The first AC-47 squadron, the 4th Air Commando Squadron, deployed to Tan Son Nhut from Forbes Air Force Base on November 14, 1965, with two production AC47s and three interim .30-caliber conversions. Seventh Air Force Order No. 411-65 gave the 4th ACS the mission to ' . . respond with flares and firepower in support of hamlets under night attack, supplement strike aircraft in the defense of friendly forces, and provide long endurance escort for convoys.' The 4th ACS performed all of these tasks with exceptional panache.

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As its number of aircraft and crews increased, the 4th ACS forward-deployed planes to Nha Trang, Da Nang, Pleiku, Bien Hoa and Binh Thuy. The flight at Nha Trang became part of the 14th Special Operations Wing, fondly known as The Antique Wing because all of its aircraft were propeller driven. For the remainder of 1965, the gunships flew 277 combat missions, fired 137,136 rounds and 2,548 flares, and killed an estimated 105 VC in Vietnam and Laos. During this start-up period, the new unit lost only two planes, one to ground fire on December 17 while en route to Phan Rang from Tan Son Nhut and the other on Christmas Eve in Laos.

Shortly after the 4th ACS began deploying its aircraft, it christened the gunships with the lasting name 'Spooky.' How this occurred remains a topic of debate, but two versions of the story have survived. The first involved the mundane procedure for providing a call sign for new aircraft. During a conversation between 7th Air Force headquarters and the 4th ACD, two fighter pilots overheard the discussion and reportedly remarked, 'What! Give that damned spooky Gooney Bird a tactical call sign?' To this, 7th Air Force replied, 'Okay, 'Spooky' it is!' A second version says Spooky was derived from the plane's night missions and unusual camouflage pattern that featured a flat black underside and conventional two-tone green and tan paint elsewhere. Whether Spooky thus came from indignant fighter jocks or simply from its unusual appearance and mission is left for the reader to decide, although the first is certainly more enthralling.

By the beginning of 1966, Spooky was cutting its teeth on a wide front. On January 8, pilots proved they could control their fire when they suppressed a VC .50-caliber machine gun and halted an attack on a hamlet in Phy Yen Provincc that had reached to within 100 meters of the defenders. On the same day, a Spooky sank an enemy junk along the southern coast. In June, the anti-ship role was repeated when an AC-47 assisted the US. Coast Guard cutter Point League by subduing guns on both a steel supply ship and ashore. The vessel was found to contain 7,000 weapons.

Gunship operations also expanded into Thailand and Laos, first with the unsuccessful defense of Air America Site 36 in northern Laos in January. On February 25, four Spookys arrived at Udorn Air Base for a 179-day tour before they relocated to the larger airfield at Ubon in April. While in Thailand and Laos, the gunships averaged two sorties per night flying armed reconnaissance and interdiction over the Ho Chi Minh trail alone and with other strike aircraft.

As the year progressed, Laos-based Spookys ran into heavier antiaircraft fire along the trail coming from 37mm and 57mm batteries, some of which were radar guided. As a result, the squadron was withdrawn back to Vietnam in August 1966 after losing six aircraft. A-26s and B-57s replaced the AC-47s until AC-130 Spectres arrived late the following year.

In Vietnam, the gunships continued to prove their effectiveness. In April, Spooky 23 helped defend Special Forces Detachment 41's base camp near the Cambodian border. Despite heavy antiaircraft fire due to the close proximity to the border, the AC-47 stemmed the attack and was credited with 168 kills and with preventing the base being overrun. On July 15, during a VC attack on an RVN outpost in Phong Ding Province, a guerrilla loudspeaker announced 'We are not afraid of your firepower.' Four Spookys accepted the challenge, dropping flares and firing 48,800 rounds before two F-lOOs arrived on the scene with napalm. The attack ceased.

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