Troy Knight - HAVOC-06: A Combat Controller on Operations

CONTENTS

Copyright Troy Knight

First published 2021

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Cover design and typesetting: Think Productions

Title: HAVOC-06, A Combat Controller on Operations
ISBN: 9781922615657

HAVOC-06

A Combat Controller on Operations

Troy Knight

With Brooke Strahan

HAVOC-06

A Combat Controller on Operations

Troy Knight

With Brooke Strahan

POSTSCRIPT

4SQN: The Origins

To take some time away from these war stories, I feel it is important to discuss where 4 Squadron (4SQN) or Australian Air Force First Special Operations Airmen originated.

I use the term airman as a generic term. Maybe I should use todays term or catchphrase, aviator. Selection for the combat control team is open to anyone serving and I have no doubt it is only a matter of time until we see women serving amongst the selected ranks of combat control.

The unit has evolved over time into its current form. It certainly didnt always look like how it does now. 4 Squadron has an amazing history, dating back to World War I. They were the first Australian aviation unit to specialise in air-to-ground bombing. They utilised the Sopworth Camel to the World War II Australian Boomerang fighter, before moving onto the Kitty Hawk. Enough, however, of the boring history lesson, lets get to the real story.

77 Squadron (77SQN) became home to the ADFs forward air control-variant PC-9 in the late Nineties. The move tightly embedded the forward air control capability more within the operational elements of the tactical fighter group and saw 77SQN reorganise to incorporate the new forward air control flight, denoted C Flight, 77SQN (CFLT).

The unit utilised the new PC-9 with C Flight-fulfilling missions, such as training army personnel as air combat officers, ground forward air controllers and helicopter foward air controls conducted from the Kiowa in anticipation of the ARH Tiger acquisition. Training Air Force fast-jet aircrew as fast forward air controls (generally conducted from the classic Hornet). Maintaining and developing the legacy slow fixed-wing forward air control capability and supporting close air support training for both the tactical fighter group and strike reconnaissance group bomber aircrew.

The flight comprised four permanent and two reservist pilots and initially constituted the entirety of the ADFs forward air control capability. In an effort to expand that capability, the above mentioned training was instituted, with two courses of four trainees held each year. Unfortunately, due to the pervasive institutional unappreciation for the imminent importance of the role, those trainees subsequently failed to achieve the training required to enable their employment as forward air controls in combat operations. This was something carried over to the combat control capability. We would see the same misgivings and negativity that our US brethren were exposed to in the 1960s and 1970s.

When the ADF FAC capability was in its infancy, it was almost entirely sustained by the passion and commitment of those few fortunate enough to wear the 77SQN PC9/A(F) patch and particularly, by C Flights two reservists, Dick Coleman and Grant Piper. Coleman and Piper took it as their mission to pass on the FAC torch to their protgs. Im just so grateful that Ive had the opportunity to work with other passionate aviators who had lessons learned and passed down to them. Most of these aviators are either one-star generals and/or international Qantas pilots.

PC9 and pilot flying a sim FAC(A) mission in support of ground troops.

The tenuous state of the ADF FAC capability was brought into sharp relief with the emergence of the East Timorese crisis during the third quarter of 1999. At that time, the only combat-ready forward air controllers were the six C Flight aircrew members and one army controller. Consequently, Headquarters Australian Theatre initially placed all permanent C Flight aircrew on a three-hour notice-to-move to deploy to East Timor as ground FACs embedded with army elements.

Within 24 hours, the direction changed to an order for C Flight to immediately deploy to RAAF Tindal in preparation for airborne FAC (FAC(A)) of 75SQN CAS over Timor. Following a four-week work-up, in anticipation of such operations being opposed by the Indonesian Air Force, C Flight staged a 30-minute notice-to-move operational posture that persisted for the next three months. To this day, there exists very limited knowledge of that deployment and no 77SQN C Flight member has ever been recognised for their service, during that time.

Following the East Timorese crisis, Group Captain John Quaife led a sweeping transformation of the tactical fighter and strike reconnaissance groups. Group Captain Quaife identified the inadequate preparedness of the ADF FAC capability and the need for a central focal point for the generation and management of FACs. As a result, working closely with Army, Group Captain Geoff Brown established the forward air control development unit (FACDU) as a standalone entity under 82WG.