Long sleeve khaki shirts with a black tie, tan socks and brown shoes (for a Black Shoe) went away a year after I made Chief. Just as well. I liked the uniform and being a new Chief so much that I bought a half dozen pairs in tailored gabardine khakis...size 30 waist. Nobody had warned about how they fed in the Chief's mess. I outgrew those uniforms in 4 months.
Those are already going away at sea. They've replace the NWU II (camo) with a BDU cut uniform similar to that worn by the Coast Guard. Finally. *eye roll*
A return to sanity. At least the Navy never went so far as to have many wearing berets!
A horrible mistake in the 70’s was putting all officers and enlisted in dress blues with no thought to storage (hanging space) or cleaning. E-6 and below always looked like they had been sleeping in those uniforms.
I know a guy who was a River Rat in Vietnam and had to wear their black beret. He said he hated it and wiped his backside with it when he had the screemin' meemies.
As an old Infantryman who almost never* received any close air support in Taliban country, thank you for sharing LT Russell's story. Those "light attack" pilots who dared to slip below the surly bonds of the 20 thousand foot safety zone to help those fellow Americans on the ground deserve special recognition and have my undying respect. On a related note, my father was a helicopter gunship pilot with the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate) in 1966-67 and earned his Distinguished Flying Cross at the Battle of Dak To (https://www.vietnamwar50th.com/1966-1967_taking_the_offensive/Battle-of-Dak-To/). When he wasn't conducting guns runs in support of the "Sky Soldiers" on an almost daily business, my Dad infiltrated and extracted LLRP Rangers and Special Forces teams all across the RVN. So I guess my lifelong respect for the "light attack" heroes runs long and deep. If anyone is interested in more American military aviation exploits, I recommend John Mollison's Substack on another Army aviator from the Vietnam war, Colonel (Retired) Bruce Huffman (https://johnmollison.substack.com/p/youth-is-not-boring). For nayone interested in some cool recollections from other "light attack" pilots, I would also recommend "On the Wings of Geezers: Life Lessons from Old Pilots" (https://www.amazon.com/Wings-Geezers-Life-Lessons-Pilots/dp/1665519762) and Maj Gen (Ret) Don Shepperd's tome on the USAF "Misty" Forward Air Controllers", succinctly titled "Misty" (https://www.authorhouse.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/227086-Misty), and this link: https://mistyvietnam.com/the-history/. Please forgive my lack of brevity, but this ground pounder appreciated those Army, Navy and Air Force pilots who would drop down to give us folks a hand when the situation called for it. Thanks again for sharing this, CDR! Bravo Zero to LT Russell, his fellow warriors, and their families.
* Shout out the Norwegian NATO pilot who ignored orders and dropped a 500 pounder on a bunch of Taliban who had our small 6-man team surrounded out in Baghdis Province back in October 2008. Skol!
In the pic of Lt. Russell and his squadron mate in front of the Spad, they are discussing Russell's and his wingman's engagement with several MIG 17s...
I was maybe 4 (certainly younger than 6), when one had diverted into NAS Sanford. They would fly low level nuke attack profiles from NAS Cecil, down to (pre Castro) Cuba and back. This one had apparently gotten caught by a good spate of central Florida thunderstorms on its way back to Cecil.
For some reason, I was on the flight line with dad after the storms had passed. The sun was by then out, and there was a vivid rainbow off to the east as the Spad guy climbed into his steed and fired it up. Watching that big ole' radial BLAP BLAP out its ring of blue fire jets from the cylinder exhausts with all the attendant sound and fury and taxi out is an indelible memory.
The Mekong is in SOUTHVietnam….I was an A Naval advisor from des 69 to Dec 70. Tha plack ponies were always there to cover my 6.. especially important when you are the only US troops on the river.
The Mekong is in SOUTHVietnam….I was an A Naval advisor from des 69 to Dec 70. Tha plack ponies were always there to cover my 6.. especially important when you are the only US troops on the river.
