Last light recce DPR/TV/1086

One of the routine tasks undertaken by pilots of 161st Independent Reconnaissance Flight of the Army's Aviation Corps in Vietnam is an aerial check of the area at last light each day. As the sun begins to drop behind the hills to the west of the Task Force base at Nui Dat, a lone Cessna aircraft taxis out on the runway of Luscombe Field. After its rockets have been armed it takes off for a last check of the area before darkness. Swooping low over the roads, rice paddie and jungle of Phuoc Tuy Province the pilot, in this case 2nd Lt David Gerard of Hunters Hill, NSW, checks the ground for movement which might indicate an enemy attack against a South Vietnamese Govt outpost or an Australian Patrol during the coming night. (Also identified: Pte Bob Digance of Rosalie, Brisbane, Qld).