CATKILLER 3-2 — An Army Pilot Flying for the Marines in the Vietnam War

Hardcover, 241 ppCopyright 2018 by Raymond Caryl Proceeds from this book sale go towards the AUSA Scholarship Fund Catkiller 3-2 provides unique insights into the role of the tactical air controller, airborne (TACA) in I Corps as seen through the eyes of one of the pilots who flew low-altitude, unarmed, single-engine aircraft in support of Marine ground units during the Vietnam War. When Gen. William Westmoreland changed the Marines’ role in I Corps from clear, hold, and pacify to search and destroy, the Marines found themselves in need of more fixed-wing aircraft to handle the TACA missions. The advance party of the Army’s 220th Reconnaissance Aircraft Company (RAC) arrived in Vietnam in late June 1965 thinking they were going to be assigned to III Corps Tactical Zone. However, because of the shortage of existing Marine Birddogs, the 220th was immediately reassigned to I Corps and came under the operational control of the Marines. This led to the Marines’ insistence that pilots of th