I happened to be the Naval Aerial Observer in the rear cockpit of that OV-10A when it performed the first operational sortie from an LHA, during Northern Wedding Bold Guard ‘82.
They wouldn’t let us land operationally on the LHA because there was only 11 ft. clearance between the wingtip and the island. It was a true rush on takeoff. There was so much wind over the deck that the pilot fought to keep the landing gear planted during engine run up. We were airborne at about 40 kts IAS!
The problem with landing on an LHA with only 11 ft. clearance was even ,and especially with reverse pitch props, unequal application of reverse thrust or braking would cause the A/C to swerve. Pax River Naval Test Center I know certified the OV-10A/D to land on a full size carrier and they did it on an LHA but never certified it for landing on an LHA.
Love the uniform picture as well, but remember, the best ever was the aviation green uniform. Sad that it was replaced as an optional working uniform by the “blueberry” NWUs in 2011, “the centennial of Naval Aviation”… VP-46 wore them to the bitter end as our “briefing uniform” to the Wing. I even wore them once on a maintenance ground turn in the P-3. Always wanted to take them flying.
I was in Navy Recruiting in 2010 before the final nail was put in the coffin on Greens and both NWU1s and Aviation Greens were options in the seabag. I would have both uniforms at recruiting events to see what perspective Navy recruits liked better. Pretty much all liked the Greens! The NWUs made you look like the bad guys in a Red Dawn movie.
I've still got Grandpa Scoobs' aviation greens from WW2 with the embroidered wings and ribbons - it's a damn sexy uniform! I'd love to meet the Task Force Uniform morons who decided to kill them off just in time for the Centennial Of Naval Aviation; I'm surprised some Air Boss hasn't called in a favor with Millington and gotten them reinstated.
The picture in the article shows an OV-10D equipped with a FLIR pod mounted under the nose. I’m not sure the Black Ponies used OV-10Ds. I know the Marine Corps tested some during Vietnam, but they weren’t in the operational inventory, at least for the Corps, until the early 1980s.
Black Pony 107 (Bureau Number 155472) would return to the skies, flying numerous combat missions with VAL-4 before returning to Marine Corps service. Modified to the OV-10B configuration during its later service, it doesn’t appear as it did in 1969 when visitors to the National Naval Aviation Museum stare up at it. However, it is the same airplane in which a heroic naval aviator made the ultimate sacrifice for his country.
Fullbore. Papa Scoobs knew a number of Black Ponies and almost became one - he was a newly frocked LCDR flying Skyhawks in the Gulf of Tonkin when a visit to the flight surgeon gave him some crushing news: he had a slight (but correctable) deterioration in eyesight that was outside the standards for carrier flying - after over a decade his Tailhooker days were over. Back in Lemoore frantic phone calls with the detailer yielded some rather bleak options for follow-on orders - but then VAL-4 came up. Dad jumped on those orders and was packing up the family to return to his old stomping grounds of NAS North Island and VS-41 which also served as the "Bronco RAG" when the detailer called back with breaking news - word had come down that VAL-4 was soon to be disestablished and the OV-10 pipeline was now closed. As a consolation prize, the detailer had orders to VP-31 and Papa Scoobs gratefully headed off to Moffett Field to get back into the ASW business with a second shot to keep flying - one that worked out pretty good for him in the years that followed. To this day he still grumbles that with his S-2 and A-4 background he would have made the perfect Bronco flyer!
40 years later I had an eerily similar exchange with the detailer regarding orders to a "non-traditional" unit flying spooky aircraft in hot & sandy places around the world. After the usual "this could be bad for your timing..." trope from the detailer which I duly acknowledged, I had verbals to the unit and was elated; a week later the detailer called me back and sadly informed me those orders were no longer available :-(
Of note, if you look at the records VAL-4 was heavy with LCDRs - apparently it was known as a "get well" tour for aviators who had fallen off the "golden path". VO-67 was another odd-ball squadron.
