The Ravens: The True Story of a Secret War (70 page)

Air
Air power - usually used in the context of fighter-bombers.

AERA
Air attaché’s office, Vientiane.

Air America
The name of the CIA’s proprietary airline operating throughout Indochina, particularly in Laos.

Air Force Cross
America’s second-highest medal for bravery, awarded in the name of the president for extraordinary heroism while engaged in an action against the enemy.

Air Medal
Awarded in the name of the United States of America to recognize single acts of merit or heroism, or for meritorious service while participating in aerial flight.

AK-47
The Soviet Avtomat Kalashnikova 1947 automatic assault rifle used by the North Vietnamese. It fired a 7.62mm bullet, was easy to maintain and use, and was a very effective weapon. Hmong forces used a number of captured AK-47s.

Alley Cat
The orbiting command center that took over from Cricket at night.

AOC
Air operations center, usually made up of a commander, maintenance man, radio operator, and medic, which worked with the native fighter squadrons in Laos.

Arclight
Code name of B-52 bombing missions.

Article 15
A formal reprimand, well below a court-martial but serious enough to hinder an officer’s career.

auger in
Crash; a term used among military pilots.

AWOL
Absent without leave.

AWOL bag
Slang expression for an overnight bag.

B-52
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress came under the Strategic Air Command. First flown in 1952, it was designed to deliver nuclear bombs. The aircraft had a range of 7,500 miles unrefueled. After the Big Belly modification its bomb load was approximately 60,000 pounds. It is one of the supreme ironies of the war that this strategic bomber should have been used so widely in tactical air operations.

baci
Traditional Laotian party given to welcome or bid farewell to honored guests.

Backseater
The Meo officer - also known as a Robin - who sat in the backseat of the O-1 and, as a Lao national, was able to validate targets for a Raven and authorize strikes. They constituted a small, trained corps in Gen. Vang Pao’s forces.

Barrel Roll
The code name for the operations and area in which USAF planes bombed in Northern Laos.

BDA
Bomb damage assessment, made by the FAC after a strike, measured in terms of troops killed, buildings or trucks destroyed, secondary explosions, etc.

Bingo
Radio shorthand for ‘out of gas.’

bird dog
O-1 reconnaissance plane.

black
Clandestine, in the sense of ‘black money,’ ‘in the black,’ etc.

blood chit
A 10-inch-wide, 19
1/2
-inch-long piece of white nylon with an American flag covering the top quarter and the words written underneath in English: ‘I am a citizen of the United States of America. I do not speak your language. Misfortune forces me to seek your assistance in obtaining food, shelter, and protection. Please take me to someone who will provide for my safety and see that I am returned to my people. My government will reward you.’ Beneath the English were translations in Burmese, Thai, Laotian, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Malayan, Indonesian, Chinese, Modern Chinese, Tagalog, Visawan, French, and Dutch. A controlled serial number was printed on the bottom so the carrier could be identified.

Bullpup
Early type of guided bomb steered via radio control by the pilot, who visually tracked it onto its target. Used in Laos against caves (see Walleye).

buy the farm
A favorite euphemism for death.

CAR-15
Short version of the M-16, much used by FACs who could not use the larger weapon from inside an airplane.

Caribou C-7
was a twin-propeller-driven 32-passenger STOL aircraft used by Air America in Laos.

CAS
Controlled American Source, the term used for the CIA in Laos. (Also refers to the covert action branch of the Saigon office of the CIA.)

CBU
Cluster bomb unit. These deadly antipersonnel bomblets came in a variety of forms. In the Laotian language they were called bombi.

Chapakao
Call sign used by the Hmong T-28 fighter pilots.

CHECO
Contemporary Historical Evaluation of Combat Operations. In 1962 the Air Force, using rated officers with research skills, launched an extensive effort to collect documents and write accounts of its role in the conflict in Indochina.

Chinook
CH-47 twin-engined, transport helicopter with rotor blades fore and aft.

CIA
Central Intelligence Agency.

CINCPAC
Commander in Chief Pacific Command, based in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Commando Hunt
The term used after 1968 to describe operations aimed at interdicting the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Company
‘The Company’ was an insider’s term for the CIA.

Continental Air Services
A privately owned airline operating alongside Air America - although not a wholly owned CIA proprietary - created to serve the needs of the Agency.

Country Team
Council of senior U.S. officials in the embassy, which in Laos included the ambassador, air attaché, military attaché, CIA station chief, U.S. AID chief, etc.

Cricket
The radio call sign for the orbiting command center that controlled U.S. air in northern Laos during the day (redesignated as Alley Cat at night).

Customer
Air America always referred to the CIA as the Customer.

DASC
Direct air support center in Vietnam, the ground-based control center that was responsible for sending fighters to FACs.

DEROS
Date of eligible return from overseas.

