Operation Waterpump

Project Waterpump (alternately, Operation Waterpump, or simply Waterpump) was a secretive support operation by the U.S. Air Force to train and nurture into existence the Royal Lao Air Force (RLAF). The United States had decided to covertly support the Kingdom of Laos in the Laotian Civil War as the Lao fended off a North Vietnamese invasion. The nascent RLAF was seen as a force multiplier but needed pilots and technicians. The 40-man Detachment 6, 1st Air Commando Wing, code named Waterpump, was forwarded to Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base for this training duty in March 1964. They would remain on duty through the truce of 21 February 1973. Their first hasty assignment was transition training to the T-28 Trojan for American civilian pilots; the resulting A Team would exist through 1967. The Air Commandos also conducted final training for Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) mercenary pilots; the resultant B Team would serve until 1970. Besides putting a polish on graduate pilots, the Waterpump detachment trained Lao pilots from scratch. The RLAF's high pilot casualty rate made bringing the RLAF rosters up to strength a long grind.

Waterpump grew beyond its original training mission. From 19–29 July 1964, some Air Commandos were smuggled into Laos as an improvised Tactical Air Control Party for Operation Triangle. The success of the endeavor led to a forward air control system being set up for the war's duration. Some Waterpump personnel were later infiltrated into Laos to help staff regional Air Operation Centers. With Waterpump help, by war's end the RLAF had grown from 20 to 75 T-28 strike aircraft; it also operated ten AC-47 gunships and 71 support aircraft.

Background

As the United States government began supporting the French effort in the First Indochina War, it needed a secretive organization to support the Royal Lao Government (RLG) and its armed forces in its fight against North Vietnamese invaders. The purportedly civilian Programs Evaluation Office (PEO) sprang into being in December 1955 to offset a communist insurgency. It would be superseded by the Requirements Office (RO) during President John F. Kennedy's term of office. Thus, when the decision was made to train up and improve the Royal Lao Air Force (RLAF) to help prosecute the Laotian Civil War, the precedent had been set for covert support of the mission.

Activities

On 6 December 1963, Commander in Chief Pacific recommended that counterinsurgency experts from the Special Air Warfare Center at Eglin Air Force Base be detailed to aid the Royal Lao Air Force. On 5 March 1964, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara approved deployment of Detachment 6, 1st Air Commando Wing on six month temporary duty to Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base. It was an all-volunteer unit; most of the men already had similar experience serving in Vietnam with Operation Farmgate. Codenamed variously Project or Operation Waterpump, or simply Waterpump, Detachment 6 was attached to 2nd Air Division in Saigon. It carried out training specified by Deputy Chief, Joint United States Military Advisory Group, Thailand (DEPCHIEFJUSTMAGTHAI). However, because the Ambassador controlled all U.S. military activities in Laos, reality said the Air Commandos answered to him.

Major Drexel B. "Barney" Cochran headed a 40-man detachment; it was equipped with four AT-28D Trojans for training purposes. It was decided that the T-28s would be unmarked unless it was necessary to use either Lao or Thai insignia. The detachment was assigned primarily to train pilots for the Royal Lao Air Force. Although the RLAF had 20 T-28s, 13 Douglas C-47s, and eight light aircraft, it had only 23 pilots of disparate but low skill levels. In a desperate quest to fill seats in T-28 cockpits, the Air Commandos immediately began to train civilian pilots from Air America and Thai mercenaries. The civilian pilots would become known as the A Team of the RLAF. The Thai pilots were dubbed the B Team, and would fly under call sign Firefly; they signed on to fly 100 combat missions in six months.Haas, pp. 180 – 189.

Ambassador Leonard Unger approved his Programs Evaluation Office turning over bombs to the RLAF on 17 May. He also requested additional T-28s for the RLAF. Major Cochran forwarded the four Waterpump T-28s to Vientiane on the 18th; Thao Ma and his wingmen flew 12 combat sorties that afternoon. That same day, Unger urged his superiors in Washington, DC to approve use of American pilots in T-28s. Three days later, ten replacement T-28s arrived at Waterpump, forwarded from the Republic of Vietnam Air Force as excess to their needs. Approval also came through from Washington allowing use of American pilots. As some Air America pilots were ex-military fighter pilots, they were already highly experienced. On 25 May 1964, after a week's familiarization training with the T-28, five Air America pilots flew their first combat mission, but to little effect except bullet holes in two of the planes. Ambassador Unger witnessed the battle damage and decided use of American pilots had to be restricted to emergency situations.

Thereafter, use of the A Team was always highly selective because of the potential international media sensation if an American fell into communist hands. However, in the absence of any other combat search and rescue capabilities, the A Team covered pilot retrieval efforts in Laos. The Thai B Team offered certain advantages; the Thai and Lao languages being mutually understandable helped considerably. Then too, the Thais being paid directly by Americans made them amenable to command. In the first year of Waterpump, 23 B Team pilots served in the RLAF. Amidst all this, Water Pump also began to train Lao pilots.Anthony, Sexton, pp. 100–101.

Some Air Commandos now began to infiltrate Laos. In May 1964, two formed a skeletal Air Operations Center

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