H-43 Deploys to War

The HH-43 was the first USAF SAR bird put into the Vietnam and Laos wars. The deployment demands we explain some acronyms and infrequently used unit designations.

The organization of the Army Air Forces and then the US Air Force was very fluid during and following WWII. Indeed, a fellow from the Netherlands named Johan Ragay has done very exhaustive work at USAF archives to chronicle when and where HH-43s were deployed to Southeast Asia. If you visit his summary, you will see that he divided the deployments into five periods, or rounds, during the period 1964 and 1975. We'll not go through all that, but instead just get you started with the first round. His summaries are well done, and we recommend you go through them at your leisure.

As mentioned early on, the HH-43 was the first USAF SAR bird put into the Vietnam and Laos wars. That was done in June 1964, to Nakhon Phanom (NKP) Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB) . It was also the last USAF rescue helicopter to leave Vietnam, leaving Danang AB, Republic of Vietnam (RVN) after the peace treaty was signed in January 1973. We also believe it was the very last USAF SAR aircraft out of the region, leaving Utapao RTAFB in April 1975.

General Kenney’s initial assessment of command arrangements during WWII could also be applied to the command arrangements in Korea and Vietnam. In all three cases, we neglected to establish centralized command and control of air power, which caused air resources to be spread out, and as a result we lost the advantage of having concentrated airpower. That's why this history is so important to understanding what the Pedros and others faced in Vietnam. It was a problem in WWII and Korea and was not solved when we entered Vietnam and Laos.

     To help tell the Pedro story, we want to highlight three numbered air forces in the Pacific: the 5th, 7th, and 13th Air Forces.

     The "Philippine Department" had existed for many years prior to the outbreak of WWII, and was the outlying US Army command in the Pacific. In 1941, it was essentially a service and supply outfit. With the US expecting war with the Japanese, in July 1941, Lt. General Douglas MacArthur was appointed Commander, United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), which included all those in the Philippines Department and any Philippine Army troops inducted into the US Army.

     In August 1941, the Philippine Department Air Force was established and activated at Nichols Field, Philippines a month later, but was truly a token force. It was redesignated the Far East Air Force (FEAF) in October 1941 and moved to Darwin, Australia, in December 1941 following the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines. It was redesignated the 5th Air Force (AF) in 1942 by direction of General Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff, and moved to Brisbane, Australia.

The 13th Air Force (13AF) activated at New Caledonia in the Coral Sea in January 1943, combining many different kinds of units. It staged mostly out of tropical jungles on more than 40 remote islands, and came to be known as the "Jungle Air Force." During the course of WWII, it flew and fought its way from all these islands to Clark Field, the Philippines, in January 1946. It remained there until Mt. Pinatubo buried Clark AFB. It moved to Anderson AB, Guam where it remains today.

     The 7th Air Force (7AF) traces its legacy to the Hawaiian Air Force, activated in 1940 at Pearl Harbor, which was decimated by the Japanese attack. It rebuilt, and fought its way from "one damned island after another" until it struck Japan from Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The name 7AF was assigned in 1942, and changed to Pacific Air Command in 1947. That was deactivated in 1949. It was redesignated 7AF in 1954, activated in 1955, and deactivated in 1957. When 7AF was reactivated in March 1966, it opened up shop at Tan San Nhut AB, Republic of Vietnam (RVN) and served as the air component command of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), which ran the war until 1973. It then moved to NKP and was deactivated in 1975. It was reactivated in 1986 at Osan AB, Republic of Korea where it remains today.

     The 5th and 13th Air Forces each had a rescue organization assigned to it. Following WWII, the 2nd Emergency Rescue Squadron (ERS) was located at Clark AB, Philippines, and subordinated to the 13th AF, while the 3rd ERS was located at Atsugi AB, Japan, and subordinated to the 5th AF in Japan.

     In March 1946, the Air Rescue Service (ARS) was established under the Air Transport Command to provide rescue coverage for the continental United States. By 1949 the ARS was tasked to cover the world's major transport routes. Organizationally, this meant that the rescue squadrons were taken away from the combatant, numbered air forces in the field and were subordinated to the ARS in Washington. It is important to understand that the ARS was established as a peacetime SAR capability. During 1946-1949, it expanded its mission to include disaster relief.

