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Classified Secret

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Summary

Controlling Airstrikes in the Clandestine War in Laos, has a cover painting from an original oil from the author’s collection by Don Doheny. Don captures a mission directed by a USAF Combat Controller in a Pilatus Porter flown by a CIA contract pilot. The Combat Controller is directing an airstrike in a F-105 flown by Ben H. Allen in his “Lone Star Special.” Ben Allen (“Yogi Bear”) comments: Jan, thanks for telling our part of SEA.

From the Back Cover

Jan adds another exciting story to the saga of FACS in Southeast Asia, Sergeants controlling airstrikes that would shock the bureaucracy of the Air Force!” Brigadier General John F. Flanagan, author of “Vietnam Above the Treetops.”

“The enlisted Forward Air Controllers were a vital link that we needed.” Lieutenant General William P. Yarborough, author of “Bail Out Over Africa.” General Yarborough also said, “CLASSIFIED SECRET is something that provides a professional look at an aspect of the Southeast Asian military adventure that not many historians are equipped to address. Jan writes beautifully and with the authority of one who really knows the game.”

Foreward

by Brigadier General Harry C. “Heinie” Aderholt (USAF, Ret,)
From American Aviation Historical Society (2002) by Duane H. McEwen.

The war in Southeast Asia was a complex affair. A lot of fighting in the countries adjacent to Vietnam was done on a clandestine basis. U.S. military personnel, CIA agents, and other U.S. Government employees, CIA contractor employees, and residents of the local countries all worked together to conduct the war.

This book covers the actions of Forward Air Controllers (FACS) and Forward Air Guides (FAGs) that brought the airstrikes to the enemy. The difference between the two was that while they both directed aircraft engaged in close air support of ground troops, the FAC was a rated pilot, while the Forward Air Guide was not.

The author interviewed several of the pilots, FACS and FAGs involved in the secret air war. The resulting book is an interesting and highly readable collection of anecdotal “war stories” and reminiscences of USAF members who have “been there, done that.” This was war as told by the people who were there, not as told by the Public Information Officers or Government Agency spokespersons. The nitty-gritty, the make-do improvising, the scrounging for equipment and supplies, the deceit and cover-ups, the deaths and disappointments, the heroics and the victories all mix together to make an informative account of how it was during the Vietnam era.

Reviews

From Ambassador William Sullivan:

I lived a deliberately discreet life during my years in Laos. You asked how I selected targets for airstrikes. My office and I did not “select” targets, but exercised a negative control over targets, whoever nominated them, by a veto over those which posed more potential harm to our friends than our enemies. Thus we often refused to authorize strikes in many areas very close to civilian populations where air navigational aids were so scarce. Hence, the critical importance of forward air controllers who were familiar not only with the terrain but also with the local inhabitants..These FACS that operated in Laos during the years of your study were a brave, intrepid lot of young professionals whose work deserves to be recognized.

From Midwest Book Review (4-6-00)

Most of the jet fighter/bomber pilots in northern Laos had no idea that the Forward Air Controllers calling in their airstrikes were non-rated or enlisted personnel until Jan Churchill interviewed them in 1998. The USAF had become involved in Vietnam as advisors following the Indochina War. As an outgrowth of the Vietnam conflict, the U.S. had developed a secret American military aid program for Laos, and in 1955 underwrote the entire Laotian defense budget. Laotian neutrality was routinely violated by both the communists and the U.S.....with the U.S. violations being kept secret from the American public. In CLASSIFIED SECRET - Controlling Airstrikes in the Clandestine War in Laos, Jan Churchill not only revels and documents American involvement, but exposes for the first time to general public awareness that sergeants were controlling airstrikes in a total departure from the traditional Air Force chain of command and bureaucratic alignment...something even the combat pilots did not know until they were informed by Jan Churchill while interviewing them.

From Flight Journal Magazine, review by Robert S. DeGroat

It seems that the more questions are answered about those confusing times during the war in Southeast Asia, the more questions there are. Even those who were there are still not quite clear about what went on. Never has that been more clearly illustrated than in Jan Churchill’s latest book, “CLASSIFIED SECRET - Controlling Airstrikes in the Clandestine War in Laos.” After building up the trust of several veterans, she has put together a work on a hitherto unknown facet of U.S. Air Force history.

Hunting ground targets is inherently dangerous, regardless of the weather or time of day. Regardless, the “fast movers,” as the jets were called, did not have time to search around for targets (fuel considerations), so the forward air controllers (FACS) were tasked with that job. These men provided a vital link between the forces on the ground and the incoming strike aircraft. Early in the conflict (and covered in this book) enlisted personnel controlled airstrikes as “Butterfly FACS.” Later, the relatively well-known “Ravens” took over.

