Page 9 - DFCS News Magazine Winter 2015

It was a hot humid evening on October 10, 1968, when a group of Navy SEALs walked into our opera ons hooch with a mission. We were part of a Navy Seawolf unit deployed as a two-plane detachment on a small base along the main shipping channel in the Mekong River Del- ta. We were part of a quick reac on force in support of the units opera ng in the Rung Sat and T-10 areas. Rung Sat means "Forest of As- sassins". The legendary Rung Sat Special Zone was approximately four hundred square miles of dense salt water dal swamp covered in Man- grove, Nipa palm and triple canopy jungle. It was some of the worst terrain in Vietnam. We were to y a beat-up single engine helicopter given to us by the Army over the area everyday for a year. Most of the helicopters had in excess of 6000 hours on the airframe. I had already had three engine failures in my short ying career. I would have a total of 9 engine failures during my 22-year career.
During the monsoon season, May to October, eighty- ve percent of the Rung Sat was under water making Viet Cong movement by foot slow. The major mode of transporta on was done by motorized sampans. Over the years the Rung Sat had provided refuge for pirates, the Viet Minh, and by 1968 there were seven Communist infan- try companies that had been assigned areas of responsibility in the region which they consid- ered a safe haven.
Army intelligence reported that the T-10 area maintained a regimental Main Force Viet Cong command divided into two military regions with one area located east of the Long Tau River and the other west. Both areas had Viet Cong, ba alion-size command groups (300-1300 sol- diers) with at least three main force sapper- trained infantry companies each that were pri- marily comprised of North Vietnamese soldiers sent south a er enlis ng to ght. The Rung Sat based Communists were well equipped with re- coilless ri es, rockets, mortars, .50 and .30 cali- ber machine guns along with water mines. Their mission was to interdict shipping, maintain two
Communist ba alions in the Rung Sat at all mes, and provide safe areas for all Viet Cong ghters. There were at least seven well-hidden communist bases within the Rung Sat providing safe areas with one suppor ng a eld hospital. The swamp like environ- ment along with the heavy jungle growth made it al- most impossible to sweep the area with a combined main force.
The SEALs sat down, and we went over their opera- onal plan for the night. During the brie ng I ex- plained to them that we had one bird down, and it was against squadron policy to operate single ship, especially at night. They told me they had no choice, the moon and the des were right for the opera on and, they were going with or without our support. I told them I would be there, if they needed me. I could be overhead in about ten minutes from the call. I didn't tell them I needed to clear it with the O cer in Charge (OINC) rst. When I called the OINC to brief him
on what
was going
down he
told me it
was against
squadron
policy and
said there
would be
no excep-
ons. I
was young, headstrong on my second tour in support of the Vietnam War. When I hung up the phone I think we both knew I would be going, if they needed me. The OINC was covered if anything went wrong. I turned to the crew and explained the situa on and that I needed three volunteers. All seven crew mem- bers volunteered to go.
At 0230 we got the call. Gun re punctuated the call for help. The SEALs were pinned down with three se- verely wounded. They were cut o from their inser- on boat and needed an extrac on. The detachment duty crew slept in their ight suits and boots and within seconds we had the blades turning. Everything was mul plied tenfold. Your hearing, your sense of
Page 9
Volume 15, Issue 3 - Winter
A. J. Billings, A Navy Maverick With True Grit!
Last flight in Vietnam