Frequently Asked Question #2
What is the book about?
The Price of Vigilance covers
the history of the Air Force airborne COMINT recon platform (ACRP) program
from the first ACRP flight on an RB-29 in 1952 through C-130 ACRP operations
in 1958.
A 60-page introduction describes events
surrounding the midair collision in April 2001 between the EP-3 and a Chinese fighter, plus similar Cold-War Sino-American air incidents.
On the C-130 event, the book--written before the EP-3E incident--chronicles details about: an inadvertent overflight of enemy airspace; how the Soviets shot down the plane and killed 17 crewmen, yet denied complicity; how the crew's families were kept in the dark for four decades; then honored with memorial services for the crew.
The book also traces airborne communications intelligence reconnaissance from WW II (nisei Japanese linguists on RB-24 missions in the Pacific in 1945) to Cold War airborne COMINT reconnaissance-initially aboard an RB-29 and RC-47s over Korea in 1952, and later in RB-50s and C-130s in Europe. Additionally, the book documents ten Cold War U.S.-Soviet air incidents in which 98 American died.
The authors-themselves former airborne intercept operators-describe in detail how American recon crews monitored enemy communications during the Cold War.
A. EP-3E China Air Incident, April 2001; A 60 page
introduction
to the book (written after the main chapters were finished) covers the midair collision of the U.S. Navy EP-3E and Chinese F-8 fighter on April 1, 2001 and the release of the 24-member crew. The Price of Vigilance also provides an accounting of related Cold War Sino-American air incidents--shootdowns of other American surveillance planes by Chinese pilots--plus a description of EP-3E mission and recon crew stations, and an overview of counterpart Chinese signals intelligence operations.
B. Main focus - USAF C-130 Shootdown Incident: The book is about the shootdown of a U.S. Air Force C-130 reconnaissance aircraft (tail number 60528) over Armenia on September 2, 1958 with the loss of 17 American lives. Eleven of the crew members have never been factually accounted for. The Price of Vigilance addresses events leading up to the shootdown and the shootdown, the crew and recon mission of the aircraft and the aftermath of the shootdown: reasons for the inadvertent overflight of denied airspace, the explosive U.S.-Soviet negotiations after the incident, security issues that kept
family members in the dark for four decades,
and the creation of an Aerial Reconnaissance Memorial honoring the crew in September 1997. Finally, the book describes how the unidentified remains from the crash were identified and memorial services paid final tribute to the crew in Sept 1998.
C. The Price of Vigilance covers
the history of the Air Force airborne COMINT recon platform (ACRP) program
from the first ACRP flight on an RB-29 in 1952 through C-130 ACRP operations
in 1958.
It also addresses the birth of Army Air Corps airborne COMINT reconnaissance in WW II using Japanese (nisei) airborne voice intercept operators in the Pacific in 1945, and the creation of Air Force BLUE SKY RC-47 airborne ACRP operations over Korea in 1952.
D. History of U.S. Air Force Security Service: The book covers the creation and expansion of USAFSS from Oct. 1948 into the late 1950's.
E. Related U.S.-Soviet Cold War Air Incidents: The Price of Vigilance describes U.S.-Soviet air incidents involving American reconnaissance in which U.S. crewmen were MIA during the Cold War, including the shootdown of Navy recon aircraft in 1950, 1951 and 1955 and Air Force recon losses in 1952 (2), 1953, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1960, and 1965.