      On the one hand, the reorganization enabled the ARS to compete in the Pentagon for its own resources and outfit its squadrons worldwide. Previously, the 2nd and 3rd ERSs had to rely on 13th and 5th AF respectively, and then the Pacific Air Force (PACAF), to argue on their behalf and compete for scarce resources. So, their bosses were tactical air forces, which almost always place their highest resource priorities on fighter aircraft and munition, leaving rescue requirements at the bottom of the list.

     The numbered air forces overseas did get operational control over the ARS units deployed to their areas of responsibility, but when it came to fighting for resources, the two ERSs now had the ARS, a specialized SAR organization back home, to do their bidding.

Both the 2nd ERS and 3rd ERS were redesignated 2nd Air Recovery Squadron (ARS) and 3rd ARS respectively. Each of these soon upgraded to Air Recovery Groups, ARGs.

      The 2nd ARG moved to Hawaii from the Philippines in the early 1950s. This was done as part of the move of the Far East Air Forces (FEAF) from Japan to Hawaii.

     That effectively left the 3rd ARG in Japan as the major SAR organization for the Pacific Theater. It had five squadrons, four in Japan, one in Korea. With the outbreak of the Korean War, the 3rd ARG and its subordinate units found themselves no longer a “peacetime SAR” operation, but instead a combat SAR activity, known as CSAR. There is a massive difference between the two. Other peacetime SAR units from around the world were sent to Korea and subordinated to the 3rd.

The SA-16 Grumman “Albatross” fixed wing amphibian aircraft, lovingly nicknamed “Dumbo” by some, flew the long range rescue missions, landing behind enemy lines, or landing at sea to effect its rescues.

The Sikorsky H-19 flew the more tactical SAR missions. We'll underline yet again, however, that all these peacetime SAR outfits were not prepared to fight war in Korea. Of course, they did it nonetheless and did so with enormous valor.

In an essay published in the Fall 1990 Airpower Journal, Captain Edward B. Westermann, USAF, wrote this:

At the end of that war, the USAF returned to its peacetime mentality for SAR operations. Westermann wrote:

The strategic emphasis in the US remained on the threat of a massive nuclear exchange, and the major investments were made in the strategic forces, bombers, submarines and ICBMs. In 1955, the Soviets showed off their intercontinental bombers at an air show, and in 1957 launched their first successful ICBM test. Then, in 1957 the Soviets launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth, and followed that up by sending a dog into space, the first living creature to go there. In 1957, the National Security Council reported that the Soviet Union had achieved superiority in long-range ballistic missiles.

As we you review the HH-43 deployments, you will notice that each air base to which the "Huskies" were deployed had many different missions and many different aircraft assigned to them. Furthermore, aircraft different than those stationed at these bases came in and out, from all services, including Air America, for a wide variety of reasons. While we can only highlight a limited number of missions assigned to these bases, please keep in mind that no matter which base, the HH-43 crews had to be able to respond to the needs of each mission, each different kind of aircraft, from each service and Air America, and do long range or shorter range SAR missions to boot. That's a tall order for a limited number of HH-43 aircraft and crews. The crewmembers truly were walking aircraft data bases to be able to adjust their responses to each event that demanded their attention.

The USAF plan was to initially deploy the HH-43s to Danang AB, Republic of Vietnam (RVN), southeast of the border with North Vietnam, Bien Hoa AB on Saigon's northwest corner, and Soc Trang AB (not shown on map) to the south in the Mekong River delta region. The USAF SAR deployment began in June 1964. Air rescue forces were initially assigned duty in Vietnam and Thailand as temporary duty or TDY status.

