(UNTITLED)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78S02149R000100050040-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 12, 2001
• Sequence Number: 40
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2006/10/18: CIA-RDP78S02149R000100050040-0
"ARMY Declass/Release
Instructions On File"
Approved For Release 2006/10/18: CIA-RDP78SO2149R000100050040-0
 Approved For Releas 0 6i1 118: CIA-RDP78S02149R 00100050040-0
"5. The timeliness of response of close air support and reconnaissance
flights to land force requests." (S)
STAG Comment. (TS) A review of MILREPS and SITREPS indicates no
complaints regarding responsiveness of CAS. There have been instances when
the air cover at the beginning of an action has been absent or insufficient,
but aircraft from the immediate support pool have been scrambled to meet the
requirement. The New Focus Committee reported that CAS response time from
request at contact level to delivery is usually within one hour. However,
the average time is thought to be from 20 to-30 minutes. There have been
reported instances where controllers have diverted preplanned aircraft
from one target to meet the immediate and emergency requests from other
units. This however appears normal procedure and certainly the system
cannot be criticized for exercising this flexible control. There are
252 USAF, 159 USN, 98 USMC, and 128 VNA.F aircraft with a primary or
secondary role of CAS. This is a total of 637 aircraft generally avail-
able at any one time. The aircraft are capable of carrying an average
load of 1.9 tons of ordnance on each sortie or a total of 1,2 W tons of
ordnance per day. The average number of attack sorties flown per day in
SVN during the period 1 July to 27 November 1965 was 379 in support of CAS,
interdiction, and armed recce. It must be remembered that some of the
aircraft flying CAS, interdiction and armed recce in SVN are also flying
strike, and armed recce missions in Laos and NVN. For example, in October
there were 6,346 attack, escort, and recce sorties flown over NVN and 1,263
similar sorties flown over Laos or a total of 7,609 sorties flown outside
SVN. This averages 253 sorties daily. The 379 attack sorties flown in
SVN added to 253 sorties per day flown in NVN and Laos equals 632 as com-
pared to an average available aircraft rate of 637.
TQP -SECRET
Approved For Releas0118: CIA-RDP78S02149R000100050040-0