Cal Fire has fourteen operational OV-10's now being used for supervision and coordination of aerial tankers, firefighting ground crews, and other firefighting support aircraft.
Navy Air has since Vietnam continually acted to have every combat airplane slowly morph into a pointy nose jet.. As soon as that conflict was over - the OV-10s and UH-1B/K attack helicopters - Black Ponies and Seawolves were decommissioned and the Navy has been against armed helicopters for over 20 years after that only after first gulf war and the effectiveness of the SH-60B in finding maritime targets during the conflict and having no means to dispatch them and always having to call in either the Brits with their Lynx or an A-6 or A-7.. All the "A planes" have been gone for near 30 years.. nothing but Hornets and yet we have this new insurgency airplane that could easily have been a OV-10 brought up to date.. but not in USN, not in USMC.. USAF. Attack pilots make history.
Note the REALLY smart-looking uniforms - my favorite.
I loved wearing that uniform and regret there were so few times it was the uniform of the day.
And anything is better than the camo uniforms worn today. What a joke those are.
Long sleeve khaki shirts with a black tie, tan socks and brown shoes (for a Black Shoe) went away a year after I made Chief. Just as well. I liked the uniform and being a new Chief so much that I bought a half dozen pairs in tailored gabardine khakis...size 30 waist. Nobody had warned about how they fed in the Chief's mess. I outgrew those uniforms in 4 months.
Those are already going away at sea. They've replace the NWU II (camo) with a BDU cut uniform similar to that worn by the Coast Guard. Finally. *eye roll*
Khaki for E-7 and above, blue for E-6 and below.
A return to sanity. At least the Navy never went so far as to have many wearing berets!
A horrible mistake in the 70’s was putting all officers and enlisted in dress blues with no thought to storage (hanging space) or cleaning. E-6 and below always looked like they had been sleeping in those uniforms.
I know a guy who was a River Rat in Vietnam and had to wear their black beret. He said he hated it and wiped his backside with it when he had the screemin' meemies.
Bronco! some tight flying done in those, back there and then. we love CAS, God bless em all.
As an old Infantryman who almost never* received any close air support in Taliban country, thank you for sharing LT Russell's story. Those "light attack" pilots who dared to slip below the surly bonds of the 20 thousand foot safety zone to help those fellow Americans on the ground deserve special recognition and have my undying respect. On a related note, my father was a helicopter gunship pilot with the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate) in 1966-67 and earned his Distinguished Flying Cross at the Battle of Dak To (https://www.vietnamwar50th.com/1966-1967_taking_the_offensive/Battle-of-Dak-To/). When he wasn't conducting guns runs in support of the "Sky Soldiers" on an almost daily business, my Dad infiltrated and extracted LLRP Rangers and Special Forces teams all across the RVN. So I guess my lifelong respect for the "light attack" heroes runs long and deep. If anyone is interested in more American military aviation exploits, I recommend John Mollison's Substack on another Army aviator from the Vietnam war, Colonel (Retired) Bruce Huffman (https://johnmollison.substack.com/p/youth-is-not-boring). For nayone interested in some cool recollections from other "light attack" pilots, I would also recommend "On the Wings of Geezers: Life Lessons from Old Pilots" (https://www.amazon.com/Wings-Geezers-Life-Lessons-Pilots/dp/1665519762) and Maj Gen (Ret) Don Shepperd's tome on the USAF "Misty" Forward Air Controllers", succinctly titled "Misty" (https://www.authorhouse.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/227086-Misty), and this link: https://mistyvietnam.com/the-history/. Please forgive my lack of brevity, but this ground pounder appreciated those Army, Navy and Air Force pilots who would drop down to give us folks a hand when the situation called for it. Thanks again for sharing this, CDR! Bravo Zero to LT Russell, his fellow warriors, and their families.
* Shout out the Norwegian NATO pilot who ignored orders and dropped a 500 pounder on a bunch of Taliban who had our small 6-man team surrounded out in Baghdis Province back in October 2008. Skol!
