VMA-223’s arrival in December had brought the total number of Marine A-4 squadrons that had seen action to date to six. Since other aircraft were now using Chu Lai, the maximum number of A-4 squadrons allowed at the base at any one time was set at four–a rule enforced until 1970.

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A series of bloody firefights in the A Shau Valley area in March 1966 claimed the first VMA-311 pilot to be lost in action. First Lieutenant Augusto “Gus” M. Xavier, who was attacking targets in mountainous terrain in the predawn darkness of March 19, failed to pull out of a strafing run. Xavier’s aircraft was one of two Skyhawks lost during an intensive operation to rescue American and South Vietnamese garrison troops cut off by superior enemy forces. A Shau remained North Vietnamese territory and was a hot combat zone very familiar to the Marine A-4 pilots.

Skyhawks were hit by enemy fire on numerous occasions, and many managed to return to base–testimony to both the pilots’ skill and the strength of the A-4’s airframe. Accidents, an occupational hazard of operational flying, were kept well within reasonable limits. All the Chu Lai A-4 squadrons accumulated impressive records for flight safety. Chu Lai’s catapult system became operational on May 14, 1966. Powered by two General Electric J79 jet engines, the base catapult was able to launch Skyhawks on either north or south runway headings. Everyone who had operated out of Chu Lai had remarked on the base’s similarity to a carrier deck–and now the catapult and the arresting gear reinforced that perception.

Operation Hastings in July 1966 represented the largest Marine Corps operation to date, with the Tomcats providing support for actions against the 324th North Vietnamese Infantry Division. By August, the squadrons had chalked up 7,000 combat sorties, with the average pilot logging between 600 and 700 combat flying hours a month.

One VMA-311 pilot, 1st Lt. Thomas H. Hawking, was killed during a rescue attempt on September 6. Having ejected from his A-4 after hitting trees during a bombing run, Hawking grabbed a line trailed by a UH-1, but as the Huey climbed, the pilot fell to his death.

On September 21, the enemy carried out a mortar attack on Chu Lai, wounding some of VMA-223’s personnel. But despite the attentions of the enemy, the base had become invaluable to the Marines, and its facilities were continually improved.

A 10,000-foot concrete runway (which became known as Chu Lai West), plus aircraft hardstands and taxiways, were completed by October 1966. That December, the VMA-121 “Green Knights” became the seventh and last Marine A-4 unit to fly Vietnam combat missions. This squadron had been the first to deploy Marine Skyhawks over Southeast Asia when it operated briefly from Ubon, Thailand, in 1962 to help thwart a possible anti-government coup. No threat had materialized, and VMA-121 had returned home without firing a shot.

On February 3, 1967, the Bulldogs set a one-day, 59-sortie record for the Skyhawk, during which the squadron continued to fly a mix of A-4Cs and A-4Es. Along with the other A-4 squadrons, VMA-223 also flew close air support sorties during Operation Double Eagle in February and Operation Utah in March. The Bulldog pilots were rapidly becoming veterans, and their commanding officer, Lt. Col. Robert B. Sinclair, was congratulated for flying the squadron’s 10,000th accident-free hour.

In addition to having considerable success with radar bombing, Marine A-4 pilots worked with Air Force forward air controllers and used their own tactical air coordinator aircraft, which as of 1967 were two-seat TA-4Fs. Retaining the two-cannon armament and similar stores delivery capability of the single seaters, the TA-4F dual-control trainer also generally duplicated the combat models’ avionics fit, making for ease of maintenance. The TA-4F was flown by Headquarters & Maintenance Squadrons (H&MS) 12 and 13 at Chu Lai, and H&MS-11 at Da Nang.

Tactical air control increasingly passed to jet aircraft during the war. However, the Cessna O-1E Bird Dog is probably most popularly associated with that role in Vietnam. It took a lot to impress the lightplane pilots, who risked their necks for nothing if the targets they marked were not hit hard.

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