19 Minutes to Live - Helicopter Combat in Vietnam

by Lew Jennings

  Basic Combat Training (Boot Camp) Fort Polk, Louisiana

  Learning Rifle Marksmanship at Fort Polk, Louisiana

  CHAPTER TWO

  RUCKSACK AND A RIFLE

  On August 29, 1967 I reported to the Army Induction Center in Oakland, California. This was the real deal. No turning back now!

  I was assigned to a ragtag group of young civilian men like myself and bussed to the airport to catch our flight to Dallas, Texas and on to Lake Charles, Louisiana where we would be further transported to Fort Polk for Basic Combat Training or BCT.

  When the old DC-3 commuter plane landed at the airport in Lake Charles, we were immediately hit with the hot humid air common to the South that literally took my breath away. I thought I had stepped into an oven. It was definitely a far cry from the cool Pacific air of Monterey Bay back home.

  I don’t remember much about the hour and a half bus ride from Lake Charles to Fort Polk. I do remember our arrival. I had entered hell on earth!

  We pulled up in front of a grassy parade field surrounded by two-story wooden barracks from the World War II era. There stood a line of Drill Sergeants waiting for us. They were impressive standing ramrod straight in their starched, tailored uniforms with spit-shined boots and highly polished brass glistening in the sun. Combat web belts snugged tightly around their waists. Smokey-the-bear hats tilted forward nearly covering their eyes. They looked like something right out of the movies or a recruiting poster.

  But when the door of the bus opened, they morphed into screaming, diabolical maniacs! What ensued were the two longest months of my life!

  “GET YOUR ASSES OFF THIS BUS! MOVE IT! MOVE IT! MOVE IT! FALL IN! LINE UP! YOU’RE TOO SLOW! MOVE IT! MOVE IT! MOVE IT!” they screamed and swarmed around us like angry wasps, yelling their orders directly into our ears and nearly nose-to nose in our faces. I was already sweating buckets.

  Once they had us somewhat organized, we marched off towards the Company area. The “Company” in Army speak is your unit.

  A Company usually consists of about 200 men with a Captain as the Commanding Officer, a First Sergeant (E-8) as the senior enlisted non-commissioned officer, and four platoons with 40-50 men each with a Lieutenant as Platoon Leader, Drill Sergeants as Platoon Sergeants (E-7) with Assistant E-6 and E-5 Drill Sergeants. In our unit, we even had an E-4 Drill Corporal.

  Okay, okay, I know what you’re thinking. What’s with all this ‘E’ stuff?

  Sorry, a little indoctrination here on military pay grades and ranks is in order. Also, a little orientation on Army combat organizations.

  Here goes!

  Everyone in the military is designated with a pay level grade and a corresponding rank or name for that pay grade.

  Here are the grades and ranks for the Army and the positions they are normally assigned to in combat units, relative to their grade and rank.

  O-1. Second Lieutenant (2LT). Also referred to as Butter Bar because of the yellow color of their single bar rank insignia. Platoon Leader, Gopher.

  O-2. First Lieutenant (1LT) Rank Insignia = One silver bar. Platoon Leader, Company Executive Officer, Staff Officer.

  O-3, Captain (CPT). Rank Insignia = Two silver bars. Company Commander, Battalion Staff Officer.

  O-4, Major (MAJ). Rank Insignia = Gold Oak Leaf Cluster. Battalion Executive Officer, Brigade Staff Officer.

  O-5, Lieutenant Colonel (LTC). Rank Insignia = Silver Oak Leaf Cluster. Also referred to as a ‘Light Colonel’. Battalion Commander, Brigade Executive Officer, Division Staff Officer.

  O-6, Colonel (COL). Rank Insignia = Silver Eagle. Also referred to as a ‘Full Bird’. Brigade Commander, Division Chief of Staff or Staff Officer.

  O-7, Brigadier General (BG). Rank Insignia = One Silver Star. Assistant Division Commander, Task Force Commander, Corps Staff Officer.

  O-8, Major General (MG). Rank Insignia = Two Silver Stars. Division Commander.

  0-9. Lieutenant General (LTG). Rank Insignia = Three Silver Stars. Corps Commanders, Senior Staff Officers at the Pentagon and other major headquarters.

