Reminiscing about Dressy Lady

by Jim North, August 1970 - April 1971

My tour at Dressy Lady (where do they get these call signs!) was from August 1970 - April 1971. Det 4 was a split site. The  cantonment area was in a Thai national park. It was called Khao Yai ("Big Hill"). From all I have heard, it may well have been the best "remote" location in SEA. In addition to the golf course Dex mentioned,  there was a restaurant concession that was part of the park and served excellent Thai food. One of the tourist bungalows was set aside as our all-ranks club. We'd have monthly parties, with bands brought in from either Nakhon Ratchasima (the city nearest Korat RTAB) or Bangkok, plus the occasional USO show. We had a Thai bartender, whose name I believe was "Pen." The club also had a short-order kitchen, but I don't recall how this was staffed.

Khao Yai was up high enough that the weather was quite cool compared to the normal SEA environment. Sometimes the temperature in the afternoon would get up into the 80's (which would cause us to complain about the heat), but most of the time it was quite comfortable during the day. 

During the cool season, the nights were cold enough that we needed electric blankets to keep warm (the bungalows had no heat). Up on Khao Khieo, where the CRC was situated, it could get downright chilly. Outside the Ops building we had a small Jamesway or some such temporary structure that contained a couple of cots & some Army blankets. During the long (15 hour) night shifts, we could usually rotate through there and manage to get in 2 or 3 hours of fitful "sleep" each. Unfortunately, we had to share our "bedroom" with certain other life forms. Occasionally a troop would awaken to the vague feeling of some sort of weight pressing on his chest and find himself staring into the beady eyes of a fairly sizable rat. But that's probably about as tough as life got at Det 4. 

Things were generally so good, in fact, that it was not unusual to find folks from Korat RTAB taking their 5 day R&R at Khao Yai. In addition to the other amenities mentioned, the wild animal tours offered in the park were big attractions. As Dex pointed out, wildlife was abundant.  The three main things that seemed to comprise the most popular "sightings" were elephants, tigers and big snakes. (Dex was lucky enough to "bag" all three!) No one, of course, sought out any of these creatures for up-close encounters.

I "got" my tiger on the way up the hill to work one morning. I was riding shotgun in the cab of the truck. As we came around a turn, there was the head of this magnificent beast looking out at us from a bamboo thicket not fifty feet off to our 10 o'clock. We immediately pulled to a stop to watch him. After a minute or so with us (i.e., the NCO driver and I) watching him, he watching us, we slowly pulled ahead in hopes that he'd remain where he was long enough for the troops in the back of the truck to get a look at him as well. As we got to a point where we felt they'd be able to see him out over the tailgate, we stopped again. This turned out to be a very brief stop, as it was followed very shortly thereafter by much yelling and pounding on the back of the cab. We took this to mean that we should move on out smartly, and so we did. Turned out that as we'd stopped the second time, the troops in the back did indeed get a good look at our tiger. Then the tiger apparently decided he wanted a better look at the troops, so he stepped out of the bush and began ambling toward the back of the truck!

On another day, this time coming down the hill from work in the afternoon, we came upon a huge black cobra stretched out on the road soaking up the heat stored in the tarmac. This time there was no stopping to watch, as the snake beat a hasty retreat off into the bush faster than I thought it would have been possible for a serpent that big to move. Based on the width of the road and the amount of space the cobra took up as he lay across it, we estimated his length to be at least 8 feet. True, you could see 12 footers at the Snake Farm in Bangkok, but this guy was truly big enough to impress us.

Toward the end of my tour, having yet to fill the elephant square, I decided the odds of doing this via a random sighting were dwindling towards nil. So I signed on for one of the park's wild animal tours. Apparently the best time to find an elephant was after dark. Way after dark. Like about 0300 or so. So after dinner at the chow hall, I whiled away the waiting hours at the club. Finally it was time to start the "hunt." Someone assisted me to a jeep or land rover or some such vehicle and we were soon on our way. The guide was confident of success, as he'd had many reports earlier in the evening of rampaging elephants trampling villagers' crops.  All I remember is bouncing up and down rutted jungle trails, going from one village to the next only to find considerable acreage of newly deceased vegetation, along with numerous clumps of the kind of pungent steaming material indicative of elephants having recently been in the vicinity.  Never did see an actual damn elephant.

As to our mission, Dex has already outlined that pretty well: Basically flight follow. In addition to the Buffs & tankers Dex mentioned, we also flight followed F-4s and maybe Thuds (someone help me on that one) out of Takhli. (Or were the F-4s out of Korat? I know Korat had F-4s, as I saw them during support runs up there.) I can remember talking to "Batcats" (EC-121s), I think over Cambodia. Also, once the "incursion" into Cambodia began, we talked to OV-10 "Zipguns" flying missions in there. And of course there were the ubiquitous C-130 "Klongs" out of CCK in Taiwan. Another call sign I remember is "Tequila." These were Army Hueys out of Korat. We would flight follow them back and forth between Korat and Don Muang (Bangkok). The highway between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima was called "Friendship Highway"--apparently because it's construction or improvement was partly or wholly funded by the US as a "gesture of friendship." One day I was on the TAC scope and a "Tequila" checked in. I promptly ID'd him and there followed this exchange:

"Roger Tequila 14, I have you 240/27 out of Channel 29. Show you tracking parallel and about a half mile south of Friendship Highway."

"Dressy Lady, roger the contact and be advised Tequila Airways does not
navigate using highways!" [Short pause.] "And be advised we are not a half mile south of Friendship Highway. We have been directly over it for at least the last 20 miles."

