Where is "Centaur 6" Going?
During my first tour in Vietnam I was assigned to D Troop, 3rd Squadron, fourth Cavalry, which was part of the Twenty Fifth Infantry Division. A, B, and C Troops were Armored Cavalry and were equipped with M48 tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers (APC’s). Later in the tour the M48 tanks were replaced with M551 Light Armored Vehicles.
At times the ground troops would get into battles on the ground and D Troop, the helicopter troop, would fly in their support. The support ranged from gun support, scout support; lift support to flying the Squadron commander overhead of his embattled troops. We had a great squadron commander. When his troops were in battle he wanted to be with the troops to run the battle. He would go in on the ground if he thought he could be of help to them there. Sometimes he carried wounded soldiers out and other times he crawled through tunnels like the “tunnel rats”. A “tunnel rat” was a soldier, normally small in size, who would crawl through enemy tunnels with a .45 pistol to check and see if there were any enemy soldiers there. It was an extremely dangerous job and squadron commanders didn’t have to do jobs like that.
Two of the problems we had in Vietnam were that most of the troops were pretty new in the Army, and secondly, troop commanders were rotated out about as soon as they knew what was going on. They were in command six months, which got their “card punched”, and then they went to a different job. Commanders needed six months in command in combat and they were pretty well assured of a promotion or two. In the twelve months that I was there my first tour, we had three different commanders. The first one was there only a couple of months after I got there. The second commander was there the next six months and the last about four months. Two were poor commanders and the third was pretty good.
One day when the squadron was in trouble I was sent out with the squadron commander to let him take control of the situation. The ground troops had been approaching a tree line and had an APC blown up by a “rocket propelled grenade” (RPG). Troops were injured and killed. They fired at where the RPG came from and started moving forward again. As soon as they did, another RPG hit them and another APC was blown up and more troops wounded or killed. Three times this same thing had happened.
Shortly after arriving overhead the squadron commander and I figured out where the fire was coming from. What we needed was Cobra helicopters to shoot the spot where the fire was coming from. Shortly Centaur 6 arrived on station. Centaur 6 was my troop commander and his boss was the squadron commander who was flying with me. Centaur 6 may have been “qualified” according to the Army to fly Cobras but that didn’t mean he knew what he was doing.
The only way for Centaur 6 to know exactly where to shoot, without taking a long time and allowing the “bad guys” to get away, was for someone to put a smoke grenade right on top of the target. That would not be easy because the bad guys would not want a smoke grenade placed on top of them and the only way to get a grenade there was for a helicopter to fly in low and throw one out. That would be a job that the squadron commander and I would have to do.
The squadron commander took control of the FM radio in the helicopter and told the ground troops to stop firing while we made our run in and dropped the grenade. At the same time, I used the UHF radio to tell Centaur 6 that that we were going in to mark the target. We started our run and the ground troops stopped firing but the enemy now had a clear shot at us and they took advantage of it! We were taking fire all the way in! The Colonel dropped the grenade as we passed over and we made our get away. As we pulled away the Colonel called the ground troops and said they could start shooting again. I called Centaur 6 and told him to hit the “goofy frappe” (violet) smoke with all he had.
Both the Colonel (the squadron commander) and I looked to see the show at the same time. All we could see is the tail of Centaur 6’s aircraft as he was flying away from us. He wasn’t headed for the target shooting; he was headed away from the target! The Colonel looked startled as he asked me, “Where is Centaur 6 going”? I had no answer! I had never seen a gunship flying away when he was supposed to be shooting at a target. I could only say, “I don’t have any idea!” The Colonel then reached over and turned his radio selector to the frequency that Centaur 6 was on and called him. He simply repeated the same question, “Where are you going Centaur 6?” Centaur 6 replied that he was going to get “set-up” for shooting the target and would have us mark the target again in a few minutes. The Colonel and I looked at each other in disbelief! We are going to go through that hail of fire again to mark the target because he was not ready? We called Centaur 6 and made certain he was ready and made another run in to drop a smoke grenade. Again we made it some how.
Centaur 6 did shoot but he wasn’t a real “gun pilot”. He never hit the target. He and his wingman unloaded an entire load of ammunition and never hit the target. Centaur 6 left and said that he would re-arm and refuel and be back in a little while. But after a few minutes one of the “Diamond Head” Cobra pilots called and said he had some rockets on board and that he had heard we might need him. (The Diamond Head’s were one of our sister units that we had a bit of rivalry with.) This guy was a real gun pilot that flew every day and didn’t come out just to get some medals. We marked the target the third time and he hit it! In one run he had done the job that Centaur 6 had failed to do.
