John MacInnis, who grew up as a Canadian citizen in Southern California, volunteered to serve in the US Army. Given the choice between being a helicopter pilot and an air traffic controller, he opted for the latter. He did his Army basic training at Fort Ord, California, earned a stripe, and after a lonely stint in the “alien barracks” waiting for his security clearance was sent to Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi to be trained by the Air Force in air traffic control. After that he was sent to Fort Rucker to practice “setting up the airfield, radar, tower, all that sort of stuff” in the “deepest jungle of North Florida.” Now a specialist 4, MacInnis was at last deployed to the biggest and busiest Army airfield in Vietnam, a place called Long Thanh North. He remembers the VIPs in their Beechcraft King Airs, and the Mohawks of the 73rd Surveillance, and the Army Security Agency folk with their radio relay aircraft, which “looked like porcupines” with all their antennas. He recalls the milk runs, and the scrounging, and the brisk trade that kept the 365th ASD comfortably ensconced with Fosters lager and “hot water heaters, plumbing, indoor facilities.” He also recalls being sent to Hawaii where he “drank a bunch of funny umbrella drinks at Fort DeRussy” and was sworn in as an American citizen, only to return to Vietnam and just barely miss being sent to Khe Sanh for Operation LAM SON 719, “the biggest aviation operation of the war,” because he was granted an early out and sent home Christmas Day, 1970, after enjoying a Bob Hope show because his plane was delayed.
Key Words: Pasadena draft board, Fort Ord, air traffic control, security clearance, Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Mississippi, alien barracks, WOCS (Warrant Officers Candidate School), Fort Rucker, specialist 4, Bearcat, Chinooks, Sky Cranes, Long Thanh North, VIPs, Command Airplane Company, 1st Aviation Brigade, Beechcraft King Airs, Red Carpet, Army Security Agency, 73rd Surveillance, Mohawks, milk run, Australian Air Force Caribou, Canadian citizen, Fort DeRussy, Hawaii, Operation LAM SON 719, Khe Sanh, Dong Ha, Invasion of Laos, 1971: LAM SON 719, Michelin Rubber Plantation, Arc Light, B-52s, BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle), Bob Hope show, GCA (Ground Controlled Approach), ASDs, Airfield Support Detachments, Aussies, Kiwis, Nha Be, Nui Dat, Luscombe Field, OV-10 Broncos, LZ Oasis
Key Names: Creighton Abrams, Robert D. Sander, Jerry Van Steenburgh, Ken Burns, Dr. Victor Westphall, Governor Martinez