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OPERATION TAILWIND Whoa, thought it was a nightmare,...Lo, it's all so true, Better run through the jungle, Thought I heard a rumblin'... Callin' to my name, Over on the mountain...Thunder magic spoke, (J.C. Fogerty)
On 11 September 1970, Marine CH-53 helicopters and AH-1G Cobra gunships carried into Laos, near Chavane, a team of 16 Americans and a Special Commando Unit (SCU), consisting of Montagnard troops. The Americans were in Company B, Command and Control Central, Military Advisory Command Studies and Observation Group (MACSOG). Their mission, Operation TAILWIND, would last until 14 September 1970, and their objectives were reconnaissance, intelligence collection, and a diversion for a larger operation to the north. The stated objective of Operation Tailwind, in Plaster's account (SOG, The Secret Wars of America's Commando's in Vietnam, by John L. Plaster Simon and Schuster), was to act as a diversion. It was designed to draw NVA forces away from a CIA-financed, multi-battalion force of Hmong tribesmen involved in an operation codenamed "Honorable Dragon" being conducted on the Bolovens Plateau in Southern Laos. Operation Tailwind had no specific terrain objective, that is, they were not attempting to occupy a specific town. Rather they were to engage any NVA forces they encountered in order to force the NVA to pull troops away from the Honorable Dragon team to deal with the Operation Tailwind team in their rear. When conducting a diversion a unit intentionally attracts the enemy's attention as much as possible. The Tailwind team was tasked with destroying any munitions or other supplies they discovered. The goal was to force the NVA to commit troops to the pursuit of the Tailwind team. From landing zone preparation on 11 September to extraction on 14 September, the team was provided continuous tactical air support by Air Force, Army, and Marine assets. The enemy almost continuously attacked the team during the four days they were in Laos. Air Force units under the operational control of the Seventh Air Force flew 76 sorties for TAILWIND and provided Forward Air Control (FAC) and Airborne Command and Control Center (ABCCC) aircraft and crews. Pilots used the code words "Prairie Fire" to refer to the infiltration and exfiltration of the MACSOG team. Similarly, MACSOG used the "Prairie Fire" code words to identify cross-border operations into its Laotian area of operations.
OPERATION TAILWIND MACV COMMAND HISTORY 1970 - ANNEX B (Studies and Observations Group) Declassified from Top Secret. From the National Security Archive, George Washington University, the Gelman Library, 2130 H St, NW, Suite 701, Washington, DC 20037. (TS) On 4 September
1970, CCC was alerted for the requirement to conduct a company sized operation
in Support of a [REDACTED] operation near Chavane, Laos. Project nickname was
"Operation TAILWIND." Following LZ preparation by TAC AIR
Insert prep roughly 13 miles southeast of Chavane Laos. Courtesy Joe Driscoll and the insertion
of a pathfinder team, CCC, Company 3, was inserted about 20 km SE of Chavane at
1232 hours 11 September 1970. Four CH-53's were used for airlift and four AH-1G
Cobras for gunship support. Small arms fire was received from southwest of the
insertion LZ. All CH-53's and AH-1G's received hits, but all aircraft were able
to return to base.
Hits... Courtesy Joe Driscoll (TS) The company
moved northwest 600 meters where they encountered a series of hooches used for
the storage of 140mm rockets, 82mm mortar ammunition, 23mm AAA ammunition, B-40
rockets, small arms ammunition, and approximately 40 dismantled bicycles.
Charges with delay fuses were placed on the 140mm rockets, and the company moved
northwest 1,500 meters. The company counted 30 secondary explosions immediately
following detonation and 75-100 during the following five hours. Later the
company made contact with approximately 40 enemy. The engagement lasted an hour
and tactical air strikes were employed. When the enemy broke contact, the
company moved south where they began preparation of an LZ for the extraction of
wounded. The LZ was completed when the company again came under attack from
140-150 enemy. Nine US were wounded in this encounter, but extraction of wounded
was not possible due to adverse weather.
