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West Point Class of 1969

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Suzanne Rice

Jan 21 2021

Flying with Kay – 1975

 “Man, you should have seen the babe the Old Man picked up yesterday!”

“Yeah, she was gorgeous, but she’s enlisted.  A Platoon Sergeant.  I hope he doesn’t get in trouble for that.” 

“I thought he was supposed to be married.  I wonder if his wife knows about her.” 

“From the way they got along, you could see they have had a thing going on for some time.  I sure hope the Old Man knows what he is doing.” 

*     *     *     *     *     *

     Monday morning, the First Sergeant pulled me aside and told me the troops were all abuzz with gossip.  He wondered how I wanted him to handle it.  I told him I would clear things up at the morning formation.

*     *     *     *     *     *

     When I arrived in the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood in 1973, my first assignment was an aviation slot, the division G-2 Air.  During the Engineer Officer Advanced Course when I got back from Vietnam, I was in “Cat B” aviator status, meaning I continued on flight status, maintaining my flight physical and instrument knowledge proficiency, but was relieved from actual flying requirements while I was a student officer.

     To resume my “Cat A” flying status at Fort Hood, I was assigned to get my proficiency hours with a sister unit from the one I had flown with in Vietnam.  When “The Cav” stood down in Vietnam and returned to Fort Hood, Charlie Company of the famed 227th Aviation Battalion was detached and reassigned to the First Aviation Brigade, as the new 60th Assault Helicopter Company, retaining their callsign as “Ghost Riders.”  My Aircraft Commander callsign in country had been “Ghost Rider 8.” 

     At Fort Hood I was assigned for flight proficiency time to Delta, 227th.  Serving on General Staff, my duty was running the G-2 Air section, so I had to get my flying hours on my free time.  The only aircraft I was rated in was the good old Huey, so to schedule the 80 hours per year I needed to maintain flight status made things particularly difficult, for D/227’s operations staff as well as for me.

     The G-2 gave me time when I first arrived to renew my instrument qualifications, but from that time on I had to find my own time to meet my minimum requirements, including night flying, instrument time and required periodic proficiency checkrides with an instructor pilot.  That meant Delta Company had to schedule a bird and crew at a time when I was available.  It became a major challenge for us all.

     After a year on division staff, I moved to the 1st Cavalry Division engineer battalion, 8th Engineers [Skybeavers], to command Charlie Company [Airmobile].  Being a company commander made scheduling my required flight time even more difficult, so the aviation battalion decided to transition me to the OH-58, the scout helicopter which was flown by a single aviator, much cheaper to operate and easier to schedule.

     So, for the remainder of 1975, I got the bulk of my required hours flying the OH-58, mostly on Sunday afternoons when things were quiet in the company.  At Fort Hood in those days, all Army helicopter operations were flown low-level. 

OH-58 for Guy’s Sunday Afternoon Flights

     In 1972, during the North Vietnamese Army’s Easter offensive, the bad guys had introduced the Soviet shoulder-fired heat-seeking missile into the fray.  Suddenly, the aviation tactics that had served the Army so well for years in Vietnam, flying at 2,000 feet above ground level, put us exactly in the kill zone for the heat-seeking Strella SA-7 missile.  We quickly had to adapt to low-level flying to survive.

     In those days, the 1st Cavalry Division [TRICAP, or Triple Capability, meaning one Armored Brigade, one Airmobile Infantry Brigade, and one Air Cavalry Combat Brigade] was the Army’s experimental test unit for developing tactics and procedures for Army forces to survive in the central European theater. Soviet-controlled forces outnumbered NATO/US forces by a frightening ratio, so low level was the only way Army aviation could survive in that environment.  It was termed “nap of the earth” flying.  Low level in those days meant no helicopter could fly anywhere on post higher than 50 feet elevation, with two exceptions:  Over the cantonment area we came up to 200 feet, and a Chinook carrying a sling load could fly where the load was 50 feet up.  Otherwise, we flew so low between the trees that we came up to clear barbed-wire fences and came down to clear under power lines.  This meant even at night, which was scary.

