28 Nov 2002 1st Lt Robert M. Carn was a RED MARKER FAC working with Advisory Det. 162, MACV Advisors, in support of the ARVN Airborne Brigade. Lt. Carn was lost while he was assigned as a Forward Air Controller (FAC) to the Vietnamese Airborne Brigade (soon to become the Airborne Division). This airborne unit was the top high-mobility reaction force in the Vietnamese Armed Forces. US Air Force Forward Air Controllers assigned to the VN Airborne Div were a unique extension of the USAF Air Power doctrine. They served as both Advisors to the Vietnamese and also personally applied Close Air Support (CAS) air strikes against insurgents and other enemy units that threatened the ground forces of the VN Airborne Division. Bob flew the O-1 aircraft using the call sign "Red Marker 3". In late August 1965 the VN Airborne Brigade was airlifted to Nah Trang where they would convoy north along the coast to Highway 21 and then inland through the coastal mountains to the central highlands toward Ban Me Thout. The operation was to open the road and search out Viet Cong main force units that were reported in the area. For 17 days the road was patrolled to protect supply convoys and in expanding small unit sweeps to find VC units. No significant contact was made during the operation. Lt. Carn was inbound to the temporary airstrip built for the Abn Div Headquarters to relieve Red Marker 2, when his O-1F (tail number 56-2530) collided with a Province FAC also doing Visual Reconnaissance in the area. Lt. Carn's O-1 went down. The other aircraft was able to make an emergency landing at the Airborne's small strip. Visit the Red Marker FAC site J. S. Granducci, II a fellow Red Marker FAC joegtoo@aol.com

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