ASD, 4th ASTA and The 73rd Aviation Company

ASD, 4^th ASTA and The 73^rd Aviation Company

May 1964 to Dec 1965

By

CW2 Robert L. Buffington (Ret)

Reviewed By

SGM Charles L. Davis (Ret)

FOREWORD

Random House Webster's College Dictionary defines:

Official: Appointed, authorized, or approved by a government Organization.

History: The record of past events and times.

By those definitions, what follows is NOT an official history, but simply my recollections of seventeen months out of my twenty-three year military career. During those 17 months, I was assigned to the Aerial Surveillance Detachment 82^nd Abn Div, the 4^th Aerial Surveillance Target Acquisition (ASTA) Fort Bragg NC and the 73^rd Aviation Company, Republic of Viet Nam.

Over the years, I've promised myself that I would never become one of the 'old-timers' who sit at the bar in the VFW and tell 'war-stories'. I've worked very hard at trying to separate the truth from the war-stories. I've asked SGM (ret) Charles L. Davis for assistance, without which I would not have been able to complete this project. He had a very hard job keeping me from the war-stories.

Another reason for writing this: After reading the Guest book entries on the http://www.ov-1.com web page. I came to realize that most people are not aware of, or know little about, the 4^th ASTA and the contributions that this unit and men made to the history of the Mohawk and the inception and testing of the latest technology known at that time in U.S. Army Aviation. Had the 4^th ASTA failed in this mission, there should be no doubt that the role and existence of the Mohawk would have changed considerably. But worst of all, there are some that just flat refuse to give the 4^th ASTA any credit and have deliberately deleted any reference to the 4^th ASTA in their versions of the history of the Mohawks. The Technical Observers: SP/5 James Moffitt, PFC John Francis, PFC Donald Hooven, PFC Herman Manley, PFC John Pasquini, PFC Jerry Flaugh, PFC Gene Mc Swain, and others whose names I do not recall, played a very large role in the history of the Mohawk. Of the seven TO names listed above, six were draftees.

I would also like to apologize in advance for any misspelled names and for any names omitted. I would also like to make it clear that at all times the men of the 4^th ASTA and the 23^rd SWAD that formed the 73^rd Aviation Company were always very professional in their duties and friendly towards each other. I met and became friends with a lot of excellent people during my tenure with the 4^th ASTA and the 73^rd Aviation Company. These friendships continue to this day, and are renewed at each reunion.

THE BEGINNING

T HIS STORY STARTS in May 1964 with a rumor running throughout the 82^nd Aviation Battalion, 82^nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C. The rumor had the ASTA platoon of 'B' Company being deployed overseas. No one could or would say exactly where overseas the platoon would go. However, it being 1964, there was only one place the Army was sending aviation units. In early 1964, the ASTA platoon was not up to full strength, in the summer of 1963 it had the lost of three crew chiefs and three or four pilots, all being shipped to South Viet Nam. Two of its aircraft had also been shipped to Atlanta, GA for shipment to South Korea. The platoon consisted of two pilots and twenty enlisted personnel. It had 2 OV-1B's, 1 OV-1A, and 1 U6A Beaver.

I had served in the ASTA Platoon from 1961 to November 1963, and was serving as an aircraft inspector with the maintenance platoon of B Company in 1964. Upon hearing the rumor, I decided to talk with SFC Soublet, the platoon sergeant of the ASTA platoon. My previous dealings with SFC Soublet consisted of one meeting. This meeting occurred immediately after I had referred to him as Sergeant Soufflé over the hangar intercom. Needless to say that SFC Soublet had done all the talking and that I learned the proper pronunciation of his name.

When I asked him if there were any truth to the rumor, he assured me that there was an element of truth. The platoon was to be enlarged to detachment size. I asked if there would be a position for an inspector within this detachment. He produced a thick computer printout and after a few moments of review, offered me the Maintenance Platoon Sergeant position. He went on to explain that he wanted to place as many men as possible into positions that called for a higher rank than the rank they presently held. I think he thought the chance for possible advancement would give the men a reason to excel in whatever position they were assigned. Before I could accept, Brigadier General Tabor entered the room accompanied by a major and a captain. The General introduced Major William Pittard and Captain May(e). Captain May(e) and I had served in Germany together in the 11^th or 24^th Aviation Companies. Major Pittard would become the commanding officer of the new Aerial Surveillance Detachment (ASD). The General also introduced SFC Soublet as the First Sergeant of the ASD. That was when SFC Soublet spoke up. He said that he had not accepted the position yet, and would not, without first explaining his conditions to the Major. He went on to say that he would have an office built for the CO and he expected the CO to let him, as first sergeant, run the outfit. Major Pittard smiled and said, "Welcome to the unit, First Sergeant," or words to that affect. SFC Soublet then introduced me as the new maintenance platoon sergeant. I was a Specialist Six Class at the time, and by regulations I was not to command troops. No one pointed this out and everyone seemed to accept me as the Maintenance Platoon Sergeant. Captain May(e) was to be the liaison officer with the Department of the Army (DOA) at the Pentagon. General Tabor was to become the project/liaison officer with the 82n^dAirborne Division, the 18^th Airborne Corp and the DOA at the unit level.