SCARFACE Crews at Dak To. Courtesy Joe Driscoll (TS) Enemy contact continued throughout the night and fire support continued to be provided by Spectre (C-130) gunships. When enemy action decreased, the company moved to secure an LZ at a different location. A CH-53 helicopter attempted to land for medevac of wounded but was struck by numerous small arms and B-40 rocket rounds causing it to lose power and crash. The crew was successfully extracted by ladder. The company was directed to another LZ but weather prevented extraction.
(TS) Contact was again made with enemy
units. This time they appeared to be defending. The company advanced on the
enemy who withdrew beyond a battalion sized base camp containing 8,000 kilo-
grams of rice, as well as numerous hooches and latrines. There was evidence that
the area had been used as a truck park and maintenance Point as some vehicle
parts were found. A 120mm mortar was found and destroyed. (TS) The company, still receiving small arms and B-40 rocket at extraction LZ. Thirty-six sets of TAC-AIR were used during the extraction. The company was extracted using 3 CH-53's and returned to Dak To. Total casualties for the operation were 3 SCU KIA, 33 SCU WIA 15 US WIA, 144 enemy KIA, 50 enemy WIA (estimated) and 288 enemy KBA (estimated).
Scarface Cobras at Dak To in support of Operation Tailwind. Courtesy Joe Driscoll
Into Laos...Courtesy Joe Driscoll (Text of Email to R J Smith) I just read your account of Operation Tailwind. Great job. I flew one of the Marine Cobra's on that mission which actually took place over four days, September 11, 12, 13 and 14th. I was enraged at the irresponsible CNN/Time story. I wrote the attached article which was published in Sunday's Monterey (CA) Herald. Please feel free to include it in your web page or elsewhere if you deem it appropriate. Thanks. "There They Go Again" CNN/Time's News Stand There they go again. They introduced themselves as "two of the world's leading news organizations, come to a place that honors journalism's past, to begin a new venture of our own." The introduction went on to say, "if we do our job right....". Well I'm here to say they didn't. I still get asked lots of questions about Vietnam. Someday it would be nice to confidently answer those questions by telling friends and family to tune into CNN tonight because there's a special program on a mission that your Dad flew on in 1970. Unfortunately that day still isn't here yet. The story was billed as "Nerve Gas Used on Secret Mission to Kill American Defectors". It was a headline designed to catch your attention and it caught mine. I read on. 1970...September SOG.... Laos.....Dak To....September 11th. They had my attention now. I was there. I knew the story. CNN/Time didn't. They distorted, sensationalized and misrepresented it to fit their political spin and their marketing hype. After 28 years they still can't report Vietnam accurately. It's a shame because the real story's a good one. I was a 23 year old Marine 1st Lieutenant flying a Cobra gunship assigned the mission of providing close air support for Marine CH-53 helicopters inserting a special forces team into Laos. I was in Kontum on September 10th to meet the SOG teams and receive the intelligence briefing on the mission. There was no question that this mission was different, it was secret, it was special and yes, we were issued gas masks. But a "SECRET MISSION TO DROP NERVE GAS TO KILL AMERICAN DEFECTORS". If it hadn't made me cry like so many of my other memories, it would have been laughable. Let me tell you about a few of the things that happened 28 years ago. First let me say I don't quarrel with any of the direct quotes aired from the few participants that were interviewed on the program. Twenty eight-year-old memories taken out of context and woven into the CNN/Time political fabric didn't tell the real story. Let me begin where the story ended. Several days after the final extraction that ended Operation Tailwind, the pilots of MAG 16 were invited back to the SOG base in Kontum in appreciation for the extraction that saved their lives. While our time together was brief, there is a special level of intimacy and candor between men bonded in combat and lubricated with Montagnard rice wine. We swapped great tales but none as I remember of "round eye defectors and nerve gas saving the day" as featured in the CNN/Time report. As a pilot flying one of the Marine helicopter gunships that