Central Front: Forward Air Controllers At War Part I

In World War III USAF Forward Air Controllers proved to be invaluable assets to US and allied ground forces on the Central Front. Whether in the air or on the ground FACs were responsible for coordinating close air support. There were several instances where the presence of an FAC meant the difference between whether a unit lived or died, or if a line held or broke. These men were all USAF combat pilots either on assignment as FACs when the war started or pressed into service as replacements when casualties required. And FAC casualties were exceptionally heavy in the first eleven days of the war.

Not very long following first contact between NATO and Warsaw Pact ground forces on the morning of D+0 FACs were at work. FAC-As (Forward Air Controller-Air) took to the air from Sembach Airbase and dispersal airfields around the CENTAG and NORTHAG regions. Then they headed east towards the forward edge of the battle area. At this point the air war was less than six hours old, and the skies were crammed with MiGs and NATO fighters. OV-10 Broncos descended to almost dangerously low altitudes in an effort to avoid enemy fighters. The move provided decent protection. However, as the aircraft carrying FAC-As approached the battles taking place near the Inner-German Border, Soviet ground-based air defenses joined the fray. Zeus guns, mobile SAMs and their hand-held counterparts opened up, laying thick patterns of defensive fire above the advancing Soviet tank columns. For their counterparts on the ground, (FAC-Gs) the danger facing them was no less severe.

Captain Parker Rawley USAF, a native of Henderson, Nevada was the first FAC to fall in the Third World War. He was killed in the covering force battle while acting as the air controller for 1^st Squadron, 11^th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Thirteen minutes later, the first FAC-A met his maker. Major Oliver Dampier perished when the OV-10 he was flying in received heavy damage from a ZSU-23-4 near the West German-Czech frontier. By the conclusion of D+0 Dampier and Rawley would be joined by another seven of their FAC brothers. Yet as difficult as the first day of the war was for the forward air controllers, the next forty-eight hours would be even more arduous and challenging.

Author’s Note: Slight change here. Instead of putting the FAC posts in between the book reviews I decided to post Part I of the FAC entry now since it will be done in 2 parts. Part II of The Next War review will be posted on Tuesday or Wednesday, then the FAC entry will be concluded by the end of the week. Since Wednesday is 1 May, I might put a schedule up for entries in the first 3 weeks of the coming month.