set the arresting lines to catch the aircraft and bring them to a stop when they land. “2 and half seconds, zero to 160 mph.” After 18 months he went back to the fleet to fly F-14’s for a Department Head tour. After two cruises he was selected for command of VF 154 and became the Executive Officer and the Commanding Officer of a squadron on the USS Constellation located in Miramar, CA. “A very rewarding tour.”
He spent nine years in San Diego before he was assigned to the USS Midway in Japan as the Operations Officer. “An incredibly rewarding tour.” Next stop was the Pentagon where Buddy eventually became the Technical Air Advisor to the Secretary of the Navy from 1989-1991. Buddy then moved on to Air Wing Commander for the training airwing in Meridian MS and in 1993 buddy headed back to his alma matter at UVA as a Professor of Naval Science.
In 1995 Buddy retired from the Navy after 27 years. He and his wife loved Charlottesville and they decided to stay and call it home. Buddy was 49 years old and not sure what he was going to do next. He decided to enroll in the UVA Law School. After graduation Buddy, 52 years old, initially practiced civil defense law but was drawn to criminal law. “It made you think on your feet. You learned how to make arguments in court and you learned the Constitution inside and out.” Buddy never practiced with a firm. At the age of 52 he decided he wasn’t going to work for someone else. It was a big learning curve, but he was able to get a steady volume of cases as a court appointed defense attorney.
Buddy is mostly retired after 24 years but he still takes a case here and there. “It wasn’t as much fun as the Navy but it was rewarding. You learn a lot about the country, the criminal justice system and what we were fighting for.” It is somewhat ironic that the Navy had zero tolerance for liars, cheaters, and thieves. Those folks were most of the people Buddy represented.
Would you do it again? “Absolutely. I wish I was back at that age now so I could be back in the fleet flying F-18’s or F-35’s.” I asked Buddy what he thought the best part of flying was. “It was all pretty dam good. Carrier operations was the most rewarding part of my career. I just loved operating off a carrier. Everything is just so challenging. You always have to be thinking and somewhat independent. You never know when your radio is going to fail or something else is going to happen and you have to get back to the ship all by yourself.” “There is no more complex organization anywhere on the face of the earth than a carrier at sea. The ability to get done what we get done with 18 and 19 year old kids on the flight deck is just absolutely astonishing.”
I asked Buddy if he would recommend joining the Navy as an option for a young person. “Absolutely! You’re going to get more responsibility and learn more things in the service than you will anywhere else.”
Today Buddy has a son, a daughter, 5 grandchildren and an energetic dog named Hannah.
His son served in the Navy and one grandson is currently in the Army. He remains active with issues at the University of Virginia, enjoys his wine collection and is planning a 50th reunion of his squadron. When Top Gun: Maverick opened Buddy told his friends and family he would take anyone who wanted to go. Buddy bought tickets for 30 people. “Great movie. Very realistic from an aviation point of view.”
Buddy, we all thank you for living life in the fast lane and a career of dedication to your country so the rest of us can enjoy the freedoms you defended.
Buddy graduated from UVA in 1968 and in August of that year he married his sweetheart Sue (they were married for 51 years). From there he headed to flight school for the next 14 months. He started in Pensacola, FL. and from there was sent to Meridian, MS and then to Kingsville, TX
After completing flight school, Buddy received orders to join an F-4 Phantom squadron in Virginia Beach. The F4 Phantom was known as the deadliest and most feared fighter bomber in the Vietnam War. It was a twin engine, two-seater capable of supersonic speeds of Mach 2. 98% of the time Buddy flew with the same rear seater, Jack Laren. Jack was responsible for operating the aircraft’s powerful radar system.
The culmination of flight school is a daytime landing on a carrier. When Buddy reached the Fleet, they practiced night landings on the carriers. “Day time is easy. Nighttime, your hearts pounding and adrenaline pumping. Its infinitely more difficult because you don’t have the depth perception or the peripheral vision. The deck of the carrier is 600’ long but the plane hits the deck about 200’ feet down. When you hit the deck, you keep the plane at full throttle until the tailhook catches the arresting cable and the plane come to a complete halt, possibly right at the edge of the carrier.”
Buddy received orders to the Saratoga and went on his first cruise to the Mediterranean. In January of ’72 they began a workup for another deployment to the Mediterranean. In April there was a last minute change and they received orders to head to the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam. “We were part of the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club.”
Before they arrived in Vietnam they made port in the Philippines where they conducted some additional training that lasted a week including requalifying for carrier landings. From there they deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin for a 45 day period of operations. In 1972 the North Vietnamese had moved most of their heavy artillery including their Surface to Air Missile (SAM) capabilities deep into Northern Vietnam to protect the heartland. The first week was spent flying missions in South Vietnam “To get you used to being shot at.” Gradually the missions extended further north into the southern part of North Vietnam. After building experience and confidence in lesser contested airspace they began carrying heavy strikes into Hanoi, Haiphong and other areas north of the 20th parallel.
I asked Buddy if it was nerve racking when he was flying so deep into enemy airspace. He said the first time you do anything new its nerve-racking. The pilots would gradually become accustomed to taking enemy fire. That’s why they started new pilots with missions in south where the airspace was not heavily contested before they were sent into the highly contested northern airspace.
During training the pilots had been instructed “as soon as you go ‘feet dry’ (over land) start jinking every 2 to 3 seconds”. Jinking is a term to describe an aircraft rolling from side to side to avoid enemy weapons lock. Buddy recalled his first flight which was over South Vietnam. He was in the wingman position in a group of four with the CO in the lead position. As soon as they went feet dry, he began jinking but soon saw the more experienced pilots flying straight. From their experience they knew there were no weapons in South Vietnam that could lock onto them at 15,000 feet. Every day was a learning experience.
