Detachment B-52 • 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) • 1st Special Forces
Pirous was the first “named” Project Delta operation since Leaping Lena three years earlier. Sixty-five days. Two FOBs. The deepest penetration of the A Shau Valley the unit had ever attempted.
Project Delta was tasked to reconnoiter the A Shau Valley — one of the principal NVA infiltration corridors from Laos — and to identify enemy formations, supply routes, and base areas ahead of follow-on Marine operations.
The operation was originally planned with the FOB at Khe Sanh. The Marines changed the area of operations shortly after the unit arrived; Project Delta moved south and built a new FOB on a hilltop just outside Phu Bai, alongside the Marine airstrip and aid station.
Recon teams worked deep into the valley over the following two months. Aerial radio relay was flown daily from Phu Bai in DeHavilland U-1A Otters — slow, high-lift aircraft that could orbit on station above .51-caliber range. Multiple 281st Assault Helicopter Company aircraft were shot down or damaged during insertions and extractions.
Operation 5-67 was named Pirous. The first “named” operation since Leaping Lena in 1964. This operation was in support of the 3rd MAF (Marine Amphibious Force). It started with the FOB at Khe Sahn and we were there about a week. My recollection was that we were to recon the vicinity of Khe Sahn but the Marines changed the AO and we had to move further south to launch around and into the A Shau valley. — Maurice Brakeman, Project Delta veteran (original Project Delta Net narrative, 2004)
The FOB was built on a hilltop just out of the village of Phu Bai on the coast. The Marines had an airstrip and aid station there. — Brakeman, on the move from Khe Sanh to Phu Bai
When the men weren't inserting or extracting recon teams, they flew aerial radio relay from Phu Bai — the only way to keep teams in the deep valley in radio contact with the FOB.
Early morning over the coast, in the Otter, on radio relay duty, sometimes called Satellite. The Otter would climb to cruising altitude and out of 51 cal range (hopefully), while over the coast, before heading inland and orbiting over the teams on the ground. It would stay on station all day, except for one trip back to Phu Bai for fuel and a “pit stop”. This was not desirable duty because it was very boring unless a team made contact. If this happened, the tension could be cut with a knife until the team was out safely. — Brakeman
The veteran-written narrative continues with photographs Brakeman took of the FOB, the Otters, and the teams during the operation. The full photographic record from this operation — twenty-six images, all his copyright (© 2004 Maurice Brakeman) — is preserved on this site.
Direct quotations from the Brakeman narrative are used by permission of Project Delta Net's preservation. Quotations from copyrighted books appear in short form only with attribution under fair use for historical commentary. The full original veteran-written Pirous narrative and photographs are preserved on this site.
