“Roger, come into Ops when you’re down. Good to have you guys back. Chicken-man Six out.”
Grabbing up the telephone, Captain Curran called the maintenance tent. A soldier answered the phone.
“Maintenance.”
“Captain Curran here. Let me speak to Captain Finn.” Captain Finn replaced Captain Head just before the unit left Lai Khe.
A few minutes later, Finn came on the phone. “Don’t tell me we have an aircraft down.”
“Better. Our three aircraft that went off with the Robin Hoods are on short final and all appear to be in good shape.”
“Hot damn, our availability just went above fifty percent,” Captain Finn exclaimed. “I’ll have someone out to meet them and see what if anything needs to be done.”
“Cory said they were all in good shape,” Captain Curran stated.
“Well, we’ll see. They may be ready for a hundred-hour inspection. I’ll let you know as soon as we look them over.”
“Okay.” Captain Curran hung up and turned to the CO, who was still holding the hand mike.
“Sir, you wanted to see me?” the Ops officer asked.
“Yeah, tomorrow we have a stand-down. All the pilots will attend a briefing at ten hundred hours in the mess hall, but that’s it for tomorrow,” the major said as he handed the hand mike to the clerk.
“What’s the briefing about and who’s giving it?” Captain Curran asked, a bit puzzled.
“Major Brayboy from the Robin Hoods is giving a briefing on Lam Son 719 and what it was like. I guess the Aviation Brigade commander directed that he give it to all the units that didn’t participate in that operation. Maybe we can get Cory and them to give us a heads-up on what to expect.”
Fifteen minutes later, Cory, Sinkey and Price walked into Flight Ops. Damn, these guys look like they’ve been dragged through a knothole backwards, the major thought as they stood in front of him.
“Are you guys all right?” the major asked a bit concerned. They looked gaunt with dark circles under their eyes. All were in need of haircuts and clean uniforms.
“Yes, sir, just tired,” Cory answered for the group. Price and Sinkey just nodded their heads.
No smart-ass remarks from Sinkey or Price. They must be tired, the major concluded quickly.
“Okay, we can talk later. Tomorrow is a stand-down and Major Brayboy is giving a briefing at ten hundred hours in the mess hall about Lam Son 719. Maybe you guys can supplement his presentation with your own views afterwards. Go get some rest now,” the major directed.
“Thank you, sir,” Sinkey responded for the group, and the three left.
After they were gone, the major turned to Captain Curran. “I’ve never seen three more worn-out pilots in my life. I suspect tomorrow’s briefing will be very interesting.”
Chapter 36
Introduction to H
igh-Intensity Flying
The next morning, pilots begin drifting over to the mess hall, where the mystery briefing was scheduled. Everyone was wondering what this was about as Captain Curran hadn’t enlightened anyone except to say they all needed to be there. Only a few had a chance to talk to the crews that had returned, as they had gone to their quarters upon their return and pretty much kept to themselves.
Once everyone was seated, Major Adams and another major entered and walked to the front of the room. Cory recognized the other major as the commander of the Robin Hoods, who Cory had met in Dong Ha.
“Gentlemen, I’m glad to see you’re all awake,” Major Adams said as he addressed the group. “Some of you look like you started early on the stand-down. Should we turn the lights down lower? Because I do see some very bloodshot eyes out there.” He looked over the assembled pilots. “Holy cow, Bailey, you best be wearing sunglasses in here with those eyes. Are you going to live through this briefing?” the major asked with a grin on his face. He knew that some of the pilots had been consuming large quantities of beer last night, but they weren’t flying today, so he had no objection to their actions.
“Sir, I’ll do my best to be ever attentive to the information presented,” Bailey said, attempting to hold his head up despite his pounding headache.
“Thank you, Mr. Bailey. Well, let’s get on with it. As you all know, we were moved up here to replace units that went north and flew in Operation Dewey Canyon II and Lam Son 719. Cory, Sinkey and Price flew in that operation.” Some heads turned to observe the three that were sitting in the back along with the copilots that flew with them. There were no smiles from the small group. “Major Brayboy of the Robin Hoods has been directed by the group commander to conduct a series of briefings to those units that didn’t participate. The briefing you are about to hear will cover how that operation was conducted and some of the lessons learned. You may have heard the exaggerated stories of Cory and the others, so Major Brayboy will tell us the truth. He’s with us this morning and is partially responsible for us getting a stand-down today. So, let’s give him our undivided attention,” Major Adams said as he turned and introduced Major Brayboy. “You have the floor, sir,” Major Adams said, exchanging places with Major Brayboy and taking a seat.
Moving to the front of the seated assembly, two soldiers set up a map board in the center with graphic overlays in blue and red.