page_title: Forward air control during the Vietnam War
section_title: Propeller-driven
hierarchical_section_title: Forward air control during the Vietnam War / Operating environment / FAC aircraft / Propeller-driven
caption_attribution_description: A U.S. Air Force Cessna O-2A-CE Super Skymaster (s/n 67-21304) fires a smoke rocket to mark an enemy stronghold for strike aircraft in Vietnam. The rocket is visible in the lower left center of the photo.
context_page_description: The forward air controller played a significant part in the Vietnam War from the very start. Largely relegated to airborne duty by the constraints of jungled terrain, FACs began operations as early as 1962. Using makeshift propeller-driven aircraft and inadequate radio nets, they became so essential to air operations that the overall need for FACs would not be completely satisfied until 1969. The FAC's expertise as an air strike controller also made him an intelligence source, munitions expert, communication specialist, and above all, the on-scene commander of the strike forces and the start of any subsequent combat search and rescue if necessary.
  Present as advisors under Farm Gate, FACs grew even more important as American troops poured into Vietnam after the Tonkin Gulf Incident. The U.S. Air Force would swell its FAC complement to as many as 668 FACs in Vietnam by 1968; there were also FACs from the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and allied nations. For the early years of the war USAF manning levels were at about 70% of need; they finally reached 100% in December 1969.
context_section_description: Common propeller-driven FAC aircraft were:
  Cessna O-1 Bird Dog: This two-seater served as the original FAC aircraft. Slow, unarmed and unarmored, its small size limited its payload and it did not have instrumentation for night operations. Although it carried three radios for air strike coordination—Frequency Modulation, High Frequency, and Very High Frequency—only one radio channel was available at a time.
  Cessna O-2 Skymaster: 510 were modified for military service. A businessman's aircraft, it was adapted for interim use by FACs, to replace the O-1. It was a faster airplane, with two engines in a tractor/pusher arrangement, four hard points for ordnance, and a seven-hour linger time. Its side by side seating limited the pilot's line of vision to the right and to the rear.
  OV-10 Bronco: The first American airplane designed for FAC work; entered combat service on 6 July 1968. With double an O-1's speed, excellent all-around sight lines for observation, an armored cockpit, and an avionics suite that included eight secure radios along with the flight instruments, the OV-10's five ordnance hard points made it a potent combination of FAC and light strike aircraft. By 1972, the Bronco was responsible for laser illuminating targets for about 60% of the "smart bombs" dropped in Vietnam.
  Other propeller-driven aircraft were also used as FAC aircraft, usually in an interim, ad hoc, or specialized role:
  Cessna U-17 Skywagon
  North American T-28 Trojan
  A-26 Invader
  A-1 Skyraider
  OV-1 Mohawk
  Fairchild AC-119
  C-123 Provider: Call sign "Candlestick"
  C-130 Hercules: Call sign "Blindbat"
  Douglas RC-47P
  C-7 Caribou
caption: An O-2A fires smoke markers at a target.
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