  0-10. General (GEN). Rank Insignia = Four Silver Stars. Not very many of these folks around. Commanders of Theater commands like US Army Europe and top-level staff positions such as Chief of Staff of the Army or Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

  0-11. General of the Army (GOA). Rank Insignia = Five Silver Stars. Only awarded in time of war; five generals have held this rank. Sadly, none of these Generals are with us anymore. Generals Marshall, Eisenhower, MacArthur, Bradley and Arnold were the last five-star Generals of the Army. General Hap Arnold was the only five-star general who was designated both a General of the Army during World War II and then General of the Air Force when that was established separate from the Army in 1947.

  Enlisted Army soldiers have a structure similar to officers for pay grades and ranks.

  E-1. Private (PVT).

  E-2. Private (PVT).

  E-3. Private First Class (PFC). Rank Insignia = One Chevron (inverted ‘V’).

  E-4. Corporal (CPL). Rank Insignia = Two Chevrons. Team Leader.

  E-5. Sergeant (SGT). Rank Insignia = Three Chevrons. Section/Team Leader.

  E-6. Staff Sergeant (SSG). Rank Insignia = Three Chevrons plus One Rocker underneath (like a ‘U’). Squad Leader.

  E-7. Platoon Sergeant (PSG). Rank Insignia = Three Chevrons plus Two Rockers. Platoon Sergeant.

  E-8. Master Sergeant (MSG). Rank Insignia = Three Chevrons, plus Three Rockers. Master Sergeant in a staff position. First Sergeant in leadership position. If filling First Sergeant position for the Company, will have a Diamond in the center of their rank.

  E-9. Sergeant Major (SGM). Rank Insignia = Three Chevrons, plus Four Rockers. Sergeant Major in a staff position. Command Sergeant Major in a leadership position. If filling position of Command Sergeant Major, will have a Star in the center of their rank.

  There are also Specialist designations (SP4, SP5) for ranks E-4 and E-5 for those assigned to technical positions.

  Sandwiched in between Officer ranks and Enlisted ranks are Warrant Officers.

  In the United States military, Warrant Officers (grades W-1 to W-4, in 1969; W-1 to W-5 as of 1992) are ranked as an officer above the senior-most enlisted ranks, as well as officer cadets and officer candidates, but below the officer grade of O-1.

  Warrant Officers are highly skilled, single-track (as in Aviation) specialty officers, and while the ranks are authorized by Congress, each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces selects, manages, and uses Warrant Officers in slightly different ways.

  For appointment to Warrant Officer (W-1), a warrant is approved by the Service Secretary of the respective branch of service (Secretary of the Army, or Secretary of the Navy for USMC warrant officers), while Chief Warrant Officers (W-2 to W-5) are commissioned by the President of the United States. Both Warrant Officers and Chief Warrant Officers take the same Oath of Office as Commissioned Officers (O-1 to O-10).

  During the Vietnam War, the Army chose Warrant Officers as the primary pilots for the extensive helicopter fleet that was needed to fight the war because the use of Warrant Officers would reduce the manpower shortage then being experience among Commissioned Officers who were needed in the Combat Arms of Infantry, Armor, Artillery and other military occupational specialties.

  Not lost on the Department of Defense was the fact that the military pay scale paid Warrant Officers less than it paid Commissioned Officers of comparable seniority of service and experience. Not only did the U.S. Army pay Warrant Officers less monthly “salary” (Base Pay) than Commissioned Officers, they paid them less for flying Army aircraft as well (Flight Pay), despite the fact that frequently both a Warrant Officer and a Commissioned Officer would share the same cockpit of an Army helicopter, and that the Warrant Officer, as a dedicated professional aviator, often performed the duties and carried the responsibilities of Pilot in Command or Aircraft Commander. It was not until 1974, after the war in Vietnam that U.S. Army Warrant Officer pilots f
inally received flight pay equal to Commissioned Officer pilots.

  The mid-1960s saw a dramatic period of growth for Aviation Warrant Officers. Aviation Warrant Officer strength swelled from approximately 2,960 in 1966 to more than 12,000 by 1970. No one envisioned the huge impact that Warrant Officer aviators would have on the conduct of the war in Vietnam, nor the impact Vietnam would have on Army Aviation.

