Page 15 - DFCS News Magazine Winter 2015

Spectre AC-130 Gunship by Captain Sostenes F. Suazo
Volume 15, Issue 3 - Winter
In late 1969 I was assigned to Ubon, Thailand as a navigator in the Spectre AC-130 Gunship aircra . I was also checked out as a Night Obser- va on Device (NOD) sensor operator. This was a large night scope mounted on a pedestal at the AC-130 crew entry door. The scope’s lens extend- ed beyond the fuselage and had a re cule in the center, which had to be maintained on the tar- get.
The Gunship’s primary mission in Vietnam, was interdic on and destruc on of Viet Cong sup- plies owing south. Supply
trucks were primary targets with Mekong River tra c and supply storage areas as secondary tar- gets. The thirteen-man crew members were com- posed of six o cers and seven enlisted. The o cer posi ons were Aircra Commander, Pilot, Navigator and three Sensor Operators. An addi- onal o cer was added as Fire Control O cer (FCO) in the upgraded aircra . The enlisted were the Flight Engineer, Loadmaster, two 20mm gun- ners, two 40 mm gunners, and the Illuminator Operator (IO). All missions were own at night in the cover of darkness. During every mission we were threatened by 35 and 57 mm an -aircra ar llery (AAA) and from Russian manufactured surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).
The gunship red its weapons while ying a 360- degree turn while, holding a 30-degree bank. The pylon turn concept was tested on other aircra such as the C-47 and C-119 before the C-130. The proto-type I started ying in had three sets of weapons/guns: two 7.62 mm miniguns, two 20mm cannons, which red 2,500 rounds per mi- nute and two 40 mm cannons, which red 100 rounds per minute. Only one set was red at a me. All weapons were a ached to their individ- ual xed ring pla orms with their barrels s ck- ing out through their individual opening on the Pilot side of the aircra fuselage.
There were three sensors and a re control computer that integrated the selected sensor input signals into the aircra ight instrument system and generated the xed and moving re cules for the Pilot’s ring control system. The Pilot red the selected cannon pair using a push bu on on his wheel. The three sen- sors consisted of the Night Observa on Device (NOD), the Infrared Detector (IR), and the Black Crow. The Black Crow’s o cial name was Magne c Anomaly De- tector (MAD). This sensor detected the electric eld generated by the truck’s electrical coil and had the longest range of all sensors.
While opera ng the NOD, I sat on a 12X18 inch metal seat, which also served as a step for entering or ex- i ng the crew compartment. The IO's primary job was to call out the AAA that appeared to have an impact trajectory and then advise the Pilot on which direc on to break. During our mission's ac ve phase, the Sen- sor Operator's job was maintaining his senor cross hairs on the target, while zigzagging, avoiding triple AAA. The only way I could do this was by doing many deep knee bends.
My very rst combat mission was my “dollar ride.” I didn’t have any mission responsibili es except ge ng acclimated to mission tempo and environment. The mission—as were all our missions— own at night. The gunners held a small ash light in their mouth so they could get their job done. The one thing I remem- ber from that ride was the “beauty” of the AAA being red at us since every third shell was a tracer. It was almost like the 4th of July. It didn’t take me long to realize those bastards down there were trying to shoot us out of the air! The beauty of it disappeared quickly. For the rst month or so I ew as Navigator and then I was moved to the NOD posi on. Later, the NOD was replaced with a dual lens low light TV, which included a laser target designator (LLTV). I was one of the rst to be checked out as an LLTV operator.
In order to interdict the supply trucks we had to rst locate them. We did this by ying slightly o set to the right or zigzagged up and down the Ho Chi Minh roads or trails depending on the tree foliage cover. All this me the sensor operators were scanning the area for targets. The Black Crow was usually the rst one to
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