RAAF ground crew, who are posted to the Australian Army's No 161 Reconnaissance Squadron at Vung ...

RAAF ground crew, who are posted to the Australian Army's No 161 Reconnaissance Squadron at Vung Tau, regard themselves as a 'queer kettle of fish', because although they are RAAF, they live and work to Army rules. No 161 Squadron flies Bell Sioux helicopters, nicknamed 'possums' because they operate at tree top height with a Cessna forward air control aircraft to spot Viet Cong (VC) artillery posts. Originally the RAAF carried out all of the maintenance on the squadron's aircraft, but now they are being phased out and only eight RAAF men remain. Soon the work will be done entirely by Army ground crew. Here A17021 Leading Aircraftman (LAC) Anthony Joseph (Tony) Lanza, of Holland Park, Qld, works on the control panel of a Sioux helicopter at Vung Tau airfield.