provided close air support, I was there for the insertion of Lt. Mc Carley and his courageous troops on September 11th. And again on September 13th for the emergency medical extraction of the most critically wounded and again on September 14th when the remainder of the ground team was successfully extracted. I was just a bit player in a larger drama, but for my small part I was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross. I'm proud of it and my service in Vietnam and I wish somebody would get the story right sometime. On September 14th the air space over this small area in Laos was as busy as O'Hare Airport the day before Thanksgiving. The Spads were there as well Air Force and Marine Corps jets with heavy ordinance and OV-10's providing targeting information. Our gunships were there suppressing ground fire and protecting the H-53's which would make the eventual extraction. Oh, by the way, the North Vietnamese were there also with their Russian and Chinese weapons. All of this deep in the heart of Laos. This, Mr. Carville, was a real war! To listen to CNN you'd have thought that nerve gas was dropped and the good guys walked out over dead bodies. That wasn't the way it was. It was a fight for survival. My gunship took eight hits during the extraction efforts and I don't know of any others who were treated more kindly. One of the first H-53s in the zone for the extraction was shot down, ditched and destroyed. If it really is a fact that nerve gas was used, the real story would have been that it hadn't worked so well. All but one of the original insertion team made it out safely. Many were wounded and several of our helicopters were lost. Survival was what we were celebrating when we rendezvoused in Kontum several days later. CNN/Time reported that "as many as 60 of the Montagnard's were killed". I guess if you consider 1 the same as a number "up to as many as 60", they were technically right. I choose to think CNN/Time were back to their old tricks. There was a great story to be told about the events of September 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th. I'm proud of my small part in those events and I'm pissed that the news media hasn't gotten it right yet! Joe Driscoll
Chavan is located about 78 kilometers (roughly 50 miles) west-northwest of the old Dak Pek Special Forces Camp, and about 85 kilometers (roughly 54 miles) northwest of the point where the Vietnam, Lao, and Cambodian borders join. Chavan is approximately mid-way between the Bolovens Plateau (to the west) and the Vietnam-Lao border to the east. (See coordinates and historical overview below.) Operation Tailwind took place about 20 kilometers (approximately 13 miles) southeast of Chavan, along the infiltration corridor between Chavan and the old Dak Pek Special Forces Camp. Coordinates and historical overview Chavan is located in the vicinity of geographic coordinates 15 20'00"N 107 03'00"E, UTM grid coordinates 48PYB217972. US Map Sheet 6439, Series L607, scale 1:100,000. Chavan is the location of an old airstrip that dates from the French era. It also was the wartime location of PAVN Group 559's Commo-Liaison Station T-63. Station T-63 was located at the boundary between Military Station 35's (Binh Tram/BT 35) area of operations (to the north of T-63) and BT 36's area of operations (to the south of T-63). Chavan was the junction on the HCM Trail's main north-south corridor (PAVN Route 128) at which men and material destined for B.1 Front [MR 5] were diverted to the east along PAVN Route B46 to BT 44's area of responsibility. The route east from Cha Van terminated at Kham Duc in southwestern Quang Nam-Da Nang Province, SVN. Other traffic passing through Chavan continued Southeast to B.3 Front headquarters near the tri-border point, or south toward B.2 Front near the border between northern Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam and Cambodia. One PAVN account noted that in August 1964 the 279th and 98th Engineer Regiments were assigned to Group 559 to "open a motor route from Ban Dong [on Highway 9, west of Khe Sanh], through Muong Nong, to Bac (a distance of about 105 km) in the eastern provinces of Laos", and to "open a new cargo bicycle route from Bac to Cha Van, Dak To, and Dak Chung to link up with Region 5's supply routes". Robert J. Destatte
Click on image to read the 367 monthly report for September 1970. Courtesy Joe Driscoll
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