STAG ONE was the first of three planned Special Task Air Groups authorized to be formed by SATFOR (Special Air Task Force). In August 1943, under the command of Commander Thomas W. (Tommy) South II they began operating assault drones from the aircraft training carrier SABLE in Grand Traverse Bay, Michigan. Catapult launchings of assault drones with full ordnance loads (2,000 lbs.) were also performed during this period.
STAG ONE, one year later, carried out 46 attacks against designated defended targets in the Northern Solomons area. A record of 46.5% hits, with no KIA's, no MIA's, no POW's, and no injuries to personnel or damage to or loss of first-line control aircraft. And yet, the program was scrapped the day following the final, four missile strike against targets in Rabaul. In the final strike, there were four hits on the four designated primary and/or secondary targets. On the day following, October 27, 1944. orders were issued to break camp and prepare to return to the U.S. for decommissioning
Commander South's carefully trained carrier pilots, having been denied the assignment of a carrier, were flying from shore bases 2,000 miles east of where the battles of Peleliu, and Leyte Gulf were taking place. STAG ONE was used against secondary targets in a rear area of the war, under the operational; and targeting control of a U.S. Marine Corps General (Larkin), in Army (MacArthur) territory. More than fifty years later, the question, "WHY" is still pertinent.
Note: Much of the historical information has been gleaned from the book, National Security Disasters: Their Cause and Prevention, authored by Robert F. Jones, Captain USN (Ret.) and Stephen E. Jones, Rear Admiral USNR (Ret.). Until recently, Bob and Steve were regulars at the STAG ONE annual reunions. During the period that STAG ONE was operational, Bob was Chief Staff Officer and Steve was Security and Intelligence Officer of SATFOR.
The Naval Historical Center has an excellent Chronology of Naval Aviation in World War II, it may be accessed at http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/avchr5.htm.
Aphrodite: Desperate Mission by Jack Olsen published in 1970 by G. P. Putnam's Sons tells much of the STAG ONE/SATFOR story. Mission Aphrodite was the plan of the U. S. Army Air Corps to fly war-weary B-17 drone planes, crammed with the most powerful load of high explosives ever flown in wartime and guided by remote control into caves from which rockets were ostensibly launched. Also told is the story of the U. S. Navy SAU-1 (Special Attack Unit 1) a sister project which resulted in the death of Lieut. Joseph P. Kennedy.