Casualties Are Rare / Defoliation Run Is 'Fun' for Pilots

DA NANG, Vietnam - An Air Force colonel who makes lowlevel spraying flights over enemy-infested Vietnamese jungles describes the job as a "fun mission in the sense of professional flying."

But exposing Viet Cong by killing off vegetation has its hazards for crew members of the 12th Air Commando Sq. which flies out of Da Nang AB under command of Lt. Col. Phillip Larsen, Denver, Colo.

During 1967 four of the squadron's C123 Provider aircraft received about 1,000 punctures from enemy rifle and other small arms fire.

But despite the frequency with which the squadron is peppered, serious damage and casualties are extremely rare. Protective cover flown by F4 Phantom jets discourage too much overt enemy activity.

The C123 cockpit is armor plated as is a box occupied by the flight engineer who controls the spray mechanism. Each member of the three-man crew wears a flak jacket and helmet.

The belly of the C123 is equipped with a 1,000-gallon tank filled with a 1,000-gallon tank filled with commercial-type herbicide that kills foliage within three or four days. Thereafter only skeletons of trees remain and enemy storage areas, base camp sites, trails and ambush points are clearly discernible.

Known as "The Ranch Hands," the squadron flies under the slogan, "Only We Can Prevent Forests."

Squadron aircraft, flying in groups of three, make two flights daily out of Da Nang AB, each plan cover's a strip about 400 feet wide and about 10 miles long, or about 330 acres on each flight.

The spray is effective for up to nine months after which the jungle slowly reasserts itself. Officials say the spray cannot harm human and animal life.

Defoliation targets are selected, charted and approved in advance by Vietnamese and U.S. civilian and military authorities.

"See that brown stretch down there? asked instructor pilot Maj. Charles J. Meadow, Cordele, Ga. "That's one of ours."

At the controls was Capt. Art Erickson, Aurora, Ill. The object of the early morning flight was to destroy a strip of dense jungle along highway No. 9 leading from Khe Sanh toward the coast.

As the C123 approached Khe Sanh a smoke signal released by a forward air controller set the start of the course. Erickson leveled out at 140 knots, doing contour flying in the strictest sense of the word.

"Back in the armor-plated box Sgt. Robert Rand, Brooklyn, N. Y., the flight engineer, released the spray mechanism.

From then on until the end of the run it was a wild, roller-coaster type of ride as the aircraft skimmed tree tops into shadow-deep canyons, rising abruptly to the crest of precipices and then soaring earthward again.

A few breathless minutes later, the "fun mission" ended with 50 gallons of herbicide remaining in the tank. Larsen radioed thanks to the two Phantom fighter escort pilots. The mission had lasted an hour and 40 minutes.

Then the three aircraft, flying in formation, headed toward the South China Sea and back to Da Nang AB.

By ANDREW HEADLAND JR.

Stars and Stripes 04Jun68