And it took the whole 20 years to reintroduce Light Attack to the USAF.
Kicking and screaming the whole way.
The Mekong Delta is not in North Vietnam.
Its belonged to that gov't since 1975 though....
In the pic of Lt. Russell and his squadron mate in front of the Spad, they are discussing Russell's and his wingman's engagement with several MIG 17s...
https://www.virtualwall.org/dr/RussellPF01a.htm
DOn’t spoil things for the kiddies..
Sorry!
Spads are in a special place for me.
I was maybe 4 (certainly younger than 6), when one had diverted into NAS Sanford. They would fly low level nuke attack profiles from NAS Cecil, down to (pre Castro) Cuba and back. This one had apparently gotten caught by a good spate of central Florida thunderstorms on its way back to Cecil.
For some reason, I was on the flight line with dad after the storms had passed. The sun was by then out, and there was a vivid rainbow off to the east as the Spad guy climbed into his steed and fired it up. Watching that big ole' radial BLAP BLAP out its ring of blue fire jets from the cylinder exhausts with all the attendant sound and fury and taxi out is an indelible memory.
Helluva fine airplane!
Yeah. Big fan of SPADs -- also, for some reason, AT-6/SNJs.
The Mekong is in SOUTHVietnam….I was an A Naval advisor from des 69 to Dec 70. Tha plack ponies were always there to cover my 6.. especially important when you are the only US troops on the river.
The Mekong is in SOUTHVietnam….I was an A Naval advisor from des 69 to Dec 70. Tha plack ponies were always there to cover my 6.. especially important when you are the only US troops on the river.
Many may not know that the OV-10 could, if needed, operate from a carrier....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QQuyql36aY
I do believe they actually did operate from LPH's several times.
Ahh...Thought so.
Pic of one aboard a LHA
https://nara.getarchive.net/media/a-flight-deck-crewman-uses-an-md-3a-tow-tractor-to-position-an-ov-10a-bronco-c597f5
I happened to be the Naval Aerial Observer in the rear cockpit of that OV-10A when it performed the first operational sortie from an LHA, during Northern Wedding Bold Guard ‘82.
They wouldn’t let us land operationally on the LHA because there was only 11 ft. clearance between the wingtip and the island. It was a true rush on takeoff. There was so much wind over the deck that the pilot fought to keep the landing gear planted during engine run up. We were airborne at about 40 kts IAS!
I'll have to go back and see how much clearance Doolittle's B-25's had on the Hornet. Wonder if it was more or less than eleven feet.
~Four feet...
https://ussslcca25.com/dolittle.htm
This source is likely more accurate, and says ~6 feet...
https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2015/april/navy-targets-tokyo
The problem with landing on an LHA with only 11 ft. clearance was even ,and especially with reverse pitch props, unequal application of reverse thrust or braking would cause the A/C to swerve. Pax River Naval Test Center I know certified the OV-10A/D to land on a full size carrier and they did it on an LHA but never certified it for landing on an LHA.
turbo props that can reverse thrust could operate well from small carriers.
Or even big planes on big carriers!
https://youtu.be/4U1A_RpOxF8?si=FqNciCmwAmBjsyGm
Love the uniform picture as well, but remember, the best ever was the aviation green uniform. Sad that it was replaced as an optional working uniform by the “blueberry” NWUs in 2011, “the centennial of Naval Aviation”… VP-46 wore them to the bitter end as our “briefing uniform” to the Wing. I even wore them once on a maintenance ground turn in the P-3. Always wanted to take them flying.
I tell my aviation friends in the Mess the only way I’ll EVER wear brown shoes is if I qualify AW and they bring back Aviation Working Greens
I was in Navy Recruiting in 2010 before the final nail was put in the coffin on Greens and both NWU1s and Aviation Greens were options in the seabag. I would have both uniforms at recruiting events to see what perspective Navy recruits liked better. Pretty much all liked the Greens! The NWUs made you look like the bad guys in a Red Dawn movie.
