Stogies on Patrol: Actually the altitude shown in this photo was not typical since aircraft between 100' and 1000' presented tempting targets for small arms. The Scouts flew as teams with 2 OH-6's (White Team) or with a Gunship (Pink Team). The average mission altitude of the Scouts was 5-10' over terrain, tracking footprints and searching for hidden supplies. This slow-flight, low altitude hunting required a deft hand, nimble aircraft and good instincts . B Troop was extremely lucky throughout 1968; although over 50% of the Scout pilots and observers suffered gunshot or shrapnel wounds, there were no fatalities in either Scout or Gunship Platoons. Photo: Gil Garza Jan '68

Gil Garza takes a break and notices that the final inspection tag is from 'Linda', who also inspected his 'Fruit of the Loom' shorts. Photo: Gil Garza '68

This is probably one of the guys from the photo above, who was cruising at 800'. This sling-load brought up an interesting concept: Scouting could by done in a bullet-proof gondola suspended on a 1500' tether. Photo: Gil Garza '68

Going to work...Jon Jay gets ready to commute out to the AO and vanquish some communists. The high cyclic rate of fire from the CAR-15 plus the short barrel made it an excellent weapon for the Scouts. Photo: Jon Jay

This is the Air Force transport that brought the 3/17th advance party to Vietnam in 1967...sparing them the ordeal of riding in the USS Walker. Photo: Dale Barnett

B Troop Operations Officer Bill Whitright plots strategy with Richard Aubry of the Gun Platoon (on right), at Dong Tam. B Troop relocated to the Delta in support of the 9th Division in November of 1968. The IV Corps area still contained an elusive Viet Cong guerilla force which required a more complex and thoughtful tactical approach than our previous dealings with the NVA in the War Zone C area of Tay Ninh.

LOH park at Phu Loi in 1970...note the cosmetic changes from the early OH-6 of 1968...shiny gloss paint and red stabilizers. Photo: Jon Jay

Starting off with a bang... everything from Fragmentation to Thermite to CS tear gas. Scouts sometimes used these to great effect against NVA positions. The only drawback was that the aircraft had to 'overfly' the intended target..often at great objection from the target. Photo: Jon Jay

An amazing photo: B Troop LOH had a live White Phosporus grenade bounce back into the cockpit. The pilot wearing heavy paratrooper boots, kicked at it and the blast was deflected away from the cockpit, however the front section of the chin bubble was destroyed. In the excitment, the pilot no doubt was squeezing the trigger of the minigun as evidenced by the spray in front of the aircraft. Both pilot and observer walked (swam) away from this one. Near Tan An, March 1969. Photo submitted by: Jon Jay Additional Info: This photo was taken from a Cobra driven by Lee Vander Heide. Lee was giving the Crewchief some 'stick time' in the front seat and the Chief brought along his camera. Incredibly, he just happened to be taking pictures when this happened.

In this close-up, the WP can be seen burning fiercely in the nose of the OH-6.