Operation Pony Express
| Operation Pony Express | |||||
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| Part of Vietnam War | |||||
 Helicopters and pilots of the 20th SOS at a helicopter base designated Lima Site 20A, June 1969 |
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| Belligerents | |||||
 South Vietnam Thailand
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 North Vietnam
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The Pony Express was the covert transportation of, and the provision of aerial support for, indigenous soldiers and material operating across the Laotian and North Vietnamese borders during the Vietnam War. It was provided by Sikorsky CH-3C helicopters of the US 20th Helicopter Squadron, the only USAF combat helicopter squadron in Vietnam, which had been transferred there in 1965 and was known as the "Pony Express".
The 20th Helicopter Squadron was formed at Eglin AFB, Florida in November 1965 under the command of Lt. Col Lawrence Cummings. Training was provided by the 4401st Helicopter Squadron, under the "PONY EXPRESS" Project. The pilots selected were the most experienced CH-3B/C pilots in the Air Force at the time since the CH-3B/C had been operational with the USAF for a very short period of time. After a month of training and checkout, the Squadron was deployed to South Vietnam in November 1965. The Squadron initially was stationed at Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon. The CH-3C helicopters, which had been disassembled and flown to Viet Nam in C-133 aircraft, were then assembled and readied for duty. The Squadron was split into three flights; one stayed at Tan Son Nhut under the command of Major Richard Burdett. Another flight was sent to Danang Air Base under the command of Major Herbert Zehnder with six CH-3C aircraft. The third flight was assigned to Cam Ranh Bay.
The flight at Da Nang performed several missions in the six months they were located there. One of the missions was to support the Forward Air Controller units at the Kham Duc and Khe Sahn Green Beret bases, which involved carrying 500 gallon fuel cells and Conex boxes of supplies on the cargo sling. The flight performed many general support missions such as retrieving downed Marine H-34 and Huey helicopters from remote sites, slinging fully equipped radio jeeps to hilltop reconnaissance sites; and ferrying wounded soldiers to the hospital at Da Nang or to the Hospital Ship USS Repose which was stationed off the coast of Da Nang. One major mission was to work with the Marines to support Operation Double Eagle by emplacing 105 mm Howitzers at forward firing positions by carrying them on the cargo sling under the aircraft and placing them in position at the forward firing site. One of the Pony pilots was awarded the Silver Star when he was diverted on the way back from Dong Ha to evacuate wounded soldiers from the A Shau Valley which was under attack by heavy mortar and machine gun fire. He escaped ground fire after takeoff by immediately pulling up into the low-lying clouds.
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