Photos and comments courtesy of:
Alan Goodin
F-4 Aircraft Mechanic
Crew Chief


389th OMS, 366th TFW

Phan Rang, RVN
3/66 - 10/66
Da Nang AFB, RVN
10/66 - 3/67

I was assigned to the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing, 391st OMS
(Organizational Maintenance Squadron) in January 1964 and
reassigned to the 389th TFS in September 1965 for a 90 day
TDY to Elmendorf, AFB, Alaska, Air Defense Command. We left
Alaska but we never left the 389th. We flew out of Holloman
AFB, New Mexico, on March 1, 1966, in a C-130, stopping over
at Travis AFB, Hickam AFB, Wake Is, Kadena AB, and literally
"dove" into Phan Rang Air Base (PRAB) on March 3, 1966. At
Wake we got a bottle of rum and mixed it with the pineapple
juice they'd put in our in-flight lunches..."Make my Day"



Here is a scan of myself sitting in my hootch. I
still had my Southern California beach boy shirts
when I got to Nam so "surfs up" and California
Dreaming was the "Order of the day".  (3/1966)


Here is a photo I took of our 389 TFS and our 366 TFW
shields we had on the side of a flight line shack.  (1966)


I guess that sort of construction was the Air Force's way
of saying, "All rooms are Air Conditioned." It was 123
degrees when we off boarded that C-130 and the only place
to cool off was to stand in the exhaust of an F-4.  (1966)


F-4C taking off from PRAB with full after burner. Note our big
hill, and the new air control tower, in the background.  (1966)


New Barracks, old tents, "From Slums to Condos".  (1966)


The F-100s from the 35th TFW arriving at PRAB.  (1966)


Here is a scan of an F-100 pictured with
the big hill (Nui Dat) in background.  (1966)


While the F-100 squadrons were settling in at PRAB
our 366 Wing, with our F-4s, were getting ready for
their new assignment up at Da Nang AFB.  (1966)


In October 1966, we got orders to rejoin the 390th
and 480th TFS's at Da Nang. We sat with guns and
guitars offside the runway waiting to board. This
is the last picture I took at Phan Rang.  (10/1966)


My sister dug out my camis and found this ORIGINAL SHIELD
for the 366 TFW. This is a VERY RARE picture and I really
doubt that many people have ever seen it as it goes back
to Europe and was the patch we had before Nam, before Holloman,
but also on camis at Holloman pre Nam. I seriously doubt that
very many airmen, but the old timers, have ever seen it.

Alan Goodin's Biograpraphy

After Nam, AIC Goodin was assigned to the 434 TFS (OMS) at George AFB,
California, and discharged in Sept 67. He returned home to Los Angeles.
Using his GI Bill, he attended some of the universities that make up
the Cal State University system, got his BA and became a Correctional
Officer for the California Youth Authority and retired after 23 years
as a Lieutenant, San Diego Parole. He moved to Mexico where he became
a writer and photographer. Alan Goodin (aka Les Barba) lives in Oaxaca,
Mexico. He can be reached by email at:  morknme6@yahoo.com
or snail mail at:

Alan Goodin
APDO 976
Oaxaca de Juarez, Oaxaca
Mexico, C.P. 68000

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