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Ravens with a T-28D Trojan at Long Tieng, Laos, 1970. The Raven Forward Air Controllers, also known as The Ravens, were fighter pilots (special operations capable) unit used as forward air controllers (FACs) in a clandestine and covert operation in conjunction with the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Laos during America's Vietnam War.
The Forward Air Controller (FAC) fulfilled many duties during the Second Indochina War.In addition to the usual close air support strike missions to aid South Vietnamese ground forces in their struggle against insurgents backed by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, he might direct combat search and rescue operations or air interdiction strikes on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Stanford's assignment in Laos came to an abrupt end in late 1966. When General William W. Momyer, the commander of 7/13th Air Force, discovered that the Combat Controllers in Laos were enlisted non-pilots, he abruptly ended the Butterfly Forward Air Control program and replaced it with the officer pilots of the Raven Forward Air Controllers. [1 ...
The RQ-11B Raven UA weighs about 1.9 kg (4.2 lb), has a flight endurance of 60–90 minutes and an effective operational radius of approximately 10 km (6.2 miles). [6] The RQ-11B Raven UA is launched by hand, thrown into the air like a free flight model airplane. The Raven lands itself by auto-piloting to a pre-defined landing point and then ...
Forward air control is the provision of guidance to close air support (CAS) [1] aircraft intended to ensure that their attack hits the intended target and does not injure friendly troops. This task is carried out by a forward air controller (FAC). [2] A primary forward air control function is ensuring the safety of friendly troops during close ...
The United States Air Force Combat Control Teams, singular Combat Controller (CCT) (AFSC 1Z2X1), are an elite special operations force (specifically known as "special tactics operators") who specialize in all aspects of air-ground communication, as well as air traffic control, fire support (including rotary and fixed-wing close air support), and command, control, and communications in covert ...
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Palace Dog was a United States Air Force covert operation to support the Royal Laotian Government in its military operations during the Laotian Civil War portion of the Vietnam War. Palace Dog, Project 404, and the Raven FACs principal task was the supply of forward air controllers for close air support to the Royal Lao Army (RLA).