A MEETING WITH SHADOW

BY LT COL RAY H. JANES, USAF (RET)

During the Vietnam War I was a Forward Air Controller (FAC) assigned to the 1/9th Air Cavalry Squadron. I had an unusual tour as I was the only FAC assigned to the helicopter reconnaissance squadron and therefore worked with all three of the 1st Air Cavalry Division’s brigades, so I worked over the division’s entire area of operations. To do the job properly I fl ew helicopters with each troop in each brigade in addition to the North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco. May 12, 1969, started out as a really quiet day of work for me but it didn’t stay that way long. Flying the OVstay that way long. Flying the OV10, I fl ew a visual reconnaissance 10, I fl ew a visual reconnaissance mission and then flew a second one. Then I was called by the 1/9th Tactical Operations Center (TOC) and asked to help a Long-RangeReconnaissance Team that was surrounded by Viet Cong and see if I could get them extracted. It was a very hot fi ght and fortunately I was successful.

I landed close to sunset and was surprised when John, my crew chief, signaled me to shut down only the left engine. When I did, he climbed up to the cockpit and told me that the 1/9th TOC wanted me to talk to them on the radio which was very unusual. I switched frequencies while wiping the sweat from my face while wiping the sweat from my face and asked them what they wanted. and asked them what they wanted. to the base, so I signaled John and told him I needed gas in a hurry. He

They told me the Last Light fl ight needed me to help them out. Last Light was the last scheduled fl ight of the day fl own just before sunset to try to locate sites where the Viet Cong (VC) had set up rockets to fi re at the base that night. It was a regular occurrence because the division headquarters and the 1/9th Squadron were stationed there. They had found a standard VC antiaircraft site with four guns and had destroyed one gun but were out of ammunition, fuel, and ideas, and wondered if I could come and fi nish the job. I said I would if they could hang on while I refueled. They agreed since they were close to the base, so I signaled John and told him I needed gas in a hurry. He

The 1/9th Air Cavalry Squadron’s OV-10 — note the 1st Cavalry Division insignia on the nose, and the AF star and bars.

Janes photo

The author in the pilot seat of the 1/9th Air Cavalry Squadron’s OV-10 ready for a mission.

said he could do that if I would taxi down to the fuel bladder because there was no fuel truck available. I told him to pull the chocks and lead me to it. He jumped in my jeep and led me there. An amusing aside was that because of this mission an old time-hog like me forgot to log the time from the previous mission!

When I arrived at the fuel bladder he signaled me to taxi the nose of the bird as close to the bladder as possible and after I did he signaled me to shut down. While he and another guy climbed up on the wing to refuel I left the cockpit to take care of some personal business and get a big drink of water because fl ying the OV-10 was very hot work. I climbed back into the bird just as they fi nished fueling and got the signal to restart. After both engines were running I attempted to turn away from the fuel bladder after they had turned the nose wheel 90 degrees. Oops! We were parked too close to the bladder and slightly downhill so that all I was doing was jamming the nose wheel into the bladder. Not a really good thing to do with the engines running. John climbed up to the cockpit and told me if I would reverse the props they would try to push the bird far enough so that I could turn away from the bladder. This is another instance where a FAC had to do something that was a no-no - reverse thrust was not to be used to back up the bird because it was not designed to do that. We did it anyway. They straightened the nose wheel and signaled they were ready to push so I put the engines into reverse thrust and pushed the throttles up. I slowly backed up a few feet while they pushed until John signaled me to reduce the power. When I did he signaled me to turn and I taxied toward the runway.

After takeoff I contacted the Last Light birds and they briefed me on the mission. When I got there, they pointed out the three anti-aircraft positions. Each one was the usual circular ditch with the gun mounted in the center so they could fi re 360 degrees and focus all the fi re on one target or cover each other if they were attacked. They pointed out the position they had destroyed and fl ew away. I asked the TOC if any helicopters could be scrambled for me to control and they said it was getting too dark and they had no fl ares to work with. I contacted the artillery and they said they already had a fi re mission, but I wheedled a few rounds out of them and they destroyed a second position and then told me they had been ordered to fi re their scheduled mission. As it was getting darker and darker and I was afraid that any strike I could get wouldn’t have any fl ares either, I convinced them to keep one round as a marker for me. They agreed since they had two other guns to begin fi ring their mission.

Janes photo

I had been on the radio to the Direct Air Support Center (which controlled the ground attack aircraft) and they told me that there were no fi ghters available but if I could wait 20 minutes I could have a Shadow fl ight. I had to ask what a Shadow was and they told me it was a gunship and since I had the artillery fi ring at that time I thought I could wait.

The Shadow contacted me but, unfortunately, I didn’t note his complete call sign in my diary. I described the target to him and when he called me in sight I told him I was putting in a mark and I dove toward the target and fi red a rocket. At the same time, I called the artillery to fire their round. The marking rocket and the round went off about the same time. The Shadow said, “Man! With that firepower you don’t need us.” I laughed and told him that I was worried about marking in the darkness and he informed me that he had flares. Problem solved. I directed him to the target using the mark and he told me that he had it from then on.

As I turned for home, I saw a stream of fi re from his bird and as it headed to the ground another stream came back at him from the anti-aircraft gun. He said, “Whoa, they’re really down there, aren’t they.” I answered, “Yep and they’re ☛

PARTY SUIT AND HAT

Party suit and field hat worn by the author, Lt Col Ray H. Janes, a Forward Air Controller (FAC) with the 23rd Tactical

Air Support Squadron (TASS). The 23rd TASS (callsign Nail) directed airstrikes along the Ho Chi Minh trail on enemy trucks and supplies. Lt Col Janes was assigned as the air liaison offi cer and dedicated FAC for the Army’s 1/9th Air Cavalry Division.

NMUSAF photos

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all yours.” He said, “They’re dead meat now!” And they were! Shadow called them destroyed as I lined up with the runway for the last time that day. It had been a long one but it wasn’t over yet.

I landed and headed for the hootch to eat out of my stash since the chow halls were closed. I had my meager dinner and headed for my cold but refreshing shower. I had just settled down to write home when the alert siren sounded so I rushed down into the bunker and listened to the firing along the perimeter. It didn’t last too long, and I went back, fi nished my letter, and went to bed.

The next day I learned that six VC had been killed in the wire. It was the general opinion that they were to mount the attack to get the helicopters to scramble so they could be shot down by the anti-aircraft guns that had been destroyed. They evidently didn’t get the word. I don’t know if it was true but the story circulated that the base barber was one of the attackers, and there was a new barber the next time I needed a haircut. If the Shadow crew reads this I want them to know they did more than just destroy a gun, they may have saved a lot of lives – including mine since I might have been ordered to fl y. We normally didn’t work with gunships because they usually dealt directly with the ground troops but I was sure happy I had the chance to see what they could do. It’s no wonder the ground troops loved to watch them work!

Lt Col Ray Janes, USAF (Ret) fl ew 19 diff erent aircraft in his 22-year career, including 850 hours of combat. He mostly fl ew in Fighter Interceptors including the F-86D, F-102, and F-106. His second career was as a school teacher and his third was as a volunteer mostly with the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison, Texas. He currently lives in a retirement community in Denton, Texas.

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