Veterans of Operation El Dorado Canyon relive memories

By Jason Sibert
Fifteen years before the beginning of the war on terror, the U.S. military engaged in a successful attack on Libya, then considered a sponsor of state-supported terrorism.

Four veterans of the attack, Operation El Dorado Canyon, spoke at Scott Air Force Base on April 27 as part of the "Tanker Living Legends" series, which brings veterans to Scott who were involved in the planning and execution of key military operations involving tanker aircraft.

Their stories from the 1986 mission, a joint Air Force, Navy and Marine air strike, provided the audience of military and civilian personnel with a lesson on the struggles and triumphs of a combat mission.     

"They can provide you insights on the things that went right, and sometimes the miracles that had to occur to insure a mission’s success," retired Col. Gail Wojtowicz said of the speakers.

Wojtowicz was a tanker support planner at the Royal Air Force Mildenhall, a base in the United Kingdom, where the planes were launched. Retired Col. Lynn Berringer, retired Col. Walter Dill and retired Maj. Gene Weitzel were also featured on the panel.

Wojtowicz called the April 15, 1986, attack on Libya and its dictator Muammar al-Qadhafi the "longest, most complex fighter mission ever flown." She also said the planes in the attack flew more than 5,000 miles, over 14 hours and transferred more than 1.5 million pounds of fuel. The U.S. lacked a direct route to Libya because France, Spain and Italy denied overflight rights.

Eighteen Air Force F-111 bombers were used in the attack against Libya. Tankers refueled the F-111s four times en route. When they arrived in Libya, the F-111s struck three targets: the Aziziyah Barracks, where al-Qadhafi was staying; the Sidi Bilal Camp, a terrorist training camp; and the Tripoli Airfield.

In addition, the Navy moved three aircraft carriers, the USS Coral Sea, USS America and USS Saratoga, into the Mediterranean and Navy pilots struck four targets: Jamahiriyah Barracks, the Benin Airfield, Air Defense/Tripoli and Air Defense/Benghazi.

Berringer served as commander of the 306th Strategic Wing during Operation El Dorado Canyon.

He spoke of the obstacles that the mission presented such as a limited prep time, noting he found first found out about the operation 17 days before the attack.

As commander of the 306th, Berringer had a crew of just 107 people and 13 to 20 tankers. His crew changed every 45 to 60 days. Berringer said standardized training played a role in the mission’s success.

Weitzel flew a tanker in Operation El Dorado and also served as the tanker task force specialist at the RAF Mildenhall. He said one of the things that made the mission successful was being able to plan the strike at the base level with little outside interference in the three days leading up to the attack. Dill was an aircraft commander on the last KC-10 to leave Mildenhall. He said that the proficiency that the KC-10 pilots and crews had in air-to-air refueling were a big factor in the mission’s success.