Episode 9 – Skyraider Stories: Vietnam’s Secret Air Missions

Serving as a **Prairie Fire FAC**, the speaker was one of six Air Force FACs chosen by the MACV SOG teams to work directly with them. These **Special Forces recon teams**, made up of American forces and local personnel, were placed on the Ho Chi Minh Trail on the ground to verify intelligence and find out where the enemy was. Missions included **surveillance** or sometimes even **prisoner snatches**. Inserting these teams into hostile territory typically involved a **CH-53 helicopter always escorted by two or four A-1s** because they were the only reliable escort. If a team got into trouble, they would declare a **"Prairie Fire emergency,"** which would trigger a response from every air asset in Southeast Asia to try to get the team out. Extractions were often perilous, sometimes requiring teams to be pulled out on a **string** if the helicopter couldn't land.

More information on Episode 9 – Skyraider Stories: Vietnam’s Secret Air Missions

Episode 9 of Military Tales takes us into the world of Vietnam’s secret air missions, guided by a veteran pilot who flew both the OV-10 Bronco and the A-1 Skyraider. Drawn to the A-1 by a passion for World War II history, viewing it as his “last shot” at flying a prop fighter, he initially trained in the A-1 before becoming a Forward Air Controller (FAC) in the OV-10 at Nakhon Phanom (NKP), Thailand.

The focus of this air war was the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos, a country described as pure, undeveloped jungle and mountains. The “trail” was far from a simple path; it was a massive infrastructure built to move supplies from North Vietnam to the South, protected by a savage concentration of anti-aircraft guns. The speaker notes the astonishing scale: over 10,000 guns on the trail (more than central Germany in WWII) and the dropping of three million tons of bombs. Enemy trucks primarily moved at night or hid under the thick jungle canopy during the day.

OV-10 FACs were vital, patrolling the entire 700 miles of the trail day and night. Flying above 5,000 feet due to intense ground fire, they navigated using detailed maps and landmarks, scanning for targets like square angles in the jungle, vegetable gardens, and even the splash patterns left by trucks at low water crossings. Once targets were found, they would call in fighter bombers, marking with smoke rockets.

Intelligence gathering also involved advanced, though sometimes rudimentary, technology. Navy sonobuoys, repurposed as sound sensors, were dropped from F-4s to detect trucks hidden below the canopy. Modified Beach Bonanzas (Q22Bs) orbiting at high altitude relayed signals from these sensors to Task Force Alpha at NKP, which attempted to plot targets. However, the difficulty of seeing through the jungle meant that intelligence often needed “boots on the ground” verification by Special Forces MACV SOG recon teams.

The speaker served as a Prairie Fire FAC, one of six pilots chosen to work directly with SOG teams based at the ultra top-secret Heavy Hook compound at NKP. These recon teams, comprising US Special Forces and local personnel, undertook missions like surveillance and prisoner snatches. Inserting these teams into hostile territory was perilous, typically involving CH-53 helicopters escorted by A-1s. If a team got into trouble, a “Prairie Fire emergency” would trigger a massive air support effort. Extractions were often hair-raising, sometimes requiring teams to be pulled out on a string if the helicopter couldn’t land. The danger was real: 64 OV-10s were lost out of 147 in the Air Force, nearly all in Laos.

Later, needing experienced pilots, the Air Force brought back those who had previously flown the A-1. The speaker began a second tour flying the A-1 Skyraider with the 1st Special Operations Squadron (the “Hobos”) at NKP. The A-1, described as “extremely challenging to fly and a beautiful airplane” [Similar sentiment implied by challenges of flying low and using the weapons panel, 15, 16], was the last prop-driven fighter-bomber, known for its 8,000-pound ordnance capacity and long loiter time. Its role evolved, and its primary mission became Search and Rescue (SAR). Known as “Sandy” when on SAR, the A-1 was uniquely suited to escort the “Jolly Green Giant” CH-53s rescuing downed airmen because they could fly low and slow together. Sandy pilots became experts at laying down close-in fire with cannons, rockets, and cluster bombs right next to a survivor to fight off enemy forces. Life at NKP involved flying roughly 60 combat hours per month and a considerable amount of partying.

The cost of these missions was high. Of 200 USAF Skyraiders in Vietnam, 159 were lost. The human cost was even more stark: one out of every five A-1 pilots was shot down, and tragically, one out of every seven was killed during their tour. The speaker reflects on these fallen comrades who never returned home. He shares images of the modern-day Ho Chi Minh Trail and remnants of the war, concluding with his profound pride in his family and in being a Vietnam combat veteran. He also mentions the last official US Air Force Skyraider flights involved ferrying saved aircraft after the fall of Saigon, underscoring that the A-1 wasn’t retired because it was old, but because “we ran out of them”.