The Aviators

by W. E. B Griffin

  âśIf you need him bad, you can have him," Bellmon said.

  Bellmon could hear Hanrahan inhale.

  "Let me start this from scratch," he said. "What happened is that Joe Augustus came back from Nam last week.

  I guess you know he runs that Special Operations group?âť

  âśHis brother's here, running SCATSA. He told me." SCATSA stands for Signal Aviation Test and Support Activity.

  "Well, Joe and one of my guys, Father Lunsfordâť

  âśI don't recall the name, should I?âť

  âśCaptain. Black guy. Mean sonofabitch. He was running the long-range patrols for Joe Augustus. Anyway, they came up with an insert-extract technique using two slicks and two gunships. It cut their losses, which were pretty bad, down pretty low. Joe Augustus wants to train our people before we send them over there. âś

  "Why?âť

  âśThere's a chopper shortage over there, you haven't heard? âś

  "There's a chopper shortage everywhere. The 11th Air Assault tests have drawn down everybody," Bellmon said.

  âśWell, that's part of it. Joe is having trouble getting choppers to practice with over there, that's part of it. The other part is sort of psychological. Your Captain Oliver's apparently been in on it from the beginning. As has Father Lunsford. People pay attention to people who know what they're talking about. So when Father told me your man Oliver wasn't doing anything really important over there-that was before I heard you had made him your aide-I figured he would be more valuable here. So I told my G-l to call up and ask, et cetera, et cetera. Otherwise, Bob, I would have taken no for an answer." .

  "Red, I repeat," Bellmon said, "if you think you really need him, you can have him.âť

  âśNo," Hanrahan said. "Thanks, but no thanks. He's a regular, Norwich, I think, and a tour as your aide is more important to him, and the Army, down the pike, if he's as good an officer as Joe and Father say he is. So, quickly changing the subject, how's the family? Bobby graduates this year, doesn't he?âť

  âśHe's captain of the fencing team," Bellmon said. "Everybody else is fine. How's Patty?âť

  âśEverybody's fine. You're not sore I called, Robert, are you?âť

  âśDon't be silly. Come see us, Red.âť

  âśYou're the one with all the airplanes, you come see us," Hanrahan said.

  "I will, I really will," Bellmon said. "It was good to hear your voice, Red." I wonder why I told him I had already picked Oliver to take Jerry Thomasâ(tm) place. I guess maybe I already had and was just going through the motions.

  [TWO]

  Office of the Commanding General The Army Aviation Center & Fort Rucker, Alabama 1545 Hours 15 December 1963 Starting at quarter to three in the afternoon, the three semifinalists came in to see Bellmon. Aware of it-and wondering why-Bellm on was in a foul mood from the moment they began arriving.

  He finally realized it was because he was wasting time: his own time and the time of two of the nominees. Unless Captain John S. Oliver, Jr., came in drunk, or there was an unpleasant chemical reaction between them, Oliver had the job.

  The first two bright young officers did not please him any more than he had expected they would. Courtesy and respect differ from servility, and Bellmon was well aware of that difference. He didn't want a manservant; he wanted a nice young man who could simultaneously be helpful and acquire professional knowledge.

  And, just as Bellmon had expected, Captain John S. Oliver made a favorable first impression when he entered, saluted, and announced, "Captain Oliver, John S., reporting to the commanding general as ordered, Sir." Oliver, Bellmon noticed, was not wearing any of the ribbons to which he was entitled, neither those representing awards, nor the I-Was-There ribbons. All he had on his blouse breast were his aviators wings and the Combat Infantry Badge, the latter worn above the former, which General Bellmon thought reflected the priority which should be accorded to the two qualification badges.

  Or, Bellmon wondered sourly, has he taken the trouble to find out that I don't wear ribbons, either, most of the time, just the badges? Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

  But after he considered that briefly, he began to wonder where Oliver had gotten the CIB; Oliver had been assigned to an aviation company, and aviation companies do not award the Combat Infantry Badge.

  "Where did you get the CIB?" Bellmon asked.

  "I did a short, involuntary tour with the Berets, Sir," Oliver said.

  "When you got shot down and had to walk out, 1s that what you mean?âť

  âśYes, Sir.âť

  âśAnd they cut the orders?âť

  âśYes, Sir."

  Bellmon made a grunting noise. That had just turned Oliver's Silver Star citation into the real thing, and not just the prose of an imaginative citation writer in an aviation company. If the Berets had given Oliver the CIB, that meant they thought he had earned it.

  I should have guessed that; Red Hanrahan would not have gone to all the trouble to try getting him reassigned over there if he thought he was just one more airplane driver. They think this young man is one of their own. Will that be a problem?

