From Robert Micalizzi 12/15/2010
Ernie:
When I was at Dakto there was only one airstrip just outside the Special Forces compound. We had one PSP runway and a small ramp. I was there before, during and after some big operation in 1966, the name of it escapes me. I was part of a 3 man team from the 125th Air Traffic Company at Camp Holloway. I was junior man (Spec 4) and the other 2 guys were Spec 5's. We convoyed our equipment up from Pleiku. We set up adjacent to the runway within "running" distance to the special forces perimeter. Since I was junior, I was assigned to stay with the equipment each night while the other two guys slept in the special forces camp. We had a small tent, a 3/4 ton truck, generator and tower. Those were real scary nights and, in retrospect, a dumb game plan on the Army's part. I remember when the infantry arrived and set up their airfield perimeter they couldn't believe I was out there by my lonesome.
I had some real interesting ATC experiences there. When things got hot and heavy, one controller had to work traffic on UHF/VHF and FM. We also had "crank" phones to the infantry. It got real busy at times. I used to bathe in the river behind the compound. Some of the "yard" family's lived alongside the river bank. All in all, it was a real exciting time for a 20 year old kid.
Bob
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Ernie Camacho:
Bob, thanks for the story. Now I'm more confused.
You say that the runway was PSP, with a small ramp. I'd say that was Dak To 1 since Dak To 2 was originally built by the French (so I was told), and it was a blacktop runway, with a big ramp that had a building/terminal at one end. Dak To 1 was a dirt strip, so I would expect some PSP to be used there.
But, what you say about the SF camp and you bathing in the river, might be more like Dak To 2. Dak To 2 had a Special Forces "B" camp, a rectangle. I've seen other SF camps that were triangular. And there is the river running behind the SF camp I knew.
You should fire up Google Earth and take a look at Dak To. You know, I didn't even know there was a Dak To 1 airstrip until many years later, when I was reading about Operation Hawthorne. In GE, Dak To 1 is right next to the red dot marking "Dak To". The river is a good distance away there. GE shows Dak To 1 to be about 900 yds. long, while Dak To 2 is about 1400 yds. long with a 400 yd. long ramp. In GE, find the tri-border where Laos' and Cambodia's borders abut Viet Nam's. Then just pan east a bit to find the airstrips.
I had to laugh when you talked about having to stay outside the perimeter. When I first got to Dak To, the first night the SF guys said that we could not be inside their perimeter because they were expecting to be attacked. Instead, we set up our GP medium across the runway, climbed into our sleeping bags on top of our cots and listened to the out-bound H&R fire. There were two infantry guys who had volunteered to protect us - they slept on the ground, without telling us why. Then the fire became inbound, with mortars landing right next to us. We spent the rest of the night in a trench that the VC had mapped out - they almost got their mortars into the trench with us. At dawn, we went back across the runway but still couldn't get inside the SF camp. So we waited behind a pallet of C rations, waiting for the bugles that luckily never came. Different day, same war, eh? BTW, I was glad they didn't let us come inside. They got the hell shot of of themselves. Several people died that night.
I suspect the big operation you were in in '66 was Hawthorne. That's the only one I've heard of that took place before I got there.
Ernie
Ernie:
When I was at Dakto there was only one airstrip just outside the Special Forces compound. We had one PSP runway and a small ramp. I was there before, during and after some big operation in 1966, the name of it escapes me. I was part of a 3 man team from the 125th Air Traffic Company at Camp Holloway. I was junior man (Spec 4) and the other 2 guys were Spec 5's. We convoyed our equipment up from Pleiku. We set up adjacent to the runway within "running" distance to the special forces perimeter. Since I was junior, I was assigned to stay with the equipment each night while the other two guys slept in the special forces camp. We had a small tent, a 3/4 ton truck, generator and tower. Those were real scary nights and, in retrospect, a dumb game plan on the Army's part. I remember when the infantry arrived and set up their airfield perimeter they couldn't believe I was out there by my lonesome.
I had some real interesting ATC experiences there. When things got hot and heavy, one controller had to work traffic on UHF/VHF and FM. We also had "crank" phones to the infantry. It got real busy at times. I used to bathe in the river behind the compound. Some of the "yard" family's lived alongside the river bank. All in all, it was a real exciting time for a 20 year old kid.
Bob
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Ernie Camacho:
Bob, thanks for the story. Now I'm more confused.
You say that the runway was PSP, with a small ramp. I'd say that was Dak To 1 since Dak To 2 was originally built by the French (so I was told), and it was a blacktop runway, with a big ramp that had a building/terminal at one end. Dak To 1 was a dirt strip, so I would expect some PSP to be used there.
But, what you say about the SF camp and you bathing in the river, might be more like Dak To 2. Dak To 2 had a Special Forces "B" camp, a rectangle. I've seen other SF camps that were triangular. And there is the river running behind the SF camp I knew.
You should fire up Google Earth and take a look at Dak To. You know, I didn't even know there was a Dak To 1 airstrip until many years later, when I was reading about Operation Hawthorne. In GE, Dak To 1 is right next to the red dot marking "Dak To". The river is a good distance away there. GE shows Dak To 1 to be about 900 yds. long, while Dak To 2 is about 1400 yds. long with a 400 yd. long ramp. In GE, find the tri-border where Laos' and Cambodia's borders abut Viet Nam's. Then just pan east a bit to find the airstrips.
I had to laugh when you talked about having to stay outside the perimeter. When I first got to Dak To, the first night the SF guys said that we could not be inside their perimeter because they were expecting to be attacked. Instead, we set up our GP medium across the runway, climbed into our sleeping bags on top of our cots and listened to the out-bound H&R fire. There were two infantry guys who had volunteered to protect us - they slept on the ground, without telling us why. Then the fire became inbound, with mortars landing right next to us. We spent the rest of the night in a trench that the VC had mapped out - they almost got their mortars into the trench with us. At dawn, we went back across the runway but still couldn't get inside the SF camp. So we waited behind a pallet of C rations, waiting for the bugles that luckily never came. Different day, same war, eh? BTW, I was glad they didn't let us come inside. They got the hell shot of of themselves. Several people died that night.
I suspect the big operation you were in in '66 was Hawthorne. That's the only one I've heard of that took place before I got there.
Ernie
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This is from Dak To, 1966, the first tower there
- Robert Micalizzi |