A few weeks later, SFC Soublet called me to his office and told me that the DOA was sending a TWIX worldwide, requesting that Commanders send their best personnel in certain MOS's to Fort Bragg and the ASD. He said that some Commanders would use the TWIX as an excuse to unload their problem children. He explained that if I knew any good men that I would like in my platoon I should get them to volunteer immediately.

I left his office and walked directly across the ramp to the 69^th Aviation Company. I asked General Westmoreland's crew chief, Sergeant Charles L. Davis, to come into the ASD and to serve as my aircraft maintenance supervisor. He assured me that he would give it a lot of thought. Chuck Davis, in my opinion was the most knowledgeable man I knew when it came to the Army Aviation maintenance system and procedures. (That statement is why he agreed to review this story) We had attended the Mohawk maintenance course at Fort Rucker in February 1962 together. My opinion of Chuck caused me to be very selfish. Here I was asking him to join a unit that may cause him to go back to Viet Nam on a second tour. (Years later he told me that he received a call from someone in the Pentagon asking him if he really wanted to transfer into the ASD. Whoever made the call also told Davis that he most likely would be returning to Southeast Asia.) At the time Chuck told me that he would give it a lot of thought and would get back to me.

I then went and found Sp5 David Fidler and asked him to volunteer to be my Technical Supply sergeant. He agreed on the spot. Both Davis and Fidler were a credit to the unit. Fidler would not deploy with the unit but would go on to OCS and Special Forces (SF) training and serve in Viet Nam with the SF Mike Forces. Years later I would see Major David Fidler at Fort Bragg serving as a Battalion Commander with an infantry unit of the 82^nd Abn.

THE BIRTH OF A UNIT

Headquarters, 82^nd Airborne Division, Special Orders Number 161, dated 10 July 1964, moved SFC Soublet, eleven others, and myself from Co B 82d Avn Bn to ASD 82^nd Abn Div. The ASD was to become a company size, self-contained unit of 15 Officers, 1 WO, and 125 enlisted men. The unit would be authorized two 'B' models and four 'C' model OV-1 Mohawks. Plus, we had one 'A' model. The unit would provide its own first through limited fourth echelon maintenance.

Major Pittard was the commanding officer, with Captain Walter Dunegan as the Executive Officer, SFC Soublet as the First Sergeant, Capt. William Buntyn as the Operations Officer, and 1^st Lt. John Connelly as the platoon leader of the SLAR Platoon. Capt. John Van Horn commanded the Image Interpretation platoon. The Maintenance Platoon had Chief Warrant Officer Jay Dugger as the maintenance officer. I was the maintenance platoon sergeant, with Sgt. Chuck Davis as the aircraft maintenance supervisor. Sp5 David Fidler was assigned as the Technical Supply sergeant. I can not recall the names of the other men. The platoon had the aircraft maintenance, the repair sections for the IR and SLAR, the motor pool, and the parachute riggers.

The parachute section consisted of four riggers. They were charged with the upkeep and repair of all parachutes assigned to the detachment. They were taught how to assist in maintaining the Martin-Baker ejection seats: remove, inspect, and install. The section had a complete repair shop including sewing machines, one of which was demonstrated to be capable of sewing two two-inch thick boards together.

The unit headquarters was located on Simmons Army Airfield. The ASD was assigned ¾ of a hangar to house the detachment headquarters and maintenance facilities. True to his word, the First Sergeant had offices built for the CO, XO, Operations, and one for each platoon. A partition was also built across the hangar to separate the ASD from the other occupant. (This unit was assigned a Caribou aircraft and was the Golden Knights Parachute Demonstration Team Flight Detachment.) The ASD's motor pool was also located on Simmons Airfield. It consisted of a motor park with tents situated about a half mile from the hangar.

The ASD had a classification, which required the unit's headquarters and maintenance facilities to be surrounded by barbwire. Each man had to display a unit ID card attached to the left pocket of his shirt or jacket. No ID card = No entry. The First Sergeant designed a unit ID patch but it was disapproved at the 18^th Airborne Corp level.

"THE HAWKS Detect Identify Destroy"

The powers to be, thought it displayed too much of the units mission. He then designed a generic ID card. It was pink with a silhouette of a 'B' model with an ID number on the front, the back held all the personal information concerning the wearer.