  General Bellmon went on to reflect that while he admired the Green Berets-some of his best friends were Green Berets-he would not want his daughter to marry one.

  Does that maybe apply to an aide who's an unofficial Green Beret, too? An aide is close to being a member of the family.

  Don't be ridiculous. This young man is obviously a clean cut young fellow. Just because the Green Berets want him, that should not make him guilty by association.

  "In ten words or less, Captain," Bellmon said, smiling at Johnny Oliver, "tell me why you would like to be my aide-de-camp."

  "Sir, with respect, I don't want to be your aide.âť

  âśThen what are you doing here?âť

  âśI was ordered to report to the General, Sir.âť

  âśAnd you weren't told why?" Bellmon asked, confused.

  "Sir, I supposed that it was something to do with my making a nuisance of myself."

  What the hell is this?

  "What kind of a nuisance?âť

  âśSir, I don't want to be a Chinook IP," Oliver said-an Instructor Pilot.

  "Is that what they have planned for you?âť

  âśYes, Sir. I'm just about finished with the transition course.âť

  âśAnd what makes you think they're going to make you an IP?"

  "I heard they were, Sir. And when I asked Colonel Matthews, he admitted it.âť

  âśWhat's wrong with being a Chinook IP?" Bellmon asked.

  "As I understand it, that would be a feather in your cap. We have far more applicants for Chinook training than we have spaces.âť

  âśYes, Sir," Oliver said. "That's what I told Colonel Matthews, Sir. I told them he should give it to somebody who wanted it."

  "And you, obviously;" Bellmon said sarcastically, realizing that he was more than a little annoyed with this young pup, "can think of other assignments where your talents would be of greater benefit to the Army?" The intercom at that moment came to life.

  "General, Mrs. Bellmon is here," his secretary announced.

  "Ask her to come in, please." Barbara Waterford Bellmon came into the office. She was a lanky, tanned, and freckled woman who looked considerably younger than her husband, although barely a year separated them.

  Bellmon wondered if she had come to examine the prospective aides-de-camp. That was unlikely, although she had every right to do so; she would be spending as much time with the aide as he would. "Bobby has been stabbed," Barbara Bellmon announced.

  "Run through by a plebe d'Artagnan.âť

  âśWhat?" General Bellmon asked. He thought that either he hadn't heard her right or she wasn't taking the situation seriously. "The tip of the other kid's epee came off just as he lunged at Bobby, Barbara said. "The Point just called. Lew's aide. He said Bobby's in no danger but is experiencing some discomfort. No wonder." The Point was of course West Point. Bobby was Robert F. Bellmon, Jr., w
ho the following June would graduate from the United States Military Academy and march off in the Long Gray Line. . . in the footsteps of his father, his grandfathers on both sides, and two of his four great-grandfathers.

  Lew was Brigadier General Lewis M. Waterford, who was running the Corps of Cadets and was Barbara's baby brother.

  "Where was he hurt?" General Bellmon had asked.

  "It took some doing to get that out of Lew's aide. And now that I have it, I have no intention of repeating it in mixed company. I don't even know this young man.âť

  âśExcuse me," General Bellmon said, "Barbara, this is Captain John Oliver. Captain, my wife.âť

  âśHello," Barbara said, smiling and giving him her hand.

  âśI don't think I've seen you around, have I?"

  "No, Ma'am, I don't believe so."

  "Captain Oliver was sent here to be interviewed to replace Jerry," General Bellmon told her. "We had just reached the point where he said he would rather not be my aide, thank you, when you walked in."

  Barbara looked at John Oliver with interest. "I don't blame you, of course. I wouldn't want to work for the old grouch either. But I'm part of the deal, and I'm much more pleasant than he is.âť

  âśCaptain. Oliver was just about to tell me where he does think he should be assigned," Bellmon said. "Go on, Captain." Barbara Bellmon heard the sarcasm in his voice and gave him a dirty look. Bellmon saw that his wife liked young Captain Oliver, and he knew that she was damned seldom wrong about her snap judgments of young men. Or old ones, either.

  "Sir, if I'm going to be teaching something, I think I should be teaching from my 'Nam experience, probably in the 11th Air Assault.âť

  âśWhat about teaching insertion-extraction techniques to the Green Berets at Fort Bragg?" Bellmon asked evenly.

  Oliver considered that for a moment before replying. "Yes, Sir. I hadn't thought about that, but I could do that.âť

  âśYou're too junior to be given command of a company," Bellmon told him. "You just made captain. And the question of you being assigned to Fort Bragg has come up and been decided against. âś

  âśI didn't know that I was being considered for an assignment at Bragg, Sir," Oliver said, and Bellmon saw that he was obviously telling the truth. "I've already run a company, Sir. I commanded the 170th Aviation Company for seven weeks," Oliver argued politely. "Which leads me to think I - might do that again successfully."

