Question: Bat 21 Bravo was the call sign for this US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel during the vietnam war who was rescued behind the lines of North Vietnam in what is known as the largest, longest, and most complex search-and-rescue operation during the Vietnam War
Context: Vadim Petrovich Shcherbakov was an officer in the Soviet Air Defense Forces (PVO Strany).  As a senior lieutenant, he was serving in the 260th "Bryansky" Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment.  In 1966-1967 Shcherbakov's whole regiment was temporarily assigned as a Group of Soviet Military Advisors in Vietnam () and in March 1966 was transferred to North Vietnam, where the regiment was tasked with establishing a training center and training the NVA's 274th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment for combat duty.  In North Vietnam Shcherbakov served as a SAM operator/instructor, and specialized as a fire control operator during combat deployments.  For his service Shcherbakov received the Order of Lenin, the highest Soviet decoration after returning from North Vietnam in 1967.  in their 18th report claims that formerly closed soviet sources credited Col Shchbakov with 10 combat engagements and 6 kills.  After Vietnam, Shcherbakov continued his service, eventually reaching the rank of Colonel.  Very little is known about his biography except for multiple brief mentions in Soviet Officers' Vietnam War memoirs.  He was still alive in 1991, when he was attending an annual meeting of the Russian Association of Vietnam War veterans.  He was a retired Colonel at that time. Dale E. Stovall (born February 19, 1944) is a retired Brigadier General in the United States Air Force who figured prominently in several search and rescue operations during the Vietnam War.  A member of the 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron based in Thailand, on June 2, 1972, he recovered Capt. Roger Locher from deep inside North Vietnam, the deepest rescue made during the entire Vietnam War.  For his efforts in rescuing Locher, Stovall was awarded the Air Force Cross, which described how "he willingly returned to this high threat area, braving intense ground fire, to recover the downed airman from deep in North Vietnam." .  Stovall was also recognized with the 1973 Jabara Award for Airmanship, two Silver Star awards and two Distinguished Flying Cross awards for other combat rescues among the 12 successful rescue missions he accomplished during his tour in Southeast Asia.  Stovall retired from the Air Force as a Brigadier General on June 1, 1993. Operation "Tiger Hound" was a covert U.S. 2nd Air Division, later Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 aerial interdiction campaign conducted in southeastern Laos from 5 December 1965 till 11 November 1968, during the Vietnam War.  The purpose of the operation was to interdict the flow of People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) supplies on the Ho Chi Minh Trail (the Truong Son Strategic Supply Route to the North Vietnamese) from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), through southeastern Laos, and into the northern provinces of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam).  The missions were originally controlled by the 2d Air Division until that headquarters was superseded by the Seventh Air Force on 1 April 1966. 1973 in the Vietnam War began with a peace agreement, the Paris Peace Accords, signed by the United States and South Vietnam on one side of the Vietnam War and communist North Vietnam and the insurgent Viet Cong on the other.  Although honored in some respects, the peace agreement was violated by both North and South Vietnam as the struggle for power and control of territory in South Vietnam continued.  North Vietnam released all American prisoners of war and the United States completed its military withdrawal from South Vietnam. Duck Hook (code-named "Pruning Knife" by the military) was the White House code-name of an operation President Richard Nixon had threatened to unleash against North Vietnam during the Vietnam War, if North Vietnam did not yield to Washington's terms at the Paris peace negotiations.  Duck Hook called for the possible-nuclear bombing of military and economic targets in and around Hanoi, the mining of Haiphong and other ports, air strikes against North Vietnam's northeast line of communications as well as passes and bridges at the Chinese border, and air and ground attacks on other targets throughout Vietnam. Operation Pocket Money was the title of a U.S. Navy Task Force 77 aerial mining campaign conducted against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) from 9 May 1972 (Vietnamese time), during the Vietnam War.  Its purpose was to halt or slow the transportation of supplies and materials for the "Nguyen Hue Offensive" (known in the West as the Easter Offensive), an invasion of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), by forces of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), that had been launched on 30 March.  "Pocket Money" was the first use of naval mines against North Vietnam. Lieutenant Colonel Iceal E. "Gene" Hambleton, USAF (November 16, 1918 – September 19, 2004) was a United States Air Force navigator and electronic warfare officer who was shot down over South Vietnam during the 1972 Easter Offensive.  He was aboard an EB-66 aircraft whose call sign was Bat 21.  As the ranking navigator/EWO on the aircraft, he was seated immediately behind the pilot, giving him the call sign "Bat 21 Bravo".  He survived for 11½ days behind enemy lines until he was retrieved in a daring ground operation.  His rescue was the longest and most costly search and rescue mission during the Vietnam War.  He received the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal and a Purple Heart for his actions during this mission. Operation Commando Hunt was a covert U.S. Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 aerial interdiction campaign that took place during the Vietnam War.  The operation began on 11 November 1968 and ended on 29 March 1972.  The objective of the campaign was to prevent the transit of People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) personnel and supplies on the logistical corridor known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail (the Truong Son Road to the North Vietnamese) that ran from the southwestern Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) through the southeastern portion of the Kingdom of Laos and into the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). The rescue of Bat 21 Bravo, the call sign for Iceal "Gene" Hambleton, from behind North Vietnamese lines was the "largest, longest, and most complex search-and-rescue" operation during the Vietnam War. Operation "Linebacker II" was a US Seventh Air Force and US Navy Task Force 77 aerial bombing campaign, conducted against targets in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) during the final period of US involvement in the Vietnam War.  The operation was conducted from 18 to 29 December 1972, leading to several informal names such as "The December Raids" and "The Christmas Bombings".  Unlike the Operation Rolling Thunder and Operation Linebacker interdiction operations, "Linebacker II" was to be a "maximum effort" bombing campaign to "destroy major target complexes in the Hanoi and Haiphong areas, which could only be accomplished by B-52s".  It saw the largest heavy bomber strikes launched by the US Air Force since the end of World War II.  "Linebacker II" was a modified extension of the Operation Linebacker bombings conducted from May to October, when the emphasis of the new campaign shifted to attacks by B-52s rather than smaller tactical fighter aircraft.
Answer: Iceal "Gene" Hambleton