The U.S. Naval Institute on Vietnam by Thomas J Cutler

Author:Thomas J Cutler
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781682470497
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Published: 2016-05-12T00:00:00+00:00

Commander Tyler is assigned to Helicopter Combat Support Special Squadron 4, which specializes in naval special warfare support and combat search and rescue in Norfolk, Virginia.

9

“The Black Ponies”

Lieutenant Commander Daniel B. Sheehan, USN (Ret.)

U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings (April 1988): 84–88

IN RETROSPECT, MARCH 1969 was a strange time to base a newly commissioned Navy OV-10 Bronco squadron in South Vietnam. Increasing public pressure to end the war resulted from—and in turn spurred—massive bombing campaigns in and around Vietnam. While Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and the North Vietnamese envoy argued over the shape and size of the peace conference negotiators’ table, Jane Fonda and Ramsey Clark marched a little too enthusiastically to their own drummers, and increasingly frustrated U.S. military forces continued to take casualties under an increasingly obvious no-win policy.

But these thoughts were not foremost in my mind when the stretch DC-8 carrying Light Attack Squadron Four (VAL-4) arrived in Saigon. I was a first-tour naval aviator and a plankowner in the only Navy squadron flying OV-10As—the Black Ponies. VAL-4 was the only Navy OV-10 squadron and, as far as I know, the only squadron in Vietnam to use the Bronco in an attack role. Our mission was important: to provide close air support for U.S. and South Vietnamese forces in IV Corps and the southern half of III Corps. Once in-country, we were eager to show what we could do and anxious to measure the impact of our presence upon the heretofore stalled war. In short, we were naive. I certainly was, at least.

As we debarked from our aircraft, we sprouted weapons. Personal pistols appeared from carry-on luggage and Thompson submachine guns emerged from a cruise box with a red cross prominently stenciled on the lid. The unarmed short-timers who casually witnessed this metamorphosis laughed at us. This was lesson number one, in a year full of lessons.

According to the rumor mill, the commanding officer (CO) of VAL-4 had requested naval flight officers (NFOs) to fill the OV-1Os’ back seats. All weapon selection and firing were done by the front-seat pilot, and not all flight controls and instruments were duplicated in the rear seat. For example, the back seat had stick and rudder pedals, but no trim controls. The back-seater could lower the landing gear, but not raise them; and he could shut down an engine and feather the prop, but not restart the engine. He could not jettison ordnance or eject the front-seat pilot. The back-seater’s primary duties were flight communications and navigation. Occasionally, in routine situations, he took the stick for a few minutes to give the pilot some rest.

Unable or unwilling to assign NFOs, the Navy Bureau of Personnel (BuPers) solicited volunteers from my class of student pilots finishing the advanced multi-engine prop training pipeline. Twelve of us volunteered, but were not told until much later that the squadron considered us back-seaters only. This judgment greatly affected our pre-Vietnam training.

Combined with the twin tasks of forming a new squadron and preparing to move to permanent bases

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