The "Tequila" guys were some of the best friends we had. If someone needed a ride to Korat or Bangkok, they would always drop in for a pick-up enroute. The standard landing zone was an empty field behind our bungalows at Khao Yai. One day, some of the guys on the crew going on break after their last night shift thought it would be cool to have a "Tequila" land up at Khao Khieo as they came off duty & take them directly to Bangkok. (See below for the usual "going to Bangkok on break" drill). My crew was to be the day shift relief for them, so they coordinated with us and with the "Tequilas." And so it was all set. We came up the hill, relieved the night crew, and stood by for "Tequila" to check in. Soon we had him on freq. & were giving him vectors. He found us, settled in smoothly, picked up the pax and was airborne again all in a matter of a few minutes. Which was about the time it took for what seemed like the entire leadership of the RTAF squadron to simultaneously appear in my face. Seems that all remotely located RTAF radar sites were designated (unbeknownst to us) as anti-aircraft free fire zones. Fortunately for all concerned, "Tequila" was in and out before they had time to react. We arranged for all subsequent "Tequila" landings to be at the field at Khao Yai.

Shortly after I arrived at Green Hill another incident occurred which, though somewhat darkly humorous, reflected an unfortunate lack of interservice/intercultural sensitivity. I was assigned to straight day shifts for orientation. There was a procedure whereby if the RTAF M&I section detected a track for which they had no flight plan/frag order, before declaring it "Unknown" they would first check with the USAF crew to see if it was a classified mission that we were flight following. If it was indeed one of ours & classified, we were supposed to simply say "It's friendly," and the RTAF was supposed to accept that. On this particular day, the individual manning the tac scope was a no-nonsense guy with a particularly short fuse. He was in fact flight following a classified mission on a secure freq, and answered in the standard manner when queried by the RTAF. In this case, however, the RTAF guy insisted on being told the aircraft's call sign, which of course our man was not going to divulge. This went back & forth a few times, until finally in exasperated frustration the USAF guys says, "OK, OK! It's Mike India Golf Two-One!" So the "call sign" is duly posted to the track in question on the plotting board, and in just about the time it took to forward tell it, the direct line between us and the RTAF Air Ops Center in Bangkok is ringing off the hook. Followed shortly thereafter by a call from the clearly agitated 621st Ops Officer. Followed by an on-dais appearance by the Det 4 Ops Officer that included a goodly amount of vociferous arm waving, followed by a crew training session immediately after the shift change.

Now, here's the above promised "going to Bangkok on break" drill:  After 15
basically sleepless hours up on the hill, it's about 0730-0800 & we're "good to go." Down the hill to the chow hall at Khao Yai. Eat breakfast: 2 eggs (any
style), bacon, hash browns, 2 cans of Schlitz. Head for the hooch to change into civvies (no time to shower--just have to do it again anyway when you get to Bangkok), form up at the club. Prearranged transport should be waiting here (some kind of Philippine Jeepney-type thing, as I recall; sometimes it could be an actual taxi). Board transport & begin the journey down the hill to the town of Pak Chong, where we turn left (south) on Friendship Highway heading for Bangkok.  But first, a stop at Pak Chong's New Wanchai Hotel for refreshment following the arduous journey down the hill. Refreshment: 1 ea. icy cold washcloth (remember those?), consume 1 ea. "combat bottle" Singha beer, purchase 1 additional beer to go. Next stop: Suraburi, for another cold washcloth w/beer, plus a beer to go. If traffic is heavy between Suraburi & Bangkok, stop again in Bangkok's northern suburbs for yet another cold washcloth & beer (but no additional beer to go--too close to journey's end now). Arrive at Golden Palace hotel (Soi #1 Sukhumvit Road), receive small bottle of complementary beer whilst checking in. Shower, form up in hotel restaurant or at pool side. Have another beer, whilst making plans for
remainder of afternoon. Implement plans. (Plans varied, but often consisted of setting hair afire whilst running up & down Sukhumvit Road in search of another beer.)

There's more, but I'll wait awhile to see if there's any feedback from other folks re the above. Meanwhile, here's some bits of trivia not particularly connected to anything else: The female wait staff at the Khao Yai chow hall was made up mostly (entirely?) of ladies who had worked at the club/chow hall at Mukdahan (Viking) prior to that Det's deactivation. They wore aprons embroidered with the logo "Loki's Den."  During my tenure, almost no one referred to the site as "Khao Khieo."  For the Det members, it was either "Det 4" or "Khao Yai." For the Thai civilians we interacted with (on whatever basis) we were simply "from Khao Yai."

The 621st's call sign "Brigham" apparently went up for grabs when the 621st was deactivated at war's end. It ended up being assumed by the mission crews of the 961st AWAC Sq. (E-3's) out of Kadena. Somewhere in there, the 621st was reactivated at Osan AB, ROK. With "Brigham" already taken, they had to take on another call sign. Don't remember what it was, but I do remember the 5th TAC/CC's ass being chapped by the situation -- especially since the 961st was flying pretty much daily missions in the KTACS using that call sign.

My next "chapter" will include a list of names of people I recall being assigned with at Det 4, along with some "updates" on the Bangkok scene. (My last   visit was in Dec 93, so lots may have changed since then).

In closing, I hope all will bear in mind that the above represents my recollections of "the way it was." As the matters I've droned on about occurred some 27+ years ago, please forgive me if my recollections differ from yours in any way. I look forward to any feedback, corrective or otherwise, that anyone who shared this era with me may have to offer. And in particular, I would very much enjoy hearing from any of those I served with at Det 4/Khao Yai/Khao Khieo/Green Hill. (I normally reply to email within a few days. But I've had some recent trouble receiving email from several correspondents, so if you send to j36@null.net & don't get a response within 7 days, please resend to one of the following alternate addresses:  j36@nwlink.com or e3472@juno.com.)