     Besides low-level flight, the Cav also utilized tactical Forward Area Refuel/Rearm Points, better known as FARRPs, at various frequently-changed locations around the huge Fort Hood reservation.  All training flights refueled at the FARRPs hot, meaning the engine remained running and the rotor turning while the crew pumped jet fuel into the aircraft tanks.  It was a wild time to be flying in the Cav.

     When I knew I would be flying, I had the First Sergeant select two or three troops who wanted to ride along with the Old Man.  This was a treat for the troops, and the First Sergeant used it as an incentive to reward our high-performing engineer soldiers.  I would sign for my OH-58 at the post airfield, then fly to a landing pad near the company barracks and pick up the selected troops for a couple of hours of low level flight hugging the varied terrain at Fort Hood.  While it was great fun, sometimes a troop would become queasy at the low-level maneuvers of the little bird.  I tried to warn them ahead of time.

*     *     *     *     *     *

     While I was at the Engineer Officer Advanced Course, I met Kay, an enormously talented woman, at the time working as the Executive Secretary to the Director of the DC branch of Stanford Research Institute, a think-tank for national strategic policy.  She held a Top-Secret clearance years before I got mine.  I only found out later that the FBI had checked me out when she started to see me.

Kay on Duty

     In the early 1960s, Kay had been enlisted in the Army at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, before attending Women’s Army Corps Officer Candidate School and being commissioned a WAC lieutenant.  After marrying and becoming pregnant, she was forced to resign, since the Army didn’t allow pregnant soldiers to serve in those days.  Sadly, that marriage didn’t survive.

     Kay loved the Army, way more than I did.  While living in Washington, D. C., she had joined an Army Reserve Schools unit, serving as a drill instructor while she worked to get her commission restored in the Army Reserve.  For her two-week summer active duty with her unit, she served as a basic training drill sergeant for WAC recruits at Fort Jackson, SC.

WAC of the Month

     It didn’t take me long to figure out that being a bachelor officer at Fort Hood was not the greatest life situation, so I proposed to Kay and we were married in DC in 1974.  She resigned from her Reserve unit to come to live with me at Fort Hood, before her commission had come through.  Loving Army life, she immediately enlisted in the Texas National Guard, the 49th Armored Division.  They assigned her to the 149th Adjutant General Company as a Platoon Sergeant.

Kay Was a Member of the Texas Army National Guard

     So, for a year, during which I had become a company commander, she attended weekend drills with her unit in Austin, Texas.  For summer camp in July 1975, the 49th Armored Division convoyed to North Fort Hood, to train for two weeks in facilities almost 30 miles north of main post.

     Since the AG company took a break on the middle Sunday, Kay got some free time that afternoon.  So, I signed out an OH-58 to go flying that day and picked up two of my troops at the company, leaving the left front seat open.  We flew up to the helipad at North Fort Hood, where Kay was waiting in uniform.  Her commander had given her permission to go flying with me, so I picked her up and she rode in the front seat beside me for a couple of hours.

     I had not told my troops what the story was, because of the noise of the helicopter when I picked them up at the company.  So, they were astonished when we picked up a gorgeous WAC NCO to ride in the front seat.  I had a helmet for her, so as we flew all over post, up and down the Cowhouse Creek ravine and around the hundreds of thousands of acres of the post range area, we talked on the intercom.

Cowhouse Creek Ravine

     It wasn’t until we landed at a FARRP to refuel that the troops got a good look at her.  While I was pumping jet fuel into the little bird, everyone had to get out of the aircraft in case of fire.  During the wait, Kay took off her helmet and shook out her long auburn hair.  My two troops were too awe-struck to speak to her, so they just stood there gaping.  In those days, she really looked like a movie star.

