Sorry to be so scarce around these parts lately, but I've been, well, busy. After two months and change, I successfully completed the check for a type rating in the MD-11/MD-10...bottom line, it was lotsa reading (the tech manuals alone are over 3000 pages), testing, evaluating, simulating, yadda, yadda, yadda. But. I'm done. However, before I, um, imbibe to celebrate the end of my academic incarceration, I wanted to officially acknowledge The End of An Era--bad news that hit me like a cue ball in the forehead at a Hill 180 crud game. (Those of you who know what that means, tell the ones who don't.)
To quote everyone who knew him, appreciated him for his contribution to America in general and American air power in particular, "S**t."
That was my reaction, anyway. It was like losing a much-loved uncle...and I'd never met him. Wasn't that lucky. But I think I'm alive because of him.
General Olds was a modern-day Billy Mitchell in a lot of ways. At least he got a star, too...which is pretty amazing, given his "bad" attitude, proudly displayed all those years fighter guys had to put up with people who thought war, as we all knew it, was a thing of the past. Nukes were king. Close-in knife fights in airplanes? Pshaw! Gone forever like the biplanes of yesteryear! How bad was it? Wellllll...in the 60s, the US's principal fighter was built without an internal cannon--who needed a gun when you were given those fancy-schmancy radar guided AIM-7s? Dogfights? Pffftt! Just a waste of gas to give the jocks a way to entertain themselves between nuclear Operational Readiness Inspections. Banned.
For those of you who study history, especially military history, you probably see where this is headed. Ready for the next fight? Not on your life...and it WILL be YOUR life.
To which Robin replied, "Bulls**t."
Olds questioned everything (bad for him), thought for himself and never quit (good for us). He continued to practice and think about fighter tactics and wasn't afraid to call a spade a spade. Money Quote:
He recounted how, on one mission as he flew his F-4 Phantom up the Gulf of Tonkin on an air strike against North Vietnam, he told his backseater, "Think about us flying a Navy plane, carrying World War II bombs, a gun sight in front of my face not as good as the one I had in P-38s, and going up there to bomb some railroad yard. We'll face a sky full of flak, missiles and MiGs, but don't worry about it because I've got it on good authority that none of this is happening."
Probably his most famous act was leading Operation Bolo over Hanoi in 1967. It was classic American martial ingenuity that shook the enemy so badly they grounded their jets for three months. Forehead slap-simple in concept (albeit not in execution) and yet physically and psychologically devastating. Bold tactics, violently executed with no losses. Questions?
Guys who survived Vietnam and went on to be general officers paid attention to Olds' emphasis on realistic training, out-of-the-box thinking and aggressive approach to aerial combat tactics, weaponry, exercises and all the other stuff that makes a good air force truly great. That's what I meant earlier when crediting General Olds with saving my bacon. The people who taught me were taught by him and what they taught kept 1) out of enemy jails and 2) out of the national cemetery system.
All of us military goons have our own personal heroes. I think John's is Tony McAuliffe...not sure who Bill's is, Chief Novosel maybe? Robin was mine. I'm not alone.
It takes a lot to make an attack pilot cry but, godd@mmit, this comes REAL close. To the day I die, I'll always remember the pictures of him after a mission "downtown" (Hanoi)--shite-eatin' grin, sweaty and pumped up, flight cap mashed down on his head and looking like he had the world by the short ones. He did.
So here's to you, Boss. I'm thinkin' that martini and big-@SS ceegar tastes pretty good right now. God knows you've earned it.
Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam.
[Armorer's addendum - Scat XXVII? Click here and all will be made clear.]
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