European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 22, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes monday april 22. Floor spell trouble for enemy trouble an f100 super Sabre fires rockets toward enemy positions in South Vietnam. Pilots of the Tuy Hoa based 31st tactical fighter Wing have registered their 30,000th combat sortie with the 15-year-old fighter bomber in us role of close air support and Supply attack. Of photo for tra Bong villagers elephant Airlift a Var heaehing9 project Nha Trang Vietnam Spe Cial air Force c130 Hercules transport Crews Are used to Fly ing almost anything one can name. Even elephants. Flying elephants in t easy. It takes the help of the army s special forces the Marine corps the . Agency for International development us Ai the Cleveland zoo and . Bureau of narcotics. It All began when a special forces team at the diminutive vietnamese Village of tra Bong offered to help the 400 Montag Nard and vietnamese families inthe area to Start their own Industry. Because of the heavy Timber in the area a Sawmill looked like the answer to the villagers economic problems and with the help of said the villagers soon had a burgeoning business going. Before Long however the Vil lagers had Cut Down All the Trees near enough to be hauled by hand to the Sawmill and a problem arose. The local terrain was so rugged that machinery for haul ing logs was useless. Tra Bong was in danger of losing its new found and Only Industry. Elephants the villagers said were the Only answer. Two suit Able elephants were found an with the help of said funds were purchased at a Price of70,000 plasters about $590 each. Unfortunately however the were located in ban Don More than 170 Miles from  pachyderms could t be transported by land because the trip was too Long and the Viet Cong controlled too much of the intervening territory. A move by sea was ruled out because i would also take too Long and there was the danger of the elephants becoming seasick. The Only Way to move the 3-ton, 6-foot-High animals it appeared was by air. Special forces capt. Scot Gantt the Man Given the Job of moving the elephants decided Socall on the air Force. When Gantt approached 7th air Force with his project he was told that the elephants could easily be moved in the cavernous c130 cargo transports provide the animals could be immobilized enough to prevent their thrashing around in the aircraft. After hours of transoceanic phone Calls Gantt finally Learned from the Cleveland zoo that drug called m99, manufactured by an English firm would keep his 6,000-Pound charges docile for the necessary time. But when Gantt arranged for a shipment of m99, he ran afoul of the . Bureau of narcotics which demanded before the drug could be shipped that he spell out specifically How it was to be used. Gantt complied the drug arrived and shortly thereafter a c130 Crew from task forc Bravo a special Airlift Mission based at Nha Trang air base landed their aircraft on a dirt strip near the special Force scamp of Trang Phuc and pre pared to take on Board their unusual passengers. While die first of the animal stood on a cargo net Gantt stood behind him and fired a hypo Nam dermis Dart from an air gun into the elephant s Rump. Five min utes later Clyde As the Green berets had nicknamed him Lay dozing peacefully in the net. Forklift hoisted him onto a wooden platform and lifted him into the gaping rear doors of the waiting c130. With Clyde strapped firmly i place the Hercules Crew took off for the Marine air base at Chulai 20 Miles from tra Bong. At Chu Lai Clyde was remove from the c130 and still wrapped in the cargo net was Slung beneath a Marine ch53 super Jolly Green giant for the final Miles of the trip. The chopper whirled away in a blast of Sand and dust and 15 minutes later Clyde was settling to the ground at tra Bong in front of the watch Ful eyes of More than 2,000 Vil lagers. After a repeat of the first trip with Clyde s partner the Village and the Sawmill were Back inthe lumber business. Taking ten assigned to the feed ills scout with a Day s work completed a combat tracker 4th division s 1st in 22nd inf takes time out to dog near Korntum. Army photo Swift vietnamese crewmen join anti infiltration patrols an Thoi Vietnam special after six months of intensive training Here 71 vietnamese officers and men Manning four speedy 50-foot Craft have joined forces with the . Navy to patrol the coastline. Their boats called swifts Arete same Type the . Navy uses to patrol the coast of South Vietnam in operation Market time a series of anti infiltration patrols which prevent the Viet Cong and North vietnamese from moving supplies and men into South Vietnam by sea. The plan according to Navolt. David c. Brown commander of coastal division ii the uni that organized and conducted the training is for the Vietnam Ese to use their Swift boats to patrol two areas near Here that Are now patrolled by . Navy units. Later As More Vietnam Ese crows Are trained More bouts will be assigned until allow the Market time inshore stations from the dm2 in the North to the cambodian Border in the Southwest Are taken Over by the vietnamese Navy. Of the 71 vietnamese sent Here for training by the vietnamese Navy Headquarters in Saigon 48 were trained especially As boat Crews. The remainder will serve As Reserve Crew members an maintenance personnel the proposal is for each Viet namese Crew to consist of four enlisted men and two officers serving As commanding officer and executive officer. This Dif fers from the . Navy Man Ning level of one officer in charge and five enlisted crewmen. The training started in mid october when the first increment of trainees about half of whom had graduated from the naval training Center at Nha Trang arrived Here. After the usual Check in period and a survival swimming test All were organized into Crews said it. Jug Dan Ustick coordinator of training and a Swift skipper himself. A few Days later All were taking a familiarization ride aboard one of the High Speed staunchly armed Craft. Then the schooling really go underway with a month of class room instruction the hear of the entire program sail  underestimated thes j people he continued. We Haa planned on four weeks of class room training but they aug Ion to some things so fast son areas of schooling were Cut  instance he added these people have been  our Type of engine Moj w their lives so it was just matter of hours before they new Learned the differences betwee their junk s diesel engine do those of the  addition to the open to and Normal maintenance pm formed on engines Ami eau of the Type carried aboard i swifts the vietnamese trained to use one of the of Navy counterparts Laieski Uit ions the preventive main in system pms