A little embarrassed to have to ask this question for not knowing, but what would this aircraft have been in Vietnam in 1969. Small high wing observation aircraft with me sitting behind the pilot. (I think I might know, but don’t want to guess based on vague memory.)

Cessna O-1 Bird Dog?

Or maybe a Cessna O-2A Skymaster? Scratch that; O-2A was side-by-side seating.

Not an Army guy but sure sounds like a O-1 Cessna Bird Dog.

That is an Cessna O-1 Bird Dog.

https://www.militaryfactory.co....php?aircraft_id=751

That's a Cessna O-1 Bird dog

Clearly your M16 flash suppressor is of the evil “prong” type, and subject to various governmental authorities declaring it to be far too effective. I am shocked that you would even share an image of such an evil flash suppressor.

As always, I came to the right place to ask.

Thanks to all, and I wish I'd taken its picture from the outside as well.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
an evil flash suppressor.

Nope, nope: not mine, sir. Know nothing about that one, sir. Please don’t blame me, sir.

During that flight I was armed with my trusty Colt Detective Special 2" revolver, and 12 rounds of 130 grain FMJ 38 S&W Special ammunition so as to not inflict horrific wounds on any VC/NVA troops I might have had a disagreement with.

My rifle: Many like it and all that.

Cessna L-19, later OE-1, later O-1, primarily used for forward air control (FAC) missions.

The giveaways are the set of diagonal crossbraces above the instrument panel, on the glareshield, tandem seating configuration, and four long overhead window slots.

Yes, I thought I remembered the L-19 designation.

An old L-19 Bird Dog was one of the first airplanes I flew back in high school. The owner was a retired F.B.I. agent, blind in one eye. He'd pick me up after classes for the day, drive me out to our airfield, and I'd spend most of the daylight hours washing and waxing his old vintage bi-plane. Then, with about an hour or two of daylight left, we'd knock off, fire up his Bird Dog, and he'd let me fly over my family's house and wag the wings, and then he'd let me drop it down on the deck and chase cows before landing and pushing it into the hangar.

His civilianized Bird Dog didn't have some of the cool gear observed in your pics, but I still have some great memories of that old plane.

Fantastic pictures sigfreund, thanks for sharing!

By the way, I was under the impression you were Army C.I.D. Out of curiosity, were you acting in that role while flying in the L-19, acting as a F.A.C., or performing some other mission?

I had a very unusual Army career in that I started in military intelligence and was a counterintelligence agent (E-6) when in Vietnam. I was later appointed a warrant officer in CI. About half way through my career, I had the opportunity of switching to CID (criminal investigations) and because CI had become a very boring field by then, I jumped at the chance and finished my career in CID. I know of only one other warrant officer who did something similar.

That flight was basically a boondoggle and my taking advantage of an opportunity to get flown around the area to see what it was like. Although never a pilot, I really liked flying. I think I gave the agent in charge of our small unit some story about “area research” or the like, and he probably said, “Yeah, yeah, just don’t get shot down,” and away I went. Counterintelligence agents weren’t supposed to go out in the field and expose themselves to combat dangers, but I was exposed to much more danger in our little compound on several occasions than I was during the unauthorized stuff I weaseled myself into.

So the bus driver there has smoke canisters on his belt/seat set up, to drop out the winder? Or are you supposed to grab and pop those out the side?
Thats way too many to be cheeze-wiz cans.

quote:

Originally posted by dsiets:
So the bus driver there has smoke canisters on his belt to drop out the winder?

Yes, for various purposes, including marking the locations of friendlies and targets for the attack aircraft. More of the latter, though, because people on the ground would usually mark their own positions.
Normally the pilot would have done that because they usually flew by themselves (IIRC—I did not bump anyone for my flight).

Great pics. Thanks for sharing them.

If anyone is wondering about the distorted perspective and curved rifle barrel, it's because the camera lens was a 17mm semi-fisheye (extreme wide angle) that I took for the purpose of getting as much coverage inside the plane as possible. It's one of the few Pentax screw mount lenses I still have from the time, and still use it on occasion.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
I had a very unusual Army career in that I started in military intelligence and was a counterintelligence agent (E-6) when in Vietnam. I was later appointed a warrant officer in CI. About half way through my career, I had the opportunity of switching to CID (criminal investigations) and because CI had become a very boring field by then, I jumped at the chance and finished my career in CID. I know of only one other warrant officer who did something similar.

Ive long surmised that you have had an interesting career, and I'm even more convinced of it now.

Funny that you mention CI becoming boring, as a few months ago I caught an interview with a former Army intelligence officer that crossed over from intelligence to counter intelligence, I seem to recall he spent time with the D.I.A. and, later in his career, with the C.I.A., but he made the comment that, and I'm paraphrasing here, something along the lines that the U.S. used to do CI well, but no longer does.

quote:

That flight was basically a boondoggle and my taking advantage of an opportunity to get flown around the area to see what it was like. Although never a pilot, I really liked flying. I think I gave the agent in charge of our small unit some story about “area research” or the like, and he probably said, “Yeah, yeah, just don’t get shot down,” and away I went. Counterintelligence agents weren’t supposed to go out in the field and expose themselves to combat dangers, but I was exposed to much more danger in our little compound on several occasions than I was during the unauthorized stuff I weaseled myself into.

Well, if you must go into a warzone and face combat conditions, you might as well make the most of it...do a little sight seeing, and figure out where the good guys and bad guys are, and what sorts of terrain and conditions they are facing, and documenting it with photos as well. Good on ya for scoring some air time.

Army counterintelligence changed a lot even in the 10+ years I was an agent, but especially in the years before.

During and after WWII the organization had responsibility for things like hunting down war criminals in Germany and Japan. It was known as CIC (Counterintelligence Corps) at that time and I gather it had an impressive reputation for its power. Then there was the major concern about Soviet spies in West Germany, and some of the latter continued for a significant period. It also had responsibility for investigating “national security” crimes (treason, espionage, sedition, subversion, and sabotage) in the US, but only if committed by Army personnel. And if anything ever turned into a founded case, the FBI was eager to take it over.

When I first joined, a major part of the Army CI mission in the US was the conduct of security clearance background investigations, but it wasn’t too long after that that the Defense Investigative Service was established and its civilians took over most of that mission (and promptly did a slower, less effective job of it, but that’s another tale). By the time of my switch to CID most of what we were doing was related to classified information security, and for a time I worked a night shift checking offices in the Pentagon looking for unlocked safes or unsecured documents: really exciting stuff!

I lost track of what Army CI was doing even within a short time after my switch to CID and have no idea what it’s like now, so I can’t begin to comment about its current missions or responsibilities.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
I had a very unusual Army career in that I started in military intelligence and was a counterintelligence agent (E-6) when in Vietnam. I was later appointed a warrant officer in CI. About half way through my career, I had the opportunity of switching to CID (criminal investigations) and because CI had become a very boring field by then, I jumped at the chance and finished my career in CID. I know of only one other warrant officer who did something similar....

Wait... Are you the wind?

No one has actually seen you leave a thread. One minute you're posting, then your not. Only to show up posting again, without announcement.

(I would like to see leg x-rays...)