An American airman poses beneath a hand-painted squadron sign reading "Home of the Spads" at Pleiku Air Base, South Vietnam, a nickname for the propeller-driven A-1 Skyraider attack aircraft flown by U.S. Air Force special operations squadrons during the Vietnam War. Partial unit placards visible behind him reference a lieutenant colonel commander and the 56th Special Operations Wing, which oversaw Skyraider operations from Pleiku in support of search-and-rescue and interdiction missions over Laos and South Vietnam. Project: 219083