Getting started at Rucker

I remember my arrival at Rucker and noted that it was nothing at all like my arrival at Ft. Wolters. Apparently, somebody must have figured out that we were serious and didn't need any instruction at all with regard to making beds or keeping our area squared away.

I say that because I do not recall having a tac officer when I arrived. I assume that it was a Saturday or Sunday because there were no commissioned officers anywhere. I was given a barracks number and told to get my stuff squared away and that a formation would be called later to instruct us on the upcoming expectations. To this day, I do not remember if we had a tac officer. That's a mighty far cry from having CW2 Diable running the show.

As I stepped out of the Company Headquarters building, I noticed that the barracks were the same old World War II styled barracks that Ft. Polk had. I wasn't concerned about the airconditioning as it was cold outside and, with the hint of coal dust all over the place, I could tell that we almost certainly had steam heated radiators. Oh my God, it was back to the past and living in the same barracks that World War II veterans lived in.

Things started looking up when I ran into some familiar faces. Larabee was there and not long after that Chuck Olsen and a couple of the other guys showed up. Before long, the barracks were full and we met the Captain that was running the company. Still no tac officers around.

I began to see why everything had been so lazy after we graduated from Wolters because our Class number changed from 70-05 to 70-07. It seemed that Rucker was behind or Wolters had been ahead of schedule. I don't know which one was the case but somehow, we were two graduating classes behind our original date of 70-05.

Ground school started immediately and before we were familiar with our surroundings or the layout of the base, we were in our Instrument Ground School phase of training. I liked it alot because it allowed us to transition from our primary days of flying the Hiller OH 23's to the Bell OH 47G which Uncle Sam called the OH 13.

We were told that the G designation meant that the Gas tanks were larger due to it's role as an instrument trainer. For the unfamiliar, the Bell looks just like the helicopter that is seen during the opening moments of the tv series "Mash".

One morning, we arrived at a building where we were introduced to the "Blue Canoe". That was their word for the Link Simulator that would allow a student to fly a practice instrument mission without ever getting off the ground or ever seeing the land or the horizon. I heard rumors about it and didn't laugh at it even though it looked to be something that was built in the dark ages.

Initially, they taught us to fly straight and level with a few radio communications ordering us to change altitudes and headings just to see if we could coordinate all of that. Eventually, we were given instrument departure and en route clearances that would simulate a flight in horrible weather conditions from one city to another. Adding insult to injury, they would make all kinds of changes to our original flight clearance, throw in turbulence and cross winds and finally, put us in a "holding pattern" just like the airliners had to do.

The holding pattern exercises would become a very valuable skill one night in Vietnam when I was with the 199th. I'll get to that later but I wanted to make note of it now as one Fireball Aviation Pilot reads this every day.

It wasn't easy in the beginning but it was really neat to review the ground tracks that were printed on a map by the simulator to show us our ground track along the map. This was a big help to all of us and taught us to be very easy with our turns and very precise with our manipulation of the instruments as we flew along.

In a very short period of time we passed that phase of training and were sent to the flight line to begin flying the Bell with an instrument instructor. I didn't realize it at the time but in less than 5 months I would have 3 experiences in Vietnam where those lessons came into play. Of those 3, one ended up with my Aircraft Commander in the 199th getting a serious compliment by one of the higher ranking officers in the unit.

Early in my tour with the 199th, Craig Wollman was my aircraft commander and I served as his co pilot. He made an IFR flight from Long Binh to Xuan Loc one morning, which wasn't a flight over a long distance but it was one where the fog and the clouds forced us to make an instrument departure, make the trip inside the clouds and then, once we popped out on top of the clouds, allowed us to navigate to Xuan Loc, find a hole and make the approach to a landing.

The "Old Man" came over the intercom and complimented Craig on his airmanship. The entire crew heard it and was thrilled that the CO knew what Craig had just completed. I really liked that flight and remember it to this day as it was the first real IFR flight I took in Vietnam. I have a ton of stuff to write about as it relates to Craig, but it will have to wait a little while until I graduate and make it to Vietnam.

In any event, as we completed instrument flight training and prepared to move to the transition where we would begin flying Hueys, my confidence level continued to rise. I don't remember my instrument flight instructor's name, nor do I remember my final grade in that course. I do however, remember the smile on his face and the pat on the back he gave me when the final instrument flight test was completed. I guess I can relate that to how Craig Wollman felt when the Colonel remarked about his perfect IFR flight in Vietnam.

Ya'll stand by and I will get into flying Hueys and beginning the tactics course where we were taught combat tactics by pilots who already had a tour of duty in Vietnam. I remember my flight instructor during that course because he was one fine pilot. He was CW2 Hofius and I would give anything to be able to talk to him now.

More coming. Thanks.