This one has Wollman's name all over it.

Wollman wasn't a teacher, he was an educator and there is one hell of a difference between the two. On the night that the Lt. Col came to meet with our CO, the weather at FSB Mace was okay. Despite that, as we were attempting our taxi flight to return the LC back to Long Binh, I discovered what a night monsoon mission was like.

Once we were airborne remember seeing the monster just west of Xuan Loc, close to Long Binh and was amazed at the size and scope of the monsoon every time the lightning lit up the sky and gave us a visual picture of what we were flying toward. I'm not sure if Wollman was testing me or teaching me but as soon as the lightning hit and the picture of our immediate future became clear, he said: "Contact Center and get us a vector out of here".

I looked up the frequency, dialed in the numbers and immediately heard the non stop radio traffic from every aircraft in that part of South Vietnam that was trying to escape the storm. Finally, I found a break and made my call: "Center, this is Fireball 558". They responded and I requested a vector to any station that was still VFR. They asked us to tune our transponder to 1200 and "ident". We did that and as soon as we did, we heard: "Roger, Fireball 558, contact 6 clicks west of Xuan Loc, turn left to a heading of 180 degrees and proceed south. Bear Cat is open". I responded with my own "Roger, Fireball 558" and turned south.

I don't remember how long it would take to fly to Bear Cat as I had never been there and simply didn't know. As we continued to fly along, the non stop radio calls to Center were beginning to indicate that there were lots and lots of fixed wing and rotary wing pilots trying to escape the monsoon. Center called and advised us to contact Bear Cat Approach Control, gave us the frequency and signed off.

Bear Cat Approach Control was overflowing with radio calls but I found a break and made my contact with them. As soon as I did that, they asked us to make a right turn for separation, a normal request to keep traffic from piling up and causing a mid air collision. As soon as I completed my 360 degree clearing turn, they called us and said: "Fireball 558, state final approach speed". This was the first of 3 or 4 calls they made to us to confirm our final approach speed. I told them 120 knots and they asked us to slow to 100 knots and make another 360 degree clearing turn to the right.

We finally reached a point where we could see the lights from Bear Cat but we noticed that there were so many airborne lights from helicopters and fixed wing aircraft trying to land, we became a bit concerned as we were running very low on fuel. The airspace around and above Bear Cat looked like some kind of Christmas show. I don't have any idea how many aircraft were seeking shelter from the monsoon but I knew it was the most I had ever seen at one spot, at one time.

With yet another request for a clearing turn and a slower approach speed, I guess I lost my patience. I remember responding with something to the effect that "If you will let us intersect the Locator Outer Marker, I will stop completely and hover down to tree top level and give you all the clearance you need".

I don't know if Wollman was testing me for a possible aircraft commander check ride, or to simply see how I would handle that kind of situation. Regardless of any reason, he had me make all the radio calls and do all the flying and even though it was a shitty situation, he seemed as calm as a guy taking his favorite girl for a nice, easy flight during night time. I would later learn that he was just as calm during the longest Nighthawk Mission he and I ever flew together. We could have called him Ice Man because he was just that brave or just that calm under real tight situations.

In any event, the pucker factor went up right after I made my last clearing turn for separation. Of all things, the 20 minute fuel warning light came on. We were only a couple of minutes away from the airfield but Wollman made one of those decisions that only an aircraft commander can make. He turned his radio switch to transmit and informed approach control that we had a 20 minute fuel warning light on and he WAS coming "straight in".

There was no doubt about his intention and with the inflection of his voice, I'm sure that every airplane in the circuit understood that he didn't really give a shit who was first, who was fastest or any separation issues that might continue to exist. Needless to say, we made a straight in approach and hovered directly to the refueling area with the bright yellow 20 minute fuel warning light blaring from the cockpit as it had been doing for way too many minutes.

We made a successful landing, fueled up and hovered to a revetment area where we shut down the helicopter. May not sound like much of a war story but again, there are all sorts of battles that helicopter pilots had during the war and many of them were just like this one when the monsoons came. Thanks to Wollman for being such a great aircraft commander and having the guts to give total control of the Huey to a copilot to see how he could handle those kinds of situations. Without a doubt, those lessons served me well during many Nighthawk Missions I later flew with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Thanks to Craig Wollman, the pilot I consider to be the best night combat ops pilot I ever flew with.  


.