GLOSSARY. PHOTOS. Copyright

GLOSSARY

ACAV –armored cavalry assault vehicle

AK‑ 47 –Russian 7. 62‑ caliber assault rifle

APC –armored personnel carrier M113

Arc Light –B‑ 52 bomb strike

ARP –aerorifle platoon

ARVN –Army of the Republic of Vietnam

BDA –bomb damage assessment

C and C –command and control

CAR‑ 15‑ –carbine version of M‑ 16 automatic rifle

Charlie Echo –crew chief

chicken plate –ballistic armor chest plate worn by aerial crew members

CH1COM –Chinese Communist

Claymore –antipersonnel mine, directional in nature

Cobra (snake) –Bell AH‑ IG helicopter gunship with two crew members

CS grenade –riot control agent similar to tear gas

DEROS –date estimated to return from overseas

didi –Vietnamese slang for get out of here

Dustoff –callsign of medical evacuation helicopters

FAC –forward air controller, prop aircraft for tac air direction

fast mover –jet fighter or bomber

Firefly –UH‑ IH mounted with spotlights, night observation devices, miniguns, and a. 50‑ caliber machine gun

fox mike –FM radio frequency

frag order –fragmentary order (change in mission)

FSB –fire support base, home to ground and artillery units

Guard– emergency frequency, 243. 0 UHF and 121. 5 VHF

gun –Cobra or snake AH‑ IG gunship

hootch –Vietnamese dwelling or American tropical hut

Huey –Bell UH‑ IH troop carrier with two pilots and two door gunners

hunter‑ killer team –one AH‑ IG and one OH‑ 6A

ICU –intensive care unit

KBA –killed by air

KIA –killed in action

Kit Carson scout –former VC or NVA who has defected to the ARVN and scouted for U. S. troops

klick –military slang for kilometer

Loach –Hughes OH‑ 6A light observation helicopter (LOH) with one pilot and one or two gunner‑ observers LZ–landing zone

M16 –Colt 5. 56‑ caliber rifle, standard U. S. government issue M48 –M‑ 48A3 main battle tank with 90mm main gun

M113 –U. S. armored personnel carrier, basis for ACAV

M551 –Sheridan armored airborne reconnaissance vehicle with 152mm main gun

minigun –General Electric 7. 62‑ caliber electric Gatling gun, 2, 000 to 4, 000 rounds per minute

NDP –night defensive position for armored, mechanized units

Old Man –military slang for commander

OV‑ 10 –North American Bronco FAC aircraft with one or two crew members

PBR –patrol boat, riverine with two. 50‑ caliber guns, one. 30‑ caliber machine gun, and one 40mm grenade launcher

Pipe Smoke –UH‑ ls and CM‑ 47s that recover downed aircraft

PSP –perforated steel plank construction material

push –frequency R

and R–rest and recuperation

red team –two AH‑ 1G Cobra gunships

RESCAP –rescue combat air patrol

rocks –rockets

Rome plow –heavy bulldozer for clearing jungle

RPD –Chinese copy of Russian PK crew‑ served 8mm machine gun

RPG –rocket‑ propelled grenade

RTO –radio telephone operator

satchel charge –explosives charge

SGM –Russian. 30‑ caliber crew‑ served medium machine gun

sitrep –situation report

slick –UH‑ 1H, same as Huey

snake and nape –retarded speed bombs and napalm

Spooky/Spectre/Shadow –USAF fixed‑ wing gunships–AC‑ 47, AC‑ 130, and AC‑ 119

squadron –unit containing four troops

tac air –tactical air, same as fast movers

TAOR –tactical area of operational responsibility

TOT –turbine outlet temperature

troop –armor or aviation unit, two hundred men, forty vehicles

Uniform –UHF radio frequency

USARV –U. S. Army Republic of Vietnam

VC –Viet Cong

Victor –VHF radio

VNAF –Vietnamese Air Force

VR –visual reconnaissance

white team –two OH‑ 6A scouts

Willie Pete –white phosphorous

Zippo –flamethrower mounted on M‑ 113 vehicle

PHOTOS

^{Hugh Mills and LOH #927. Note the XM27E1 minigun and the early 1969 Darkhorse marking on the engine cowl door. The revetment protected the helicopter from mortar and rocket attacks.}

^{Captains Hugh Mills (left) and Rod Willis at the end of Hugh’s last tour in Vietnam. Miss Clawd IV was his final mount. OH‑ 6A 17340 is now preserved in the U. S. Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker, Alabama.}

^{The pilot occupied the right front seat of the OH‑ 6A with the door gunner/ observer in the right rear. While the pilot’s seat had some built‑ in armor plate, the gunner had only an armor plate strapped beneath his seat.}

^{The minigun occupied the left rear of the cabin, its weight counteracted by the pilot and gunner. When no gun was carried, a third crewman occupied the left front seat.}

^{Mills’ OH‑ 6A en route to a mission, as viewed from the Cobra’s cockpit. Scouts flew “wing” on the Cobras to and from the contact area. The scout pilot depended on the Cobra’s frontseater for map guidance while at low level. Photo by Larry Kauffman.}

^{Dean Sinor’s AH‑ IG, “Satan Snake. ” The wing stores mounted M159 19‑ shot rocket pods inboard and 158 7‑ shot pods outboard. The turret contained a minigun and 40mm grenade launcher.}

^{A Darkhorse OH‑ 6A over the ARPs in the Iron Triangle. The area had been extensively Rome‑ plowed, but was honeycombed with twenty years’ worth of tunnels and bunkers.}