On missions deep into North Vietnam Buddy’s squadron protected the strike group which consisted of A6 and A7’s which were armed with air to ground ordinance. Buddy’s F4 typically carried air to ground and air to air ordinance. If the strike group came under attack the F4’s would jettison their air to ground ordinance and engage the enemy aircraft. If they didn’t come under attack, then the F4’s would roll in last on the target and drop their ordinance.
Mission could last between 45 minutes to 2 hours. “You’re going pretty fast. One run on a target. Exit as fast as you can.” Pilots typically flew one mission everyday, sometimes two. Buddy flew 130 missions in the year he was in Vietnam.
It was routine to receive heavy anti-aircraft fire including SAM’s (Surface to Air Missiles) on missions deep into North Vietnam. If an aircraft was fired upon it would deploy countermeasures such as chaff, which were bundles of small, thin pieces of aluminum that would defeat the radar guided missiles, or flares that were used to defeat infrared seeking missiles.
Buddy’s most memorable mission is one he remembers not for the success of the mission but rather for benefit of the learning curve. A brand new aviator was assigned to Buddy’s squadron and he did not receive the training to help him gradually grow accustomed to taking enemy fire. This mission was the new pilots first. They were headed to Vinh, located in the southern part of North Vietnam and their mission was to protect the strike group which would be targeting a railroad yard in Vinh. As they approached the target Buddy could see black bursts 105MM air to air artillery fire. They hit the target and as they began to head back to the carrier, they saw the red flashes of a 57MM gun coming from the side of a mountain. They began to jink as they had been trained to do. When they returned to the carrier Buddy asked the newbie if he had seen all of that fire. “Sir, I didn’t see a damn thing, I was holding on to you for dear life.”
Buddy returned to the US in 1973 and his next assignment was as a flight instructor in Pensacola, FL but after 5 months he was selected for test pilot school. Buddy headed to Patuxent River, MD and between 1974 and 1978 spent one year in school and three years as a test pilot. “Test pilot school was hard. You had to learn to test airplanes without any of the modern instrumentation. You had to learn to calculate and record everything by hand.” Buddy flew test flights in A-4’s and A-6’s but mostly in F-14’s. “There was no such thing as a routine test flight. You could lose an airplane in a heartbeat.”
A very important aspect of a test pilots’ job was writing reports with the results of the test flights. Buddy said that the ability to put the results of a flight into a report that could be understood by other pilots, engineers and designers was important and difficult. He needed to be fluent in trigonometry and have a strong mastery of the English language.
Buddy’s next stop was on the USS Constellation in the role of Catapult and Arresting Gear officer. This group is responsible for setting the catapult used to launch the aircraft off the carrier deck and to set the arresting lines to catch the aircraft and bring them to a stop when they land. “2 and half seconds, zero to 160 mph.” After 18 months he went back to the fleet to fly F-14’s for a Department Head tour. After two cruises he was selected for command of VF 154 and became the Executive Officer and the Commanding Officer of a squadron on the USS Constellation located in Miramar, CA. “A very rewarding tour.”
He spent nine years in San Diego before he was assigned to the USS Midway in Japan as the Operations Officer. “An incredibly rewarding tour.” Next stop was the Pentagon where Buddy eventually became the Technical Air Advisor to the Secretary of the Navy from 1989-1991. Buddy then moved on to Air Wing Commander for the training airwing in Meridian MS and in 1993 buddy headed back to his alma matter at UVA as a Professor of Naval Science.
In 1995 Buddy retired from the Navy after 27 years. He and his wife loved Charlottesville and they decided to stay and call it home. Buddy was 49 years old and not sure what he was going to do next. He decided to enroll in the UVA Law School. After graduation Buddy, 52 years old, initially practiced civil defense law but was drawn to criminal law. “It made you think on your feet. You learned how to make arguments in court and you learned the Constitution inside and out.” Buddy never practiced with a firm. At the age of 52 he decided he wasn’t going to work for someone else. It was a big learning curve, but he was able to get a steady volume of cases as a court appointed defense attorney.
Buddy is mostly retired after 24 years but he still takes a case here and there. “It wasn’t as much fun as the Navy but it was rewarding. You learn a lot about the country, the criminal justice system and what we were fighting for.” It is somewhat ironic that the Navy had zero tolerance for liars, cheaters, and thieves. Those folks were most of the people Buddy represented.
Would you do it again? “Absolutely. I wish I was back at that age now so I could be back in the fleet flying F-18’s or F-35’s.” I asked Buddy what he thought the best part of flying was. “It was all pretty dam good. Carrier operations was the most rewarding part of my career. I just loved operating off a carrier. Everything is just so challenging. You always have to be thinking and somewhat independent. You never know when your radio is going to fail or something else is going to happen and you have to get back to the ship all by yourself.” “There is no more complex organization anywhere on the face of the earth than a carrier at sea. The ability to get done what we get done with 18 and 19 year old kids on the flight deck is just absolutely astonishing.”
I asked Buddy if he would recommend joining the Navy as an option for a young person. “Absolutely! You’re going to get more responsibility and learn more things in the service than you will anywhere else.”
Today Buddy has a son, a daughter, 5 grandchildren and an energetic dog named Hannah.
His son served in the Navy and one grandson is currently in the Army. He remains active with issues at the University of Virginia, enjoys his wine collection and is planning a 50th reunion of his squadron. When Top Gun: Maverick opened Buddy told his friends and family he would take anyone who wanted to go. Buddy bought tickets for 30 people. “Great movie. Very realistic from an aviation point of view.”
Buddy, we all thank you for living life in the fast lane and a career of dedication to your country so the rest of us can enjoy the freedoms you defended.