A Tigerhound Memoir by Jim Gordon INTRODUCTION         DANANG, EARLY 1968          FAC AIRCRAFT          PLEIKU, 1968           COVEY OPS FROM PLEIKU VISUAL RECONNAISSANCE & INTERDICTION     EXTRA PHOTOS          LINKS          FAC PATCHES

The squadron had several complementary missions.  Coveys flew visual reconnaissance missions over Southern Tigerhound, looking for targets of opportunity, gleaning whatever intelligence they could, controlling fighter-bomber strikes against enemy forces, equipment or supplies or to interdict the trails that served as lines of communication and logistic channels.  On occasion, Coveys also supported the operations of friendly ground units in the area of operations.

The Coveys' missions were generally about 4 hours from block to block.  Missions were scheduled to provide continuous FAC coverage of the area of operations.   Three hours on station plus a half-hour transit to or from the AO meant that the squadron put up 8 missions a day.  The missions were endurance tests, because the O-2's seat was hard and uncontoured, and the crews wore a flak vest, survival vest with bulky lumps in the mesh pockets, a sidearm and survival knife, a back-pack parachute, and a flight helmet.  The usual complaint was about having to fly a 4-hour mission with a 3-hour ass.  Daytime missions were often flown solo, but at night, a second pilot or a navigator went along and used a "starlight scope" night vision device to watch for targets.  Despite the O-2's lack of any radar, Coveys flew in miserable weather and very seldom was a mission canceled for weather conditions.

I got permission from the detachment commander and the Project Tigerhound office to fly as an observer (in my "copious free time") so that I'd have a better grasp of the mission and of the area of operations, and flew 13 daytime flights "over the fence."  I wasn't on flying status, and wasn't eligible for an Air Medal, and eventually was forbidden to fly any more missions -- I was told that a fellow intel specialist had been lost during a similar area-familiarization flight in-country, and somebody realized that the scarce intel specialists shouldn't be allowed to risk themselves.  Flying the missions did help me to see and be familiar with the area of operations, and I often used our hand-held Pentax cameras to get some useful photos, which we sent up the chain.