     It never occurred to me, as we finished refueling and I flew her back to the North Fort helipad, that the troops wouldn’t know that she was my wife.  When I returned to main post and dropped them off at our company helipad, they couldn’t wait to tell their buddies what they had just seen the Old Man do.  Before I had even gotten the helicopter back to the main post airfield to close out my flight, the entire company was abuzz.

     And so, it happened that at Monday morning company formation, this Old Man stood before his assembled troops to explain what was going on.  While the First Sergeant afterward confirmed everything I said, some engineer troops were still skeptical, thinking their commander was up to something.

     How could the Old Man be married to someone so good looking?  Army regulations forbid giving rides to civilians, even if they are married.  And what was he doing with an enlisted WAC, and a Platoon Sergeant at that?  Dang, but he is really up to something!

       Even after the troops got to meet her at later company functions, the Skybeaver troops of Charlie Company, 8th Engineers, still held the Old Man in awe.  Didn’t hurt to have a great wife.

Remembering Kay
D 1/19/2009.  Arlington, Section 59, plot 3817

Written by Suzanne Rice · Categorized: By Guy Miller

Jan 15 2021

Twelfth Man – 1984

Back in 1984 I was in my fourth year of what eventually became a twenty-five-year career as a Lincoln Mercury dealer in Seattle, Washington.

Pete’s Dealership

     The Seahawks were an expansion franchise owned by the Nordstrom’s and, despite a respectable won-loss record with Jim Zorn at quarterback and Steve Largent pulling down his passes, they were having trouble filling the old Kingdome. Ten thousand or more tickets went unsold at each home game.

Seattle Kingdome

I had signed on as a radio and TV advertiser for Seahawks games from the moment I bought my dealership in 1980. KIRO had the contract to broadcast all things Seahawk and my sales manager’s brother was the GM at KIRO. I was a fan and an easy sell and willing buyer. My dealership and KIRO both had a vested interest in the Seahawk’s success. KIRO and Seahawk management worked hand-in-glove on promotions to boost fan interest in the team.

Seattle Seahawks Logo
Seattle Television Station

     One Monday morning my KIRO advertising rep and I met to discuss media buys for the upcoming season. During our meeting he solicited my advice on what promotions might win over more Seattleites, get them more involved in supporting the team. He said there was going to be a big meeting with Seahawk management the next week to decide what promotions to adopt and he was trying to get ideas from advertisers. Asking for advice is the sort of thing a good sales representative does to keep a client involved. Nevertheless, I took him seriously.

     In 1984 Seattle was definitely a different place than many cities in America. Some say it still is. Seattleites viewed themselves as civilized. To a fault they drove, acted and spoke courteously, but many looked down their noses at professional sports. Support for the University of Washington Huskies was rabid but playing sports professionally was viewed as a bit crass.

     As my rep and I discussed the issue, I told him the Seahawks needed a more collegiate connection with the fans, more rah-rah like the Huskies had. My thoughts went back to Army football. I told him how the entire Corps of Cadets attended every game and stood in support throughout; how we were the 12th man, the rocket*, the roar that might just spur the Army Team on to victory. I told him how, in the Navy game of 1968 on a signal from the rabble rousers (West Point cheerleaders), we all stripped off our dress grey tunics to expose 12th man sweatshirts we wore underneath; how at the Penn State game of that same year the 300 of us who attended carried two air horns each and on a signal from the rabble rousers blasted them in unison completely silencing 50,000 Penn State fans. I encouraged him to find some way to instill a kind of collegiate connection between the Seahawks and fans that the Corps had as the 12th man.

Corps of Cadets as the 12th Man**

     My KIRO rep left my office that day pumped up on the idea of a promotion centered around the concept of fans as the 12th man on the field. Two weeks later he came back and said the team’s management had decided to adopt the 12th Man concept and they were trying to decide just how to implement it. Later that year the Seahawks retired the number 12 and made the 12th Man a centerpiece of their marketing. The rest is history.

