page_title: Air Education and Training Command Studies and Analysis Squadron
section_title: Vietnam War
hierarchical_section_title: Air Education and Training Command Studies and Analysis Squadron / History / Vietnam War
caption_attribution_description: English: Cessna 02-A Bird Dog of the 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron - Pleiku Air Base, South Vietnam 1968/69 Source: United States Air Force Historical Research Agency - Maxwell AFB, Alabama
context_page_description: The Air Education and Training Command Studies and Analysis Squadron is a unit of the United States Air Force stationed at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, where it reports directly to the headquarters of Air Education and Training Command, evaluating training programs and systems.
  The squadron's first two predecessor units served in combat during World War II. The 21st Bombardment Squadron flew Consolidated B-24 Liberators in the Aleutian Campaign, where it participated in one of the earliest direct attacks against Japan. The 21st Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy flew Boeing B-29 Superfortresses in the strategic bombing campaign against Japan, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation for attacks on the Japanese petroleum industry.
  The squadron's other predecessor, the 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron served in combat in the Vietnam War from spring 1965 until the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 1973, earning several combat decorations. One squadron member, Captain Hilliard A. Wilbanks, was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions that helped rescue Vietnamese Rangers that had been ambushed by Viet Cong forces.
context_section_description: The 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron was organized at Pleiku Air Base, South Vietnam on 8 May 1965, as one of three squadrons activated to augment the 19th Tactical Air Support Squadron, which had been operating in the forward air control mission in South Vietnam since 1963.  It initially flew Cessna O-1 Bird Dog aircraft in the forward air control mission.  However, it was not until August that the squadron became operational.  The 21st operated primarily in the II Corps Area, with its aircraft dispersed to support United States Army, ARVN and Korean units.  While initially organizing, it directed air strikes during the Battle of Duc Co
  The squadron performed visual reconnaissance with light aircraft, flying slowly at low altitude. By patrolling the same area regularly, squadron forward air controllers grew familiar with the terrain and learned to detect changes that could indicate enemy forces hiding below. The controller called in fighter-bombers and marked targets with smoke grenades or white phosphorus rockets. After the attacks, controllers flew low over the target to assess the damage.  In September 1966, the 21st moved from the highlands of Pleiku to the coastal base of Nha Trang Air Base.
  On 27 February 1967, Captain Hilliard A. Wilbanks, one of the squadron's forward air controllers, was flying visual reconnaissance in his Cessna O-1 ahead of a South Vietnamese ranger battalion. He located a well-concealed numerically superior Viet Cong (VC) force poised to ambush the rangers. The enemy immediately fired on his plane and advanced on the ranger force, which was pinned down by devastating fire. Capt. Wilbanks recognized that close air support would not be able to arrive soon enough to help the rangers to withstand the advancing enemy. Flying through withering fire at treetop level, he flew over the VC and inflicted many casualties by firing his rifle out the side window of his Bird Dog. Despite increasingly intense antiaircraft fire, he made repeated low passes over the VC. His tactics interrupted the VC's advance and allowed the rangers to withdraw to safety. During his final attack, Capt. Wilbanks was mortally wounded and his aircraft crashed between the opposing forces. He saved numerous friendly personnel from certain injury or death.  For his action that day, he was awarded the Medal of Honor.
  The single engine of the O-1 Bird Dog made it particularly vulnerable to ground fire and it lacked radio equipment that would permit it to communicate with ground troops and attacking aircraft at the same time.  Its low speed and endurance, in addition to making it more vulnerable, sometimes delayed its arrival in areas of operation and the time it could operate.  In 1968, the squadron began equipping with twin engined, faster Cessna O-2 Skymasters that had higher speed, greater endurance and better communications equipment, although the O-1 would not be completely phased out of squadron operations until 1971.  The 21st moved to Cam Ranh Bay Air Base, South Vietnam in September 1969, and to Phan Rang Air Base two years later.  As the United States withdrew forces from Vietnam, the squadron moved to Tan Son Nhut Air Base in January 1972 and was inactivated there on 21 February 1973.   Aircraft losses during the war included 41 O-1s, 16 O-2s and an OV-10, while 29 crewmembers lost their lives in combat.
caption: 21st Squadron Cessna O-2A
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