Operation Market Time: Remembering the Vietnam War

While the land and air battles of the Vietnam War raged, South Vietnam’s coastal and Mekong Delta waterways constituted a free-flowing Viet Cong logistic network. The U.S. Navy established Operation Market Time (March 1965-1972) to prevent North Vietnamese ships from supplying enemy forces in South Vietnam with guns and ammunition by sea. An airborne barrier flown by Navy P-3 Orion Patrol planes was the mainstay of the Market Time Mission.

Navy Captain Randy Hotton, resident of Canton, Michigan and graduate of Michigan State University, flew the P-3 Orion aircraft on Market Time missions off the coast of Vietnam in 1968 and 1969. Following Vietnam, he conducted Cold War anti-submarine patrols in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Later, he served on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and flew the C-1A COD. Leaving the service, he flew for a variety of civilian airlines and corporations. He serves on the Michigan Flight Museum Board of Directors and also pilots the Museum’s C-47 (DC-3) during summer flying season. The Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame inducted Randy into their 2020 class. Capt. Hotton recently retired from USA Jet Airlines and wrote a memoir on his war-time experiences. Hear his story of how he operated on ten-hour patrols both day and night in all weather conditions along Vietnam's 1200-mile coast. Copies of his memoir will be available for purchase.