Award-winning history of a segment of the Vietnam War ... From 1962 until early 1973, a handful of USAF officers and airmen directed close air support for the Vietnamese Airborne and its American advisors in MACV Advisory Team 162. This Red Marker detachment began as a single Air Liaison Officer. It grew into a combat unit of 36 personnel with a dozen aircraft before shrinking to a single officer as the United States withdrew from combat. Over the decade of its existence, less than 175 men served in the unit. Five of them died in combat. This award winning history of these forward air controllers from the beginning to the end is based on contributions from 76 men who were there.

Ban Bak" is a definitive study of the discovery and destruction of a secret Laotian logistics complex on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Forward Air Controllers observed suspicious activity near the Ban Bak river crossing. CHECO reports of the ""COVEY Bomb Dump"" were flawed, but COVEY 257/Gary Beard corrects the record with first-person accounts by participants. Additional information, both historical and fictional, is provided by veteran authors whose writings lend both resource and context. Ban Bak is third of three FAC related volumes associated with FACs in the Vietnam War (Cleared Hot Vol. I and Cleared Hot Vol. II). BAN BAK extends these accounts by including tributes to fallen FACs, a Time-Line of Forward Air Controllers in history, an Lexicon of FAC Terms and Information, a classified report on "COMBAT INK" surveillance methods, and an extensive bibliography of FAC related literature and sources useful to all readers of Vietnam history. Ban Bak is 474 pages long, A4 format, in soft binding only

THE REST OF THE STORY is a sequel to Red Markers, Close Air Support for the Vietnamese Airborne, 1962-1975. It expands on that history with more stories about the 175 airmen who made up the Red Marker detachment. It includes accounts from U.S. Army advisors in MACV Team 162 who fought alongside the elite Airborne for more than a decade. It also chronicles support provided by other forward air controllers and from Medevac, Cobra gunship, and field artillery units. The Rest of the Story documents heroic actions of Red Markers and the men on the ground. The final story covers the shipboard escape of hundreds of South Vietnamese led by a Catholic seminary student.

This study traces the development of close air support tactics and operations in South Vietnam from 1961 through 1973. The early years (1961-64) witnessed the buildup of Farm Gate operations and introduction of the Tactical Air Control System (Barn Door). Tactics evolved for the 0-1 Bird Dog FAC and for such strike aircraft as the T-28 Trojan, B-26 Invader, and A-lE Skyraider. Ordnance problems were tackled and headway made. During the buildup (1965-68) the 0-2A Skymaster and OV-10 Bronco bolstered forward air control. Strike operations were strengthened by the F-100 Super Sabre, B-57 Canberra, F-4 Phantom, F-5 Freedom Fighter, and A-37 Dragonfly. Gunships (the AC-47 Spooky, AC-130 Spectre, AC-119G Shadow, and AC-119K Stinger) also gave excellent assistance to group troops. Support of Special Forces commenced. Inroads were made on problems of coordination, command, and control of tactical air power. Tactics were further refined to meet the changing needs of close air support. In the final period (1969-73) the OV-10 acted as an armed FAC. The A-7 Corsair II entered the war. In 1973 the pullout of American troops began. Lastly, the study discusses the A-10 close air support aircraft.