Cessna O-2B Skymaster "Commando 2"
By 1966, the Vietnam War was in full swing, and the USAF was noting the alarming rise in losses among its Forward Air Control (FAC) community, at that time flying mostly Cessna O-1 Bird Dogs. The O-1 was a good FAC platform, but single engined; the FAC role required low and slow flight, making it vulnerable to ground fire. The USAF’s requirement for an “off-the-shelf” interim replacement for the O-1, which would retain the O-1’s good visibility from the cockpit and have better survivalbility, was suited well by Cessna’s Model 337 Skymaster. The Model 337 used a unique “push-pull” twin engine setup, which had better performance and reliability than a single-engined aircraft, but did not require twin-engined certification to fly. The USAF immediately ordered 532 Skymasters as O-2A FAC aircraft and loudspeaker-equipped O-2B psychological warfare aircraft, with the first reaching USAF units in March 1967.
The O-2, nicknamed “Oscar Deuce” or “Duck” by its pilots, proved to be an excellent FAC platform, even if the twin-engined reliability was thought by its pilots to be oversold—the only thing that handled worse than an O-2 on one engine, the saying went, was an O-2 with no engines. Using marker rockets on underwing hardpoints, FAC O-2s would mark a target for USAF or South Vietnamese strike aircraft to attack VC/NVA positions in the dense jungle and mountains of South Vietnam, and occasionally Laos or even the southern portion of North Vietnam. FAC pilots were known to make strafing runs or salvo their rockets into attacking enemy troops if the situation on the ground was desperate, and some O-2 pilots even equipped their aircraft with side-firing machine guns to act as “emergency gunships,” though the USAF discouraged this activity. The FAC role was dangerous enough: 178 O-2s were lost during the Vietnam War, nearly one out of every five the USAF acquired. As it turned out, the O-2 was at least as effective as its scheduled replacement, the OV-10 Bronco, and its involvement in Vietnam ended only when American involvement did in 1973.
Following the Vietnam War, the O-2 remained in service as a FAC, though it was gradually relegated to liaison duties with Air National Guard units as the OV-10 and jet-powered OA-37B Dragonfly replaced it. The Skymaster was finally retired from USAF service around 1986, but several remained in service with the US Army as test aircraft and the US Navy as range safety aircraft for the strike training program. The last O-2 left US service in 2010. Many ex-USAF aircraft were supplied to other nations as liasion or counterinsurgency aircraft, or in Africa, anti-poaching aircraft.
67-1465 was converted to an O-2B on the assembly line, one of only 31 B-models produced. It was delivered to the 14th Special Operations Wing at Nha Trang, South Vietnam in 1967, and would take part in psychological warfare missions until 1972, when it was returned to the United States. 67-1465 was then placed in storage at MASDC, but in 1973, was returned to duty as a standard O-2A FAC aircraft with the 111th Tactical Air Support Group (Pennsylvania ANG) at NAS Willow Grove. In 1975, it was transferred to the 163rd TASG (California ANG) at March AFB, and would finish its career there in 1982. 67-1465 had been flown nearly to pieces: metal fatigue grounded the aircraft. It would remain in storage until 2000: as a Vietnam veteran, it was slated for preservation, and obtained by the March Air Museum.
When 67-1465 went on display at March, it was painted as it appeared in the 163rd, but recently it was repainted to its Vietnam-era markings. This nonstandard camouflage--similar to Southeast Asia, but incorporating dark gray--was one of several tried by the O-2 community during the war, but aside from the nighttime Sleepytime FACs, overall ADC Gray was the most common scheme used. Camouflage did nothing to hide the O-2 from ground fire, but it did hide it from strikes the FAC was controlling, increasing the possibility of collision.
I'm a big O-2 fan, so I was pretty excited to see two of them on display at March when we visited in May 2021.
Cessna O-2B Skymaster "Commando 2"
By 1966, the Vietnam War was in full swing, and the USAF was noting the alarming rise in losses among its Forward Air Control (FAC) community, at that time flying mostly Cessna O-1 Bird Dogs. The O-1 was a good FAC platform, but single engined; the FAC role required low and slow flight, making it vulnerable to ground fire. The USAF’s requirement for an “off-the-shelf” interim replacement for the O-1, which would retain the O-1’s good visibility from the cockpit and have better survivalbility, was suited well by Cessna’s Model 337 Skymaster. The Model 337 used a unique “push-pull” twin engine setup, which had better performance and reliability than a single-engined aircraft, but did not require twin-engined certification to fly. The USAF immediately ordered 532 Skymasters as O-2A FAC aircraft and loudspeaker-equipped O-2B psychological warfare aircraft, with the first reaching USAF units in March 1967.
The O-2, nicknamed “Oscar Deuce” or “Duck” by its pilots, proved to be an excellent FAC platform, even if the twin-engined reliability was thought by its pilots to be oversold—the only thing that handled worse than an O-2 on one engine, the saying went, was an O-2 with no engines. Using marker rockets on underwing hardpoints, FAC O-2s would mark a target for USAF or South Vietnamese strike aircraft to attack VC/NVA positions in the dense jungle and mountains of South Vietnam, and occasionally Laos or even the southern portion of North Vietnam. FAC pilots were known to make strafing runs or salvo their rockets into attacking enemy troops if the situation on the ground was desperate, and some O-2 pilots even equipped their aircraft with side-firing machine guns to act as “emergency gunships,” though the USAF discouraged this activity. The FAC role was dangerous enough: 178 O-2s were lost during the Vietnam War, nearly one out of every five the USAF acquired. As it turned out, the O-2 was at least as effective as its scheduled replacement, the OV-10 Bronco, and its involvement in Vietnam ended only when American involvement did in 1973.
Following the Vietnam War, the O-2 remained in service as a FAC, though it was gradually relegated to liaison duties with Air National Guard units as the OV-10 and jet-powered OA-37B Dragonfly replaced it. The Skymaster was finally retired from USAF service around 1986, but several remained in service with the US Army as test aircraft and the US Navy as range safety aircraft for the strike training program. The last O-2 left US service in 2010. Many ex-USAF aircraft were supplied to other nations as liasion or counterinsurgency aircraft, or in Africa, anti-poaching aircraft.
67-1465 was converted to an O-2B on the assembly line, one of only 31 B-models produced. It was delivered to the 14th Special Operations Wing at Nha Trang, South Vietnam in 1967, and would take part in psychological warfare missions until 1972, when it was returned to the United States. 67-1465 was then placed in storage at MASDC, but in 1973, was returned to duty as a standard O-2A FAC aircraft with the 111th Tactical Air Support Group (Pennsylvania ANG) at NAS Willow Grove. In 1975, it was transferred to the 163rd TASG (California ANG) at March AFB, and would finish its career there in 1982. 67-1465 had been flown nearly to pieces: metal fatigue grounded the aircraft. It would remain in storage until 2000: as a Vietnam veteran, it was slated for preservation, and obtained by the March Air Museum.
When 67-1465 went on display at March, it was painted as it appeared in the 163rd, but recently it was repainted to its Vietnam-era markings. This nonstandard camouflage--similar to Southeast Asia, but incorporating dark gray--was one of several tried by the O-2 community during the war, but aside from the nighttime Sleepytime FACs, overall ADC Gray was the most common scheme used. Camouflage did nothing to hide the O-2 from ground fire, but it did hide it from strikes the FAC was controlling, increasing the possibility of collision.
I'm a big O-2 fan, so I was pretty excited to see two of them on display at March when we visited in May 2021.