Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report. Direct Air Support Centers in I Corps July 1965 - June 1969

Abstract

The system for control of tactical air assets in I Corps was an amalgam of the VNAF, USAF, and USMC tactical air control systems. These elements were brought together with the inception of the Single Management Concept on 10 March 1968. Prior to this date, the USAF and VNAF had run parallel systems from a joint Direct Air Support Center (DASC) at I Corps Headquarters in Da Nang, while the USMC had run an independent operation from their Tactical Air Direction Center (TADC) at the 1st Marine Air Wing (1 MAW) Headquarters compound on Da Nang Air Base. As the locations and strengths of U.S. Army and USMC forces shifted and changed throughout I Corps, the concept of Marines working only for Marines could not be sensibly justified within the integrated command structure that developed in I Corps. The need for Single Management became patently obvious after Tet and the siege of Khe Sanh during the winter of 1967 and spring of 1968. This report traces the development of the tactical air control system from the small Air Support Operations Center of 1962 to the complex structure that existed in December 1968. This report is one of several CHECO reports about the tactical air control systems in each of the four corps areas of South Vietnam. This report emphasizes the relationship among the many agencies involved with the command and control of air assets in I Corps. A detailed monthly analysis of response times has proved to be impossible, because of the lack of a meaningful and accurate data base for I Corps. However, the long-accepted guideline of approximately 40 minutes for scrambles and 20 minutes for diverts appears to have held up well. Army commanders have been unstinting in their praise of the support they received. The Marine commanders appear less satisfied. Nevertheless, the FACs in I Corps knew that in an emergency, they could expect air support both in time and in quantities sufficient to handle the situation.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 31, 1969
Accession Number
ADA486734

Entities

People

  • Kenneth J. Alnwick

Organizations

  • Pacific Air Forces

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Cyber
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Warfare
  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Aircrafts
  • Bombing
  • Combat Operations
  • Command And Control
  • Control Systems
  • Employment
  • Fire Support
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • Munitions
  • Personnel Management
  • Southeast Asia
  • Tactical Air Support
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Aerospace logistics and air mobility.
  • Library and Information Science/ Studies, Southeast Asia Studies, Bibliography of Vietnam and Lao Studies.
  • Military Science

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control