I first crewed on Chinooks in Bien Hoa then moved to Cu Chi , first four months in Vietnam , 242nd Avn ahsc company , resupply , 1st id , 25th id , 9th id , 197th light id brigade , each battalion needed about 8 tons a day and that's what the 242nd did , there were 12 ships in the company and we worked dawn to dusk 7 days a week , we would bring the load in release it then hoover over and land discharge passengers pick up passengers pick up any killed during the night fly back to whatever base camp , Bear Cat , Dian ( Zion ) , Cu Chi and do it all over again . When I was offered a slot with the 116th ahc I jumped on it .

Like most Americans I never felt Air Strikes would do very much even massive B-52 strikes won't do much unless they bomb city centers like Bagdad and Bagdad is not the enemy , Ground Troops would come as close to a win if there is one than anything else , that of course has been tried no win , not from lack of trying just not enough troops , how many troops would be enough and what would be their goal , I would start with a million then take a look at it , their goal that's a question that needs addressing I don't know the answer to that . .






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If the U.S. had a strategy in the ME a Million might do it but it would be awfully expensive , the Obama administration is trying the Band-Aid fix which is not working .

The Chinook is a very good aircraft, good lifting capability and reliable.

I agree the Army got their monies worth when they bought the Chinook the huey also , the Army expected to get 16 hours a day out of either and they were pretty close on that .

Originally Posted by tetvet

If the U.S. had a strategy in the ME a Million might do it but it would be awfully expensive , the Obama administration is trying the Band-Aid fix which is not working .

It may not win the war but itwill take a bunch with it. The AC-130 Ground Support Gunship. They are using this against ISIS to some degree.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idutds4WoXg"]www.youtube.com/watch?v=idutds4WoXg[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz9kATNANzU"]www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz9kATNANzU[/ame]

Yeah the C-130 the upgraded version of Puff the magic Dragon a C-47 that had three mini guns on the port side capable of firing 9000 rounds a minute , I've seen it operate many times it looked like a solid stream of red when fired , remember one tracer every fifth round .

Originally Posted by tetvet

Yeah the C-130 the upgraded version of Puff the magic Dragon a C-47 that had three mini guns on the port side capable of firing 9000 rounds a minute , I've seen it operate many times it looked like a solid stream of red when fired , remember one tracer every fifth round .

Unbelievable firepower I saw it as well. With several 20 mm Vulcan Gatling gun cannons they can dish out some real punishment. One of those weapons that we've had for years yet is just as effective now as it was then.

Puff fired the 7.62 at full fire they only had about 2 minutes worth of ammo most of the time the pilot fired short burst 15-20 seconds .

In Vietnam B-52 strikes were known as Arc Lites they carried 500 lb bombs which could penetrate 40-50 feet before exploding to take out tunnels around CuCHI