The White Sands, NM, Shoot, Part Five

This photo is from December 1978 from the shoot. From left to right: a civilian employed by the Army who worked at the "Charlie" Control or the main radio control; Pete Christensen, my copilot and gunner; another employed civilian that worked the radio control at the stands; me and the helicopter, the Princess

It’s Show Time

Finally the day came for the real show. By now the pressure was getting to lots of folks. The platoon leader was not flying one of the aircraft but he was bouncing off the walls. His job was to be close to the man in charge at the bleachers. The night before the real shoot Pete went to a store and bought a little plastic gun that shot ping-pong balls. Seeing how the platoon leader was bouncing off the walls or “pinging”, Pete thought it would it would be appropriate that he have a gun to shoot the ping-pong balls with.

Early on the morning of the shoot we were all up early and had a good breakfast. Well, that is all except the platoon leader. He left really early in the morning to drive the thirty-eight miles across the desert to the site of the shoot. The rest of us went to check our aircraft and get them ready. We checked and double-checked them. They were ready to go.

We left the airport a few minutes early to ensure we were on time. Everything went well picking up the missiles. I got out of the Princess and loaded the two missiles myself. Jim, the commander of the backup aircraft, personally loaded his missile too.

From the spot where we loaded our missiles we went to our assigned holding area. There was nothing to do now but wait for our turn to shoot. As we sat there waiting we were listening to the AM radio in the aircraft. Army helicopters had the AM radio for navigational purposes but it offered some good music at times. The evening before the shoot Pete and I talked it over and decided we should have a song played on the radio for our event. We asked them to play the Eagles song I think is called “Easy, Take It Easy”. We gave them the time to play it and they agreed.

Like most events, this one did not go off on time. We had no idea what the delay was but we were told to just standby. As we sat there, Pete started getting a little nervous. The song came on the radio but he didn’t seem to listen to the words about “easy, take it easy”. After a while longer he said, “I haven’t been this nervous since I got married”. That must have not worked out because I knew that he was single at the time. A little while later Pete said, “If I hit this thing Ill buy you all the root beer you can drink”. He knew I didn’t drink alcohol.

In a little while we were told to move into our final positions just prior to shooting. Pete decided not to listen to the any radios any longer. He asked me to tell him when to shoot. A few minutes more and the platoon leader came on the radio in an anxious voice saying, “Unmask two-one, unmask, unmask”. Unmask meant he was to hover higher so the crowd could see him. The first radio call was quickly followed with, “Move out two-two, move out two-two”. Two-two was my radio call sign and I was on my way to the firing position.

As soon as we were in position Pete confirmed that his switches were all in the correct positions. My job was to hold the aircraft within plus or minus two degrees of the heading, plus or minus five degrees roll, and plus or minus five degrees pitch. That would allow Pete to fire the missile. Pete was ready to shoot the missile.

Another couple of seconds passed and the controller back in the building and our platoon leader both started a five second countdown on the radio. I was echoing their count to Pete on the intercom. Right on schedule Pete pulled the trigger and there was a thud outside the aircraft as the missile fired. Control then started counting up as they monitored the flight of the missile. The missile was flying towards the tank!

In seconds the missile hit the tank! We cut the wires after missile impact. The platoon leader was on the radio again saying excitedly, “Unmask, unmask, unmask, everybody unmask”. In the front seat of the Princess, Pete was jubilant! He started laughing and making all kinds remarks! One of his favorites was, “Oh baby please” which he said with great enthusiasm on this occasion. The platoon leader, Red Seven, called and said, “At a boy! You had them turning and jerking over here”. He was laughing with joy as were all the rest of us. The Princess was the only one that didn’t show any emotion. She just gave us the usual sweet ride back to base.

The entire shoot went like clock work. The Army’s laser guided artillery round, the Copperhead, hit its target. We hit our target. The Air Force bombs found their marks and the Navy finished the show with a direct hit with the Walleye. It had been a grand show. We never met the secretary of defense or the folks in the stands but we did our jobs and we were happy that we had done our part.

We spent one more night at the Holiday Inn before heading home. It was a night of celebration. Everyone was happy as they could be. I’m sure that somewhere the other Army guys, the Air Force, and Navy were having their own celebrations. The WARSAW press may not have had any celebration that night.

No one ever said anything about my being correct about the choice to stay with the Princess or also being correct that the missile was at fault for the misfire. There was never an apology over their goofed-up countdown on one of the practice shoots. We never heard any congratulations from all of the folks that were so nervous. The one star general that threatened me with losing my career if we missed the target never called to say, “Nice job Mr. Karn. Your career is assured”. And we never heard from Bob the Cobbler. But we really didn’t do it right because of them or the pressure. We did it right because that is what we always tried to do. The future of the Army’s attack helicopter was safe in the hands of Pete Christensen, Bruce Karn and the Princess.

A few months passed and then one day my old amigo, Colonel Wall, had the privilege of giving Pete and me our awards for the shoot at White Sands, NM. Knowing the closeness and fondness he felt for us, I am sure he felt that was a great honor for him. (He couldn’t stand Warrant Officers, pilots, and especially Cobra Pilots). I still have a picture of him shaking hands with me as he presented the award. I wonder if he has kept a copy of the picture too?

There had been struggles along the way but everything worked out in the end. There had been pressure, hiccups, and a few nervous people, but it had all come together in the end. Life always has its struggles and hard times. And you are sure to meet some folks that will panic about the things that go wrong. But the best thing to do is to stay calm and keep working on the solutions. ‘Focus on the solutions, not the problems, and do your best work and things will normally work out.