Baby Arc Lights
While most of those who served in Vietnam knew that a B-52 air strike was called an "Arc Light", there were a couple of lesser known applications of weapons delivery from the air used in that war.
One such system consisted of several fighter aircraft, such as F-105's or F-4's, carrying all the bombs they could, operating as a tight group. This group would formate on an aircraft such as an RB-66 which was used to identify and align the actual target. Upon a command from the lead ship, the fighters would all drop their bombs at the same time. This gave a tighter grouping of bombs on a target than was possible by the higher altitude delivery of the B-52's, and was used when in closer proximity to friendly troops. Several different sources indicated that this delivery system was often called a "Penlight".
It so happened that on one fine day in the Quang Tri area, a pair of Flying Circus scout ships came across some enemy troops moving up a narrow gorge. A call went back to headquarters for back up, and some gunships and a C&C bird were quickly dispatched. While waiting for the other helicopters to arrive, the scouts decided to do something to keep the enemy soldiers from getting away. They began flying a normal race track pattern with one helicopter covering the pass of the other. As each machine passed over the gorge, the crew would both throw hand grenades down on the enemy.
When the C&C bird arrived with the gunships and saw the smoke coming up from the gorge, the first question asked by the commander was "Where was the artillery coming from?". Without a moment's pause, PHANTOM, the scout team lead on that mission, said that it was not artillery but a "Flashlight". When asked what a "Flashlight" was, PHANTOM said that it was simply a mini Arc Light - just the Circus scouts and a lot of hand grenades.
While the name did not catch on in any higher circles, there were a few cases after that day when a C&C helicopter would request that a "Flashlight" be put in on a location by the Flying Circus scouts.
story by F. Vanatta