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Air Force Archive Information
(Please click on Thumbnail Images below to see
full-sized image.)
August 1964 -
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A May 1964 directive from the Joint Chiefs of Staff ordered the introduction of search and rescue forces and plans to deploy the units, inaugurated air-sea rescue service in Southeast Asia. However, orders and plans alone did not meet the needs of the combat aircrews. They needed a rescue force capable of aircrew recovery missions far inside enemy-held areas of Laos, South Vietnam, and North Vietnam.
The frenzied force buildup that began in mid-1964 placed new demands on the Air Rescue Service. The Pacific Air Rescue Center did not have the resources to meet these demands, making it necessary to order stateside rescue units to Southeast Asia on a temporary duty basis. In addition to
the Pacific Air Rescue Center unit from Naha sent to Nakhon Phanom in June, the Air Rescue Service dispatched HH-43's from five continental U.S. Detachments. The men and helicopters from these units began reaching Southeast Asia. Detachment #1 Provisional was formed at Bien Hoa AB in South Vietnam.
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November 1964 -
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Personnel, equipment and organizational changes occurred rapidly in the first months in Southeast Asia. The units from the states, which in August formed Detachment #1 Provisional at Bien Hoa was sent to
Tahkli, Thailand. The unit from the Pacific Air Rescue Center returned home. One
of several problems faced by the rescue crews, was the inability to get deep into enemy territory because of the fuel supply normally carried by the HH-43. This problem was soon to be remedied in a somewhat interesting way.
Personal Accounts -
Jay Strayer
Colonel, USAF (Retired)
Thank you very much, Jay
January through May 1965 -
"The idea of devising a method of extending the HH-43B's unsatisfactory 75 NM
range (out and back with reserve) rests with Fred Glover (Lt Col USAF Ret)
while we were TDY
(Temporary Duty Assignment) together at Nakhon Phanom AB, Thailand Jan-May, 1965 -- we
were 6 pilots as well as all the enlisted thrown together in a hurry from 6
different USA detachments without any direction or written procedures from
any one higher up -- only that we were there to rescue whomever needed it --
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- Our DETCO
(Detachment Commander) was Warren Davis (later killed in an HH-43 as you know) along with
James Rodenberg, Israel Freedman, Fred and myself and a 1st Lt. Neil McCutchan -- early on, while lamenting on the short legs of the
HH-43B, Fred mentioned he had devised an extension system while flying in
remote Texas for a ferry flight of some 300 miles -- based on his idea, we
scrounged hoses and plumbing parts from Air America at Udorn AB -- all were
water fittings for they did not have others that would fit available -- our
maintenance folks built a cradle made of 2" X 12"s that would fit in the
cabin behind the copilot's seat on the cabin floor -- we cradled three 55
gallon drums, one on top of the lower two and attached a single line hose
from the top drum to the fuel plumbing access point at cabin floor level on
the left rear side -- when fuel was required, the plumbing valve was opened
by hand so fuel would gravity feed thru the cabin aperture into the 200
gallon bladder tank under the cabin floor -- each drum was good for about 35
minutes extra flying time -- as I recall, a normal sortie without the drums
was 1+45 hours with a dry tank expected at about 2+15 hours use so three
drums would extend total flying time to about 3+45 hours -- total range
might be as much as 300 NM according to winds and hover time used -- I do
not recall if I was the first to use the system, but I logged 3+30 hours
during the one combat rescue (it was a long search) I made of (then) F-100
pilot Captain Ron Biggoness near My Gia Pass, Laos, in March of that time
and the fuel low level light was burning by the time I
returned to NKP -- Captain Jim Rodenburg was my copilot, Staff Sergeant Farmer the PJ and I cannot remember the flight mechanic's name --- I
know that follow-on crews who replaced us in May, flew those HH-43s across
Laos deep into North Vietnam to near Hanoi and Vinh near the Gulf of Tonkin
and there are some shot down folks that owe their freedom to Fred Glover's
idea -- moreover, it is likely that we had the first helicopter disposable
fuel tanks for when a drum was empty, the flight mechanic merely shifted
the hose to a full drum, and rolled the empty one out thru the open
clamshell doors into the jungle below -- I might add those water-type
plumbing connectors could not be tightened enough to prevent leaks and lots
of fumes -- therefore there was absolutely no thought given to smoking --
none was allowed and we only set the system up as missions dictated its
use -- finally, the PACAF
(Pacific Air Force) Rescue HH-43 standardization pilot visited us
during this time (do not recall his name) and we proudly showed him pictures
of our system-- he immediately recognized the hazards involved and just
as quickly disavowed any knowledge of same -- apparently he did recognize
the merits of its use in an emergency rescue situation and did not mention
it in his reports -- neither did we -- so Fred Glover never got official
recognition for his idea, an idea that saved several pilots from capture
during the interim it took to get a longer range helicopter in country --
and that's the truth as I remember it -- and yes, you may use this on your
PEDRO web site -- Cheers -- Jay"
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Udo Fischer - Pararescueman, Chief Master Sergeant (Retired) has documented the exploits of Det. #1 and their new
Auxiliary Fuel System.