When you ask someone to do a job, make certain they know what they are doing. Sure, there are times and places that learning or practicing is okay but, there are other times that there is no room for error. When in those situations that require it be done right the first time, make a wise choice. It is an amazing thing that we make some of the most important decisions when we are young and inexperienced. Usually we select a person to marry and a career while we are pretty young. Make those selections carefully or you’ll wonder where you are going!em>
At times the ground troops would get into battles on the ground and D Troop, the helicopter troop, would fly in their support. The support ranged from gun support, scout support; lift support to flying the Squadron commander overhead of his embattled troops. We had a great squadron commander. When his troops were in battle he wanted to be with the troops to run the battle. He would go in on the ground if he thought he could be of help to them there. Sometimes he carried wounded soldiers out and other times he crawled through tunnels like the “tunnel rats”. A “tunnel rat” was a soldier, normally small in size, who would crawl through enemy tunnels with a .45 pistol to check and see if there were any enemy soldiers there. It was an extremely dangerous job and squadron commanders didn’t have to do jobs like that.
Two of the problems we had in Vietnam were that most of the troops were pretty new in the Army, and secondly, troop commanders were rotated out about as soon as they knew what was going on. They were in command six months, which got their “card punched”, and then they went to a different job. Commanders needed six months in command in combat and they were pretty well assured of a promotion or two. In the twelve months that I was there my first tour, we had three different commanders. The first one was there only a couple of months after I got there. The second commander was there the next six months and the last about four months. Two were poor commanders and the third was pretty good.
One day when the squadron was in trouble I was sent out with the squadron commander to let him take control of the situation. The ground troops had been approaching a tree line and had an APC blown up by a “rocket propelled grenade” (RPG). Troops were injured and killed. They fired at where the RPG came from and started moving forward again. As soon as they did, another RPG hit them and another APC was blown up and more troops wounded or killed. Three times this same thing had happened.
Shortly after arriving overhead the squadron commander and I figured out where the fire was coming from. What we needed was Cobra helicopters to shoot the spot where the fire was coming from. Shortly Centaur 6 arrived on station. Centaur 6 was my troop commander and his boss was the squadron commander who was flying with me. Centaur 6 may have been “qualified” according to the Army to fly Cobras but that didn’t mean he knew what he was doing.
The only way for Centaur 6 to know exactly where to shoot, without taking a long time and allowing the “bad guys” to get away, was for someone to put a smoke grenade right on top of the target. That would not be easy because the bad guys would not want a smoke grenade placed on top of them and the only way to get a grenade there was for a helicopter to fly in low and throw one out. That would be a job that the squadron commander and I would have to do.
The squadron commander took control of the FM radio in the helicopter and told the ground troops to stop firing while we made our run in and dropped the grenade. At the same time, I used the UHF radio to tell Centaur 6 that that we were going in to mark the target. We started our run and the ground troops stopped firing but the enemy now had a clear shot at us and they took advantage of it! We were taking fire all the way in! The Colonel dropped the grenade as we passed over and we made our get away. As we pulled away the Colonel called the ground troops and said they could start shooting again. I called Centaur 6 and told him to hit the “goofy frappe” (violet) smoke with all he had.
Both the Colonel (the squadron commander) and I looked to see the show at the same time. All we could see is the tail of Centaur 6’s aircraft as he was flying away from us. He wasn’t headed for the target shooting; he was headed away from the target! The Colonel looked startled as he asked me, “Where is Centaur 6 going”? I had no answer! I had never seen a gunship flying away when he was supposed to be shooting at a target. I could only say, “I don’t have any idea!” The Colonel then reached over and turned his radio selector to the frequency that Centaur 6 was on and called him. He simply repeated the same question, “Where are you going Centaur 6?” Centaur 6 replied that he was going to get “set-up” for shooting the target and would have us mark the target again in a few minutes. The Colonel and I looked at each other in disbelief! We are going to go through that hail of fire again to mark the target because he was not ready? We called Centaur 6 and made certain he was ready and made another run in to drop a smoke grenade. Again we made it some how.
Centaur 6 did shoot but he wasn’t a real “gun pilot”. He never hit the target. He and his wingman unloaded an entire load of ammunition and never hit the target. Centaur 6 left and said that he would re-arm and refuel and be back in a little while. But after a few minutes one of the “Diamond Head” Cobra pilots called and said he had some rockets on board and that he had heard we might need him. (The Diamond Head’s were one of our sister units that we had a bit of rivalry with.) This guy was a real gun pilot that flew every day and didn’t come out just to get some medals. We marked the target the third time and he hit it! In one run he had done the job that Centaur 6 had failed to do.
When you ask someone to do a job, make certain they know what they are doing. Sure, there are times and places that learning or practicing is okay but, there are other times that there is no room for error. When in those situations that require it be done right the first time, make a wise choice. It is an amazing thing that we make some of the most important decisions when we are young and inexperienced. Usually we select a person to marry and a career while we are pretty young. Make those selections carefully or you’ll wonder where you are going!em>
posted by Bruce | 5:00 PM
1 Comments:
Just guessing, but what do you bet someone pencil whipped Centaur 6's shooting range quals?
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