Back in what seem like the dark ages now, 1991, I had the opportunity to participate in an adventure that was pretty unique in Navy circles. Everyone goes on deployment. Most leave the East coast of the U.S. and head to the Arabian Gulf via the Med and the Suez Canal or leave the West coast of the U.S. and head to the Arabian Gulf via the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean. It gets to be pretty routine. Oh, there are exceptions and different destinations, but those are the norm. The journey is usually about 6-8 months, the days long, the flying can be routine or terrifying, and the ports-of-call become known to the old hands. We all know what we signed up for, most find terrific adventures and make life-long friends, gain both professional and life experience, and come to accept these deployments as a fact of life.
When I was fortunate enough to be screened for command (which is a whole other story), like almost everyone I was thrilled. From the time you put on your wings and start to understand the culture you are entering, most aspire to command. To lead a group of men (and now women) through all the ups and downs of squadron life for what seems like an all too short period is the pinnacle of your life as a Naval Officer and Aviator. At least, it was for me. I had subsequent chances for command and other jobs that were fulfilling, but for me, there was nothing that compared to my first command tour and that it was with a front line, sea-going helicopter squadron made it all the better. It was also great that the methodology that the Navy had adopted in its aviation squadrons was the fleet up concept. That meant I went in as XO for 18 months and then assumed command for 18 months. 36 months in one squadron as XO and then CO. It's a pretty ideal scenario. And in my case, I was going to be the XO for a terrific, if a bit straight-laced, guy and the squadron had a great reputation.
The squadron had just transitioned to a new aircraft, the SH-60F and HH-60H Seahawk, from the venerable SH-3H Seaking. It was truly like going from a covered wagon to a Cadillac. It was faster, more powerful, air-conditioned, possessing the latest digital cockpit, and a bunch of other great bells and whistles.
So I landed in a great squadron, with great people, flying the fleet's newest aircraft. What could be better?
Shortly after my arrival, we got the word that our Air Wing was transferring to the USS Kitty Hawk from the USS Carl Vinson. This was necessitated because the ChuckyV, as the Carl Vinson was affectionately known, was headed to the yards up in Bremerton, WA. She'd be in dry dock for a couple of years and certainly wasn't going anywhere, much less need an Air Wing aboard. So there was a bit of trepidation, which always accompanies a change like this would entail. Was the new ship any good, would it have it's act together, how did it get along with the Air Wing, what was its schedule, and on and on. Kitty Hawk was also a steam-powered ship whereas ChuckyV was a Nuc. What kinds of differences and pains would that entail? Endless speculation. And then the news came that Kitty Hawk had just spent 3 years in the Philadelphia Shipyard undergoing a major renovation. Groan! Any ship coming out of the yards is notoriously a dogs breakfast. They are all over the map. The crew is green. Really green. Their procedures are as rusty as an old can that has been laying out behind the garage for a couple of years. From the mess decks to the flight deck, the learning curve is steep. So there were a lot of questions.
About this time we also got a new Air Wing Commander. In the Navy, this guy is called CAG. It's an old term that has stuck. CAG stands for Carrier Air Group and is not really accurate today, but like a lot of things in the Navy, tradition wins. So CAG it is. The old guy was beloved, was an Admiral in the making (in fact he went on to retire as a Vice-Admiral), was a gentleman in every sense of the word, and we were all sorry to see him go. But as it happens, the new guy was terrific too. He was a genuine, no shit war hero. He had done some legendary flying in Vietnam. The stories were legion. He also was an operators operator. His time on staff duty was minimal and he was the "best stick" I've ever seen. And he had an, ahem...terrific sense of humor. He was the definition of a guy who works hard and plays hard. He hit the ground running and everyone liked him right off the bat. More importantly, they respected him. He too had Admiral written all over him. But it was not to be. More about that later.
At some point, it dawned on us that the ship had to move from Norfolk, VA where she was temporarily stationed to San Diego. And unless she was going the long way, there was really only one way to go. Around South America. Ships the size of Kitty Hawk couldn't get through the Panama Canal, so it was around South America for her. It's called sailing "around the horn". Hmmmm...this could be interesting.
After what I'm sure was a lot of back-room wheeling and dealing, it was decided that our Air Wing would send a group of aircraft to accompany the ship around the horn. Not the whole Air Wing. But a representative group that could work the deck, provide some training to the ship, gain some at-sea experience, and respond to any contingencies. In the first round of discussion, there was no mention of the make-up of the aircraft that would participate. We also found out that a supply ship would also go and that a helicopter detachment would be aboard to provide vertical replenishment from the supply ship to the Kitty Hawk and that this detachment would consist of two CH-46's, who specialize in moving stuff around. As the discussions continued and we started hearing about various proposals, there was no mention of helicopters in the make-up of the Air Wing contingent. One of the things that is true in the aviation Navy, it is a jet Navy. Others can sometimes be an afterthought. At least, that was true in those days. Today, things have changed pretty dramatically. Today, the largest number of pilots in the Navy are helicopter pilots. They are also flying some of the newest, most highly technical aircraft in the inventory. And doing some of the most important and hair-raising missions. But anyway, the "powers that be" had determined that a squadron from the East coast would make the trip. They reasoned that the squadron could easily get aboard as they are stationed in Jacksonville, FL and when the ship arrived in San Diego, they could just make the cross-country trip home. What? Another squadron going with our Air Wing. We thought that was bullshit and said so. Additionally, we were now flying the H-60. Faster, more powerful, a better aircraft to fly across the country, and we needed to integrate with the Air Wing just like everyone else. Remember that new CAG I told you about? He agreed. And in the Navy, there are some folks who have power. CAGs are one of them. So just like that, we were going!