  Warrant Officers became the heroes of the Vietnam War and the backbone of Army Aviation. I couldn’t wait to join their ranks.

  While we are talking grades and ranks, here’s a brief picture of sizes and names of organizations from small to large.

  Team = 4-6 soldiers, Fire Team, led by a Corporal or Sergeant.

  Squad = 9-10 soldiers, two Teams in a Squad, led by a Staff Sergeant.

  Platoon = 40 soldiers, four Squads in a Platoon, led by a Platoon Leader (Second Lieutenant) and Platoon Sergeant.

  Company or Troop* = 200 soldiers. Four Platoons plus Headquarters led by a Captain as Company Commander and an E-8 First Sergeant. *In Cavalry units, the Company is called a Troop and is usually larger because of additional personnel and equipment assigned to accomplish their wide-ranging tasks of reconnaissance to find and fix the enemy.

  Battalion or Squadron* = 900-1,000 soldiers. Four Companies plus support elements and Headquarters, led by a Lieutenant Colonel as Commander and an E-9 Command Sergeant Major. *In Cavalry units, the Battalion is called a Squadron and usually a larger and more complex organization due to its missions.

  Brigade or Regiment* = 5,000 soldiers. Four Battalions plus support elements and Headquarters led by a Colonel as Brigade Commander and Sergeant Major as Brigade Command Sergeant Major. *In Cavalry units, the Brigade is called a Regiment and is usually larger and more complex due to its missions.

  Division = 18-20,000 soldiers. Three Brigades in a Division plus a Cavalry Squadron, Artillery units, other support elements and a Headquarters led by a Major General and Division Command Sergeant Major.

  Army = 100,000 soldiers. Several Divisions plus major support elements and a Headquarters led by a Lieutenant General as Army Commander and his Command Sergeant Major.

  Theatre = One million or more soldiers comprising multiple Armies plus elements of other services led by a General or other four-star equivalent. Currently most Theatre commanders are referred to as Combat Commands such as Southern Command, Joint Special Operations Command, etc.

  The ‘highest ranking’ officer in the Army is the Army Chief of Staff who leads the Army and serves on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. If an Army officer holds the position of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, which is a rotating position held by four-star officers from all the Services, then he holds the highest position for an Army officer.

  The highest position for enlisted soldiers is Sergeant Major of the Army where one individual is selected for that honor and serves alongside the Chief of Staff of the Army.

  So that was your lesson in Army rank structure and organizations. From Second Lieutenant to General of the Army for Officers and Private to Sergeant Major for enlisted soldiers.

  From units, as small as 4-6 man Teams to Theatre commands of a million troops or more.

  There were nearly 200 of us newbies. When we arrived in the Company area, it was our first look at what we would call “home” for the next two months.

  The Company area consisted of 10 or 12 World War II era wooden barracks. They looked in surprisingly good shape for being so old. The lawns and grounds were neat and tidy. Even rocks used for marking paths were lined up in order and painted white.

  Of course, I had no idea that was due to the labor of those poor recruits who had gone before us. We would soon find ourselves spending lots of time cleaning the Company area. Even crawling on our stomachs under the barracks, picking up every little piece of trash and cigarette butt to make sure all was in order.

  The barracks were two stories with a single stairwell inside and a fire escape staircase outside.

  Each floor contained open squad bays running the length of the building, lined on both sides with steel bunk beds.

  The bottom floor also housed the latrine (bath room) at one end and a separate single room for the platoon’s senior Drill Sergeant.

  The latrine was a huge shock compared to home. The shower at one end was one big steel stall for 8-10 guys. The urinal was one long steel trough. The sink was another long steel trough attached to the wall with a ledge above with reflective sheet metal for a mirror. The toilets were mounted on the floor beside the urinal trough arranged in a long row, side by side, no walls or doors. You would learn how to do the three “S’s”; ‘shit, shower and shave’ on command in front of God and everyone!

  We would learn how to make our bunks to the Army’s exacting standard; sheets and blanket pulled tight to the 12th spring underneath, hospital corners, 6” collar, pillow fluffed, crease free and centered.

  Our foot locker at the foot of the bunk contained nearly all our worldly possessions issued by the Army; socks, underwear, t-shirts, uniform brass, belt, belt buckle, razor, razor blades, soap brush, tooth brush, tooth paste, bar soap, shoe polish, polishing cloth, towels, wash cloths, etc. It would be our “Display”; polished, clean, neatly organized, exactly the way the Drill Sergeant wanted it.

