A DANGEROUS PLACE

A FAC returned from his mission to find out during his debrief that his roommate, a fellow OV-10 FAC, was involved in a mid-air collision while putting in a flight of F-100’s in his assigned area in Laos. During the strike the flight experienced some AAA fire. One of the F-100’s then pulled off the target and turned in the direction of the orbiting FAC. The FAC resorted to what might be called violent evasive action to avoid the oncoming F-100. The “Hun” jock came close enough to the OV-10 to have about three inches of the top of his rudder chewed off by the right prop of the OV-10. Both aircraft recovered without further incident.

The FAC sought out his roommate to offer some solace and kind friendly words. He found him at the O Club commiserating with his buddies over his recent unplanned aerial encounter of the worst kind, with the help of some suds. The FAC asked his roommate if he was “OK,” and his roommate blearily responded that he was but then added, “Roomie, I want you to know that we have a dangerous job...why, a guy could get killed out there!!!” Braced with the wisdom of this observation, both pilots successfully went on to complete their tours of duty.