Newly assigned personnel were arriving daily. Some of them had been informed that they would be shipping out for overseas within hours of their arrival at Fort Bragg. They arrived from around the world, but mostly from stateside units. Most of them were not airborne qualified, and did not want anything to do with the airborne. They were not very happy campers when they arrived.

Being attached to the Aviation Battalion caused a few problems. Number one, the Battalion Commander wanted to control the unit and the DOA said no. Also the enlisted men were quartered in the Avn Bn's barracks, and had to meet all the requirements set down by the battalion. For example: each morning every man was required to leave his foot locker and wall locker unlocked so a Bn staff officer could inspect them. This was one of the things that did not sit too well with a lot of the men. However, the First Sergeant had been wrong when he thought the commanders would send us their problems. We only had four or five people that caused any problems.

One task given to the maintenance officer, was to develop a PLL for the unit. Mr. Dugger, the Infrared (IR) and SideLookingAirborneRadar (SLAR) leaders, Chuck Davis and myself worked on the project. Mr. Dugger was insistent that we develop four separate PLL packages. He wanted a 15-day, a 30-day, and a 45-day training package's plus a 180-day deployment package. He also established and enforced a policy of no parts taken out of a package without a completely filled out requisition. Two or three weeks after submitting our PLL request to the DOA, we received a visit by a civilian from the Aviation Systems Command in St. Louis. He flew to Bragg in his own private airplane. When he received our request from the Pentagon, he realized that someone unfamiliar with aircraft maintenance had audited the listings. For example, we had requested four QEC's and six engine stands. The six engine stands had been changed to four only. He spent two or three days with Mr. Dugger, and myself, going over the list line item by line item. Prior to his departure for St. Louis, he supplied us with a unit ID and a priority code (the highest priority in the Army a 02 and the unit ID of Yankee-Yankee-Uniform) to be entered on every requisition we submitted. He also gave us his direct phone number with the instructions that if we did not receive a requested part within three days, we were to call him. We only had to call him two or three times, proving that when it wants, the Army can function at a high level of efficiency. What I find strange in hindsight is that a copy of the PLL requirements for the 23^rd Special Warfare Detachment (SWAD) would have been greatly appreciated and would have saved us a lot of time and effort. Mr. Dugger's insistence proved to be very valuable. When the unit deployed overseas it went with all four PLL packages at 100%.

Some Technical Observer who took part in the training can best describe the training for the IR and SLAR observers. In the maintenance platoon we were more interested in having the equipment operational. The only thing I know about the training flights is that the aircraft and their systems were used to locate bootlegger's stills in the Carolina countryside. I thought of them as being nothing more than high-tech revenuers. It all seemed unfair at the time.

Civilian technical representatives were with the unit from the offset. Mr. John Mako, tech-rep for Grumman Aerospace, was assigned to the unit in early July of 1964. He was a great help, as well as the tech-reps from Motorola, Texas Instruments, Lycoming, and the others. The ASD's aircraft were the first to have the 'New' Doppler navigation systems. Jim Peters, chief test pilot for the Grumman Aerospace, Mohawk project, came to Fort Bragg and checked out the pilots on the system. One afternoon, as I was leaving the airfield around 1700, I saw one of our aircraft on short final with the number two engine shut down, with the prop in the full feather position. I started to return to the ramp when I saw the aircraft doing barrel rolls as it crossed the airfield. I knew then that it was only Peters "checking out" one of our pilots.

Sp5 Fidler was sent to Cumberland Gap, Pa., to take delivery of the supply vans. He later said that he was very impressed with the way he was treated and contributed that to our high priority. The civilians could not do enough for him. He had civilians assigned to load the vans the way he wanted them loaded and other civilians making out the locator cards as each item was loaded. When the vans arrived at Bragg, all we had to do was open the doors and expand the sides and we were in business.

The normal training day started for me at 0530, six days a week. I was required to be at the barracks to ensure that all my troops were present and accounted for. I normally returned home sometime after 2200 hours. All personnel put in long hard hours and everyone should be proud of the accomplishments made by the ASD.

In October 1964, the ASD officially became the 4^th ASTA Detachment. It was still attached to the 82^nd Avn Bn. However the TO&E was changed to 14 officers, 3 Warrant officers, and 66 enlisted men. This meant that over half of the enlisted men would not be deployed with the unit. About the same time the pilots were told to put as many hours as possible on the aircraft, so that when deployment time arrived, the aircraft would have recently gone through a hundred-hour inspection and would have the maximum number of hours remaining prior to the next hundred-hour inspection. I understand that the pilots had a lot of fun flying around the country. I caught a ride to my hometown of Vero Beach, Florida for a weekend. The pilot's (his name eludes me) home was in Deland, Florida, and he was more than glad to drop me off on Saturday morning, and pick me up again on Sunday afternoon.

