Unlike No Other: A Memoir of the Unlikely, Yet Successful Career of a United States Marine Corps Aviator

By Robert Wemheuer

Robert Wemheuer details many important events in his impressive career in a two-book memoir Unlike No Other. His main focus is to honor the unsung heroes with whom he served as well as to call out some not-so-good characters. The Marines, sailors, and civilians who helped him learn and grow from his missteps that helped him develop his leadership skills are his primary emphasis. His description of the career-building steps necessary to move from a simple civilian life to that of a company grade Marine Corps officer and naval aviator are told in a straightforward, unvarnished, and concise manner. He also describes his combat experiences flying the CH-53 helicopter during his three tours of duty in Vietnam, again focusing on the Marines who supported his efforts both in and out of the cockpit.

Robert looks at his career from a very interesting perspective. In our early years, he was one of the youngest superstars in our squadron, and you could always depend on him for anything.

Robert, nicknamed Bull, was in some really hot combat. In just one mission, his Marine H-53 squadron was supporting a large army unit in the Lam Son 719 battle in Laos in which the army lost 106 helicopters. Bull rescued under heavy, heavy fire two legendary Marine squadron mates (Charlie Pitman and Mike Wasco) who had been shot down. You could always depend on Robert, and he had many more hot missions.

Unlike No Other also describes the life of a Marine field grade officer as he ascends to higher ranks and greater responsibilities. It highlights the problems and potential political risks involved in navigating the military and civilian bureaucratic systems.

I had the pleasure of serving alongside Robert Wemheuer over my long career in the Marine Corps. He tells it like it is and always will.

Read, learn, and enjoy unlike no other.

Colonel Wemheuer's goal in writing his memoir is to highlight the accomplishments of the Marines, sailors, and civilians who he had the honor to work with during his twenty-five-year career. His hope is that this second book also will give them some of the recognition they deserve for doing an outstanding job day in and day out, generally receiving little or no recognition for their work.

--Richard "Rick" Phillips, Major General, United States Marine Corps

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Lieutenant Colonel Wemheuer and his OV-10 on Okinawa in 1982.

Book 2 of this memoir traces my career as a field grade officer after my promotion to major then lieutenant colonel and finally to colonel through my retirement after a successful tour of duty at my final command of the Marine Corps Air Station Tustin, California. Book 2, like book 1, is made up of individual, stand-alone chapters laid out in chronological order.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662481116

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Unlike No Other

A Memoir of the Unlikely, Yet Successful Career of a United States Marine Corps Aviator

Robert Wemheuer

Copyright © 2022 Robert Wemheuer

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2022

ISBN 978-1-6624-8110-9 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-6624-8112-3 (hc)

ISBN 978-1-6624-8111-6 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Acknowledgment

About the Author

To my loving wife, Mary JoAnne Wemheuer.

My forever partner and best friend of fifty-three years.

Her sage advice, good humor, and never-ending support

helped me navigate the pitfalls

of twenty-five years of service

in the Marine Corps and beyond.

Thank you, darling!

Prologue

1974 to 1989: The Field Grade Years

Book 1 of the memoir dealt with my time in the Corps as a company-grade officer. It tells the story of the path that I took to get into the Marine Corps, finish college, complete flight school, and then become a CH-53 helicopter pilot and participate in the deployment of the first CH-53 squadron that deployed to Vietnam for combat duty.

It then describes my second tour flying helicopters in combat in South Vietnam as well as during Operation Lam Son 719 in Laos.

My next story revolves around Marine Corps life and flying helicopters in and around Okinawa in mid-1971.

My memoir continues with my return to my first helicopter squadron, now in Hawaii, then our deployment and subsequent participation in the first Marine Corps use of helicopters to perform minesweeping activities in a combat environment.

Book 1 of my memoirs culminates with the story of the problems that the military encountered with troops (staff NCOs and NCOs) who could not read above the third-grade level. It explains the out-of-the-box thinking which provided a short-term solution to the command's reading problems.

*****

On September 1, 1974, I was officially promoted to the rank of major in the United States Marine Corps, ending my company-grade service. This promotion also marked the start of my field grade career.

