Operation Niagara: Airlifters to the Rescue

By Sam McGowan | Vietnam  | 0 comments  |  Print This Post  |  Email This Post

While the fixed-wing airlift for Khe Sanh resupply was essentially an Air Force show, Marine KC-130 crews did their share. Fuel was the primary cargo for the Marine Herks, largely because they were not equipped with the 463L cargo handling system that allowed the Air Force C-130s to’speed offload’ palletized cargo by simply lowering the aft ramp and taxiing out from under the pallets as they rolled out onto the ground. For a time the Marine transports were actually under the control of the Air Force tactical airlift officer at Da Nang, even to the point that he wrote evaluations of the Marine pilots! Interservice rivalry was not a factor in the Khe Sanh airlift. Since Marine C-130 crews were initially trained by the Air Force, the capabilities of both services were identical — except that Marine pilots were less experienced in assault landings than their Air Force counterparts.

Khe Sanh was completely cut off from all resupply except by air for 77 days. For much of this time, no C-130s landed at the combat base, and there were many days when the smaller C-123s were also unable to land. In late February, Air Force C-130 landings resumed for four days, but they were again suspended when the Air Force mission commander at Khe Sanh predicted that continued landings would soon result in the loss of one of the huge airlifters. With enemy troops as close as 35 yards to the perimeter, the transports were subject to small-arms and artillery fire while on the ground.

Khe Sanh was relieved in early April by 1st Cavalry Division troopers of Operation Pegasus. Such a massive effort had not been seen before in Vietnam and would not be seen again until the Eastertide Offensive of 1972, when Air Force C-130 drops would supply Vietnamese forces at An Loc in the face of anti-aircraft weapons that were more sophisticated than any others used during the American phase of the war.

This article was written by Sam McGowan and originally published in the February 1993 issue of Vietnam Magazine. For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Vietnam Magazine today!

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Airborne Operations, Historical Conflicts, Vietnam War

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