My first impressions of the Air Cav Troop

It was impossible to land a Huey on the Air Cav Troop helipad without everybody in the unit knowing someone had arrived. The pad was located adjacent to the Troop Headquarters but it was directly abeam many of the barracks that housed the Arps and only two or three buildings away from the pilot's barracks.

There was no welcoming committee waiting there to greet the new pilot coming into the unit but unlike the 199th Fireball Aviation Pad, one that was completely void of anybody except a jeep driver when I arrived, I was immediately met by an enlisted man and taken to Major Blanchard's office. After an extremely short meeting with him, one that I recall as not nearly long enough to explain who I was and what I was bringing to the unit, I walked out of the building to find Bill Reinhardt yelling my name.

With the single exception of the time it took to transfer from Ft. Wolters to Ft Rucker, he and I had spent every single day together from July 4th of 1969 to April 15th of 1970. We spent more than a couple of  weekend nights and days in Panama City getting drunk and making the rounds of the night clubs like men who knew their next stop was Vietnam.

I hadn't seen him or heard of his whereabouts since graduation in April of 69 and it was already September 15th of 1970. Not knowing anyone in the unit, it was a huge relief to see him because I knew I would find out exactly what the ACT was really like.

I had mixed emotions when I arrived because there were so many considerations to make when an experienced pilot comes into a unit where he doesn't know anyone. I was hoping that someone had announced that a Nighthawk Gunship Standardization Pilot, with a ton of combat experience, was coming into the unit, but that wasn't the case.

As it all unfolded, I arrived earlier than Major Wulff did and I soon realized that the Regimental Commanding Officer and the Troop Commander, Major Blanchard, were the only two officers in the entire Regiment who knew I was coming and what my mission was. At the time, I couldn't figure out what the big secret was all about.

After roughly 400 hours of logged combat flight time, the last thing I wanted to do was fly as a copilot for someone who only had 100 hours or so of combat assault experience under his belt.

On the other side of those mixed emotions, not only did I not want to be a copilot,  I didn't want to have a copilot who was inexperienced with that discipline because night combat operations are totally different than daytime CAs.

I later realized that was a pretty selfish thought as I had no experience at all when Wollman, Femmer and Young found me as their co pilot. Despite that,  this was a huge unit compared to the 199th and I didn't even know the names of the pilots I might have to call on if we were shot down, if my copilot was dead or we crashed from a mechanical problem of some sort.

As most guys remember the first day of their arrival into a new unit, I can also remember other selfish thoughts beyond the ones mentioned above. I eventually realized that there was no way in  hell that a pilot who had achieved the comfort and respect of the pilots and crews of the 199th, was going to automatically be given that status or position.

All of those thoughts left me the second I was introduced to the guys in the Slick Platoon. I will never forget the "instant" I walked into their hootch and the reaction I had when I did. I do not want to spoil that story as it was so influential to my attitude, I think it deserves it's own post which I will write next.

As an addition to the influence that hit me the moment I met them, shortly after that, I had time to reflect on the many things I had learned. Diable's Attention to Detail, Wollman, Femmer and Young's mentoring skills, the importance of confidence building with your crew chief and gunner and the admiration and respect of the commanding officers, were just a few.

I almost hate to admit that I had those selfish thoughts when I arrived but I think that it's more than a little important to note that because there are upcoming stories that will explain it.

I have another Doctor's appointment at 1 o'clock so I have to blitz and continue this on the next post. I hope you continue to follow along as their are several Nighthawk missions, huge daytime firefights, another transfer for me and the Cambodian Invasion.

Stand by and a special hello to Bobrob.

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