I was greatly dismayed to learn that I was one of the troops not on the list for deployment. I talked with Major Pittard and the only way I could go with the unit was as an inspector. Since we had a couple inspectors that really did not want to go, I was scheduled for deployment as an inspector.

In mid October the unit went into the field for a Combat Readiness Test. We went to Camp Mackall, NC. We must have done okay because we were later shipped to a combat zone. One thing that sticks in my mind is the night someone stole Major Pittard's jeep. The next morning the First Sergeant held a formation and asked for the guilty person to speak up. When no one spoke up, he started us running around Camp Mackall. We would run a ways and he would call out for the guilty person to speak up. When no one spoke, we would continue running. After nearly running us all to death, he gave up and let us stop. Years later, Chuck Davis, after retiring and working as a civilian, was in Korea checking the Mohawks stationed there, when he learned that the Jeep had been stolen by the Marconi Technical Representative.

I can only recall a couple incidents that occurred within the unit while at Bragg. Two were the result of the 82^nd and 18^th Airborne Corp requiring the ASD to support certain events. Every month or two the Army put on a large demonstration on the Sicily drop zone at Fort Bragg. These demonstrations were for VIP's and their families. The ASD was required to provide a Mohawk for a high-speed low level pass, and to also perform a maximum short field landing and takeoff. The first incident occurred when an officer from the ASD was making a high-speed pass for one of the demonstrations. The officer, who shall remain nameless, was supposed to make the flight pass traveling north to south. He elected to make his pass east to west directly towards the VIP's sitting in the bleachers. He not only made his pass at tree top level but also inverted causing several of the VIP's to leave the top rows of the bleachers. A radio call went out to the aircraft requesting that it land on the drop zone immediately. When the pilot ignored the request, General Tabor, one of those VIP's sitting in the bleachers, almost beat the aircraft back to Simmons AAF from the DZ. The reason the pilot refused to acknowledge the request was that he was flying the 'A' model from the right hand seat and had a PFC sitting in the pilot's seat. General Tabor grounded the pilot for thirty days but lifted the sentence due to training after only several days. The second incident occurred when Chief Warrant Officer Dugger, crashed the 'A' model while making a short field landing. The tapes of the officer explaining what was happening to the VIP's made very interesting listening: "Lady and gentlemen, if you look off to the north you will see an OV-1 Mohawk approaching. The pilot will land the aircraft in the shortest possible distance. He will reverse the props causing the aircraft to actually back . . . . . . . . . Opps the f---er crashed. Now if you will look off to the south you will see some Huey's approaching." That was the day the ASD lost it's only 'A' model.

One other thing that should be explained: As happens from time to time in all airborne units, someone came up with the idea that there were too many unqualified (non-jumpers or LEG) officers in the division. So a three to four day Jump School was arranged for all the officers that desired to remain in the 82^nd, and in good standing with the Army. First Sergeant Soublet was given the task of preparing the LEG pilots assigned to the 4^th ASTA for the rigors of jump school. Every day, after working hours, he would take them to a training area he had designated on the far end of the airport. He required them to run everywhere they went, while inside the training area and he conducted PT. During this time he got a reputation of yelling orders and cursing at the men (officers mostly). It was a reputation that he did not deserve. Years later, a couple of the officers admitted that they had been a little afraid of SFC Soublet.

DEPLOYMENT

On the 26^th of October, Major Pittard informed me that Captain Buntyn, one other enlisted man and myself, would be escorting the aircraft on board ship to the Philippines. He asked me what other enlisted man I would like to accompany me. I told him Sgt. Davis. When Davis got over his shock of being told that he was going by ship, he asked how much leave we would be taking prior to our departure. Major Pittard told us we would be departing Bragg on the 28^th of October.

On the morning of the 27^th, Major General York, the Commanding General of the 82nd Airborne Division, briefed Davis and me. He told us that we would clear post for ourselves and for Captain Buntyn, who was not on post at the time, via VOCG. The General gave us his direct phone number with the instructions, if anyone gave us a hard time with our clearing we were to call him.

Davis got the honor of making the first call to the General. A sergeant at Post Central Issue was refusing to clear the three of us until we turned in all our field gear that had been issued by central issue facility. We were to take all our TA-50 (TA-21) equipment with us. It took about two seconds of conversation between the general and the sergeant for the sergeant to change his mind and sign our papers. I called the general when the MP's refused to clear us because we wanted our cars to remain registered on post after our departure. Our wives were remaining in the Fort Bragg area and needed the cars registered so they could drive on post. Again it only took seconds for the general to change the sergeants mind.

