EX-SPECIAL FORCES MEMBERS DROP IN

This is my old outfit . . . of course, I wasn't in Vietnam, and I didn't do what these guys did. They are the type of heroes who were still serving as Platoon Sergeants, First Sergeants when I was a private. When I got to Special Forces, they were the Team Sergeants, Sergeants-Major, and crusty old Warrant Officers - S.L.


by Nick Stubbs
MacDill AFB Thunderbolt

6/23/2011 - MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. - In the steamy jungles of Vietnam in 1957, nearly eight years before America began major combat operations there, members of the U.S. Army's 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) were in country, advising and training indigenous warriors.

It was all on the down-low, as were all missions until the end of the war. Secrecy is stock and trade of the Green Berets, after all.

Flags proudly wave over the United States Special Operations Command Memorial Plaza during a memorial service in which members of the 1st Special Forces Group Reunion honored their fallen comrades, at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., June 20, 2011. The memorial service included a moment of silence and a tribute to fallen members of 1st Special Forces Group from Viet Nam through Operation Enduring Freedom (Philippines and Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Basic David Tracy)

But it was no secret in Tampa this week when some 200 veterans of the famous unit gathered for a ceremony at U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base Monday. Arriving in town over the weekend, the group of old soldiers staged at the DoubleTree Hotel at Rocky Point. It was a time to remember, laugh and shed a tear or more for those who were lost.

Formed at Camp Drake, Japan, June 24, 1957, 1st SFG served in the Pacific region and provided some of the first American military members to serve in Vietnam. It wouldn't be until 1965 when major combat operations would begin, sending many members of the 1st on very dangerous missions well behind enemy lines.

How far behind lines?

"We were the front line - sometimes 70 miles behind what they called the front line," said retired Master Sgt. David Kauhaahna, who joked that his special forces code name is "Brother K."

Retired Lt. Col. Keith Walter, Lt. Col. Jim Bean and Retired Sgt. Maj. Russ McDaniel, members of the United States Special Operations Command Parachute Team, The Para-Commandos, descend toward the 1st Special Forces Group Reunion memorial service. Sergeant Major McDaniel flew the POW/MIA flag behind him during the descent which was presented to former prisoner of war Isaac “Ike” Camacho. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Basic David Tracy)


He arrived in country November of 1965, and served in Laos among other places. Like most others of the 1st, he operated in small units, usually just six men. Three of them might be indigenous Montagnards, or mountain people who earned a reputation as some of the toughest warriors and expert jungle guides in the country.

Being so far behind lines, and with support far away, there was always the risk of not making it through any mission.

"Lots," said Sergeant Kauhaahna of close brushes he had with death. "Lots of times."
One sticks out in his memory.

"We were surrounded by enemy, and they had set the elephant grass on fire and it was closing in on us," he recalled. "We thought that was it for us, but helicopters got there just in time to pull us out; we would have been slaughtered."

Isaac "Ike" Camacho, Vietnam POW that escaped from his capture, receives a POW/MIA flag from Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Smith, United States Special Operations Command, during the 1st Special Operation Group annual reunion at MacDill Air Force Base, June 20, 2011


Close calls were part of the job, said retired Sgt. Major Billy Waugh, who served just shy of eight years in Vietnam, and has a Purple Heart for all eight (along with a Legion of Merit, a Silver Star and four Bronze Stars).

"A lot of what we were doing was directing air strikes (targeting and surveillance as members of the Studies and Observation Group)," said Sergeant Waugh, who recalled that the U.S. Air Force fighters and bombers evolved into being "very effective" at tactical air strikes during his years of service. "They took a little while to get the hang of it, but once they did, they did a heck of job."

When not performing SOG duties, "Our job was to kill and destroy," said Sergeant Waugh.

Members of the 1st were invaluable to downed pilots in need of rescue behind enemy lines.

"We were the only guys there, so we did the job," said Sergeant Waugh.

The memories fill volumes, and are only outnumbered by the close kinships members of the historical group share, said Sergeant Waugh, which is why the reunions are regularly held. This year's event marks the first in Tampa, and a special one in that it was in the same town as MacDill Air Force Base and SOCOM.

"We are glad we could gather here this time," Sergeant Waugh said. "It's a sort of coming together."

Today's Bird HERE


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FINAL FLIGHT: Air Commando One

BRIGADIER GENERAL HARRY C. "HEINIE" ADERHOLT,
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE


Born 1920 - Retired 1 August 1976 - Died 20 May 2010



Brigadier General Harry C. (Heinie) Aderholt was born in Birmingham, Ala., in 1920. He entered active military duty through the aviation cadet program in April 1942 and graduated from pilot training with a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps in May 1943.

During World War II, from October 1943 to August 1945, General Aderholt served in North Africa and Italy as a B-17 and C-47 pilot.

In September 1945 General Aderholt went to Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., assigned as a staff pilot with the Army Air Forces Eastern Flying Training Command. After completion of Air Tactical School at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., in December 1948, General Aderholt returned to Maxwell and served as a flight instructor and flying safety officer with the 3800th Air Base Wing.

During the Korean War, from July 1950 to September 1951, General Aderholt commanded a Special Air Warfare Detachment of the 21st Troop Carrier Squadron. He next was assigned as an operations staff officer with the 1007th Air Intelligence Service Group in Washington, D.C. In June 1953 he was transferred to Donaldson Air Force Base, S.C., where he served with Headquarters Eighteenth Air Force as tactical and operations staff officer in the Directorate of Operations and Training.