  Our highly shined leather boots and shoes would be displayed alongside our shower sandals, centered under the bunk; left side for whoever was assigned the lower bunk, right side for the occupant of the upper bunk.

  Our hanging lockers between the racks of bunk beds contained our fatigue duty uniforms (Army green), Khaki dress uniforms, Army dress green uniform, service hat and cap. All hangers equally spaced and everything neatly organized, exactly to standards.

  The Drill Sergeants demanded that everything be clean and sparkling and ready for inspection. They spent untold hours teaching us how to do things the right way, the Army way, from cleaning toilets to cleaning rifles. They preached ‘Attention to Detail’ that could save your life and that of your buddies.

  They would wake us up well before dawn by throwing the large metal trash cans the length of the squad bays while screaming at the top of their lungs; “GET YOUR ASSES UP! MOVE IT GIRLS! IT’S ANOTHER GREAT DAY IN THE ARMY! IT’S ANOTHER FINE DAY FOR THE CORPS! BEAT NAVY! FALL OUT FOR PT!”

  We had two minutes to put on our fatigues and be down in the ‘Company Street’, in formation for physical training to start the day.

  Physical training (PT) started with calisthenics, the Army “Daily Dozen”; Jumping Jacks, High Jumpers, Trunk Twisters, Push-ups, Sit-ups, Deep Knee Bends, Turn and Bounces, Windmill, Lunges, Squat Thrusts, Bend and Reaches and Toe Touches.

  That would be followed by Chin-Ups and Monkey Bars, then a run in formation, from one to five miles.

  All physical training was done in full fatigue uniforms and combat boots back in those days.

  Throughout the training day we would jog in formation from one training area to the next. Later in the training cycle it would also include jogging with our rifles (M-14s) held across our chests (port arms) and rucksacks on our backs as we went out to the ranges and other training areas.

  Within a week or two we would be running a mile without throwing up and by the end of boot camp we would be running five miles or more and doing ten-mile “forced marches” in full gear.

  After our morning PT, we would be allowed 30 minutes or so to do the three “S’s”, get our barracks all cleaned up and be ready for inspection. Of course, there was no way we could achieve their standards, so the Drill Sergeants continued their screaming and running us ragged, making us do the same things over and over again.

  After inspection of the barracks and another inspection of each one of us “in ranks” out on the Company Street, we then marched to the Company Mess Hall for a quick high-calorie breakfast of eggs, bacon, potatoes, toast, oatmeal, or the infamous SOS, “Shit on a Shingle” (creamed beef on toast).

  As we stood in line to enter the Mess Hall, we were const
antly admonished to look sharp and keep quiet. Once inside, we each picked up our steel tray, napkin and utensils and proceeded down the serving line. Many of our fellow recruits were on the dreaded “KP” or Kitchen Police duty. They had already been there for hours helping get all the food prepared and the mess hall cleaned, now serving us our portions as we headed down the line and proceeded to our tables.

  The Officers and Drill Sergeants had their own table to enjoy their meal at their leisure with recruits serving them as waiters.

  The rest of us sat at our tables while one or more of the Drill Sergeants would be roaming the mess hall screaming at us to instantly down our meals so we could get off to more inspections, classroom and field training.

  The training curriculum was crammed full of indoor classroom and outdoor field training to teach us about the Army and the basic skill sets required of a soldier.

  Learning the customs, courtesies and history of the US Army.

  Learning how to take care of one’s self through personal hygiene and maintenance of personal equipment and weapon.

  Learning personal responsibility by achieving standards set by the Drill Sergeants.

  Learning how to work together as a team through sharing of tasks, from cleaning the barracks to running combat obstacle courses.

  Learning leadership by example and rotation through leadership positions as fire team leaders, assistant squad leaders, squad leaders, and continuous instruction and mentoring by the Drill Sergeants.

  Learning how to shoot, move and communicate in a combat environment.

  Learning basic battlefield first aid to help fellow soldiers survive when wounded.

  And what seemed like a thousand other things. The most important of which, to me, was learning to work together, to support one another, to have each other’s back regardless of race, creed, color or religion.