Gentlemen, I think we had a few com disconnects this frame.
1) 23rd was tasked with bomber escort and rolled full fuel with drops. Because of the extremely late buff roll, we made fuel conservation a priority and when we mixed up with enemy fighters, we were still pretty heavy (@75%) causing a few broken wings ( myself included)
2) understanding that the 4th was in dire straights, when we were vectored to that fight I was under the impression that the 4th was going to be directed to re-enter the fight. Had this occurred, we would had density of fight and possibly superior numbers...especially with the 475th keeping the reinforcements at bay to the east. Because we commited to this fight knowing they HAD to be low on fuel/ammo, we weren't able to disengage with inferior numbers and went down with only 2 survivors.
3) The strike 190s came in low and were constantly strafing and zooming after those passes. Had we any kind of reserve CAP, they would have been meat on the table ( and big points too!)
I'm not trying to point fingers, just trying to identify what went wrong, learn from it, and ensure a non-repeat.
