Word: fac
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...FAC Marks the Spot. The techniques of "prestrike" and "reconnaissance by fire" worry Westmoreland most. A pre-strike by artillery or air is often essential to weaken possible V.C. resistance in areas where helicopters are about to land a load of troops. But its random nature makes it dangerous near villages. Artillery is especially feared-and hated-by villagers. Most peasants have long since built bomb shelters near their huts, and the sound of approaching bombers or helicopters provides time for civilians to scramble into them. But an artillery shell's whine gives warning only when...
...rate of 450 sorties a day, they are hardly indiscriminate. Normally, a strike begins with the request of a Vietnamese province chief, whose Vietnamese divisional commander must approve. Tactical Air Control centers in Saigon or Danang send out the planes, which are preceded to the target by a FAC (Forward Air Controller) plane. FAC marks the exact target with a smoke rocket, and the attackers then "hit the smoke," usually with remarkable accuracy...
...which is why Westmoreland last week tightened the leash on his weaponry still further with another memorandum demanding greater caution. Hard on its heels came an Air Force decree tightening control over some 200 "free-strike zones" at which pilots had been free to blast away at will. Henceforth FAC planes will patrol each of the known Viet Cong zones, pinpoint strikes within them as in the rest of South Viet Nam. A B-52 raid originally planned for the big allied sweep of the Ben Cat area fortnight ago (TIME, Sept. 24) was canceled on the outside chance that...
...been a hot jet pilot in Korea, had flown more than 100 missions and won the Distinguished Flying Cross. But his assignment in Viet Nam to the low-level chore of winkling out Viet Cong did not dim his enthusiasm. On the contrary, Mac made himself the most celebrated "Fac" in South Viet...
...McAllister took off in his single-engine L-19, climbing steeply as always. The plane reached approximately 300 ft. of altitude. Then -possibly as a result of damage from antiaircraft fire-it went out of control and crashed. Mac the Fac was instantly killed...