In October 1954, General Aderholt was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Wiesbaden Air Base, Germany, and served in the Directorate of Plans as an unconventional warfare planning staff officer.

In September 1957 General Aderholt returned to Washington, D.C., assigned to the 1007th Air Intelligence Service Group as a special warfare staff officer, and in September 1959 joined the 1040th U.S. Air Force Field Activity Squadron in the same capacity.

General Aderholt left for Okinawa in January 1960 where he became commander of the 1095th Operational Evaluation Training Group. During this assignment, he contributed to the pioneering of special air warfare techniques, and was instrumental in developing the Laos airfield complex known as Lima sites. These fields were used throughout Southeast Asia as support sites for special warfare operations and as "Jolly Green" helicopter forward staging bases for rescue and recovery operations in Laos and North Vietnam.

From August 1962 to February 1964, General Aderholt served as special advisor to the commander of the U.S. Air Force Special Air Warfare Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. During this period, he contributed to and participated in RAND Corp. studies which resulted in the publication of the Single Integrated Attack Team Study. He then was transferred to Hurlburt Field, Fla., where he served as vice commander and commander of the famed 1st Air Commando Wing.

General Aderholt left for the Republic of the Philippines in August 1965 where he was assigned as deputy commander for plans and operations with the 6200th Materiel Wing at Clark Air Base. While in this assignment, he joined the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, where he conceived and activated the Joint Personnel Recovery Center in Saigon, and served as chief from July to December 1966. He then was selected by Headquarters Pacific Air Forces to activate the 56th Air Commando Wing at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. This wing, which he organized and commanded from December 1966 to December 1967, conducted low-level night interdiction missions over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos and North Vietnam, using prop-driven aircraft. The efforts of this wing were so successful in slowing infiltration that the enemy reacted by greatly increasing anti-aircraft defenses and committing a large amount of his total assets to keep the trail open.

In January 1968 General Aderholt was reassigned to the U.S. Air Force Special Air Warfare Center, later redesignated U.S. Air Force Special Operations Force, at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., to serve as deputy chief of staff for operations.

General Aderholt returned to Thailand in June 1970 for a two-year tour of duty as chief of the Air Force Advisory Group, Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group, in Bangkok. He retired from active military duty in December 1972 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

He was recalled to active duty in October 1973 and assigned as deputy commander, United States Military Assistance Command, Thailand, and deputy chief, Joint United States Military Advisory Group, Thailand, with headquarters at Bangkok.

General Aderholt became Commander, USMACTHAI, and Chief, JUSMAG, Thailand, in May 1975.

His military decorations and awards include the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with eight oak leaf clusters, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation Emblem, and the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Ribbon with oak leaf cluster. He is a command pilot and wears the Parachutist Badge.

He was promoted to the grade of Brigadier General effective May 31, 1974, with date of rank May 25, 1974.



Bio of General Aderholt was published in Bangkok in 1975 when he was Commander, U. S. Military Assistance Command, Thailand, and Chief, Joint U. S. Military Advisory Group, Thailand.



Heinie Aderholt was a pioneer of American Joint Special Operations, he was the consummate Clandestine Warrior, and he was an American Hero

"HONOR"





More reading: BG Aderholt’s Ho Chi Minh Trail Adventure Diary by Nick Ascot

PARDO's PUSH

Pardo's Push was an aviation maneuver carried out by Captain Bob Pardo in order move his wingman's badly damaged F-4 Phantom II to friendly air space during the Vietnam War.

Captain Bob Pardo (with back-seater 1st Lt. Steve Wayne) and wingman Captain Earl Aman (with back-seater Lt. Robert Houghton) were assigned to the 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. In March 1967, they were trying to attack a steel mill in North Vietnam just north of Hanoi.





THE PUSH

On March 10, 1967, the sky was clear for a bombing run. Both F-4 Phantoms were hit by anti-aircraft guns. Aman's plane took the worst damage; his fuel tank had been hit, and he quickly lost most of his fuel. He did not have enough fuel to make it to a tanker aircraft over Laos.

To avoid having Aman and Houghton bail out over hostile territory, Pardo decided to try pushing the airplane. Pardo first tried to use Aman's drag chute compartment to push the plane. However, turblence was too great and this failed.

Next, Pardo tried to use Aman's tailhook to push the plane. Pardo moved behind Aman until the tailhook was against Pardo's windshield. Pardo told Aman to shut down his engines; Aman was nearly out of fuel and the engine jets interfered with Pardo's plan. The push worked, reducing the rate of descent considerably, but the tailhook slipped off the windshield every 15 to 30 seconds, and Pardo would reposition his plane. Pardo also struggled with a fire in one of his own engines and eventually had to shut it down. For the last 10 minutes of flight, Pardo used the one remaining engine to slow the descent of both planes.

With Pardo's plane running out of fuel after pushing Aman's plane almost 88 miles, the planes reached Laos airspace at an altitude of 6000 feet. This left them about two minutes of flying time. The two pilots and their partners ejected, evaded capture, and were picked up by rescue helicopters.

Although Pardo was initially criticized for not saving his own aircraft, he and Wayne eventually received the Silver Star for the maneuver.