Due to the pending merger with the 23^rd Special Warfare Aviation Detachment, Davis had converted to Specialist Fifth Class. We departed Fort Bragg on the morning of the 28^th of October. We flew from Fayetteville on Piedmont, to Atlanta where we boarded a Delta Jet for Dallas and San Francisco. In Dallas, Davis's two sisters, nephew, and his brother, met us and made our short stay at the airport much more pleasant.

When we arrived at the Alameda Naval Airstation we were given a tour of the facilities and told exactly how our aircraft were to be preserved for shipment. We were also instructed not to touch our aircraft once they arrived. A union represented the Department of the Navy civilian workers, and their union had requested that their union members be the only personnel preserving our aircraft. We also located our contex container with our spare parts. The day after we arrived, a Mohawk headed for South Korea arrived. To move the aircraft from the ramp to the civilian hangar, the aircraft had to be towed to the hangar by using a street, due to not having folding wings. As the civilians towed the Mohawk along the street, it blew a main tire. The Navy did not have any spare parts, so Davis and I changed the wheel assembly. The union came down on us with a vengeance, but only after we were finished.

Our aircraft arrived on the 31^st of October, or the first of November. What sticks in my mind is the fact that the crew chiefs all had blood stained shorts. They had all received their deployment shots prior to departing Fort Bragg, and anyone who has ever sat on a Martin-Baker seat knows how they must have felt.

Again we were warned about touching the aircraft. We were told that our ship, the USNS Core, would not depart Alameda until the 13^th of November. We requested permission to fly back to Fayetteville for a few days with our wives and children, but our request was denied. Our wives had not been very pleased with our sudden departure. We both had young children, my two boys were age 4 and 10 months, and I do not recall the exact ages of Chuck's six children.

Several days later, the civilians asked us to run the engines on all the aircraft. The engines had to be run so that the preserving oils could be distributed throughout the engine. Davis and I replied that we were not permitted to touch the aircraft. To this day I don't know if Captain Buntyn ran all the engines or if he checked out a civilian worker. I do know that I did not run any engines at Alameda Airstation. Two of the aircraft were placed in specially designed zipper bags and the other four were wrapped in a cocoon of protective coating (Shrink-wrap). The aircraft were loaded onboard the USNS CORE (T-AKV41), a Merchant Marine ship, for shipment. The CORE departed Alameda on the afternoon of the 13^th. In addition to our six aircraft and the one Mohawk going to Korea, it had one UH-1B, six or seven Air force A1E's, and assorted Navy aircraft. The original itinerary called for the ship to go to Hawaii, Saigon, Japan, and then to the Philippines, where we would offload our aircraft.

Captain Buntyn was the only military officer on board. In addition to Davis and myself, there was another Army sergeant going to Korea. There were several Navy enlisted men, one an E-7, escorting the Navy aircraft and an Airforce E-7, and several lower ranks escorting the A1E's.

The Air Force E-7 would later turn up several times in Viet Nam along with the A1-E's. Captain Buntyn was given quarters in Officer Country and the rest of us were given a compartment several decks lower. I started having some misunderstandings with the other service personnel, especially the Navy guys. Their terminology was strange. The first thing we all did was to clean our compartment. The Navy E-7 took charge and told Davis and me to take the swaps (mops) up on deck and throw them over board. We really did not understand why, but we went up on the flight deck and threw the swaps over board as the ship passed under the Golden State Bridge. When we returned to the compartment, the Navy chief informed us that we were supposed to have tied a rope to the swaps and to have dragged them behind the ship for a few minutes. The wake would clean the swaps real well. At about this time, we were informed that the Merchant Marine stewards were assigned to clean our compartment and were receiving overtime pay to do so. Their union warned us not to clean our compartment. And again we were told not to touch our aircraft. We tested this warning by checking the tie downs on the four aircraft on the flight deck. The union nailed us again. The merchant marines played a game similar to Parcheesi, called Aggravation. We spent numerous hours playing this game. Davis and I made ourselves game boards out of plywood. I still have my board and have taught my children and their children how to play Aggravation, however they refuse to gamble like the Merchant Mariners would.