It was a secret aspect of a clandestine war, and Churchill has done a wonderful job bringing this lost story into the open, where its participants can now be honored for the great job they did under the most trying conditions. They deserved better than they were given. This work is the perfect companion to Churchill’s earlier “HIT MY SMOKE! Forward Air Controllers in Southeast Asia.” Together, the two are particularly fascinating.

Review by David Moffitt, Delaware Pilots Association Magazine

Churchill tells the story of the unorthodox way airstrikes were controlled in a neutral country where even the fact of war was secret, and the U.S. government denied any participation.

Sergeants and others were controlling airstrikes flown by U.S. Air Force and Navy jets. These controllers were not pilots like the FACS (Forward Air Controllers in Vietnam); they sat in the right seat of such aircraft as Pilatus Porters and Helio Couriers flown by CIA contract pilots through Air America and CAS (Continental Air Services). These men did a great job, and no one complained about their performance, but it was against Air Force doctrine, says Churchill. CLASSIFIED SECRET tells their story.

She also interviewed mechanics, Air America pilots and other interesting men who were in Laos during the early 1960s.

The book is based on recent interviews, since records were not kept and the men were not allowed to discuss events.

“There were so many things going on and no real records,” said Brig. Gen. (Ret) Harry C. “Heinie” Aderholt, who wrote the foreword for the book.

“Another exciting story” Churchill was able to locate and interview some of the jet fighter/bomber pilots who participated in attacks in Laos. They were surprised to learn just last year (1998) that they were being controlled by enlisted men. The pilots just assumed that they were being controlled by FACS flying their own aircraft as they did in Vietnam. When USAF Gen. Momyer found out who was controlling his jets, he threw a fit. That was the reason the Ravens came into being, also secretly. The Ravens were USAF officer-pilots who had FAC experience in Vietnam prior to going to Laos.

Review by Howard Sholl, Air Force Association Delaware (Diamond) Chapter

Jan Churchill’s recently published book, CLASSIFIED SECRET: Controlling Airstrikes in the Clandestine War in Laos, is an important contribution to the history of the war in Southeast Asia. CLASSIFIED SECRET is a well written and researched book about the men who controlled airstrikes in Laos during the Vietnam conflict. Despite being “unqualified” they did the job well and continued to do it from the ground once jet-qualified Raven FACS took over the airborne duties in 1967.

This book is largely drawn from first hand accounts as told to Jan by the participants. In telling this story, Jan Churchill has organized information about clandestine military operations long hidden in the memories of the men whose sacrifices have received little if any recognition, into a compelling story. Her work is very important as it adds to the growing body of literature about the Secret War in Laos and complements John Prados’ story of the Ho Chi Minh Trail as told in “The Blood Road.”

Jan explains that the political environment and as well as seemingly obtuse political concerns often constrained and hindered military operations in Laos. Military men assigned to Laos were often shorn of their military persona so that the United States could deny involvement if such a person was captured or killed. Despite this “plausible deniability” the men doing the job were highly motivated professionals who took their job seriously and who found ways to get things done despite many barriers.

I would recommend this book to anyone. Those with an interest in unconventional warfare will find it especially fascinating. Familiarity with the political-military aspects of the Laotian conflict is useful but not mandatory since Jan does a good job of explaining the rather complex relationships and interests of the various entities involved in planning and executing the war in Laos.

The faces of the warrior are often lost in the telling of story of war. Jan puts those faces and their stories in the forefront in the same way that Steven Ambrose has done in his books about World War II.

Congratulations to Jan on another great book on an important subject. I also highly recommend her previous book, HIT MY SMOKE: Forward Air Controllers is Southeast Asia.

Comment by Lt. Thomas Kravis, U.S.N. (Ret.)

I worked as a pilot for Air America/CASI in Laos from 1968 to 1974. I was based at Long Cheng LS-20A for eighteen months flying the Porter and in Vientiane on the C-46, Caribou and C-123 the rest of the time. Thanks so much for telling our story. I personally spent thirteen years working in SEA and really appreciate your helping the American people understand why we were there.

Cover Art

CLASSIFIED SECRET Controlling Airstrikes in the Clandestine War in Laos, has a cover painting from an original oil from the author’s collection by Don Doheny. Don captures a mission directed by a USAF Combat Controller in a Pilatus Porter flown by a CIA contract pilot. The Combat Controller is directing an airstrike in a F-105 flown by Ben H. Allen in his “Lone Star Special.” Ben Allen (“Yogi Bear”) comments: Jan, thanks for telling our part of SEA.