In response to orders from the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the USAF instructed the 33rd ARS in May 1964 at Naha AB, Okinawa, Japan to send two HH-43Bs, their crews and mechanics to Bien Hoa AB and two HU-16 Albatrosses to Korat RTAFB, Thailand. “Yankee Team” reconnaissance operations which now were being escorted by USAF and Navy fighter aircraft over Laos were incurring increasing losses, so, at the 11th hour, the two HH-43Bs were diverted from Bien Hoa to Nakhon Phanom RTAFB, nicknamed NKP (sometimes called “Naked Fanny” by those stationed there). A short time later, a third HH-43 came to NKP. NKP was a better location, positioned on the northeast corner of Thailand, on the Mekong River, a stone's throw from Laos, and a short flight to respond to the “Yankee Team” area of operations.

The 33rd ARS helicopters were flown by C-97 transport into nearby Udorn RTAFB, just south of Vientiane, Laos, assembled, and then flown to NKP.

These were the first USAF helicopter aircraft and crews in the Vietnam War specifically tasked with the combat SAR mission.

The HH-43's arrived at Udorn in their silver “birthday” suits with bright orange painted on their nose and tails to reflect that they were rescue birds. Air America crews flying from Udorn suggested that a lower profile paint scheme might be more appropriate in a war. The rescue crews concurred and as a first step, painted over the high visibility orange. Later, the entire HH-43 was painted with a camouflage paint scheme.

Use of the nomenclature “provisional” was a holdover from the days of WWII when missions such as air-sea rescue were considered a minor part of the mission of any flying unit.

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This is a photo of the Provisional Det. 3, PARC sign in 1964 at NKP.
Photo provided by Steve Mock.

The mission of the deployed HH-43 crews was Local Base Rescue (LBR), firefighting, and Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR). This is what makes these Pedro outfits so special. They had to take care of all kinds of aircraft running into trouble on takeoff and those limping home and fighting to land in one piece; and also dart off on a more distant mission to save downed air crews or ground combat units trapped in tough fights.

A standard crew for the LBR-firefighting mission would consist of a pilot and co-pilot, flight engineer-crew chief, an aero-medical technician, and two airborne firefighters. Things got more complicated if they had to conduct a CSAR mission.

A standard mission crew for the LBR-firefighting mission would consist of a pilot and co-pilot, flight engineer-crew chief, an aero-medical technician, and two airborne firefighters. Things got more complicated if they had to conduct a CSAR mission.

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The above photo shows Airman First Class Paul J. Volges, 24, of New York City, riding the jungle penetrator hoist. Volges, an aeromedical technician with Detachment 11, 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron at Tuy Hoa air base, voluntarily risked his life on three occasions to search hostile territory for crash survivors. On two occasions he was ordered to leave the scene due to approaching enemy forces. During another mission he braved enemy ground fire to run 250 yards down a beach to recover the pilots body from crashed helicopter. Assisting Volges is Staff Sergeant William O. Johnson, 29, (center), of Mobile, Alabama, flight engineer on the HH-43B helicopter. Major John J. Elliff, 33, (right), of Banquete, Texas, is the pilot and commander of Detachment 11. Photo credit: USAF photo.

If they had formally trained pararescuemen, known in the USAF as “PJs,” the crew composition would be pilot and co-pilot, one PJ and the flight mechanic. The PJ would be the one to go down on the hoist, retrieve the downed crewmember, and get him back in the aircraft. But if the unit did not have a PJ, then they might leave a couple crew members from the LBR-firefighting configuration behind and let the remaining crew, whether firefighter, flight engineer, or medic, handle the PJ's tasks. PJs did not start arriving until August 1964, they were assigned on temporary duty from Eglin AFB, Florida, they were few in number, and they served all over Southeast Asia, but mostly at NKP and DaNang.

HH-43's were next deployed to DaNang AB, RVN. On August 7, 1964, Captain Gene Graham was the commander of Detachment 2 CARC, Minot AFB, North Dakota. He received an unexpected phone call notifying him that a contingency plan for deploying LBR detachments was to be “exercised.” Personnel were assembled, instructed that they were going on an extended temporary assignment to a classified destination, and were told what to bring. They were given no other mission-related information. In the mean time, they had to break down their HH-43s for shipment.

Two C-124 transport aircraft arrived at Minot, two HH-43s were uploaded, the crews boarded the aircraft, and then flew to Travis AFB, California. Following takeoff from Travis, Capt. Graham read the classified orders he had been given prior and read them to the crews: destination DaNang AB, RVN, with a stop on the way for rest and fuel at Wake Island.