  "How did thafhappen?"

  âśThe company commander went in, Sir," Oliver said, matter-of-factly, which Bellmon translated to mean he had either been shot down or for some other reason crashed to his death. "The exec was flying in the left seat. I was senior.âťBellmon saw in Barbara's eyes a new interest in Captain Oliver.

  "Captain Oliver came home from Nam with a Silver Star and a DFC," Bellmon said.

  "Did he?" Barbara said.

  "Anyway, the TO and E now calls for a major to command aviation companies," Bellmon went on. "The most you could hope for would be a platoon. More than likely, if they offered to make you a Chinook IP, it was intended as a reward for your service in Southeast Asia. And in that circumstance, I can understand why they're annoyed with you for throwing it back in their faces.âť

  âśDavis," Barbara said. "Interesting parallel. And he even looks like him."

  It took General Bellmon a moment to take his wife's meaning. When he did, he smiled and grunted.

  "Captain Davis, Captain Oliver, was a young Armor officer much like yourself at this stage of his career. A West Pointer. He'd gotten into Korea early and done some rather spectacular things. âś

  âśSilver Star, too," Barbara Bellmon interjected. "So when I. D. White, who was then commanding Knox, I suppose you know who General White is?âť

  âśYes, Sir," Oliver said, smiling. "Class of '20. 'Norwich Forever.' âś

  âśOh," Barbara Bellmon said, brightening. "Are you Norwich, Captain?âť

  âśYes, Ma'am.âť

  âśWe have a very dear friend who just graduated from Norwich, don't we, dear?" Barbara Bellmon said very sweetly.

  "Oh, Jesus, Barbara!" General Bellmon said disgustedly, confirming Oliverâ(tm)s suspicion that Barbara Bellmon was zinging her husband.

  "He was in the class of '63 and a half," she went on innocently.

  "Ma'am?" Oliver said, confused.

  "She's talking about a-friend of ours who got caught up in this OPERATION BOOTSTRAP nonsense," Bellmon said, "and was ordered to Norwich." OPERATION BOOTSTRAP was an Army Personnel program designed to ensure that all regular service commissioned officers had a baccalaureate degree; those who could acquire a degree in twelve months or less were sent to college on duty and at government expense.

  "Yes, Sir," Oliver said uneasily.

  "I have nothing against education, and certainly not against Norwich," Bellmon decided he had to explain, "but in this case, the officer who got hung up in OPERATION BOOTSTRAP was a lieutenant colonel-âť

  âśAnd my husband felt sorry for him, and went up to see him, and when Bob found him, he was on the campus ski slopes, surrounded by twenty-year-old beauties from the University of Vermont," Barbara Bellmon said, laughing.

  "Wearing a hat with a goddamned tassel!" Bellmon added, and then he shook his head and laughed, too. Then he went on. "But we were talking about a distinguished Norwich graduate, not Craig Lowell."

  "Craig graduated with honors in German and Russian," Barbara argued.

  "He spoke German before they sent him up there," General Bellmon said.

  "Anyway, Captain, Colonel Lowell is now the Army Aviation Officer on the staff of STRIKE COMMAND at McDill," Barbara Bellmon said.

  "If we can get back to this," Bellmon said impatiently. "I suppose you know, Oliver; that General White's now Commander in Chief, Pacific," Bellmon said.

  "Yes, Sir.âť

  âśWell, as I was saying, when I. D. White was commanding Knox during the Korean War, he needed an aide, and he offered Davis the job because he felt it should - go to some officer who'd already been to that war, and because he was sure that he-General White, I mean-wasn't going to get to go to Korea.âťThere were no plans then to send an armored division to Korea, and based on his long experience with Army politics, General White was convinced they weren't going to give command of a corps, with no armored divisions in it, to an Armor general. âś

  âśSo General White was apparently nicer to Captain Davis than my husband has been to you," Barbara said, "and Davis took the job-âť

  âśAnd was on it I guess three weeks," Bellmon interrupted his wife, "when there, was a telephone call from the Chief of Staff. The President had just sent General White's name to the Senate for his third star, and how soon could he leave for Korea to take command of X Corps?"

  "Davis went with him, of course, Davis is now on the lieutenant colonels' list-" Barbara Bellmon said.

  "He made it," Bellmon interrupted. "I saw it in Armor.âť

  âśAre we getting through to you, Captain Oliver?" Barbara asked. Captain Oliver looked at her, nodded his head, then looked at General Bellmon, and then back at her.

  "Yes, Ma'am," he said. "You are very persuasive indeed.âť