     In a Seattle Times story, the Seahawks credited a woman named Karen Ford with calling and suggesting the 12th Man jersey for the fans. In fact, there may have been many people who suggested the same or similar ideas. But I will always believe my sales rep got the ball rolling with the enthusiasm he got from my stories about Army football and the BOTL.

      Imagine my frustration years later when Texas A&M sued the Seahawks for using “the 12th Man” promotion. It was supposedly THEIR long-standing tradition, one which they had registered as a trademark. The Seahawks caved and since 2006 have paid Texas A&M to use the expression “the 12s” to describe their fans, renegotiating usage rights every five years.

     The Seahawks have gone on to appear in two Super Bowls and win one. Their new stadium, Century Link Field, is filled to capacity at every home game and the 12s are the noisiest, most disciplined fans in the NFL. So, I guess the Seahawks can afford it, but it still irks me.

Seattle’s Century Link Field

     A little web research revealed that idea of the fan as the 12th man on the field did not begin at West Point and Texas A&M’s claim that it began there in 1922 is questionable at best. Through the years the expression “12th man” used to describe fans (or even a referee) appeared in countless newspaper stories about many different college teams of many different sports. However, the 12th Man traditions at Texas A&M and West Point are so similar, I believe they migrated from West Point to Texas A&M, brought there by tactical staff who were West Point grads. Texas A&M did not register their trademark until 1990.

     Here is a link to a video summary of that Penn State game in 1968. It is amazing what you can find on the web: November 2, 1968 – Penn State 28, Army 24 (10 Minutes or Less) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHPHXR29T_c 

*A traditional West Point football cheer led by the cadets that goes like this:

(Whistle) –

BOOM! – Ahhh

U – S – M – A, Rah! Rah!

U – S – M – A,  Rah! Rah!

Hoo-Rah! Hoo-Rah!

AR-MAY! Rah!

Team! Team! Team!

** Editor’s Note: This photo shows the Corps of Cadets at the Army-Navy game, November 30, 1968. The Army football team, energized by the unexpected show of support, went on to beat Navy 21-14!

Written by Suzanne Rice · Categorized: By Pete Grimm

Jan 04 2021

U.S. Military Academy Admissions Stories – 1976-2000

One of the jobs I had in the Army Reserve was an Attachment to the United States Military Academy as a Military Academy Liaison Officer, in addition to being Assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers, New York District. I worked in Western New York centered in Rochester with two other more senior officers at first, and when they moved on, I was the senior man and recruited two others to work with me. I interviewed candidates for the Military Academy and advised them of the opportunities afforded by West Point and by the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), as a college option. I always told them that West Point was hard, and that they wouldn’t like it, but that it was very worthwhile. Most years, the area that I covered produced at least seven cadets. I loved being the top guy, as I was the last several years I was in Rochester. It was also nice to see how the cadets had matured during their years at West Point. When they were home on leave at Christmas time, we had a social event, inviting that year’s candidates to meet them. We had another event to send off the new cadets who were entering that summer. It was also nice to receive an Army Commendation Medal and later a Meritorious Service Medal for the work I did as a Reservist for the Military Academy. I did that for thirteen years, 1976-89. Then, I became the Associate Director of Admissions at West Point as a Department of the Army civilian employee.

Emblem of the Admissions Office, West Point

     I was responsible for 4 three-day visits by high school guidance counselors, and one Admissions Participant Conference. I led the Invitational Academic Workshop each June, where about 400 rising high school seniors would come for a week-long program. Also, to be conversant with what the Admissions Officers were doing, I was responsible for the admissions files for the state of Kansas and was the officer on duty for the day on a rotating basis, for calls that came in from anywhere. I left Admissions after four and half years and went to work for the Army Corps of Engineers in the West Point Resident Office. As a reservist, I became a Drilling Individual Mobilization Augmentee and went to work in New York City once a month, first at New York District headquarters, then later at the North Atlantic Division headquarters.