*****

Book 2 of this memoir traces my career as a field grade officer after my promotion to major, then lieutenant colonel, and finally to colonel through my retirement after a successful completion of my final command of the Marine Corps Air Station, Tustin, California, in 1989. Again, book 2 is made up of individual, stand-alone chapters laid out in chronological order.

Book 2 again highlights the accomplishment of the Marines and civilians whom I had the honor to work with during my twenty-five-year career. My hope is that this second book gives them some of the recognition they deserve for doing an outstanding job day in and day out, generally receiving little or no recognition for their work.

It was also my intent in book 2 to give young people who have had problems in their lives, either physically or mentally, an example of how work and desire can be used to overcome the obstacles in their lives. They should not see themselves as victims. Not to their afflictions or to the color of their skin or their religious choices or their educational background.

I hope that my field grade years' stories will give these young people the idea that they can overcome obstacles in their own lives and become productive citizens in the greatest country in the world today, the United States of America. If they believe in themselves and their goals strongly enough, then nothing can stop them from achieving them.

The reason for splitting this memoir into two books was predicated on two factors: First, there are significant differences between the job assignments, degree of responsibilities, career potential, and performance expectations, which differ significantly between company-grade officers and field grade officers. The second factor that drove the two-book memoir decision is the length of the memoir in its original form, which was too lengthy to be published in a single book.

Chapter 1

Commander: Marine Corps Air Bases Western Area (COMCABWEST), Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro, California, Motor Transportation Officer's Story, 1974–1975

Concurrently with my essential subjects work with the MCAS El Toro training department (see chapter 5 in book 1 for details), I was also enrolled in a master's degree program in education at Pepperdine University, which was offered at night and on weekends.

The positive outcome and work experience gained with the essential subject training (EST) practical examination program translated into significant input to my final term paper required to complete the master's degree program. My master's degree in educational administration was awarded at a graduation ceremony in January 1975 a few months after my promotion to major.

*****

With my departments EST program's success, in turning around the results of the failed inspector general (IG) inspection results, plus being perceived as a problem solver and being promoted to the rank of major, some additional attention was focused by my boss, a colonel, and the commanding general on me. The next thing I knew, I was being reassigned to head the MCAS El Toro Motor Transport Division, which included MCAS (H) Santa Ana, located seven miles away.

*****

The transportation division had been run since its inception as part of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command. The Navy provided support and money and owned the motor vehicles that supported the Marine Corps aviation and ground operations worldwide. This arrangement had been recently modified with the Marine Corps taking over control and being responsible for the motor transport functions from the Navy. The transition process at our air stations had been started recently to move the accountability from the Navy-owned and Navy-supported vehicle system to one that the Marine Corps would own and support. The transition program had been started, but things were not going well.

After being reassigned as the air station's Motor Transport Division director, I reported to my new boss, a Navy Captain, who was the same one whom I had worked with to obtain the necessary facilities to support the EST program a year earlier. He was completing his second year of a three-year tour as the director of the Public Works Department at our air station. He was a designated Naval Facilities Engineering Command officer at the air station, who oversaw construction, facilities maintenance, engineering, and the motor transport division that I was about to take over.

He welcomed me into his office, which was in an old hangar constructed during the Korean War. It was located above the motor transport offices, supply stores, paint shop, and repair facilities.

The Navy Captain looked somewhat worried as he asked me to sit down and talk. He explained that my predecessor in the job, a major, had been forced to retire a month earlier because he had a severe drinking problem that created poor job performance.

The captain explained that he had been looking for a replacement that was capable of handling the significant number of major problems in the motor transportation division. He indicated that he had seen the results of my work at the EST training department that, along with my recent promotion, indicated to him that I would be a satisfactory replacement able to handle a myriad of tasks the transportation division was facing.

Some of the problems he was most concerned about were the transition to the Marine Corps system from the Navy's system for vehicle and equipment management, as well as the potential military forces worldwide reduction in operating funds and poor morale in the mortar transport division.

At this point in our discussion, he picked up his telephone and asked his secretary to have the civilian deputy of the Motor Transport Division report to his office. He indicated that he wanted to make the formal introduction of Mr. Jim Fincham to me since he was going to be my deputy.

Mr. Fincham arrived and was shown into the office. We shook hands as the captain waved him to a seat next to mine. We talked several minutes about the challenges we faced until his secretary interrupted our discussion, indicating the captain had another meeting to attend with the air station CG.