We arrived in the Philippines on December 5^th. Between Davis and I, no one was ever "In charge" of the other. We worked as a team and rank did not have any bearing on either of us. We decided that we would first unzip the two-bagged aircraft and de-preserve them, so that Captain Buntyn could get in the air and start putting time on the aircraft. The first day several Navy guys came and asked if they could look at our aircraft. They took a good look and asked if we needed any help. We agreed that they could assist us, thinking all along that they would probably stand around and talk more than work. They nearly worked us to death, trying to stay up with them. I'm sorry that I can not remember any of their names, but they were a great help to us, not only with the aircraft de-preserving but they provided us with transportation, and acted as liaison between us and the different Navy repair shops. They were part of what the Navy called a "bingo" crew off the USS Ranger. They were on Cubic Point Naval Airstation to refuel and care for any planes that came in from the Ranger. The only real problem we had at Cubic Point was with the Navy seat shop. Our priorities did not carry a lot of weight with the Navy. All twelve seats had to go through the seat shop for inspection. Davis and I would then install them in the aircraft. We had five of the aircraft ready to fly when Lt.'s Towler and Trippensee arrived. The remaining aircraft had to have a hundred-hour inspection performed on it prior to any flights. It was the only aircraft that had not had an inspection prior to departing Bragg. Captain Vaughn, the maintenance officer, from the 23^rd SWAD, arrived with a six or seven man maintenance crew to assist us. The only names I can remember are Monroe, and Bonecutter. When they arrived, five of the six aircraft were flyable and ready for departure.

Our last day at Cubic Point: we finished up all the last minute preparations and retired to the beach for a party. A Marine helicopter carrier had docked the night before, and the beach was crowded with young beer drinking Marines. Captain Buntyn set a new record for zipping a flight suit when he was caught in the latrine with a large group of Marines as someone (don't know who) started shouting bad remarks about the Marine Corp. That night all the enlisted men went to town in Olongapo. There was a Navy Underwater Demolition team in town also. Somewhere along the line some of our guys had words with the UDT guys and the shore patrol had to step in. I was not with the guys when this happened and did not become aware of it until a Navy Shore Patrolman and the Marine Armed Forces Policeman came into the bar where a couple other guys and I were sitting. They asked for our liberty cards and ID cards. We laid our ID cards on the table and tried to explain that we did not have liberty cards, but were Army and not Navy. The Armed Forces Police then escorted us outside and placed us in a paddy wagon with the UDT guys. At the Armed Forces Police Station we were instructed that when our names were called we would go outside and board a truck. The truck would return us to our quarters. Also our liberty was secured. My name was the first one called out by a Navy Chief. I asked for the return of my ID card and was told that it would be returned when I got to my unit. I explained that my unit was in Vietnam and I would not travel without my ID card. A Navy Warrant Officer came into the room and the Chief explained that there was one individual refusing to leave confinement. The WO had me thrown in a cell along with one of the Navy guys from the Ranger. An hour or so later a different Chief walked by the cell and I asked him what I had done. He said that I had not done anything and I should have just got on the truck and left with the others. I asked what they meant when they said, "liberty is secured" he explained that all that meant was that we could not leave base again that night. He also said that "your unit" meant your barracks. Again it was a difference in phraseology. Major Pittard arranged for my release.

On the flight from Cubic Point to Vietnam, I flew on the KC-97. We flew into Saigon where our equipment was loaded on a 61^st Aviation Company Caribou for the continuation of our flight into Vung Tau. We arrived on the 23^rd of December 1964. Fifty-six days after departing Fort Bragg.

THE 73^rd AVIATION COMPANY

The first several days in country were spent filling sandbags and off loading our equipment from LST's. The last LST was off loaded about 2000 hours on December 31^st, 1964. The 4^th ASTA and the 23^rd SWAD had been deactivated December 26, 1964, effective January 1^st, 1965. On the morning of January 2^nd, 1965, First Sergeant Carl S. Powell called roll, as each individuals name was called he would take his position in another formation for the new 73^rd Aviation Company. After all names were called, SFC Soublet was left standing on the ramp by himself. The man who had worked so hard to prepare the 4^th ASTA for deployment to a combat zone was left standing alone. The whole situation could have been handled in a better, more dignified manner.

SFC Soublet and SGT Epperson, who had not been assigned to either the 4^th or the 23^rd, were both declared surplus. They flew to Saigon and obtained transfers. Soublet went to the 5^th Special Forces as an Operational "A" Detachment team sergeant working with the Chinese Nungs in Natrang. Epperson was assigned to some 'agency' in Saigon where he wore civilian clothes and lived in a nice villa. He became our source for all unattainable supplies. He provided us with refrigerators and air conditioners. He also provided the NCO's of the 73^rd with a place to stay when visiting Saigon.

The NCO's, E6 and above, were given rooms above some Vietnamese stores downtown Vung Tau. The officers were housed in what used to be a large hotel.

The parachute section was split up, only three had deployed with the unit and two of them were shipped to Saigon to work as riggers for the Vietnamese Jump School. They were still technically assigned to the unit, so every three months they flew to Vung Tau to make the required parachute jump for pay purposes. There were three riggers and places for four jumpers in Casper, our L-20 or U6A. I acted as jumpmaster and made all three jumps with the riggers, with Mr. Dugger flying the aircraft.

