A FAC In the Delta

submitted by: Alva Leon Matheson


It was a few minutes before midnight, 6 June, 1966, when the Continental 707 shut down at its designated off-load spot on the ramp at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Saigon, Vietnam. I exited the aircraft along with about 150 other fresh-meat souls into total darkness. The Base was under an alert and all lights were off except for a few ground personnel with flashlights. It had been a bumpy ride from Clark AB, Philippines, through vicious thunderstorms and now this alert was a quick introduction into the combat zone. The silence of the blacked-out base allowed the sound of repeated artillery and mortar explosions to be heard, although the artillery and mortar fire must have been some distance away. West of the base a flare aircraft was dropping flares at regular intervals and their eerie light provided the strange backdrop for my arrival into Vietnam.
As I stood on the tarmac, listening to the distant artillery, I considered the long road that I had traveled to arrive at this spot. Here I was, a 42 year old Regular Air Force major, A World War II retread, previous aircraft commander of a 10-engine B-36, previous aircraft commander of an eight-engine B-52, now about to start combat flights in a single-engine Cessna puddle-jumper. The next 12 months was going to be interesting.
At sometime during the next three days of off-and-on briefings by the 505th Tactical Control Group, I was informed that I was assigned to the 22nd Tactical Air Support Squadron (22 TASS), IV Corps, and that my duty station would be Can Tho. I was also assured that the job that I was starting was interesting, challenging, and rewarding and that I would learn to love it.
The following morning at oh-dark-thirty I was on a C-123 bound for 22 TASS at Binh Thuy, Air Base, Republic of Vietnam. Things moved rapidly after arriving at Binh Thuy. I was issued a survival vest with many pockets filled with various survival items, a URC-4 survival radio, a .38 caliber pistol w/shoulder holster and ammo, and an M-16 rifle with spare loaded magazines. I was never scheduled for range duty to fire these weapons for familiarity and sight alignment. I managed to accomplish this for myself by shooting cans at the base dump. The Operations Officer, Major Wayne Hemm, provided my checkout in the O-1 aircraft at Binh Thuy. He had me fly the minimum maneuvers to assure that I could fly the aircraft safely.
I was then handed off to the departing Can Tho FAC, Captain Peterson, who would introduce me to the people that I would be working with and provide me with the details of the Can Tho FAC job. Peterson minced no words in assuring me that the sooner I was checked-out, the sooner he could depart for his next assignment. The changeover went smoothly due to the expertise and professionalism of the Air Force and Army personnel.
Can Tho was a single FAC station, one airplane (O-1G) and one FAC. Several FAC qualified pilots worked in IV DASC, which was located in the middle of Can Tho city, however they had full time duty at IV DASC and were available for emergency back up only or to fill-in when the regular Sector FAC was on R&R. The IV DASC FACs flew occasional VRs to get flying time and usually tried to stay out of the Sector FAC’s way.
Can Tho was a busy rice shipping center with about 75,000 population. It was located at the confluence of the large Song Hav Giang River and the smaller Rach Can Tho River. Can Tho had several hard surface roads that were much appreciated during the monsoon season. Since Can Tho was the center for Phong Dinh Province, Army Advisory Team 96 was located there and was in a walled and guarded area called Eakin Compound. Of course, the Air Force FAC lived in Eakin Compound also. The FAC hooch was about 10 feet x 10 feet and was located at the end of a long row of Army Officer rooms. Also near the hooch was a small swimming pool which I had the occasion to use only one time during my tour. The FAC hooch was furnished with a phone, fan, refrigerator, clothes locker, comfortable single bed, writing table and chair, small bookcase and lounge chair. This provided a comfortable and private place to relax when off-duty. The Officers’ Club was located approximately 20 feet from the FAC hooch door. Sometimes this was a negative when the noise prevented the FAC from sleeping. A 20 yard walk down a covered cement sidewalk from the FAC hooch door would bring you to the Eakin Compound parking lot. The FAC jeep was parked in a reserved parking space and had a red sign mounted on the grill that labeled the jeep “DAVID-33”, the FAC radio call sign. It was approximately a three mile trip to the Can Tho airport where the O-1 was parked. Can Tho airport had a single North-South runway of pierced steel planks (PSP) approximately 1,000 feet long with canals on both ends. In addition to the FAC O-1, the airport was also home to six or eight Army helicopters and one Army Shotgun O-1.
Advisory Team 96 occupied another compound in the city that provided the working offices of the Team. The Air Force FAC also had office space in this compound that was used for briefing and map preparation. Two Air Force Radio Operators and an Air Force Intelligence Specialist had office space there also. These were the people who cleared the airborne FAC’s strike requests with the ARVN. They also provided the needed communications links with other organi- zations. With the exception of two promised Rest and Recuperation periods, this was going to be my home and duty station for the next 365 days during which I would fly 1,050 hours, completing 540 combat missions against the Viet Cong.