The A-6E entered service in 1972 but I am wondering if it saw action in Vietnam. I am doing Hasegawa’s 1/72 kit and want to do a jungle or forested base for it. I thought of doing a desert base for it from Desert Storm but figured that type of base would be kinda boring.
A-6Es flew combat strikes in Grenada (1983), Lebanon (1983), Libya (1986), Persian Gulf (Iran 1988), and Desert Storm (1991). I have heard either both yes and no about the final days in Vietnam, but the no’s seem to be more likely.
I just gave a quick look through on GoNavy, I only checked the Naval deployments,there were no WestPac/Vietnam Navy deployments of the A-6E before April 1975, there were a few Med/NorLant A-6E deployments though
so, if you mean “deployed to the war”,no, they didn’t,but, if you want “deployed anywhere with an Air Wing during the war”, then, yes, about 3 or 4 cruises
to check for yourself, go here www.gonavy.jp/SqnDeployment01f.html and click on the A-6 units, one by one
those were VA-34, 35, 36, 42, 52, 55, 65, 75, 85, 95, 115, 128, 145, 155, 165, 176, 185, 196,I hope I didn’t skip any, but, 42 and 128 were RAGs, not deployed units
I also didn’t check the ground based jarhead units, but if the Navy didn’t use the new Es, the Marines wouldn’t have had them yet, either
hope this helps
Rex
thank you for the input, yes it helps greatly