Early Years, 1961-1964

Published May 18, 2015

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An American-trained South Vietnamese A-1E pilot looking at a target area after a close air strike against Viet Cong. (U.S. Air Force photo)

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A South Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) C-47 Skytrain of the 33rd Tactical Wing at Tan Son Nhut Air Base before a night flare drop mission in January 1967. Members of the 33rd worked with U.S. Air Force advisors to provide flare illumination for allied ground security forces and Air Force close air support operations. (U.S. Air Force photo)

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Time-lapse photograph of parachute flares dropped by a flareship just outside of Saigon. With this illumination, strike aircraft could provide close air support even at night. (U.S. Air Force photo)

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This drawing illustrates how a (1) flareship worked in concert with a (2) forward air controller (FAC) and (3) strike aircraft to provide close air support. By flying patterns to either side of the target, the flareship and FAC avoided each other and the strike aircraft. [Graphic extracted from: Study (U), Lt. Col. Ralph A. Rowley, The Air Force in Southeast Asia: Tactics and Techniques of Close Air Support Operations, 1961-1973 (Washington: Office of Air Force History, Feb 1976)]

At first, the U.S. Air Force trained and equipped the South Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) with slow, propeller-driven combat aircraft. Flying O-1 Bird Dogs, forward air controllers (FACs) directed airstrikes by T-28s, B-26s and later A-1 Skyraiders.

Growing American military involvement increased the number of South Vietnamese, USAF, U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps fixed-wing aircraft flying over the battlefield at the same time. The U.S. Army's armed helicopters added to the congestion. This situation needed a better control system to provide support, to avoid duplicating attacks on the same target and to keep the aircraft from running into each other. Eventually, the USAF and the Army reached agreements about preplanning missions, keeping armed USAF strike aircraft on alert and using armed Army helicopters to meet close air support requirements.

Since the communists often attacked under the cover of darkness, C-47 and C-123 flareships circling overhead dropped flares to light the battlefield for strike aircraft. In December 1964, the first AC-47 gunships arrived to cope with the increasing number of attacks on hamlets and outposts.

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Early Years, 1961-1964

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