During the course of the Southeast Asian war, the United States developed many new types of air tactics that had never previously been needed. Invariably putting existing technology through radical redevelopment, new missions were devised, often under bizarre code-names. Jolly Green Giant One of the most unsung heroes of the southeast Asian was were Winch Men, lowered from large camouflage helicopters known as Green Giants. They would descend through tropical foliage, trying to pluck fallen American pilots from the clutches of the Viet Cong. The Weasels The constant threat to all American aircraft missions was the Russian built surface-to-air missile known as SAM. One counter was the ‘Wild Weasel’ mission, with the motto “First in and Last out”. Weasel pilots would fly ahead of other aircraft, exposing themselves to enemy radar lock-on in order that the Shrike missile they carried could use that same signal to target the enemy ground base and thereby clear the way.