Mohawks were respectfully called
"Silent Death" by the Viet Cong
Credits
LIKE ALL ARMIES,
the Viet Cong army contains a certain number of
duds. These duds make detection easy for us by leaving fresh dirt
exposed around their foxholes and trench works and failing to
completely sink or cover their sampans. When something like this
happens, it is a fortunate break for us. However, the guerilla's
best air defense is a passive one, and they use camouflage on a
level attained by few sophisticated armies.They have arrived at this high degree of proficiency through 20-plus years of practical application. Though they are good, their deceitfulness still leaves signs, especially when a state of urgency or haste exists.
Disturbances in the natural vegetation are signs that someone is hiding from you. Various articles bring this out well by indicating that on narrow canals, the VC will conceal their sampans as you fly over by pulling the tall grass on canal banks over their small vessels. This bends the grass over, sometimes causing it to bend into the wind instead of with the wind. One article describes how a training camp was concealed when the surrounding trees weren't thick enough to completely cover the buildings. Trees were bent over and tied down to conceal the buildings. This complex was discovered when a pilot realized he was looking at the bottoms of the leaves instead of the tops.
Finding camps, vessels, and vehicles is difficult, but locating the individual soldier is even harder. In some Viet Cong units each soldier camouflages both his uniform and his helmet. As they march along, each soldier maintains the camouflage of the person in front of him. Movement is about the only thing that will give these units away. And that, of course, is what you must be alert for. Once you see the first one move, with a little scrutinization you can usually detect many of the others.
A source that I consider reliable once told me that I flew over a VC company without seeing any of them. This communist unit was crossing a large open rice field laced with small dikes but completely without tall rice or trees. A government sympathizer was watching them and heard my 0-1 approach. He was sure they would be detected but the Cong had a trick left. They too heard my healthy Continental purr, and as I approached they lay down single file, head to foot, in a straight line in the shallow water. As I flew over, I failed to notice any difference between the line they formed and any other small dike in that large rice field.
As I see it three aircraft are doing this looking job for the Army: the Bird Dog, Mohawk, and armed Huey. Surprise is at best difficult in the Huey. Even at low level the noise from the rotor is usually heard before the aircraft arrives. Many units spotted by armed ships allowed themselves to be spotted by yielding to the temptation to engage the helicopters.
Noise characteristics of the Bird Dog are such that at low level, noise and aircraft pass over a suspected target simultaneously. And of course, the Mohawk travels ahead of its noise at low level. In fact, Mohawks of the old 23rd SWAD were respectfully called "Silent Death" by the Viet Cong.
After you "surprise" an area you have to interpret what you find. Such things as clothes lines with only adult male items in a village should indicate something. Also, sightings of villages with all male citizens or no males leave points to ponder.
People in friendly areas of the world generally like to look at aircraft. If everyone refuses to look up or if they run it may indicate hostility toward you, fear, guilty conscience.
Train yourself to see as much as possible on your first pass through the area. Your second and subsequent passes will surprise no one. Make your pass at as high a speed as possible, using military rated power settings for your aircraft. In mountainous areas make your approach downhill to gain extra speed.
Attempt to conceal your approach. The VC have people assigned to the duty of aircraft listener/spotter. Use the sun for additional protection. Make your pass so that the aircraft's shadow is on the suspected target. This means anyone shooting at you from that area will have the sun in his eyes.
Wind and terrain can also help you. Favorable terrain can be used to conceal your approach. When possible, always fly low over trees on your target confirmation pass. If you have ever hunted ducks in a wooded area the reason is apparent. Flying parallel to a tree line gives anyone in that tree line an unlimited field of fire. Flying downwind of the target will help dissipate aircraft noises before they reach the target, thus increasing the chance of your being undetected.
If you are unarmed but plan to engage the target (airstrike or artillery) you must keep your target under constant surveillance. The guerrillas on the ground know what's happening next. Turn your back and all you have left to shoot at is a deserted camp or an empty field. So stay in the area but climb high enough to be relatively safe from small arms fire.
They will still attempt to sneak away in all directions but there will not be the mass exodus that would occur should you leave. Keep track of as many as possible while waiting for that first artillery round or the strike aircraft.
Aerial observation is a dangerous game. However, the aviator who develops cunningness can survive in this environment and contribute greatly to a counter-in-surgency movement.
73rd
Surveillance Airplane Company (SAC) - Home PageNo 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
The proceeding story has been retracted, in its entirety, from the U. S. Army Aviation Digest, May, 1967 (Vol. 13, No. 5). Reprinted with permission. Permission statement is located inside the jacket cover of the digest.
The image that was included with the original article was similar to the one you see here. It was an image of Hawk 5. Unfourtately, the image with the article spread across two pages, making it impossible to scan for this HTML presentation. I have subsituted the image of Hawk 5 with an image of Hawk 9. Please click on the image if you would like to see a larger image of Hawk 9. A special thank you to:
Gordon W. Donnelly (Popeye the Photoman)
SP-5 23rd SWAD / 20th ASTA Dets. 1963-1966
...the provider of the image you see here.
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