Here's another bright idea that we came up with that caused a lot of consternation in the helicopter world. The CH-46's, all of them, were on their last legs. They are a great aircraft to perform vertical replenishment, but they were really, really long in the tooth. It was so bad that the rotor heads had to be disassembled every 10 hours to check for cracks. Talk about inefficient! There was a contingent in the helicopter world that believed that the H-60 was the future of vertical replenishment. That the H-60 was the natural replacement for the H-46. But it was not without controversy. To replace a tandem rotor aircraft with an aircraft with a tail rotor was heresy. Folks over in the H-46 community took to wearing a little button with an H-60 on it and a big X through it. Like I said....it was a touchy subject. So when we went to CAG and made the case that we should go with the Air Wing, we also proposed to do all the vertical replenishment for the trip around the horn. It was going to be a unique deployment, shorter than most at 3 months, pretty low-pressure as everyone would be in the learning mode, and we needed to prove that the H-60 could do the vertical replenishment mission. He agreed. Did I mention that he was a great guy? He got it right away. He saw this as an opportunity to bond with the Air Wing, get the squadron some great experience and, as a bonus, prove a new concept that many were discounting. And simple as that, we were in and the H-46 detachment was out. They were mad as hornets but as we say...that's the breaks of Naval Air!
As soon as we started planning, there was a complication. It turned out that the ship needed to go to sea for 3 weeks to do some shakedown operations, get some inspections done, do some rudimentary operations, and get ready for the trip. This little 3-week jaunt would take place about a month before departure. But that timing posed a big problem for our Air Wing. Not a big problem for the helicopter guys, but a huge problem for the rest of the Air Wing. Gigantic. Because this little 3-week at sea period just happened to occur at the same time that a little event up in Las Vegas called "Tailhook" was going on. And like I said, our CAG was a great guy and also just so happened to be the President of the Tailhook Association. So he couldn't possibly miss the annual symposium. And if he wasn't going to the East coast to spend 3 weeks at sea doing not much of anything, then his guys weren't going either. So what did he do? Why he proposed that one of the Air Wings based on the East coast take the at-sea period. Sounds logical, right. Well, not to the guys picked to go to sea. They raised quite a ruckus but to no avail. Back in those days, everyone knew about Tailhook and everyone went. And certainly the President couldn't be at sea. For a little while, it was determined that no one from our Air Wing would go. But we went to CAG and gave him all the good reasons we should go to Norfolk with 4 helicopters and support the ship. We were in a faster and more cross-country friendly aircraft, we were new to the aircraft and the trip would provide us with some much-needed flight hours, and we'd get a jump on working with the ship, which is important for the helicopter squadron when first going to a new ship.
So the day came and off we went. Four helicopters set off from San Diego for Norfolk. It was a two and a half day trip. The first night we stopped at El Paso, TX. Now there is a garden spot. But there were no issues and we left bright and early the next day. The next night we did a RON (remain overnight) in Pensacola, FL. Now if you're reading you probably have some familiarity with Naval Aviation. And if that's true you know that it all starts in Pensacola. That's where we all went to flight school. And we all have some fond and terrible memories of the place. The time there was too short, but we all made a valiant attempt to find our old haunts and relive a little of the memories. And as "fleet aviators" it was a pretty sweet night. But the next morning we set off to Norfolk and arrived early afternoon. The big thing about that trip I remember was that I had a massive toothache that started about Tucson. And it just got worse. But no way was I turning around or leaving. As was the case in many, many, many times over my aviation career, my Crew Chief saved me. He had some very effective pain medication that allowed me to continue on. Don't know what it was, but it worked. And even though it's almost 25 years later, I'm still loath to admit to self-medicating. But it was what it was. You do what you need to do. After we arrived in Norfolk, I hightailed it down to Dental and they did a root canal on the offending tooth. The relief was massive!! The next three weeks were a bit of a blur. We spent a few days in Norfolk, then flew to the ship as she got underway. The "other" Air Wing flew aboard after us and we settled into a routine. Of course, they were perpetually pissed off the whole time. They were sitting on a ship just out of the yards off the East coast of the U.S. while the guys who should be there were having fun in Las Vegas. As I said, lots of training, lots of sitting around, lots of walking through procedures, lots of just establishing procedures. It was a bit excruciating but we were glad we went. And when it was over we reversed course and headed to San Diego. We had fulfilled our goals and really had proven just what a great and reliable aircraft the H-60 was. No problems the whole way.
But there was an other little problem. Remember the year. 1991. If you don't know about it, Google "Tailhook 1991". Yep. That was the infamous year. The year it all blew up. I'm not going to get into the scandal, the behavior of a few drunkards, the cowardly reaction by many in Navy leadership, the injustice that was perpetrated on so many, and so on. But I do have first-hand knowledge of the impact of many in my Air Wing who attended. Many fine and honorable Naval Officers lost their careers as a result of the overzealous prosecution. And that included CAG. He is one of the most honorable guys I've ever known. And he took it all on his shoulders. Or tried to. The pressure was immense. But after a while, he cracked. He stayed with us for another year and made it to the start of our long deployment, but he eventually cracked. Oh, today he is okay. He lives a great life. But not the life of a retired Admiral like all expected.
And that other Air Wing? Well, when the NCIS agents came sniffing around, they had the perfect excuse. They weren't there. They were at sea.
That's enough for one bite. Next time...we're heading South!
No comments:
Post a Comment