     When I was promoted to Colonel, in 1997, I again became a Military Academy Liaison Officer. Although I wasn’t the senior officer, I was the only one who had actual experience in the Admissions Office. I usually answered any questions posed by parents when candidates were taking the Physical Aptitude Exam in the West Point Gym. The exam took about an hour: it was pull-ups for men or a flexed-arm hang for women, a standing long jump, an awkward positioned basketball throw, and a 300-yard shuttle run. It counted 10% of what West Point calls a Whole Candidates Score but must be passed or the candidate is disqualified.

 The parents asked lots of questions. I particularly remember how I answered some. A parent asked, “When will we know?” I said, “Well, Sir, you never know for sure, so don’t give up hope, but most offers are made by mid-March. Make sure to complete the file, because even if not offered admission, you might be offered USMA Prep School; Civil Prep, a program where students could go to a civilian school for a year and be provided special consideration under terms acceptable to the NCAA (funded by donations to USMA); or a three-year advanced ROTC scholarship. “Then, I told this story. A father from Kansas (First District, in the Kansas City Metroplex area) called asking that same question, and I gave him that response. What I didn’t tell him was that four candidates from that District already had offers of admission. I had already told this group of parents waiting for their son or daughter taking the Physical Aptitude Exam, that West Point had one of the highest “Capture Rates” of any college. Ours was always around 75%. That meant that for an entering class of 1200 students, we would offer admission to 1600 candidates. As an aside, when I visit candidates in their homes, I explain that Service-Connected nominations come from the President, who has 100 vacancies to fill each year, offspring of Active Duty or Retired soldiers; 100% disabled veterans, who have 12; ROTC and Junior ROTC who have 20. Soldiers, either Active Duty or Reserve get 170, with most coming from USMA Prep. Congressman and the Vice President have a total of 5 vacancies to fill throughout the four-year program. Most have one vacancy to fill each year, and two every fourth year. For every Congressional vacancy coming open, the congressman can nominate ten.

The Long Road to a West Point Appointment

                          

     There are three classes of Appointments. Vacancy Fills, 150 Congressionally-nominated Qualified Alternates; or Additional Appointees from any nomination source for desired Class Size or Class Composition goals—Minorities, Women, Athletes, Soldiers or Scholars. In this case, of the four who were offered Appointments, two were Early Action candidates. More than 90% of those candidates accepted their offers. I figured that three out of four would ultimately accept, and since their scores were better that this man’s son, the son would not get an offer as the vacancy fill for that district, nor was he rated high enough to get an offer as a Qualified Alternate or Additional Appointee. In late March, one non-Early Action candidate declined his offer. A week later the second one did, too. The Early Action candidates waited until close to the National Reply Date, May 1, when all colleges expect answers from their offers. The last one rolled in on April 29. All four had declined. They most likely went to Air Force, much closer to Kansas than West Point. Some might have gone to Navy. We lose most decliners to the other Service Academies. So, by law, his son, fully qualified, and next in line in that district, had to be offered admission. Normally, the Congressman advises the candidate that West Point will make an offer of admission to him or her. Once the Admissions Committee meets and decides to make an offer, our office in DC is notified, and they in turn notify the Congressman. Then, we wait three days before sending a packet to the candidate. We’re not supposed to upstage the congressman. I called the house in Kansas. I told the father that his son would get an offer from West Point, but that the Admissions Committee would not meet again until May 7, and the Congressman would be notified first; he would notify his son by phone call or letter, and his son would get a packet from West Point about May 15. It brought laughter when I said that we’re not supposed to upstage the Congressman, and here I am telling a whole roomful of people that I did that. (However, I never told my boss that I did.)

