while the remaining aircraft were en route to Clark, where they would be able to rotate "in country." Among their duties, the instructor pilots of the 346th checked out pilots of Air America, which was beginning to operate C-123s as well. Three of these aircraft had been sent to Olmsted Air Force Base, Pennsylvania for modification, adding MC-1 tanks and aerial spray booms. On 13 January two of these aircraft flew the first mission of Operation Ranch Hand. The Ranch Hand aircraft were later transferred to Detachment 1, 315th Troop Carrier Group, Commando. The remaining deployed aircraft flew as Operation Mule Train, which was intended to provide the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN) with an assault capability with either airdrop or insertion. However, once in place, the unit also filled the need for logistic support to remote sites throughout the country. Mule Train crews often had to operate independently with little air traffic control under marginal weather conditions, flying in and out of small fields located in mountainous areas. In June the squadron was augmented by the 777th Troop Carrier Squadron. The Air Force placed great confidence in young Mule Train aircraft commanders, many of them first lieutenants. They were given authority to conduct operations with little oversight. Two Mule Train aircraft were maintained at Da Nang Air Base (at first referred to by its French name of Tourane Airport) to support northern outposts The first large airdrop mission by Mule Train took place on 28 June 1962. Sixteen C-123s accompanied by a dozen Douglas C-47 Skytrains of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) dropped paratroops about 35 miles north of Saigon despite a 500-foot ceiling. The Providers even added napalm bombing to their mission. The plane would carry nine wooden pallets, each holding three 55-gallon drums of napalm mixed with gasoline. With a good kicker, the load could go out the back ramp in less than five seconds and leave a pattern of flame 1,200 feet long. In April 1963 the squadron moved on paper to Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, where it became a Lockheed C-130 Hercules squadron. Its aircraft at Pope were transferred to the newly activated 309th Troop Carrier Squadron, Commando, which moved to Viet Nam three months later. C-130 operations At Dyess, the squadron performed tactical airlift worldwide, deploying to the Far East, Europe and the Panama Canal Zone. The squadron