As a FAC supporting the Army's 173rd Airborne Bd out of LZ English around the infamous Bong Son Pass, I worked a flight of Navy A-7s once during a firefight. They did excellent work. A-6s did an entirely different mission, and I never even saw one. That was my only use of Navy assets in my year there.
One of the more difficult aspects of being a FAC was the difference in terminology used by the services. We had to use an entirely different vocabulary and sequence of commands if working AF fighters, Navy fighters, Army artillery, or - in the extremely rare instances of actually using it - Naval gunfire. That doesn't even touch on the very different nomenclature of the weapons. You had to really know that when fighters showed up with Mark whatever bombs that they were suitable for the job you had. That was especially important when the ground troops were at bayonet range from the NVA.
Tough Bird and Good Men in the Canopy and all around it.
The movie is like many for the guys that actually were around them. Kind of alright but the movies aren’t made for the entertainment of the military guys as much as attracting the masses.
“I’d do it for you” was a great line though even if it glosses over the vaporization of a bombing run on some humans.
Also FK Danny Glover in His Commy Azz
Originally Posted By: slumlord
people that text all day get on my nerves
just knowing that people are out there with that ability,....just makes me wanna punch myself in the balls
I flew in that aircraft 5-6 times but in the EA6B (EW) variant.
"...aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one." - Paul to the church in Thessalonica.
Son was in an A6 squadron for a while. I still have a carved wooden A6 on the shelf and a squadron tee shirt.
When I saw this thread the other day, I was motivated to check out the movie on prime, may have seen it back in the day, don’t remember. Very entertaining if somewhat cliche-ridden. Also, the Olongapo scenes which were supposed to be set in 1972 showed stuff that didn’t exist until much later. A bit hokey, but hey, it’s entertainment, right?
America Obliterates Half Of Iran's Navy In 8 Hours! - Operation Praying Mantis video posted to YouTube on Jul 18, 2023 YouTube channel: The Fat Electrician
"Whose bright idea was it to put every idiot in the world in touch with every other idiot? It's working!" -- P. J. O'Rourke