When the crews arrived at DaNang, they learned that a few TDY Grumman SA-16 “Albatross” formed the core of the USAF SAR capability. The SA-16s were flying the deep penetration rescues and the HH-43s were supposed to be used for the "local work," which included rescue missions in whatever was defined as the "local area." Do not minimize the importance or hazards associated with flying "local rescue" missions outside DaNang AB. As one HH-43 crewman put it, the region outside DaNang was “Bad Indian Country.” The HH-43B had no armor and was unarmed. Some personnel at DaNang might have called them LBR, but in anyone else's book, they were CSAR missions. The HH-43's arrived towards the end of August and formed Provisional Det. 2, PARC. A third aircraft arrived sometime in October 1964.

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DaNang AB, October 1964. Photo courtesy of then Capt. John Christanson, pilot, the last person at right. Photo located from "Kaman HH-43 Huskie, A Service History" compiled by Johan D. Ragay, the Netherlands

As was the case at NKP, DaNang crews scrounged weapons to suppress ground fire, which was frequently heavy.

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This is a photo of a Det. 7, 38th ARRS flying out of Danang on a mission to recover a wounded Marine, west of Danang in 1967. The photo was taken by one of the crew of the second H43 on the mission. Photo courtesy of USAF Helicopter Pilot Association.

Provisional Det. 2 PARC did not stay at DaNang for very long. The managers of the air war decided that the two HH-43's at DaNang were needed more at NKP. So the outfit moved to NKP in November 1964. NKP now had six “Huskies.”

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NKP circa 10 November 1964, unloading one of the three HH-43B flown in from DaDang AB, RVN by a C-124C. Photo credit: John Christianson (one of the Huskie pilots),

HH-43 units were next activated at Korat and Takhli Royal Thailand Air Force Bases (RTAFB).

On August 6, 1964 Det 10, EARC Maxwell AFB, Alabama, were ordered to deploy to Korat. Captain Philip Prince, the detachment commander, worked his crew through the night to dismantle and load their two HH-43Bs on board two C-124 transports. By noon the next day, these guys were on their way to Thailand, arriving there on August 14. They were up and flying a few days later. Prince and his people must have done a fairly good job. He later commanded the Air Rescue & Recovery Service, served as the vice commander of the Military Airlift Command, and retired at the rank of brigadier general.

The situation at Korat was a bit different than at NKP. Unlike NKP, which was on Thailand's northeastern edge across the Mekong River from Laos, Korat was in the center of northern Thailand, quite a bit further from Laos. August 1964 was a big month for Korat. A tactical fighter operation started up mid-month, employing the Republic F-105 “Thunderchief,” known as the “Thud.”

The F-105s were originally sent to Korat to provide air cover to rescue missions in northern Laos, but that idea faded quickly and they were used to strike targets in support of CIA operations in Laos. The 36th subsequently moved to Takhli RTAFB, and the 35th TFS, then in Japan, came to Korat. In fairly short order, both bases hosted F-105 wings, the 6235th and the 6234th Tactical Fighter Wings (TFW) at Takhli and Korat respectively. To add to themes we have already established, the US did not acknowledge operating from Thailand until 1966.

In August 1964, two HH-43s were sent to Takhli RTAFB from Det 4, 36th ARS at Osan AB, Republic of Korea (ROK). Initially, the new rescue detachment was without facilities and operated from various “expeditionary locations” until they got a permanent location between the control tower and fire department in 1966.

The main role for the HH-43s stationed at Korat and Takhli was to provide LBR-firefighting support to the Thuds. They needed all the help they could get. They used every inch of runway to get aloft. They have been described by their pilots as "agile as a brick!" Their missions to northern Laos and North Vietnam were extraordinarily dangerous and they frequently hobbled home with heavy battle damage. So the HH-43s at both bases were busy, and sorely needed in the local base crash recovery and firefighting modes.