"Here is the prose I promised re. Det Provisional 1 at NKP -- use for your web
site as you see fit --" "The attached two photos are representative of the variety of missions we
undertook while assigned TDY to Nakhon Phanom AB, Thailand Jan-May 1965 --
when we got organized soon after our arrival, and I recall we were given no
rules or guidance from the higher-ups, we looked for things to do -- there
was still a bombing halt to the North and not a lot going on in neighboring
Laos -- so until the resumption of those activities in late March, we had
relatively little to do but stand by -- in the photo of the HH-43 among the
villagers, we took turns flying a medical and/or dental technician (and
sometimes the flight surgeon) into selected Thai villages for fundamental health evaluations of the residents -- I saw badly infected wounds and lots
of bad teeth while doing this -- but the Thais were more interested in the
HH-43 than any treatment -- it was apparent they had not seen a helicopter
before, at least not the strange looking HH-43!!" 
"Re the T-28 photo -- one day there was a call from someone at Udorn AB -- it
seems they were flying T-28s into Laos and one had crash landed in a nearby
rice paddy on its return flight -- would we kindly consider slinging it back
to the base?? I don't recall questioning why Air America would not do it --
flying H-34s at the time, it seems in retrospect they probably could --
nevertheless, Jim Rodenberg and I were looking for something to do so what
the heck?? We asked they remove the engine and anything else reasonable to
make it lighter -- Jim opted to carry out the engine which they stated
weighed in at about 1200 lbs and he did so without difficulty -- I was
advised the remaining airframe weighed about 2300 lbs -- as I recall, the
HH-43's sling hook was limited to 3,000 lbs and we carried the 1,000 lb fire
bottle with relative ease -- still, I was skeptical of "their" weight
estimate -- in working the numbers in the Dash One's flight charts, I
figured I could do it at first light when the temperature was lowest, with
minimum fuel (about 30 minutes flight time) and only the flight mechanic
accompanying me for directions over the T-28 -- and so we proceeded except
when I attempted to lift it, I could barely sustain a five foot height --
every time I attempted to move off the HH-43's ground cushion, we would
settle back to the ground -- I suppose a prudent pilot would have aborted
the mission right then -- but the young captain pilot was not much into
prudence in those early days -- we were obviously right at a critical
combination of weight and density altitude but I got better at it as we
burned off more fuel, little as it was -- finally, by pumping the
collective, we moved forward ever so slowly and by allowing the load to
"skip" across the ground, I gratefully attained that savior of so many
on-the-edge high gross weight take offs, translational lift and even then we
were barely maintaining altitude -- and this same young pilot had never
slung an object with its own aerodynamic characteristics and no one was there
to brief him on the hazards -- so there I was -- could not go faster or
higher and could not return to earth all that easily -- without its tail
section, the T-28 began to oscillate badly and its wings created some of its
own lift -- fortunately I was not making a lot of progress toward faster
flight or higher altitude so I was able to keep the T-28's movements from
making me lose control -- indeed I could not maintain much over 20 knots
which was not that much over, in this case, critical translational speed --
I was glad to get the load on the ground, for never before or since, had I
been so uncomfortable flying a helicopter -- Jim made the photo shot and a
great and unusual one it is -- when I got back, I reworked the numbers
charts backwards and discovered "their" weight estimate was closer to 3,000
lbs than 2,000!! -- and that's how I remember it -- Cheers -- Jay 
Photos Provided By -
Neil McCutchen
Major, USAF (Retired)
Thank you very much, Neil
The top photo is of the Pedro Pilots Hooch at NKP - 1965.
The second photo is of a portion of the
flight line at NKP - 1965.
1st Lieutenant, Neil McCutchen
NKP Flightline 1965
First Photo - C-123, Left Side & O11B Crash Fire Truck,
Right Side
2nd Photo - HH-43B -Notice the PCP Ramp. NKP was famous for its PCP. The PCP was
still in place as late as 1975. All the other AF Bases had replace PCP with
concrete or asphalt.
3rd Photo - 3 HH-43B's
If you have any photos, personal
accounts, etc., for the Detachment #1 Provisional Page, please contact me. 
This Page was Updated March 26, 2008
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