| In 1972 - 73 I had the distinct privilege of working with a USAF
Special Operations Wing in South East Asia that flew low, slow
missions over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in obsolete aircraft and
cumbersome helicopters to perform their "Air Commando" function.
Attached to the wing was a squadron of Jolly Green Giant rescue
helicopters who flew their big, slow helicopters into the jaws of
the enemy to rescue fighter pilots who had been shot down. I
personally knew several men who had been awarded the Air Force
Cross, the 2nd highest medal behind the Medal of Honor. The first-generation SA-7 Strella Soviet shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile showed up in SE Asia early in 1972. It caused a great deal of concern among these courageous men. It also caused a fair share of losses among low, slow flying planes and helicopters, including high-performance aircraft on takeoff and landing when they were slow, low and vulnerable. Traffic patterns were changed and security forces were deployed to clear the real estate beyond the ends of the runways. I'm retired now but when I left, we were still worried about MANPADS and clearing the runway ends during increased threat conditions. It would be so easy... Achmed sitting in his beat up car 1/4 mile outside the airbase fence waiting for an F-22 or maybe a C-17 full of troops to takeoff right over his head. He hears it coming, clicks on the battery, gets out of the car and lifts the launcher to his shoulder, gets the acquisition tone and presses the trigger. He could be on the way down the road by the time the wreckage impacts the ground and blows up. Or maybe it's not an airbase and a C-17, it could just as easily be your local airport and the Boeing 767 taking you on vacation... I used to enjoy flying.
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