Flying Black Ponies: The Navy's Close Air Support Squadron in Vietnam Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the story of Navy Light Attack Squadron Four. It began in the very late 60's and was decommissioned in mid 1972. It's mission was close air support and protection of the US and Viet Namese Navy's riverine forces/brown water navy, including the SEALS. It was started with odd looking but agile light aircraft borrowed from the Marines to fill a mission that jet aircraft and helicopters could not. The Navy had eliminated in the mid 60s the only aircraft that had been able to support these forces on the ground.
It provides historical data with foot notes that makes it valuable for students of the era and scholars. It has interspersed personal information and stories - funny and sad - from the author's recollection, interviews with persons involved, copies and originals of official documents, private letters, scripts and casette recordings done at the time by some of the subjects.
Some of the characters- real people- include the brave and the foolish, the disturbed, the failed, the reborn. One commanding officer is as classical a martinet as any in literature or history.
It reads well and the technical and military allusions always are accompanied by a subtle/parallel plain language description which makes it enjoyable for non-military readers.
For craft and reading pleasure it's remininscent of Flight of the Intruder and Hunt for Red October.

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Foreword by Stephen Coonts. The tragic, the comic, the terrifying, the poignant are all part of the story of the Black Pony pilots who distinguished themselves in the Mekong Delta between 1969 and 1972. Flying their Broncos "down and dirty, low and slow," they destroyed more enemies and saved more allied lives with close-air support than all the other naval squadrons combined during the three years they saw action. Author Kit Lavell was part of this squadron of "black sheep" given a chance to make something of themselves. The U.S. Navy's only land-based attack squadron, Light Attack Squadron Four (VAL-4) flew support missions for the riverine forces, SEALs, and allied units in borrowed, propeller-driven OV-10s. For fixed-wing aircraft they were dangerous, unorthodox missions, a fact readers quickly come to appreciate.After two years of research, Lavell has been able to match many of the air operations to those on the ground and tell the dramatic story from both perspectives. One of several offered in the book is the bringing together of SEAL Barry Enoch, a Navy Cross recipient, and Black Pony pilot Larry Hone, a Distinguished Flying Cross recipient, whose encounter is stunningly described in chapter 14. Lavell also provides vivid scenes of life and love away from combat and gives a concise history of the squadron along with details of its unique use of the OV-10.