All 20 of VMA-311’s aircraft had arrived at Chu Lai by June 16 to begin an intensive period of operations. On June 23, Stender was gratified to receive a message from the U.S. Air Force 2nd Air Division, which directed the majority of fixed-wing airstrikes throughout the country. It cited VMA-311 for “the finest close air support we have ever seen.”

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Any achievement by the Marine fliers was often in spite of the facilities at Chu Lai. The runway demanded constant repair and shoring up to prevent the aluminum planking from sinking into the sandy subsoil. While the tactical airport concept worked well enough, the sheer pace of Southeast Asian air operations kept the maintenance teams very busy.

Vietnam’s inclement weather necessitated the use of electronic systems designed to outsmart this natural enemy. Among those used by the A-4 was the General Electric AN/TPQ-10 precision radar, which facilitated night and bad-weather ordnance delivery. Directed by a ground controller, the pilot made his target run-in, set the bomb sequencing switch and put the aircraft into “altitude hold” mode on autopilot. No visual reference point was required on his part, and the computerized system was able to initiate directional changes automatically. It released the ordnance at the correct altitude and time via radio signals received by the A-4’s onboard computer.

With the A-4Cs of VMA-225 and the A-4Es of VMA-311 in place at Chu Lai, MAG-12 added a third Skyhawk combat unit, VMA-214 “Black Sheep,” before the end of June 1965. Such was the rapid buildup of American forces in South Vietnam. Also flying the A-4C, VMA-214 had a front-line establishment of 20 aircraft, as did the other squadrons.

As the Vietnam ground war increased in intensity, the Marine A-4 squadrons began piling up a high number of mission credits. The targets were only a few minutes’ flying time away from their base, hence pilots could fly multiple sorties in a single day. It became routine to reckon sortie totals by the thousands. The continual proximity of enemy troops to U.S. air bases occasionally resulted in A-4s dropping their ordnance almost before the pilots had retracted their wheels.

North Vietnamese forces made numerous attempts to destroy or damage U.S. aircraft at their bases. Chu Lai was attacked on several occasions. During Operation Starlite in August 1965, the Skyhawks successfully flew to protect both their own ground troops and their base.

MAG-12 increased its total A-4 assets to about 80 aircraft by the fall of 1965 with the arrival in mid-October of VMA-211, the famed “Wake Island Avengers.” That name recalled the squadron’s Pacific combat record during WWII. As not to stretch Chu Lai’s facilities too far, A-4 squadrons were regularly rotated back to Japan as others came in to fly combat tours. VMA-224 “Bengals” had arrived in October, to be followed by VMA-223 “Bulldogs” in December. Pilots were immediately thrown in to support Operation Harvest Moon, a joint American­South Vietnamese sweep between Da Nang and Chu Lai. Completed on December 20, the operation required extensive air cover, and at the end of it, VMA-223 considered itself duly bloodied.

On December 29, 1965, VMA-211 lost 1st Lt. Thomas F. Eldridge, whose A-4E was hit by .50-caliber fire as he rolled in on enemy positions during a helicopter escort. Despite a leg wound, Eldridge was able to drop his load of napalm and turn for base. Unfortunately, he was killed when his crippled craft crashed 13 miles from Chu Lai.

January’s rains undermined Chu Lai’s runway, but air operations continued with the aid of JATO and the arrested-landing system that had since been installed. An adaptation of the carrier arrester-wire system, the arrested-landing system could stop a landing Skyhawk in 600 feet. It quickly proved its usefulness, as did other naval aircraft arrester systems used for land bases. All Marine A-4s retained their tail hooks so they could use this landing system. Numerous pilots were saved when they returned home with bullet-riddled A-4s that possibly had damaged hydraulics and were consequently at risk of a belly landing or a runway overrun.

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