Although the 4^th ASTA was fully operational when the aircraft arrived in country, the first missions were not flown till after the New Year. Captain Buntyn flew the first combat mission in an OV-1C Mohawk. The powers to be in Saigon did not know the capabilities of the IR and SLAR aircraft, nor did they trust the enlisted men flying as technical observers. The first month or so, all 'sightings' had to be verified, by viewing the films before any action would be taken. It took a while before the Saigon brass realized that the observers were reporting exactly what the films would show. Also, back then everyone did not receive combat pay. Combat pay was handled similar to flight pay. To qualify a person had to have six exposures to enemy action. To receive combat pay at the end of the month, the six exposures had to be completed prior to the tenth of the month. It was very hard for a non-tech observer to qualify for both flight pay and combat pay. I was flying on maintenance test flights with Mr. Duggar and Captain Vaughn, and the flight hours were always completed. The exposures were harder to get, flights in the morning were considered one exposure and flights in the afternoon were another. It was very hard to get six exposures in ten days. The Rules of Engagement called for a Vietnamese observer on every combat support mission flown by the armed 'A' models.

For the first few months it did not seem like we were living in a war zone. Not for the non-technical observer enlisted men. Sure we were patching holes in the aircraft and listening to the 'war stories' of the 'A' model pilots. But most of the maintenance personnel were off from 1800 Saturday to 0600 Monday. The war, for us, came to a stop at 1800 hours Saturday. Every Sunday was spent at French Beach, barbecuing and drinking beer.

The war became very real and very serious on the 9^th of June 1965, when we reported for work that morning, and learned that Lieutenant Charles Dale and Sp4 David Demmon had disappeared while flying an early morning IR mission. It seems that everyone took the war a hell of a lot more seriously after that. What I remember most about their disappearance was the fact that at no time was there a formation with the commander standing in front of the unit explaining what had happened. Every thing the enlisted men learned about their disappearance we learned second or third hand.

On Sunday, the 4^th of July, 1965, we lost our second aircraft and crew. Captain Sheriff, a newly assigned aviator was flying an 'A' model with a Vietnamese Lieutenant Cuong along as his observer. Both bodies were recovered and the aircraft pieces were flown back to Vung Tau. As we went through the pieces identifying each one for shipment back to Grumman, we found the top eight or ten inches of one of the seat firing tubes, with the main charge intact. The bomb squad disassembled the unit and found that the firing pin had been bent. Months later, we received word from John Mako, that Grumman had reported the firing pin as being bent from the excessive 'G' forces just prior to and at impact.

A couple days later, I was sent to Qui Nhon with a flight team consisting of two 'A' models, two pilots, two Vietnamese observers, two crew chiefs and myself acting as inspector and NCOIC. We were assigned ramp space across the runway from the other army units. Previously Sgt. Davis had built a line shack on the ramp, so we moved in. The airfield commander notified me that we would be responsible for the security of our own aircraft. The Air Force was also using the same ramp space for a flight of A1E's. The NCOIC for the Air Force was the same NCO that had accompanied the A1E's on the USNS CORE. He had the AP's extend their post to include our aircraft. We were flying in support of the Special Forces, doing some photographing of their area. A Special Forces Major came to visit us and upon learning that we were not using the nose and tail cones on the rocket pods he took them with him saying that they would make good home made claymore mines.

Several days later, SSG Davis arrived with another 'A' model and a 'C' model with two pilots, and one tech-observer. This gave the Qui Nhon flight team one third of the units aircraft. The IR aircraft started flying what I believe were the first daylight IR missions flown in Viet Nam. The missions were classified and American only. The 'A' model would not carry a Vietnamese observer, Captain Clark the pilot asked that SSG Davis and I fly with him. Davis and I became the first two American enlisted men authorized to fly as combat observers in the Mohawks. We had no training so I asked one of the old timer ARVN observers how he could tell so fast if the force's seen on the ground were friend or foe. He replied that sometimes he said friend and sometimes he said foe. It all seemed very technical to me. "Sometime friend and sometime foe."

Meanwhile, on the 12^th of July, Major King, the commanding officer, rotated back to the states and was replaced by Major Roberson. First Sergeant Powell also rotated and was replaced by a First Sergeant "Mac" McMillion (I think his name was). Followed shortly by Captain Vaughn rotating and being replaced by a Captain Breedlove. Also, MACV approved the use of American observers in the 'A' models, but only one in every flight of two aircraft. Sergeant's Spears and Hall, Specialist Long and Webb joined Davis and I as observers.

