TAILWIND

On 11 September 1970, Marine CH-53 helicopters and AH-1G Cobra gunships carried into Laos, near Chavane, a team of 16 Americans and a Special Commando Unit (SCU), consisting of Montagnard troops. The Americans were in Company B, Command and Control Central, Military Advisory Command Studies and Observation Group (MACSOG). Their mission, Operation TAILWIND, would last until 14 September 1970, and their objectives were reconnaissance, intelligence collection, and a diversion for a larger operation to the north.

The stated objective of Operation Tailwind, in Plaster's account (SOG, The Secret Wars of America's Commando's in Vietnam, by John L. Plaster Simon and Schuster), was to act as a diversion. It was designed to draw NVA forces away from a CIA-financed, multi-battalion force of Hmong tribesmen involved in an operation codenamed "Honorable Dragon" being conducted on the Bolovens Plateau in Southern Laos. Operation Tailwind had no specific terrain objective, that is, they were not attempting to occupy a specific town. Rather they were to engage any NVA forces they encountered in order to force the NVA to pull troops away from the Honorable Dragon team to deal with the Operation Tailwind team in their rear. When conducting a diversion a unit intentionally attracts the enemy's attention as much as possible. The Tailwind team was tasked with destroying any munitions or other supplies they discovered. The goal was to force the NVA to commit troops to the pursuit of the Tailwind team.

From landing zone preparation on 11 September to extraction on 14 September, the team was provided continuous tactical air support by Air Force, Army, and Marine assets. The enemy almost continuously attacked the team during the four days they were in Laos. Air Force units under the operational control of the Seventh Air Force flew 76 sorties for TAILWIND and provided Forward Air Control (FAC) and Airborne Command and Control Center (ABCCC) aircraft and crews. Pilots used the code words "Prairie Fire" to refer to the infiltration and exfiltration of the MACSOG team. Similarly, MACSOG used the "Prairie Fire" code words to identify cross-border operations into its Laotian area of operations.

OPERATION TAILWIND

MACV COMMAND HISTORY 1970 - ANNEX B (Studies and Observations Group) Declassified from Top Secret. From the National Security Archive, George Washington University, the Gelman Library, 2130 H St, NW, Suite 701, Washington, DC 20037.

(TS) On 4 September 1970, CCC was alerted for the requirement to conduct a company sized operation in Support of a [REDACTED] operation near Chavane, Laos. Project nickname was "Operation TAILWIND."

Following LZ preparation by TAC AIR and the insertion of a pathfinder team, CCC, Company 3, was inserted about 20 km SE of Chavane at 1232 hours 11 September 1970. Four CH-53's were used for airlift and four AH-1G Cobras for gunship support. Small arms fire was received from southwest of the insertion LZ. All CH-53's and AH-1G's received hits, but all aircraft were able to return to base.

Into Laos...Courtesy Joe Driscoll

Insert prep roughly 13 miles southeast of Chavane Laos. Joe Driscoll USMC HML 367

Hits... Courtesy Joe Driscoll

(TS) The company moved northwest 600 meters where they encountered a series of hooches used for the storage of 140mm rockets, 82mm mortar ammunition, 23mm AAA ammunition, B-40 rockets, small arms ammunition, and approximately 40 dismantled bicycles. Charges with delay fuses were placed on the 140mm rockets, and the company moved northwest 1,500 meters. The company counted 30 secondary explosions immediately following detonation and 75-100 during the following five hours. Later the company made contact with approximately 40 enemy. The engagement lasted an hour and tactical air strikes were employed. When the enemy broke contact, the company moved south where they began preparation of an LZ for the extraction of wounded. The LZ was completed when the company again came under attack from 140-150 enemy. Nine US were wounded in this encounter, but extraction of wounded was not possible due to adverse weather.

Scarface Cobras at Dak To in support of Operation Tailwind. Courtesy Joe Driscoll

(TS) Enemy contact continued throughout the night and fire support continued to be provided by Spectre (C-130) gunships. When enemy action decreased, the company moved to secure an LZ at a different location. A CH-53 helicopter attempted to land for medevac of wounded but was struck by numerous small arms and B-40 rocket rounds causing it to lose power and crash. The crew was successfully extracted by ladder. The company was directed to another LZ but weather prevented extraction.

CH-53 Call sign Dimmer extract crew and passengers from downed A/C

Chavane is located about 78 kilometers (roughly 50 miles) west-northwest of the old Dak Pek Special Forces Camp, and about 85 kilometers (roughly 54 miles) northwest of the point where the Vietnam, Lao, and Cambodian borders join. Chavane is approximately mid-way between the Bolovens Plateau (to the west) and the Vietnam-Lao border to the east. (See coordinates and historical overview below.)

Operation Tailwind took place about 20 kilometers (approximately 13 miles) southeast of Chavane, along the infiltration corridor between Chavane and the old Dak Pek Special Forces Camp.

Coordinates and historical overview

Chavane is located in the vicinity of geographic coordinates 15 20'00"N 107 03'00"E, UTM grid coordinates 48PYB217972. US Map Sheet 6439, Series L607, scale 1:100,000. Chavane is the location of an old airstrip that dates from the French era. It also was the wartime location of PAVN Group 559's Commo-Liaison Station T-63. Station T-63 was located at the boundary between Military Station 35's (Binh Tram/BT 35) area of operations (to the north of T-63) and BT 36's area of operations (to the south of T-63). Chavane was the junction on the HCM Trail's main north-south corridor (PAVN Route 128) at which men and material destined for B.1 Front [MR 5] were diverted to the east along PAVN Route B46 to BT 44's area of responsibility. The route east from Cha Van terminated at Kham Duc in southwestern Quang Nam-Da Nang Province, SVN. Other traffic passing through Chavane continued Southeast to B.3 Front headquarters near the tri-border point, or south toward B.2 Front near the border between northern Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam and Cambodia. One PAVN account noted that in August 1964 the 279th and 98th Engineer Regiments were assigned to Group 559 to "open a motor route from Ban Dong [on Highway 9, west of Khe Sanh], through Muong Nong, to Bac (a distance of about 105 km) in the eastern provinces of Laos", and to "open a new cargo bicycle route from Bac to Cha Van, Dak To, and Dak Chung to link up with Region 5's supply routes". Robert J. Destatte