^{Hugh Mills and Jim Parker scramble from Lai Khe to relieve a crew in contact over the Michelin plantation. A CH‑ 47 Chinook carrying fuel bladders is on approach.}

^{Wayne McAdoo heads the “Four Horsemen” as they deliver the ARPs to the location of a VNAF A‑ IH Skyraider shot down south of Saigon in February 1969.}

^{The Horsemen trail red smoke indicating kills by the ARPs. Rear area personnel enjoyed these impromptu air shows.}

^{Outcasts OH‑ 6A at a 1st Division fire base. These bases generally supported battalion‑ size units with fire and logistics.}

^{Scout pilot Rod Willis checks the delinker‑ feeder of the General Electric M134 7. 62mm minigun. Above the gun is the ammo box and colored smoke grenades for marking targets. Photo by Rod Willis.}

^{Cobra pilot Dean Sinor, Dark‑ horse 31, and Hugh Mills. The rope around Sinor’s neck is tied to his radio and frequency codebook, called an SOI (signal operations instructions). Both pilots carry sidearms and Colt CAR‑ 15 submachine‑ guns. The pouch mounted on Mills’ shoulder holster contains a strobe light for emergency signaling.}

^{Mills and Horsemen platoon leader Wayne McAdoo on a slick. The weapon is an M60D 7. 62mm door gun used by the UH‑ IH gunner and crew chief. McAdoo listens to the progress of the hunter‑ killer teams on the PRC‑ 25 radio next to him.}

^{Rod Willis and Mills “hunt a tanks” in the troop area. The weapon is a Soviet RPG‑ 7 rocket‑ propelled grenade launcher.}

^{Darkhorse pilots and ARPs inspect weapons captured after Mills and Jim Parker interdicted and destroyed an NVA 28‑ man heavy weapons platoon. Scout pilot Fred Jennings (far right) carries a Thompson MIA submachine‑ gun.}

^{Mills and Capt. John Gott, Darkhorse 3. Troop operations controlled the unit’s aircraft throughout the division’s area of operations. Note the posted mission statement.}

^{After‑ action photo: Hugh Mills, Stu Harrell, and Rod Willis. Harrell’s riflemen had held off the determined advance of an NVA battalion with help from the hunter‑ killer teams. The patch on Harrell’s right shoulder indicate prior combat service with the 82d Airborne Division. Photo by Stu Harrell.}

^{The ARPs move rapidly from the Horsemen’s Hueys on a combat assault. The UH‑ ls are most vulnerable on the ground and limit this time to seconds. Photo by Bob Harris.}

^{Darkhorse ARPs prior to an insertion. Each man carries extra ammo for the unit’s four M60 machine‑ guns. The soldier in the foreground is Thuong, a Kit Carson scout. Photo by Bob Harris.}

^{The M60 machine‑ gü ns were the ARPs’ heavy firepower. The gunners carried nearly eighty pounds of gun, extra barrels, and ammo. Photo by Bob Harris.}

^{ARPs practice rappelling from a UH‑ IH, then climbing back aboard on a troop ladder. In confined areas, rappelling might be the quickest way in and the troop ladder the only way out.}

^{The Horsemen, in trail, descend into a landing zone for ground reconnaissance following a B‑ 52 Arc Light strike. Note the craters, made by the 750‑ pound iron bombs from the B‑ 52 Stratofortress.}

^{ARP team leaders mark the landing location for the UH‑ IH with colored smoke and a colored panel. Other ARPs face outward from the LZ to guard against attack.}

^{Mills and Jim Parker fly low level over the Iron Triangle. Scouting missions were flown low and slow; high‑ speed travel was at a higher elevation.}

^{Armored cavalry assault vehicles (ACAVs) and M106 mortar carriers of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment beat down jungle, guided by a Darkhorse aeroscout. Photo by Al Farrar.}

^{Rod Willis’s OH‑ 6A, one of several he crashed. The truss A‑ frame of the OH‑ 6A made it the most survivable helicopter in a crash. Pilots and gunners were rarely injured unless the ship went in vertically.}

^{Blood‑ spattered cockpit of Mills ‘s LOH, shot down near FSB Tennessee.}

^{The bubble of Mills’ OH‑ 6A, shattered by a tree strike. Dead trees were a constant threat at the altitudes at which the Outcasts flew; this photo is a testimonial to the structural strength of the OH‑ 6A.}

^{Cobra‑ eye view of an ambush on a convoy along Highway 13 by the NVA. The highway was the principal line from Dian to Quan Loi and An Loc.}

Copyright

Published by Presidio Press

505 B San Marin Drive, Suite 160

Novato, CA 94945‑ 1340

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. Inquiries should be addressed to Presidio Press, 505 B San Marin Drive, Suite 160, Novato, CA 94945‑ 1340.

Library of Congress Cataloging‑ in‑ Publication Data

Mills, Hugh. L. 1948–

Low level hell: a scout pilot in the Big Red One / Hugh L. Mills, Jr. with Robert A. Anderson.

p. cm.

eISBN: 978‑ 0‑ 307‑ 53792‑ 8

Vietnamese Conflict, 1961‑ 1975–Aerial operations, American.

Vietnamese Conflict, 1961‑ 1975–Personal narratives, American.

Mills Hugh, L. 1948‑ I. Anderson, Robert A., 1944‑ II. Title. DS558. 8M55 1992

959. 704′ 348–dc20

91‑ 46983

CIP

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