In September 1964, an HH-43 rescue detachment was activated at Bien Hoa AB, Vietnam. Two HH-43s from Det 1, CARC, Glasgow AFB, Montana arrived to form Provisional Det. 1 PARC.

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During a mortar attack on Bien Hoa AB on 1 November 1964 this HH-43B was damaged. Photo credit: Joseph T. Connell (HH-43 pilot at that time), photo received via Steve Mock, MSgt, USAF (Ret.)

Two more HH-43s arrived at Bien Hoa in September 1964 from Det 4 WARC, Paine AFB, Oregon. But, these two were reassigned to Takhli in November. An unkown number of HH-43's also arrived at Bien Hoa in September from Det 5 WARC, McChord AFB, Washington. But again, these helicopters were reassigned to Takhli. The reason for the mass relocation of the Bien Hoa HH-43's was the release from Kaman Helicopter Corporation of four HH-43F models. These improved "Huskies" were received at Bien Hoa in October 1964.

In April and May 1965, two more dets were set up at Ubon RTAFB and Udorn RTAFB, Thailand, Det Provisional 3 PARC and Det Provisional 5 PARC respectively.

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HH-43 on ramp at Ubon RTAFB, 1972. You see two crewmembers practicing handling a patient on a litter. The "clam shell" doors on the rear have been removed and replaced by webbing. Photo provided by John Holt, USAF (Ret) and presented by Vietnam Helicopter Pilot Association.

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Here you see a Pedro aloft and in position as an F-105 "Thud" does a belly landing at Udorn RTAFB in February 1968. The Pedro was alerted that the Thud had declared in in-flight emergency and was prepared to assure any fire would be handled immediately. Photo provided by Stephen P. Mock, MSgt, USAF (Ret.)

In July 1965, the USAF formed the 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron (ARS) at Tan Son Nhut, AB, RVN. All of the provisional detachments became part of the 38th ARS. The detachments of the 38 ARS were:

Det 1 was at NKP with three aircraft
Det 2 at Takhli with two aircraft
Det 3 at Ubon with three aircraft
Det 4 at Korat with two aircraft
Det 5 at Udorn with two aircraft
Det 6 at Bien Hoa with three aircraft
Det 7 at Danang with three aircraft

During October 1965, Det 9, 38th ARS formed at Pleiku AB, RVN with two aircraft delivered in November. Pleiku was located in South Vietnam's Central Highlands, south of a major army base at Kontum. If you were stationed at Pleiku, you likely saw just about every kind of aircraft on every kind of mission fly in and out. For the Huskies, that was a special challenge to be prepared for them all. In addition, there was a great deal of fighting around Pleiku.

Det 10 activated at Binh Thuy AB, RVN in October 1965, with one aircraft. Bin Thuy was located in the Mekong River Delta, an area in which there were many Army, Navy and Coast Guard River Patrol Boats (PBRs) being conducted. Det 10 got a great deal of experience fetching wounded "sailors", frequently picking them up from their patrol boats while they were on the move. This detachment would later boast that it was the busiest rescue outfit on all Southeast Asia.

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A Det 10 HH-43 was called to respond to a wounded sailor on this PBR. The Pedro approached the PBR from the rear and port side, then worked to match its speed with the PBR, and then lowered a stokes litter to the PBR for patient upload and hoist into the Pedro. Photo provided by Edward Cartwright and presented by pedroairrescuechopper.net.

Four air bases in South Vietnam were on the coastline of the the South China Sea, northeast of Saigon They were: Cam Ranh AB, Nha Trang AB, Phu Cat AB, and Tuy Hoa AB. As these bases were activated, HH-43 rescue detachments were activated to support them.

The "Pedro's" activated their unit at Cam Ranh Bay, RVN, in October 1965, a month before the F-4 "Phantom" fighter planes started arriving. Det 12 activated at nearby Nha Trang AB in April 1966. Both bases were close to major port facilities on the South China Sea, and both were major F-4 fighter bases.

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HH-43B's at Cam Ranh AB. Photo contributed by Kyron (KV) Hall and presented by USAF Helicopter Pilot Association.

