1 - The Black Vault

PRAETORIAN STARSHIP
about a mile from where 64-0563 was parked, he
heard an explosion and turned to see the glow of
fire on the flight line from where he had just
come. He hastily made his way back to discover
that 64-0563 had taken a direct hit from an enem y
mortar shell and was totally engulfed in flames.
Had the mission gone as planned, the entire crew
would have been in their seats with engines running.
In addition, maintenance and launch personnel
would have been around the aircraft in
preparation for taxi. There was no doubt in Hine’s
mind that many lives would have been lost had
the mission not been canceled. 40
Fire trucks had responded and were pouring
foam on to the burning remains of the aircraft.
There were three Talons parked nearby and all
sustained damage, one seriously, from the exploding
mortar shell. The most seriously damaged
aircraft required a month to complete temporary
repairs before being flown back to the
United States for further work. In the haste to
move another Talon parked beside 64-0563, personnel
entered the aircraft and started all four
engines without resetting the engine oil circuit
breakers. The procedure for maintenance at the
time was to pull the engine oil circuit breakers
after post-flight inspections were complete. The
circuit breakers were not reset before engine
start, resulting in all four engines being destroyed
by lack of oil during taxi. 41 The heroic
effort to move the aircraft, however, undoubtedly
saved them from destruction.*
The potential loss of all four Combat Talons
stationed at Nha Trang AB was a soberin g thought.
Future ramp improvements included revetments
for the aircraft, but little could be done to guard
against a direct hit. When the Tet offensive
kicked off the following January, Combat Talon
operations were temporarily moved to Taiwan,
thus taking the aircraft out of harm’s way. The
loss of aircraft 64-0563 would prove to be the only
combat loss due to ground fire in the history of
the program.
29 December 1967—Loss of
Aircraft 64-0547 and Crew S-01
Maj John Gargus was a navigator planner in
Detachment 1 during the fall of 1967. In this ca -
pacity he was responsible for briefing aircrews
and providing assistance to them during the mission
planning process. On 25 December he was
notified that a combination PSYOPS/resupply
combat mission had been tasked by SOG for
launch on 28 December and was returning to Nha
Trang AB early on the 29th. The mission was
planned and launched without incident, and the
first portion was flown as planned. After an operations
normal HF-radio call at 0430L on 29 December
1967, not a trace was seen or heard of the
aircraft or aircrew. The aircraft did not return to
Nha Trang AB as scheduled. The loss of the aircraft
would remain a mystery for the next 25
years. The following account of the alert, planning,
and execution of the mission by Combat
Talon Crew S-01, flying aircraft 64-0547, was provided
by Col John Gargus, retired, USAF.
* * * * * *
This is the story of Combat Talon C-130E(I), tail
number 64-0547, which was lost with its 11 crew
members on December 29, 1967, while conducting
a SOG mission over North Vietnam. After many
years of silence, Maj John Plaster authored a book,
SOG—The Secret Wars of America’s Commandos
in Vietnam, in which he described exploits of com -
mandos who lost their lives on missions that had
not been brought to public attention for numerous
security reasons. The loss of this aircraft fits into
that mold. It was, according to Major Plaster, our
largest single aircraft loss over North Vietnam. I
hope that this story will honor the eleven lost crew
members and acknowledge the role of all men who
served in the Combat Talon unit, which was first
named as Detachment 1 of the 314th Tactical Airlift
Wing, then the 15th Air Commando Squadron/Special
Operations Squadron and finally the
90th Special Operations Squadron.
At the time of this incident, Detachment 1, 314th
TAW was based at Nha Trang Air Base, Republic
of Vietnam, with six–eleven member crews and
four MC-130E Combat Talon I aircraft. These aircraft
were equipped with terrain-following radar,
the Fulton Recovery System, and an array of passive
electronic countermeasures. They were painted
with special dark green paint, which significantly
reduced their reflected radar energy, and because
of their overall appearance, they were affectionately
called the “Blackbirds.” They provided Military
Advisory Command Vietnam-Studies and
Observations Group (MACVSOG, or more com -
monly abbreviated to SOG) with dedicated airlift
during daytime and conducted highly classified,
clandestine missions at night. These night missions
were called “combat missions” even though
__________
*A later modification prevented engine start if the engine’s oil circuit breakers were out.
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