 By the time of the Tonkin Gulf incident , 13 of 31 deployable navy squadrons were armed with the type . F @-@ 4Bs from Constellation made the first Phantom combat sortie of the Vietnam War on 5 August 1964 , flying bomber escort in Operation Pierce Arrow . The first Phantom air @-@ to @-@ air victory of the war took place on 9 April 1965 when an F @-@ 4B from VF @-@ 96 " Fighting Falcons " piloted by Lieutenant ( junior grade ) Terence M. Murphy and his RIO , Ensign Ronald Fegan , shot down a Chinese MiG @-@ 17 " Fresco " . The Phantom was then shot down , probably by an AIM @-@ 7 Sparrow from one of its wingmen . There continues to be controversy over whether the Phantom was shot down by MiG guns or , as enemy reports later indicated , an AIM @-@ 7 Sparrow III from one of Murphy 's and Fegan 's wingmen . On 17 June 1965 , an F @-@ 4B from VF @-@ 21 " Freelancers " piloted by Commander Louis Page and Lieutenant John C. Smith shot down the first North Vietnamese MiG of the war . 