Nha Trang AB also started to become a beehive for US activity in November 1965, with the arrival of the 5th Air Commando squadron (ACS) and its C-47 and U-10 aircraft set up to conduct psychological warfare missions by loudspeaker and dropping leaflets throughout South Vietnam. In its first year, the squadron flew more than 10,000 sorties, mostly low and at slow speed. EC-47 reconnaissance aircraft were also here, along with the AC-47 "Spooky" gunships. In 1969, the 17th Special Operations Squadron (SOS) arrived with the AC-119G gunship.

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HH-43F at Nha Trang AB, South Vietnam. The aircraft is hovering while the fire suppression kit (FSK) is attached. Photo by Ed Du Chene and presented by USAF Helicopter Pilot Association.

Det 12, 38th ARRS activated at Nha Trang in April 1966, and moved to Utapao RTAFB in February 1969. We should acquaint you with the "Positioner" shown on the above photo at Nha Trang. It's the yellow pole standing in front of the aircraft. This pole helped the pilot position his hovering aircraft so the crewman below could easily attach the FSK. If you look carefully, you can see that the top two feet of the positioner pole is not yellow, but rather black. The black section is rubber. The positioner would be placed on the ground so that it was touching the side of the FSK. The pilot would lift off away from the positioner, then "walk" up to it until the bubble of his cockpit touched the rubber portion of the pole at a certain position on the bubble. He would then know that he has centered his aircraft perfectly over the FSK, making the attachment process fast and easy.

Det 1, 38 ARRS was set up with two HH-43s at Phan Rang AB, RVN on January 15, 1966, when Det 1 at NKP RTAFB moved there as the Jolly Greens took over at NKP. The Phan Rang unit worked closely with sister units at Cam Ranh Bay and Bien Hoa. It covered an area with roughly a seventy mile radius from Phan Rang AB, north to Nha Trang, east almost to the Cambodian border, half way to Bien Hoa.

Det 1, like so many other Pedro outfits, had many missions: Local Base Rescue and Fire Suppression, Air Crew Recovery, Base Support, and Training. It served three F-100 Fighter Squadrons under the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, two squadrons of B-57 Tactical Bombers under the 8th Tactical Bombardment Wing, three squadrons of C-123 "Providers" under the 315th Special Operations Wing, the Canberra Bombers of Number Two Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force, the AC-119's (Shadow) of "B" Flight, 71st Special Operations Squadron, and Forward Air Controllers School.

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This is a Phan Rang HH-43 Pedro on alert. In the lower left corner, there is a warning sign, that says, "Entry Prohibited - Helicopter Cocked". That means the bird is on alert status, and many of the controls are pre-positioned for engine start. When the alarm rang, the nearby crew would race to their aircraft and routinely would get their Pedro airborne in less than 60 seconds. Photo from the collection of Jim Travis, Flight Mechanic, TSgt., USAF (Ret), and presented by pedroairrescuechopper.net

Det 13 set up shop at Phu Cat AB in April 1967. The 416th TFS came to Phu Cat in April 1967 as well, flying the F-100. A flight of 17th SOS AC-199 Gunships arrived in April 1970.

The final HH-43 deployment to be discussed in this report is the one to Tuy Hoa AB in January 1966. Tuy Hoa was an F-100 base on the South China Sea, home of the 31st TFW. The F-100 was known as "The Hun" and the "Lead Sled."

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Capt. Leo F. Dusard III (center), telling men from the 31st TFW, about how quickly he was picked up by a Pedro after bailout from his F-100 after experiencing engine failure. The Pedro rescue crew was on its way to Dusard two minutes after notification.

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58ARS Wheelus AB, Libya "Pick up in the Mediterranean" in April 1965, photo from (PJ) Aaron Farrior, CMSgt., USAF (Ret.)

By the time the war ended in January 1973, the Det 7, 38th ARRS at Danang had changed to become Det 7, 40th ARRS. That unit was the last USAF rescue helicopter outfit to leave Vietnam, departing .

The last USAF HH-43 rescue helicopter unit to leave the Vietnam War theater of operations was Det 12, 40th ARRS, 41st ARRW, which deactivated at Utapao RTAFB in August 1975.