A Pad That Floats

When the U.S. Navy launched its Mobile Riverine Force in South Viet Nam's canal-laced Mekong Delta, it soon became obvious that servicing the mini-flotilla was a maxi-headache. Riverine's little boats would slip into the maze of marshlands for long patrols, far from the medical and military aid of the mother ship anchored in one of the larger rivers. The most obvious means of supply was by helicopter, but most of the Delta is too wet and soft to support the weight of a chopper.

The solution, worked out by a civilian in the Navy's Research & Development unit at Saigon, is as inexpensive as it is uncomplicated. After a brief visit to the Delta last summer, Berger Shepard, who usually develops mines for the Navy, designed and built in just four days the world's smallest aircraft carrier. Constructed from pipes and a 16-ft. by 16-ft. steel mat (total cost: $300), the helicopter landing pad was fitted atop the foredeck of a 56-ft. Armored Troop Carrier, a standard craft in the Riverine fleet. The device was an immediate success, and in the past year eleven more have been rigged.

Landing on the makeshift "flight deck" is a ticklish operation demanding split-second timing by pilot and boat crew. As a UH-1 chopper hovers over the mini-carrier, the landing area is invisible to the pilot, who must rely on hand signals from one of the boat's seven-man crew. Meanwhile, the boat's captain maneuvers his vessel under the skids of the descending helicopter. The air-sea mating has become a smooth routine. In more than 2,000 landings, there has yet to be a serious mishap.

The converted ATCS, called "Aid Boats" by Delta G.I.s, puff along at eight knots behind the Mobile Riverine's speedier patrol boats, whose missions are to inspect sampans for smuggled arms and materiel and attack suspected Viet Cong strongholds. The little flattops serve as refueling depots for support helicopters and as supply ships. But their most important duty is to serve as floating Medevac stations for the attack ships.

Last year, for example, over one-fifth of the 2,000 soldiers and 1,800 sailors in the flotilla were killed or wounded as their craft, weaving through the narrow canals, were targets for snipers and mortar and rocket attacks. Navy personnel, who regularly man the Delta craft, stand a 70% chance of being wounded during a year's service with the Riverine Force. The Aid Boats, bristling with machine guns, grenade launchers and a cannon, are able to go to the rescue. Wounded are picked up and shuttled away from enemy fire, then quickly evacuated on "dust-off" helicopters to the nearest U.S. hospital. In the festering Delta, such swift care of combat wounds often spells the difference between life and death.

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