16th Special Operations Squadron
at Ubon RAFB, Thailand
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Just a brief note...The history given below is from July 1971-July of 1972, the time
Lang was stationed with the 16th Special Operations Squadron. There were several
types of modified AC-130 s used at Ubon, most of the Gunship information here is
referring to the A model. It is my hope to add another page at some time with a more
complete history of the Squadron and the AC-130 Gunships.
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You are listening to an actual recording of a Spectre mission courtesy of John Schrawder
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After completing his AC-130 Gunship training at Lackbourne AFB, Ohio, Lang is assigned to the 16th Special
Operations Squadron at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand, in July of 1971 Click here to see Lang's TDY to
Ubon. The primary mission of the Spectre Gunships was to fly routes in Cambodia, Laos along the Ho Chi Minh Trail,
destroying supply trucks, filled with weapons and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops. A secondary, but very
important, mission of Spectre was flying in support of friendly troops who were in contact with the enemy (TICs).
The Gunships were heavily armed with two 20mm Vulcans ,and two 40mm Bofors cannons as well as state-of-the-art
technology. Advanced electronic sensors like Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR), which detects heat, and the Low Light
Level TV (LLLTV) which intensifies the light of the moon, made their night missions highly effective. So much so, that
the North Vietnamese were motivated to mount extreme efforts by adding sophisticated AAA weapons on the Ho Chi
Minh trail, setting up Ambushes and even attacking Ubon Air Force Base several times in an effort to destroy these
"killer" planes.
Shortly after arriving, Lang completes his flight checks and begins regular flight duties primarily on the AC-130a model
Gunship. In October 1971, he writes home that he will be put on a "Special Crew" (members and Number still unknown).
A second plane 69-571 (call sign Spectre 22) was shot down on the following night
March 30, 1972. Thankfully, after one of the largest rescue efforts of the entire war,
called the Easter Egg Hunt , all crew members were recovered. Watch the amazing
rescue footage here. The Jolly Green website also has an excellent account of this
rescue.
After the loss of two Gunships in two days, Lang began to "feel the burn" of the
constant stress of flying. He wrote home that he was given 11 days leave to
Patteya beach, sometime near the end of April.
This wife flew out to meet her
husband for R & R
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June 18,1972, Spectre (call sign ?)
55-0043, was shot down by a SA-7 SAM ,
killing his roommate Paul Gilbert and 11
of the crew members. My father often
told me about how his roommate had
been the pilot of this aircraft and how,
after the plane had been hit, Paul
bravely held the plane so that some of
the men could bail out, before the plane
crashed over the Ashaun Valley. The
Plane was still level when it exploded.
Paul Gilbert in the pilot's seat
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There is a question as to just how many men were able to get out, but there were 3 men rescued, and several beepers
heard that night. Lang said " The IO had been a sky diver. When the plane was hit he grabbed a chute, as he was blown
off the ramp and out of the aircraft. He put the chute on in the air as he was falling. When he was recovered from the
jungle the only injury was a little rope burn on the side of his neck."
Lang returned to Langley AFB, Virginia in July 1972, married his fiancé, Linda, and tried to resume his life,but he could
never forget his year with the Spectre in Thailand and the men he met there. It was one of the high point of his Air Force
career.
Thank you to the Crew Chiefs,
Tom Combs and John
Schrawder, who have been so
helpful, especially with their
expert knowledge of the
Spectre gunships.
Tom Combs pictured with
Spectre Gunship 55-0044
SPECTRE IN THE NEWS
Courtesy of
John Schrawder
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Does anyone remember a beer slip'n'slide?
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These photographs came to me without any
information. I would look at them and wonder. . .
I would like to thank everyone who has helped
me in my search. It has been a real honor for me
to correspond with so many veterans.
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I must also thank all of members of the Spectre Association at Yahoo groups Those who helped me out, know who
you are. With your help I have been able to find out so much more than I ever thought I would, I truly thank everyone.
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Click on the Link to see some of Lang's Original Military Documents.
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The Links to other people's Web sites that I have found helpful
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The Spectre AC-130a
gunship at Ubon.
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Lang's view in the booth,
navigator's panel
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Metzger Memorials
20mm Cannons
40mm Bofors
"THE FABULOUS FOUR ENGINE FIGHTERS"
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"GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY"
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Phantom Flyer: 55-0044 battle damage
News paper courtesy of Ron Girard
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Stars and Stripes: Shoot down of 55-0044
Self portrait of Lang in Ubon
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Lang is most remembered at Ubon as being tall and quiet. He was
someone who would smoke a pipe and read his book. He lived in the
same Hootch as John Johnson and shared a room with Paul Gilbert.
He was always very professional when it came to flying.
A flight attendant from one
of the European Airlines ?
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News paper courtesy of Ron Girard
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Dale Osborn was the
owner of the Ape and
has been hearing
"urban legend"
stories concerning
the Ape for 30 years;
most of the stories
came from people
who didn't know Dale
or Major Ape and,
therefore, didn't
know the "real story".
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Rich Ammons giving Gib N. Ape a drink
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The Hootches, as they were called, served as Base housing. On evenings when they didn't have to fly, men would
sometimes sit out on the porches.
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Satan's Angels
433th TAC, FTR SQ.
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Lang Metzger took
these Pictures while
he was stationed at
Ubon Air Force Base,
Thailand. July of
1971 - June of 1972.
The Spectre Gunship 55-0044, named Prometheus would become a major casualty in
the middle of November 1971. About 40 minutes from the Ubon,AB, the plane had it's
3rd prop shot off when it was hit by AAA fire, it spun off taking the 4th prop with it. This
forced the crew to make a two engine landing on the run way. After repair by
maintenance, Prometheus was ready to fly once again.
The North Vietnamese Army (NVA) begins to gear up for what would later be called the
Easter Offensive...Lang wrote home of the increase in traffic on the trail, of how they
are all so tired, flying with very little time off and every time they flew, they were under
enemy AAA fire.
Lang received a Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for participating as an AC-130
Gunship Navigator over Laos on January 23, 1972. The Certificate reads, "his actions
lead to the damage or destruction of 11 hostile supply trucks and the ignition of 35
secondary fires and explosions. Putting aside his concern for personal safety in the
face of 1310 rounds of hostile anti-aircraft fire, he succeeded in destroying large
amounts of supplies and munitions destined for use against friendly forces."
In February of 1972, Lang competed his upgrade to Instructor. Then he went on leave
to Japan, visited with his brother and saw the Olympics with a Dale Smith?( unknown).
He wrote home that "it was great to relax..." but Lang would not stay relaxed for long...
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March proved to be a bad
month for the Squadron. In the
first week, Gunship 509, took
multiple 57MM hits, one hitting
the seat of the flight engineer,
Gary Chandler,sending shrapnel
all over the booth and injuring
its occupants. The injured
Gunship manages to fly back to
Ubon, were it is met by the
maintenance and the Medics.
Then Prometheus (call sign Spectre 13) was shot down by SA-2 SAM over Tchepone, Laos on March 29,1972; none of
the crew members were recovered. I assume that some of these men were part of Lang's crew,as he wrote home
about the loss of his pilot and copilot who he flew with regularly. There is also the story my father told about how he
had been scheduled to fly on two different missions on the same night. Not be able to fly on both planes at the same
time, the commander of one of the planes wanted Lang fly on his aircraft. Another young navigator, who was
scheduled to go home soon, volunteered to fly on the second flight, which was lost that night along with it's crew.
