1 - The Black Vault

PRAETORIAN STARSHIP
Several days after the mission, the crew received
a personal letter of congratulations from
Gen William Westmoreland, COMUSMACV, commending
them for their outstanding accomplishment.
For the mission, the entire crew (six officers
and five enlisted) of Stray Goose-5 was awarded
the Distinguished Flying Cross by Special Order
G-1467, dated 21 September 1967. The crew that
flew the first Combat Talon resupply drop into
North Vietnam on 17 January 1967 included Maj
Howard Reeve, Capt Marion O. Becnel, Capt
Dean A. Leverenz, Capt Paul Lukavic, Capt Richard
H. Sell, Capt James L. C. Smith, SSgt Weldon
G. Cameron, SSgt Harold W. Ferguson, SSgt
Glenn L. Patton, SSgt Gerald R. Paulsen, and
A1C Melvin B. D. Gibson.
Into the Tiger’s Mouth
Photo courtesy of Richard H. Sell
Crew SG-5 that flew the 16 January 1967 resupply mission
into North Vietnam. Back row, left to right: Capt
Richard H. Sell, Capt M. O. Becnel, Capt Paul Lukavic,
Maj Howard Reeve, SSgt Weldon Cameron, and SSgt
Glenn Patton. First row, left to right: A1C Melvin Gibson,
SSgt Harold Ferguson, Capt Dean Leverenz, and
SSgt Gerald Paulsen. Not pictured is Capt James L. C.
Smith.
As new crews came into the unit in 1967, an
organized checkout program was established to
ensure thorough theater orientation. In-country
checkout included an actual combat mission
over North Vietnam. The pilot and navigator of
a new crew would fly as auxiliary crew members
on a combat mission. Their job was to look, lis -
ten, and ask questions during the post-mission
briefing. The new crew flew as a hard crew,
with substitutions made only for duty not in -
cluding flying (DNIF) or when a crew member
was unavailable due to rest and relaxation or
previous commitments (aircraft delivery for in -
spect and repair as necessary [IRAN] in Taiwan,
for example). It was essential to fly as a hard crew
in combat because the large Talon crew of 11 required
their continual working together to reach
its maximum capability. 21
In the early months after deployment to Nha
Trang AB, tasking flowed directly to Detachment
1 from SOG. Later organizational changes created
the deputy commander for special operations
within the 14th SOW, and this position served as
the intermediate staff agent between SOG and
the operational unit. Once a mission tasking
(known as a fragmentary, or frag, order) was received
at Nha Trang AB, the unit commander and
his staff would break out the frag and assign a
mission number and crew. Throughout 1967 and
1968, Talon crews would average one combat mission
every five to seven days. Aircrews would be
assigned against the mission on a rotational basis.
When tasking for a new mission arrived, the next
crew in line would be alerted, and the planning
process would begin. An entire 11-man crew would
fly the mission, unless someone was DNIF or other -
wise not available. A minimum of 24 hours was
required to plan a combat mission. If all vital information
was not available at the beginning of
the process, SOG would forward what was initially
available and would then send additional data
when received. The final flight plan was sent to
SOG for approval once all planning was complete.
All missions were approved by SOG and PACOM
and by the National Command Authority by exception
(dependent upon type of mission). 22
In addition to logistics missions within South
Vietnam, Combat Talon flew in support of Army
Special Forces teams scheduled for insertion
into Laos. On these missions, the aircraft would
pick up a team at Da Nang AB or Long Bien,
then transport the team to Nakhon Phanom (NKP)
RTAFB, Thailand. Once at NKP, the team would be
covertly off-loaded into covered vehicles and taken
to the Special Forces’ compound nearby. The
compound was run by Special Forces personnel—
two officers and 13 enlisted personnel—on a permanently
assigned basis. The teams were known
as road watch teams and consisted of two Americans
and from six to 10 indigenous personnel. 23
The special isolation facility provided the teams
with support requirements until inserted by way
of rotary-wing aircraft into Laos. On many occa -
sions, Combat Talon would pick up a team that
had been exfiltrated and was being moved back
to South Vietnam. On these occasions, the aircrew
was provided a rest area in the compound so that
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