“We practised ground attack with both the Sabre and Mirage but had no exposure to FAC operations,” Mr Cooper remembered. While Mr Cooper flew Sabre and Mirage aircraft for RAAF, deploying to Vietnam in a FAC role supporting the US Army’s 9 th Infantry Division was a new concept for Australian operations. “Although the task was dangerous, this became a way of life and as long as you did not plan on anything tomorrow, life was good.” “Generally though, the enemy were very conscious of this and would avoid firing at FAC aircraft until they were sure the FAC knew they were there, then the first and primary objective of the enemy was to take out the FAC. “In Saigon we were working within 75 metres of friendly forces and (our) further roles were many reconnaissance of suspected enemy positions, flying low ahead of road convoys to flush out the enemy, or simply flying low over areas to tempt the enemy to fire at you giving away their presence. “Basically the role of the FAC was to detect targets and direct fighter-bombers and artillery onto them to give relief to ground forces in close contact with the enemy,” Mr Cooper said. The Bird Dog was piloted by Flight Lieutenant (retd) Garry Cooper, now 85, one of 36 RAAF forward air control (FAC) pilots to fly with USAF in one of the most dangerous deployments of the war. The buzz of a United States Air Force (USAF) O-1 Bird Dog grew louder as it flew metres from the tree tops, looking for enemy targets, at the height of the Vietnam War. The South Vietnamese sky was a smoky orange as dusk approached in July of 1968.
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