DFC
Distinguished Flying Cross, first authorized in 1926, is awarded in the name of the president of the United States for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight. The performance of the act of heroism has to be voluntary, above and beyond the call of duty.

Divetoss
Computerized bomb aiming device sometimes used in Laos in the F-4.

Downtowner
A term of contempt used by combat people to describe embassy personnel based in ‘downtown’ Vientiane who were remote from the war.

ER
Effectiveness Report. Written at the end of each man’s tour.

Erawan
The three-headed white elephant that is the symbol of Laos.

F-4
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. Two-seat all-weather long-range attack jet fighter. Although designed as an air-to-air combat fighter, it became one of the principal bombers of the war, even though it was not equipped for accurate level bomb delivery from medium altitudes.

F-105
Republic F-105 Thunderchief. Single-seat jet fighter-bomber armed with 20mm Gatling gun and 6,000 pounds of bombs. Suffered the most losses of the war. Known as the Thud.

FAC
Forward air controller.

FAC-U
The so-called forward air controllers’ ‘university’ at Phan Rhang.

FAG
Forward air guide, either American or native, who help direct fighters onto targets from the ground.

FNG
Fucking new guy.

Frag
In the Air Force the Frag was the daily plan for the number of fighter-bombers and the type of ordnance they would carry. (On the ground officers who were ‘fragged’ by their own men were murdered with a fragmentation grenade.)

GCA
Ground-controlled approach, in which a ground controller using a radar landing system operated from the ground, talks the pilot to a landing; the pilot flies on instruments and follows the instructions.

glory hole
A break in an overcast sky which the FACs could use to bring fighters through and onto a target.

Golden BB
The single bullet with the pilot’s name on it, destined to kill him.

Guard
Special radio frequency pilots use in emergency conditions.

gunships
A tactical innovation of the Vietnam War, the first gunship was a modified World War II G-47 Gooney Bird cargo plane, redesignated as AC-47 and known as Dragon-ship, Puff, or Spooky. Used to support Gen. Vang Pao’s troop in Laos, under the auspices of the Lao Air Force, and the 14th Special Operations Wing of the Air Commandos. AC-119 Flying Boxcars were also modified, using aerial parachute flares to operate at night. C-130 cargo planes were later converted to AC-130 gunships and were used extensively over the Ho Chi Minh Trail and became the best truck-killer of the war.

H-34
Sikorsky H-34 Choctaw was the dated (deliveries to the U.S. Army began in early 1955) work horse of Air America used all over Laos.

HE
High explosive, as in HE rocket.

Helio-courier
The first of the Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) aircraft used by the CIA in Laos, mostly superceded by the Pilatus Porter.

Hillsboro
Code name for the orbiting airborne command and control center which operated in the Laotian panhandle in the day (designated Moonbeam at night).

Ho Chi Minh Trail
The trail used by the North Vietnamese to move men and supplies down through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam.

Huey
Most widely used helicopter of the Vietnam War, the small UH1 was employed in Laos by Air America.

in-country
Vietnam - used in the sense of the in-country war (the out-country war was in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand).

intervalometer
Equipment in the cockpit of a fighter for selecting ordnance and rate of fire or bomb dropping.

JCA
Joint chiefs of staff.

jink
Maneuver the aircraft sharply and continuously to avoid ground fire.

Jolly Green Giant
The nickname for the armored Sikorsky HH-3E helicopter, specially modified for the rescue operations and flown by the Air Rescue Service of the USAF.

Karst
The ragged limestone mountain ridges of Laos.

Khene
Laotian stone-age gourd wind instrument used in much of the country’s music.

KIA
Killed in action.

King
Airborne rescue center, operating out of a C-130 and controlling the majority of SARs over Laos.

Kip
Laotian currency, of which both sides in the war printed their own. The CIA forged Pathet Lao
kip
and dropped notes by the million over enemy lines.

L-19
The Army designation for the O-1.

laser-guided bomb
The most sophisticated of the ‘smart’ bombs. A laser beam designates the target; the bomb detects the reflected light and follows it to the target. Mostly used in Laos to guide a bomb into the mouth of a cave suspected to house supplies or enemy troops.

Lima Site
Landing site, usually a small, unimproved dirt strip.

M-79
grenade launcher. A break-open shotgun-style weapon that fired a 40mm grenade cartridge to an effective range of 375 yards. The grenade exploded on impact and had a casualty radius of five yards. Also fired a buckshot projectile that could be used at short range.

medevac
Medical evacuation, usually undertaken by a helicopter.

MIA
Missing in action.

MiG
Russian jet fighter flown by the North Vietnamese.

mixture
The fuel-and-air combination that enters the cylinders of a reciprocating engine for combustion. A ‘rich’ mixture has more fuel in the combination, a ‘lean’ mixture has less. The richness can be adjusted, to a large extent, in the cockpit.

MSQ
Radar.