I've still got Grandpa Scoobs' aviation greens from WW2 with the embroidered wings and ribbons - it's a damn sexy uniform! I'd love to meet the Task Force Uniform morons who decided to kill them off just in time for the Centennial Of Naval Aviation; I'm surprised some Air Boss hasn't called in a favor with Millington and gotten them reinstated.
The picture in the article shows an OV-10D equipped with a FLIR pod mounted under the nose. I’m not sure the Black Ponies used OV-10Ds. I know the Marine Corps tested some during Vietnam, but they weren’t in the operational inventory, at least for the Corps, until the early 1980s.
In any case the OV-10A/D was a “sweet bird”.
That is the aircraft. It was repaired and returned to service.
Later, it was further modified.
https://navalaviationmuseum.org/museums-ov-10-bronco-memorial-fallen-naval-aviator/
Black Pony 107 (Bureau Number 155472) would return to the skies, flying numerous combat missions with VAL-4 before returning to Marine Corps service. Modified to the OV-10B configuration during its later service, it doesn’t appear as it did in 1969 when visitors to the National Naval Aviation Museum stare up at it. However, it is the same airplane in which a heroic naval aviator made the ultimate sacrifice for his country.
OV-10D 155472 served with VMO-1 I’m pretty sure. If so I had a lot of hours in her.
Thanks for all of the history.
Fullbore. Papa Scoobs knew a number of Black Ponies and almost became one - he was a newly frocked LCDR flying Skyhawks in the Gulf of Tonkin when a visit to the flight surgeon gave him some crushing news: he had a slight (but correctable) deterioration in eyesight that was outside the standards for carrier flying - after over a decade his Tailhooker days were over. Back in Lemoore frantic phone calls with the detailer yielded some rather bleak options for follow-on orders - but then VAL-4 came up. Dad jumped on those orders and was packing up the family to return to his old stomping grounds of NAS North Island and VS-41 which also served as the "Bronco RAG" when the detailer called back with breaking news - word had come down that VAL-4 was soon to be disestablished and the OV-10 pipeline was now closed. As a consolation prize, the detailer had orders to VP-31 and Papa Scoobs gratefully headed off to Moffett Field to get back into the ASW business with a second shot to keep flying - one that worked out pretty good for him in the years that followed. To this day he still grumbles that with his S-2 and A-4 background he would have made the perfect Bronco flyer!
40 years later I had an eerily similar exchange with the detailer regarding orders to a "non-traditional" unit flying spooky aircraft in hot & sandy places around the world. After the usual "this could be bad for your timing..." trope from the detailer which I duly acknowledged, I had verbals to the unit and was elated; a week later the detailer called me back and sadly informed me those orders were no longer available :-(
Of note, if you look at the records VAL-4 was heavy with LCDRs - apparently it was known as a "get well" tour for aviators who had fallen off the "golden path". VO-67 was another odd-ball squadron.
Another great pull. Thank you.
Fred Smith (the founder of Fedex) flew the backseat of those in Vietnam. He passed away this past week.
Blue skies and tailwinds, brother.
Cal Fire has fourteen operational OV-10's now being used for supervision and coordination of aerial tankers, firefighting ground crews, and other firefighting support aircraft.
https://wildfiretoday.com/a-quick-introduction-to-cal-fires-ov-10-bronco/
Navy Air has since Vietnam continually acted to have every combat airplane slowly morph into a pointy nose jet.. As soon as that conflict was over - the OV-10s and UH-1B/K attack helicopters - Black Ponies and Seawolves were decommissioned and the Navy has been against armed helicopters for over 20 years after that only after first gulf war and the effectiveness of the SH-60B in finding maritime targets during the conflict and having no means to dispatch them and always having to call in either the Brits with their Lynx or an A-6 or A-7.. All the "A planes" have been gone for near 30 years.. nothing but Hornets and yet we have this new insurgency airplane that could easily have been a OV-10 brought up to date.. but not in USN, not in USMC.. USAF. Attack pilots make history.