Mr. Fincham and I departed the captain's office, heading downstairs to his office, which was located next to what I would soon discover was my new office. As we sat in his office, talking, it became apparent to me that Jim Fincham and I saw eye to eye on a number of topics. He told me that he had heard about the work that had been done to help the training department straighten out their EST problems, and that was why he had been told by the Navy Captain that I had been transferred to this division.

We talked at length about how together we could solve the two major and complex problems our division now faced, budget reductions and the vehicle system transition, as Jim and I went out to the roach coach (military term of mobile food truck) to get lunch.

I thought to myself, I really like this man, Mr. Jim Fincham. I have the feeling that we are going to be successful in our endeavors together.

After we ate lunch in my new office, Jim took me around to meet all our shop supervisors and unit leads. During the remainder of the week, we visited each area in the division and talked briefly with each of the division's forty employees. It was my intent to express to each employee that we had major challenges ahead of us, but by working together, we could get the mission accomplished.

My message created mixed reactions from our employees. The most common reaction I observed was fear for their future continued employment. Most of our employees were afraid that they were going to be laid off because of budget reductions.

They felt that now that they had a new boss, he might lay them all off tomorrow. Both Jim and I tried to alleviate their fears, but until we found a solution to our problems, we could not promise continued future employment. We could promise, however, which we did together, that we would try to keep everyone on board that we could for as long as we could.

*****

The following week, Jim and I brainstormed our first big and most immediate challenge. It was the implementation of the Marine Corps vehicle management and control system that was scheduled to take place at the end of January 1975. That gave Jim and me about three weeks to put in place all the new Marine Corps management, maintenance, supply procedures, and directives. Jim took the lead in getting the shop supervisors together and getting them started in the processes necessary to implement the new Marine Corps management and control systems on January 31.

The most difficult problem we faced in the implementation process was the change over from the Navy vehicle designation and numbering system on each vehicle or piece of equipment to the Marine Corps designation and numbering system.

This required us to change the lettering on each unit from Department of the Navy to US Marine Corps designation on each of these units, plus new Marine Corps vehicle numbers. This had to be completed over a two-day period. We talked about setting up a massive repainting program, but with 750 pieces to repaint that generally required three sides of each piece to receive a new designation and number, we could not get it done in time. This same equipment was also required to continue the operations of the air stations and its tenant units during the transition.

The costs for our painting program in just the painters' overtime or contracting out the painting work to an outside contractor were both extremely cost prohibitive.

We needed to find an easy fix to our designation and numbering dilemma that would not disrupt the air stations operations and that could be accomplished in a two-day period and would not be cost prohibitive in our current limited funding environment.

Neither of us could come up with a solution to the problem. I made a call to several other Marine Corps installation transportation departments or divisions around the country and found that we all had the same problem.

I went home that evening wondering what possible solution could be found for the problem. When I told my wife about the problem we had at work, she listened closely, then thought about it for a minute, and then she suggested a potential solution. She had just been working with a new type of adhesive tape in her crafts class to make weather-resistant outside poster signs for their officers wives club meetings. The new type of tape they used was weatherproof and came in various widths and colors. She and the other ladies had used it to easily cover old printing on the existing signs before adding the new information to them.

The tape she used was about four inches wide and white in color. She suggested that maybe we could use this type of adhesive tape to cover the old designation and numbers and then attach the new designation and numbers to them.

This was a great idea. It was the solution that we had been looking for and could not find. The next morning, I was at the door of the craft shop where my wife had purchased the products she had used for her project. After examining them, I purchased three rolls of four-inch tape and ten sets of three-inch black numbers and letters with my own money.

This could really work, I silently muttered to myself as I left the shop.

Upon returning to our office, I called Jim. He came in to see me, and I showed him the tape, the letters, and the numbers. A big smile appeared on his face as he looked at the tape letters and numbers.

We should try it out, he said. He and I selected one of our vehicles that was currently in the shop for work and would not be on the road before the transition. We cross-referenced the old Navy vehicle number with the new Marine Corps category, then selected a new Marine Corps (MC) vehicle number, recorded it, and then applied the numbers to the adhesive tape. We also took another piece of tape and applied US Marine Corps letters to it.

