page_title: Direct Air Support Center
section_title: Vietnam
hierarchical_section_title: Direct Air Support Center / History / Vietnam
caption_attribution_description: English: Phot taken in November 2005 of the AN/TPQ-10 Radar that site in front of the MASS-3 headquarters building on Camp Pendleton, CA
context_page_description: The Direct Air Support Center is the principal United States Marine Corps aviation command and control system and the air control agency responsible for the direction of air operations directly supporting ground forces. It functions in a decentralized mode of operation, but is directly supervised by the Marine Tactical Air Command Center or the Navy Tactical Air Control Center. During amphibious or expeditionary operations, the DASC is normally the first Marine Air Command and Control System agency ashore and is usually categorized as the Ground Combat Element's senior Fire Support Coordination Center. The DASC's parent unit is the Marine Air Support Squadron of the Marine Air Control Group.
context_section_description: In April 1965, MASS-2 deployed to South Vietnam as part of the III Marine Amphibious Force and provided both Direct Air Support Centers and Air Support Radar Teams (ASRTs) in support of ground combat units. MASS-3 entered Vietnam on 10 November 1966 when they disembarked from the USS Jennings County at Chu Lai. MASS-2 supported the 3rd Marine Division in the northern two provinces of I Corps while MASS-3 worked in support of the 1st Marine Division in the southern three provinces of I Corps.  From 1966-1971, MASS-3 ASRTs controlled more than 38,010 AN/TPQ-10 missions, directing more than 121,000 tons of ordnance on 56,753 targets. (a 10:1 ratio) The ASRTs utilized the AN/TPQ-10 with great success, especially during the Battle of Khe Sanh, where poor weather made conventional close air support methods unreliable. The AN/TPQ-10 had a 50-yard (46 m) Circular error probable and could handle up to 105 missions a day. The commander of the Khe Sanh defense, Col. David E. Lownds, said "Anything but the highest praise would not have been enough."  By the end of the war, the DASCs and ASRTs participated in virtually every major Marine combat operation.
caption: Photo of the AN/TPQ-10 Radar outside of the MASS-3 Headquarters building on Camp Pendleton, CA. This is one of the radars employed by the ASRTs during the Vietnam War.
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