     The father wanted to know if he and his son could visit West Point before making a decision. I made arrangements, and they came two days later, on May 1. The Committee met on May 7, approved his offer, DC was notified, the Congressman was notified, the packet from us was sent. About ten days later, his postcard declining admission was received. He had accepted an offer from Pittsburg State University, a state school near the Missouri border. Since the other five candidates from that district had not completed their files, there was no one to fill the congressman’s vacancy that year. So, you never know. 

     Another parent asked what to do if her kid didn’t get selected. I related another story. A candidate from the 5th District of Kansas, which encompasses the whole western half of the state, applied. The candidate’s father was career enlisted, so she got a Presidential nomination right off the bat and applied to her Representative and the two Senators from the state. All candidates are advised to do so. She got a nomination from her Representative. Found lacking academically, she was admitted to the USMA Prep School at that time at Fort Monmouth, NJ, for the next academic year. She struggled academically at the Prep School and was not recommended for admission to the U.S. Military Academy by the Commandant of the Prep School. But as far as West Point was concerned, she was qualified. She had nominations again from the President and her Representative in Congress. Only a handful of candidates had applied in her district, most had not completed the full file, and those who had been offered admission had declined. The latest one had done so in early June. So, she got an offer, accepted, and reported with the rest of the Prep School students. She struggled mightily at West Point, had to go to the Summer Term Academic Program several summers, but survived to graduate with her class. The last I heard, she was a Major, still serving on Active Duty. The last question was “When is the best time for someone to apply?” The answer was in the summer or early fall of senior year of high school. Then, I related this story, which, I told the parents, had a tragic ending.

     I was the duty officer one day in the week before Christmas. A parent called, asking for an application for his son. They lived in Maryland. I wrote down the information and sent it to the Records and Testing Office, who sends out the Pre-Candidate Questionnaire along with some materials that explain the application process. It is a quite involved process, which includes nominations from a Congressional or Service-Connected source before a candidate can be offered admission. Two weeks later, the parent called again because nothing from West Point had come. I guess it was lost in the Christmas mail rush. So, I personally sent another packet, and called the home a week later to confirm that it got there. The son sent in his Pre-Candidate Questionnaire, which showed that he was a viable candidate, so he was sent a Second Step Kit, scheduled a Physical Aptitude Exam, and a medical exam. The kit included papers to be filled out by high school officials detailing sports and non-sports leadership experiences. That counts 30% of the total score. For those keeping track, 60% of the score is for academic achievement: high school class rank and SAT or ACT scores. The Medical Exam process is administered by the Department of Defense Medical Exam Review Board, located at the Air Force Academy. They review exams for the Service Academies and ROTC Scholarships. Though not part of a Whole Candidates Score, it must be passed. The young man came for an overnight visit to West Point. I met him myself, and I was impressed. He was disqualified by the findings on the Medical Exam, but because he had a good total score, West Point recommended him for a waiver. But this was getting late in the admissions cycle. Early Action candidate had their files complete by the end of November and were acted upon in December. Most other vacancies were completed by the middle of March. Second-try candidates who’d gone on to college had their files reviewed in early April. Very few offers were made beyond that time; those were mostly vacancy fills for a Congressional district where a candidate declined an offer of admission. Late in April, the Admissions Office determined that three people, next by Whole Candidate Score on the waiting list, would be offered admission.

     The son was at the top of the waiting list, but had not received a medical waiver, so he was passed over. There were no more offers of admission off the waiting list that year. The next day his medical waiver came through, good for the next admissions cycle, too. He applied again for the next year, went to college, did well, and was very likely to be offered admission when the second-try candidates were processed. Then, we received word from his family that he had been killed as a passenger in a car accident. What a shame. He would have been a great cadet and army officer.

     Admissions, according to a Superintendent of West Point while I was there, is the most important part of the process; more important than Academics or Military Training. While complicated, from my experience, it is a very positive process. We look for reasons to qualify a candidate rather than to disqualify. We have some great candidates and we encourage them to complete their files. We encourage those who don’t make it on their first attempt to try again. After all, I’m the son of a man who didn’t get a nomination the first three times he tried. But on the fourth try he did, and he received a Vacancy Fill Appointment, finished first in his class in General Order of Merit, and became a General Officer. 

