Title: Page born: April 01 2002

Operation Just Cause

On December 19, 1989, a flight of eight Black Jets lifted off from Tonopah for a destination over 3,000 miles away to fly their first combat mission. The US government decided that a military invasion of Panama was needed to remove Manuel Noriega from power under the name Operation JUST CAUSE.

The mission had been planned the previous week. Participating in this raid were pilots from both the 415th TFS and the 416th TFS. The aircraft were generated by the 416th AMU.

F-117A participation in
"Just Cause"

Aircraft	Pilot
82-0803	??? ????? ?????????
85-0813	??? ????? ?????????
85-0816	Capt. Greg "Beast" Feest
85-0817	??? ????? ?????????
85-0818	??? ????? ?????????
85-0834	??? ????? ?????????
??? (Spare)	??? ????? ?????????
??? (Spare)	??? ????? ?????????
??? (Above)	Maj. Dale Hanner

The F-117As needed five aerial refuelings (supplied by two accompanying KC-10A "Beale Bandits" tankers from Beale AFB, Calif.) to make the round trip, which included two passes over the Yucatan Channel separating Cuba from Mexico. Two of the aircraft were airborne spares and returned to Tonopah after the initial Aerial refueling. The two aircraft in the lead cell were targeted to attack an army base at Rio Hato, 65 miles southwest of Panama City. The remaining four F-117A's were to take part in a still-classified operation by special operations forces to capture Panamanian strong man Gen. Manuel Noriega.Just before entering Panamanian airspace, the mission to grab the dictator was canceled when intelligence reported he was not at any of the potential targets. After the attack, the F-117As recovered at a classified location, possibly a base in Texas.

The lead cell comprised of aircraft #816 piloted by Captain Greg "Beast" Feest (Bandit #261) , and aircraft #??? piloted by Major Dale Hanner (Bandit# 239). Capt. Feest had won the squadron Top Gun award for two consecutive years, while maintaining an incredible 100% hit rate. He was recognized as the 37th TFW Top Gun in 1989 and was selected to lead the Wing's planning effort for Operation Just Cause.

Their target was a large, open field beside barracks housing two companies of troops belonging to Battalion 2000, an elite unit known to be fiercely loyal to Noriega. The plan was for the aircraft to drop two large 2,000-pound Mark 84 bombs colloquially known as "the Hammer" (the bombs which have been described as "the world's largest stun grenades" have a lethal radius of 400 feet and capable of blowing out eardrums half a mile away) close enough to the buildings to stun the sleeping solders so that they could not respond to the nearby nighttime parachute landings by the 2nd Ranger Battalion and elements of the 3rd Battalion. The explosion of the 2,000 lb bombs at a designated point of impact just 50 yards from the barracks would do just that, and fused to detonate after they had penetrated a few feet of earth, they would not cause many casualties. Unfortunately, the fog of war was in the air. It also appears that although the Pentagon brass understood the F-117As accuracy, they did not fully understand what situation exactly the F-117A was suited for, and what situation the F-117A and the Bandits would be "out of their element".

Lt. Gen. Carl Steiner, commander of the 18th Airborne Corps during the operation, had picked the F-117A for the job because it was the platform most likely to be able to place ordinance into a precise spot at night and "stun them in their barracks long enough to get the Rangers on the ground," yet not "collapse those barracks and kill them all." However, the Panamanian Defense Forces had been tipped off to the US operation three hours before the assault, and at H-hour were already at one of the Ranger's objectives: the 4,389 ft runway that bisected the Pan American Highway and had been used to receive arms shipments from Cuba. As the two F-117A's approached their target the wind changed direction. Moreover, a last minute change in the attack plan and confused communications resulted in the first pilot, Capt. Feest, dropping his bomb were the second was to strike. Major Hanner, thinking the attack had reverted to the original plan, dropped his bomb 325 yards wide. The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Les Aspin, later stated that problems in targeting also added to the confusion because "the humid, varied, vegetation...lowered the contrast and gave the [IRAD] system problems." (Note: it was reported that the two F-117As were given geographic coordinates by the Army to locate their targets by. The pilots however train using visual landmarks in locating targets. Also, it has been suggested that these last minute coordinates could have been incorrect, and that the pilots bombed the coordinates that they were given.) It also must be remembered that the F-117A's target list was changed a few days prior by then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Colin L. Powell. "We did not want to bomb Noriega's country villas in hope he might be there and end up killing maids and children instead."

In spite of the targeting being off, Gen. Steiner (the XVIII Airborne Corps commander who had planned the invasion and requested the F-117As) said he was pleased with the results because even though the Panamanian infantry companies were already deployed and alert, the explosions still produced considerable confusion, with other soldiers seen "running around the area in their underwear" and some troops at the airfield "throwing down their weapons and running off." Four Rangers were killed and more than a dozen were wounded in the ensuing fight, but the F-117A undoubtedly saved lives on both sides.

	Rio Hato, Panama. North side of 6th Infantry Company Barracks (2d Platoon area). XVIII Airborne Corps History Office photograph, 10 January 1990, by Maj. R. Wright.
	Rio Hato, Panama. East (front) side of the 6th Infantry Company cantina. XVIII Airborne Corps History Office photograph, 10 January 1990, by Maj. R. Wright.
	Rio Hato, Panama. Sign in front (north side) of the 6th Infantry Company Headquarters. XVIII Airborne Corps History Office photograph, 10 January 1990, by Maj. R. Wright.
	Rio Hato, Panama. East (front) side of the 6th Infantry Company cantina. XVIII Airborne Corps History Office photograph, 10 January 1990, by Maj. R. Wright.
	Rio Hato, Panama. North (front) end of the 6th Infantry Company Headquarters, viewed from the northwest. XVIII Airborne Corps History Office photograph, 10 January 1990, by Maj. R. Wright.
	Rio Hato, Panama. West Gate to the Military School. Viewed from the southwest. XVIII Airborne Corps History Office photograph, 10 January 1990, by Maj. R. Wright.

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