During the Vietnam conflict, there were people who flew around in what appeared to be Cessna single-engine airplanes in a forward air control position. (which was a pretty damned hazardous job, IIRC)
Did they have another crew member who did the spotting?
What, exactly, was their role?
Are they still in service today, and if so, do they still use single-engine planes, or have they been upgraded?
IIRC the aircraft used were the single engine Cessna Bird Dog, a taildragger, and the “push-me-pull-you” centreline-thrust Cessna 337 Skymaster.
IANAFAC, but the movies (e.g., Bat 21) show the pilots flying solo.
Based on my miserably short military experience, in the UK army these people are usually on the ground, perhaps in Warriors. Also check this out.
The crew was generally just one pilot/observer.
Their role? This will take some time. The mission of an FAC was to direct fighter bombers to provide ground support. Sounds like doubletalk, huh?
Occasionally, troops on the ground got into sticky situations and needed help. With this in mind, the Air Force would send flights of, say, F-4 Phantoms armed for air to ground to ‘stations’ above a sector but not with any assigned target. Cruise speed for a Phantom is say 430 knots. That’s going pretty fast to spot enemy troops in a jungle environment. Now, Army ground troops don’t have the capability to communicate directly with Air Force jets. The radios and frequencies are different. And even if it were possible, well, the directions a groundpounder (hey, I was one) could give a flyboy weren’t all that useful to the pilot. So, they came up with a FAC.
The FAC’s flew minorly modified civilian light aircraft. The only major modifications were 1. hard points on the wings for marker rockets (no, boom boom, but would make smoke) and 2. the right kinds of radios to allow them to talk to the troops on the ground AND the jets coming in. FAC’s were assigned to a sector for periods of time (months, maybe) so they did know the area. And they could fly slow enough to be able to spot troops on the ground and tell which side they were on. So, how would a mission evolve?
Ground troops in contact with the baddies would radio their net for air support. Their net would give them the call sign of the FAC up at the time and tell them they’d be contacted by the FAC. And the net would call in the AF. The FAC would fly to the area and contact via radio and ID the ground position of the friendlies. This is why I’d carry colored smoke grenades on patrol. The FAC then would call in the jets and scope out the area while they’re on the way.
When the jets arrive on station, they tell the FAC how they’re armed and how much fuel they have. The FAC tells the jets the situation, the winds, what direction they should head if they have to bail out and from what direction they should make their pass. Then the FAC goes in and marks the target with a marker rocket. It doesn’t have to be a direct hit. The FAC, after seeing where the rocket went might say “The target is 100 meters east of my smoke” or something like that. After the jets go in, the FAC sees if they need to make another pass, or clears the jets off. And if the jets get shot down, the FAC calls in the Search and Rescue folks.
Do they still have FACs? I don’t know. With the state of satellite and unmanned recon technology, they might not need them, or at least not as much.
Yes, there are still Forward Air Controllers. Often, they are special forces directing aircraft from the ground. But there are still airborne FACs. I believe they fly modified F-16s and A-10’s.
Here are some interesting pictures and facts, another and still another?
Another FAC ride: the OV-10 Bronco
At least in the Marines, they are called FAC-A’s, Forward Air Contoller, Airborn. The also have the Direct Air Support Center, which if their feet are not firmly on the deck, are called DASC-A. In the Marines, the grunts in trouble call the DASC, who has the “stack” of aircraft listed by type, fuel, and ordnance. The DASC calls up the appropriate aircraft, tells them to depart the “stack” and proceed to a given point in the air, at which time the pilot switches radio frequency from DASC control to FAC control for the latest updates on bad guys and friendlies. The FAC controls the aircraft on final, gives the go-ahead to bomb/strafe/rocket the bad guys, then gives the damage assessment. At the Infantry Battalion level, there is a Marine Aviator, normally a senior Captain, as the Air Officer, in charge of the FACs.
Sidenote: I hate the OV-10 (not really). I was in a three-day free play Company on Company war exercise at Quantico, VA, and the other team got ALL the air. Helos, A-6’s, OV-10’s, you name it. And they got tanks. And tracks. Our leadership just never requested it. We hid from a pair of OV-10’s for three days. I swore they saw us half the time, but in the debrief, they never spotted us. Made me think of the battlefield in 3-D, though.
This is the O-2 Skymaster that **Johnny L.A.**mentioned, used in the movie Bat21.
Okay, Uncle Bill, here we go again. Is a Direct Air Support Center the same thing as the Marine Air Support Squadron that I served in back in 1964?
Almost. The DASC is made of Marines from MASS. I am fairly sure the DASC concept came to light after your time. By the way, MASS-1, MCAS, Cherry Point?
As you know I spent most of my tour in flight school and then Basic School. They asked where I wanted to be stationed, so more or less as a lark I put in for El Toro. I was sure I would be given the east coast, but damn if they didn’t send us to California. That was great! Newlyweds getting to spend six months in southern California. We camped in Yosemite and Sequoia and then bought our own equipment to camp back across the country.