"Move Back 18 Feet"
Brig. Gen. Carl A. Hagan of US Army Forces Command, speaking at an Air Force Association symposium in February 1990, shared a soldier's view of the awesome power of the Air Force gunship. Hagan's son Steve, a captain in the 82d Airborne Division, had taken part in Operation Just Cause in Panama in December 1989. On the first night, his unit found itself in a difficult spot.
Fortunately, the captain told his father, there was an AC-130 gunship overhead: "We explained our situation and the guy [in the gunship] said, 'Where are you?' and we showed him, and he said, 'Where are the bad guys?' and we showed him that. There was a pregnant pause for a couple of seconds, and then he said, 'You need to move back 18 feet.' "
"They did that," the elder Hagan reported, "and the AC-130 did its thing and eliminated all opposition. Now, that's close air support."
--Excellent article on "The Awesome Power of Air Force Gunships"
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