Written by Suzanne Rice · Categorized: By Bob Jannarone

Dec 15 2020

Decoys – 1974

    I served in Korea in 1974-75 as the Battalion Signal Officer for the 1st Battalion 31st Field Artillery, an Honest John Rocket Battalion located at Camp Stanley, Ui Jong Bu, Republic of Korea (ROK).

Headquarters, 1-31 FA (Honest John)

     In November of 1974 I had occasion to be at nearby Camp Casey for the visit of President Gerald Ford to the 2nd Infantry Division. As a cadet having marched in Washington, D.C. in the January 1969 Inauguration Parade for President Nixon, I found it ironic that just a few years later I would be in Korea welcoming his successor.

     The preparations for the President’s arrival were intense. We were only a short distance from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and North Korean infiltrators were commonplace. Given that the 25th Anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War was approaching, we didn’t know what to expect from North Korea. Secret Service had been at Camp Casey for days finalizing security procedures to include using metal detectors to repeatedly sweep every foot of ground that President Ford might walk on. On the day of the President’s arrival, there were armed agents on every building top and high point in the area.

CPT Ernie, middle, with his jeep driver and platoon Sergeant near the DMZ

     I will never forget the arrival of the President. He was coming by helicopter and we in the stands at Indianhead Field were all watching the skies. Suddenly, over one of the local mountains, you could see a huge helicopter, a Marine helicopter or a Chinook, I think, approaching the parade field at a very high rate of speed. It was surrounded by three or four smaller gunships, Cobras, I believe. Suddenly, our eyes were drawn in another direction as a second Chinook with Cobra escorts was also bearing down on the field. A moment later, a third Chinook and Cobras also approached from yet another direction.

     We froze because they all seemed to be headed for a collision point right over the field. At what seemed to be the last second, two of these groups veered away. They had been decoys. With the Cobras still circling overhead, down came the remaining Chinook and out onto Indianhead Field, ROK, stepped the most powerful man on Earth, the President of the United States of America.

     There were no doubters there that day. A giant cheer went up from the crowd with me screaming my head off like everyone else. I was never so proud to be an American and a member of the greatest fighting force on Earth.

     Major General Emerson was (and remains to this day) one of the Army’s most decorated soldiers. Among a chestful of awards earned during his full career, the Gunfighter, USMA Class of 1947, received while in Vietnam two Distinguished Service Crosses for extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat, multiple Silver Stars and the Purple Heart after being severely burned while his helicopter was shot down in 1968. He got the nickname “Gunfighter” from his habit, as a Brigade Commander in Vietnam, of flying into active combat situation wearing unauthorized pistols and personally engaging the Vietcong.

     Because of his distinguished career, when the Gunfighter spoke, his soldiers listened. Below is the Second Infantry Division Commander’s letter to his troops on this occasion.

Text of Gunfighter Sends

I want every man in this division to know that I’m proud of his performance during the visit of our Commander-in-Chief. Over my door, there is a sign that reads, “I give a damn!” I know, and President Ford, knows now, too, that the officers and men of this combat-ready force share that attitude.

Many of you, of course, could not be present at Indianhead Field or Honson Field House when Mr. Ford honored us with his presence at the combat football and Tae Kwon Do championships. Nor could you be among those who ate lunch with him as he moved from one event to another. You had to perform your duty – duty that must take precedence over all else. But those of us that were there appreciate your contribution of time and effort, a contribution which made a momentous occasion possible.

This issue of the Indianhead devotes a great deal of coverage of the President’s stay with the “Second to None” because I want you to share the pride, excitement and emotional uplift those of us fortunate enough to be present experienced, And I want you to read Mr. Ford’s words of recognition of your efforts on behalf of our country.

