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“The other ACs don’t have confidence in his flying ability. He flies okay as a right-seater but really hasn’t demonstrated that he can think things through like an AC should. Just before you arrived, we had another pilot, Mr. Dumas, that was the same.”
“I heard about him. Okay, I’ll notify Captain Vargus that he’s the new LNO to the ARVN Headquarters. I suppose I should give him a jeep with a radio. Maybe that will soften the blow to his ego.”
“It should, sir.”
“One last thing to discuss, and for now this is between you and me. When the division stands down, we’re being attached to the Fifty-Second Aviation Battalion, First Aviation Brigade. I have a meeting with the battalion commander the day after tomorrow at Camp Holloway, so I’ll need a bird tomorrow to fly up there. The XO will be going with me to plan what they have for us. I want to keep this quiet for now until we get the facts about what they want us to be doing. I doubt they’ll leave us here for long, but don’t expect a move anytime soon. Certainly not until the division leaves and the attachment becomes a fact. We still have to backhaul our own battalions out and back to Bien Hoa.”
“Understood, sir. I’ll notify Maintenance to have your aircraft ready for tomorrow. How long do you think you’ll be gone?”
“Probably three days. Day up, day of meetings, day back. I’ll have the first sergeant cut an assumption of command order for you. You’re in charge while we’re gone.”
“Sir, it’s only for three days—do you really think it’s necessary to cut an assumption of command order?”
“It’s the regulation, Captain.”
“Yes, sir.”
The interior walls of the Operations office were constructed of one-eighth-inch plywood with no soundproofing and offered about as much privacy as a three-hole latrine. On the opposite side of the wall from the CO and Operations officer sat the communications clerk, the Operations clerk and the Operations NCO. Secrets didn’t stay secret long within the unit.
That night in one of the enlisted barracks, Jonesy told the guys in his card game, “I’m telling you the straight truth. The Ops clerk heard the old man say that Division goes home, we’re going to the First Aviation Brigade and moving up north. He told Barry in avionics about it and he told me. I’ll take two.” He tossed two cards out of this hand.
“You’re full of crap. When the division leaves, the division takes everyone. They don’t leave people and units behind. The division came over all together, and it’ll go home together. I fold,” Mondie indicated as he tossed his cards down.
“If we’re going home, why did we get two new pilots in this afternoon? One was a warrant officer and the other was an RLO,” Dorsey asked. “I’ll see you and raise you twenty-five.”
“Wow, big spender, raisin’ me a whole quarter. Can you afford it?” Jarvis asked. “Here’s your twenty-five and I call.”
Lockwood, who worked in the orderly room and was sitting on the sidelines watching the game, entered the conversation. “Look, they just can’t cut the flow of pilots coming in, so we’re getting a trickle of pilots for a while. They have to put them someplace. As we get closer to leaving, those newbies will be reassigned to units that are staying, like the First Aviation Brigade. Sucks to be them getting bounced around, but hey, if they don’t like it, they should have come over sooner. First Sergeant did have me type up an assumption of command order for Captain Beauchamp today. Major Adams and the XO are flying someplace tomorrow and will be gone a few days.”
Looking up from counting his winnings in that hand, Cramer asked, “Any idea where they’re going?”
“Nah, I just cut the order. No indication where they’re going.” With that, the attention of the table returned to the next hand being dealt.
Chapter 24
Squelch the Rumors
“Come in, Mr. Barstow. Did you have a chance to fly with the proposed ACs?” Major Adams asked. He had been gone longer than anticipated due to the weather between Lai Khe and Camp Holloway. Monsoon season in Vietnam could play hell with flight operations, especially when the instruments for inclement weather flight were less than functional all the time. One did not deliberately go into weather conditions with a partial panel.
“Yes, sir, I did. I got in a good solid log mission flying with Mr. Reid and one combat assault. He was pretty solid on questions posed to him, and his judgment was okay.”
Adams raised his eyes from Reid’s file. “Just okay?”
“Ah, poor choice of words, sir. He demonstrated sound judgment for the situations presented,” Mr. Barstow corrected himself.
“So you see no problem moving him to AC?”
“No, sir, I do not.”
“What about Lieutenant Zuccardi?”
“Sir, I was able to get a log mission in with him and some instrument time when the weather closed in around us. He handled the aircraft well on instruments and made sound judgments while conducting the mission.”
“How come you had to fly instruments? Did he not see the weather coming and attempt to avoid it?”
“Sir, he saw it and considered getting out of there early, but that would have left the unit on the ground that we were supporting in a lurch, so he elected to stay and finish the job. He pointed out that he had some alternate airfields we could have gone to if the weather got really bad, so electing to stick around wasn’t a bad decision. I just wish we could have gotten an air assault in to see him in formation, but I’ve flown with him before in formation and saw no problems.”
“Okay.” Adams tossed Frank Zuccardi’s file to the side and opened Bob’s. “What about Mr. Zuccardi?”