In early February or March of 1965, the NCO's had moved from above the stores to the new NCO quarters. The rooms were built to hold two men, but due to the number of NCO's stationed at Vung Tau, coming from all the different units, we had three and four men to each room. Shortly after that, six of the NCO's from the 73^rd rented our own villa. It had four bedrooms, a dining room and a living room/bar. The kitchen was located in a building to the rear of the main house. The cook, mama-san, poppa-san, girl-san and boy-san all came with the house. The cook was excellent, he had cooked at one time for the American Embassy. Mama-san did our laundry, girl-san kept the house clean, boy-san kept our boots shined and poppa-san was our guard at night. He proved to be a much better guard than the White Mice. We fed Mr. Dugger, and 1^st Sgt. Mac dinner every day at a slight charge. The rest of us put in $50.00 a month to cover all expenses except the bar bill. Each man provided his own booze. Once or twice a month one of us would fly to Saigon, spend Saturday night with Epperson, then visit the Commissary and PX on Sunday morning and fly back to Vung Tau on Sunday afternoon with the goodies for another week or so.

In late July, the Stars and Stripes reported that the 1^st Cav was in route to Viet Nam. The division had to leave all their 'A' model Mohawks in Georgia. We prepared a nice display for them when they landed at Vung Tau. As General Kinnard, the division commander, drove across the airfield, he was presented with the sight of all of our 'A' models lined up wing tip to wing tip with all the armament we could hang under each wing. He did not see the humor in this and demanded that all the Mohawks be assigned to the Airmobile Division. The Commander of MACV had to step in and settle the issue.

In August, SSG Davis took a small detachment to the Philippines to assist the 20^th ASTA with the de-preserving of their aircraft. In October, I joined SFC George Hall's group in going to the Philippines, to assist the 1^st Inf. Div's ASTA with the recovery of it's aircraft. While there, I got to know Ed Barr and Sal Salazar. Due to some unforeseen happenings, we did not depart Cubic Point on schedule, I believe it was weather over the South China Sea. When we finally departed, the runway was closed for repair, forcing the aircraft to take off from the taxiway. The aircraft could not take off on the taxiway with full 300-gallon drop tanks, so we flew into Clark Air Force Base to fuel up. When the aircraft taxied onto the ramp at Clark at first light, an Air Force transit alert enlisted man ran under the wing to chock the wheels on one of the aircraft. He ran into the still rotating number two propeller and was decapitated causing a delay for the investigation. I believe Sal Salazar was sitting in the observer's seat and could do nothing to stop the man or the propeller. Again I flew in the chase aircraft, this time a C-130 directly to Vung Tau.

GOING HOME

When I arrived back in Vung Tau, I had missed my port call. Davis and I were on the same set of orders and he had already departed. I departed a few days later. I flew to Saigon on Casper to catch the freedom bird home. I flew on a Pan American B-707, the worse flight I was ever on. I swore that I would never again fly Pan American. The flight attendants, or stewardess's as they were called then, disappeared right after takeoff, not to appear again until we landed in Japan. No coffee, no drinks, not even water was served between Saigon and Alaska. And I was in dire need for some good strong coffee. Later, after accepting my discharge I worked for Pan Am and flew many more times with them.

Prior to deros I had made out my request for three different assignments. I requested to be assigned to either the Florida or North Carolina National Guard as an advisor, or to be sent directly to Augsburg, Germany. So of course, I got orders, along with Davis, to report to Replacement Company, Fort Benning, Ga. for further assignment. Having a 45-day delay in route I was in no hurry. My second week home, Davis called me to tell me that he had checked on our next assignment. We were slated to teach the Air Force how to maintain the Caribou's. It made sense to me; I had never worked on a Caribou in my life. Davis had gotten his orders changed to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. I followed his advice and went to the Pentagon and had my orders changed sending me back to Company B, 82^nd Aviation Battalion. I had made a complete circle; I was back home where I belonged.

As I finish this I can not help but think of our two comrades that disappeared. That was thirty-four years ago this past June 9^th. Think of everything you've accomplished in the past thirty-four years, and you will realize what they have been deprived of accomplishing.

Robert "Buff" Buffington, CW2 Ret.
4th ASTA - 73d Aviation Company
rbuff@gate.net

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No restricted and/or classified information is contained herein. This home page and web site have been constructed and will be maintained entirely by the author, and the author is responsible for the contents and accuracy of this site. The contents of this page have not been reviewed, approved, or monitored by the United States Army, nor is this page and/or it's contents a representation of such. All comments, questions, and concerns should be directed to the author - John E. Akers

Credits

The proceeding story was written, in its entirety, by Robert "Buff" Buffington, CW2 Ret., 4th ASTA - 73rd Aviation Company, 1964-1965

Maintained by:

John E. Akers

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Last update: January 27, 2002