These are simple words, spoken in response to what he saw and felt. They are words that reflect his immediate understanding and appreciation of the PRO-LIFE spirit and what it contributes to the defense of our country and the free world. They are acknowledgement of the rightness of our positive approach to all problems and tasks. They are an endorsement of the will to win, the will to strive and achieve, the will to give of yourself for something of lasting value.

What we have accomplished here has drawn attention and enthusiastic approval from a host of visitors. However, I know you will share my elation and inspiration to do even better as a consequence of the wholehearted acceptance and encouragement of our endeavors by the President of the United States, a man who is and always have been PRO-LIFE!

 Second Infantry Division Patch

     With leaders such as these, the soldiers of the Second Infantry Division were encouraged and inspired to do their best while they were so far away from home serving on Freedom’s Frontier.

Written by Suzanne Rice · Categorized: By Ernie Albanese

Dec 15 2020

Identification Friend or Foe

After graduating from the Air Defense Officer Advanced Course, I was assigned to a Hawk Missile Battalion in Korea.

Hawk Missile

I spent the first seven months of my tour as the Officer in Charge (OIC), Battalion Operations Central (BOC) on a mountaintop just outside of Ui Jong Bu which is north of Seoul and north of the Hahn River.

UiJongBu Area of South Korea

The BOC consisted of a long-range early warning radar and several control consoles used to assign airborne targets electronically to the HAWK missile firing batteries. HAWK missiles were surface to air rockets with explosive non-nuclear warheads designed to destroy an enemy high-performance aircraft (jets) at medium altitudes up to about 20,000 feet above sea level. The firing battery consisted of tracking radars and six missile launchers each containing three HAWK missiles. The missiles were radar-guided so that once a radar locked on to an aircraft the homing system in the missile would follow the radar signal to the target and destroy it.

Warren’s Radar

Our BOC was the northern-most US air defense radar in Korea and could detect aircraft over 100 miles north of the DMZ.  We took turns pulling 24/7 duty for two weeks at a time with a Republic of Korea (ROK) radar site. More often than not, the ROK radar site would report that it was down for maintenance, so we had to fill in for it. As a result, sometimes we were on duty for a month at a time. Almost every night our radar scope would show 4 to 8 North Korean high-performance aircraft approach the DMZ in attack formation. When this occurred our ‘hot’ missile battery would begin to assume a ready to launch status.  At the very last moment, the aircraft would veer east or west at high speeds.  I’m sure this was a test of our readiness and a war of nerves.

In South Korea Looking North to the DMZ

Late one evening, one of the radar specialists came to me with the report that a single slow-moving aircraft track had appeared to the west and was moving steadily east below the DMZ towards Seoul.  The console operators had tried several times unsuccessfully to get an Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) response from the aircraft.  All civilian aircraft have a responder that constantly sends a radar signal identifying it as a friendly aircraft.  The speed, direction and location on the radar scope seemed to indicate hostile intent.  Since it was a single signal flying fairly slowly, we felt it could be an enemy bomber.  We immediately alerted the ‘hot’ firing battery to prepare to engage.  Once the aircraft moved into the much shorter range of A Battery’s targeting radar, Battery personnel determined that the aircraft was actually a commercial airliner without IFF and not a North Korean bomber.  Minutes later the KAL aircraft landed safely at Kimpo Airport and a potential international incident was avoided.

The next morning our radar Chief Warrant Officer investigated the radar and determined that it had mysteriously fallen out of calibration by about 15 miles (more than the distance to the DMZ).  Apparently, this was not an unusual circumstance with the vacuum tube technology of World War II vintage that made up the ‘brains’ of the radar.  I was just thankful that our early warning system had enough redundancy to prevent the unintentional destruction of a civilian aircraft!

GI’s Doing Maintenance on the Radar

Written by Suzanne Rice · Categorized: By Warren Mueller

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