Next, we went to the shop and held the tape up over the old Navy designation—it completely covered the old designation. We did the same process to the MC numbers. They also completely covered the old Navy numbers. Our next step was to clean the area, peel off the adhesive tape backing, and apply the new designation and numbers over the old ones.

It looked great, and it was an easy fix to our numbering problem. This solution would allow us to prepare the sets of designations and numbers for each vehicle or piece of equipment ahead of time, and we could install them all over the two-day transition period. We would be able to convert the entire fleet of vehicles and equipment in two days.

These vehicles and equipment designations and MC numbers could continue to be utilized since the tape was weatherproof and permanent. It would do for identification purposes until the items required repainting or were replaced with new ones. After we finished the installation of the first set of designation and number decals, we took pictures of each installation.

I asked Jim to call his civilian counterpart at Headquarters Marine Corps and explained what we were planning to do. I asked Jim to fax the pictures of the final product installation to them, which he was happy to do.

He made the call, faxed the pictures, and came back saying the folks at headquarters were delighted with our installation. They wanted the name of the company who produced the adhesive tape along with a sample of the tape and the source of the letters and numbers we had used.

It appeared that this was a larger, Marine Corps-wide problem than we had realized. It sounded like our potential solution could be utilized across the entire Marine Corps transportation world.

Having gotten unofficial approval from headquarters, our next challenge was to procure a significant amount of four-inch adhesive tape and three-inch black numbers that could be used for the conversion of our fleet. The normal supply system would take several weeks to process a requisition for these items. Because the need to procure these items was critical to the transition to our new vehicle management system in less than three weeks, I asked the comptroller of the Marine Corps Air Bases Western Area, Mr. Doug Sayre, to review the requisition and expedite its approval.

After he called Marine Corps Headquarters, he approved our request that very afternoon and we took the requisition to the vendor and picked up the tape and numbers.

We still had a lot of work to do. Each Navy vehicle listed on our written inventory (days before the use of computers for this purpose) had to be assigned a new Marine Corps number. Headquarters had not assigned specific numbers to the vehicles, but they knew how many of each type each installation had on hand. They assigned blocks of numbers by the type of equipment on hand at each installation. This allowed the individual organization to assign the new numbers to their individual pieces of equipment and vehicles as they desired.

We set up the conference room where we could lay out the work on large tables. On our master listing of the Navy vehicle and equipment numbers, we assigned each Navy vehicle or piece of equipment their new MC numbers. Once this was completed, we started the process of putting each new MC designation and number together.

We placed six precut strips of the adhesive tape on the tables and attached the MC designation letters to three of them and the new MC numbers to the remaining three. We checked off each unit as it was completed. With the help of the shop supervisors, we completed all the strips in the next week and stored them ready to be installed on the last two days of January. The completed 4,500 strips still had to be attached to each of our 750 vehicles and equipment during that time frame. We still had a significant challenge—we needed to find a way to accomplish the installation task itself.

*****

During my first budget meeting since I took the motor transport job, the comptroller delivered some bad news. He had received a very positive indication that Headquarters Marine Corps was seriously looking at the potential of reducing by 15 percent the entire Marine Corps fuel and transportation operating fund allocation for the current fiscal year. He indicated the amount had not been finalized as of yet, but a reduction of at least 15 percent was coming soon.

Jim and I had discussed the current fuel and operating budget my first week on the job. It was not a budget that had any room for any personnel raises or to hire additional employees or pay overtime. It was bare bones at best. We could survive, but just barely. Now with potential reductions coming from headquarters, we had to make every penny count.

To this end, we discussed ways we could get the redesignation and renumbering accomplished without impact on our current budget. Overtime for our employees was out of the question because of the union labor rates.

We had five Marines attached to the air station motor transport division as pool drivers and one staff NCO that we could utilize.

In order to get the job accomplished, we needed additional manpower. Jim and I talked about using our six Marines along with the two of us to handle the two air stations' vehicles of approximately 250. The other five hundred vehicles were in the hands of tenant units of the Third Marine Air Wing (Third MAW), all of which were located on the two air stations for which we were responsible to make the redesignation and vehicle number changeovers.

The other two dispersed and independent Marine Corps aviation facilities under the COMCABWEST umbrella were not our responsibility at that time. MCAS Yuma had its own transportation department that provided support for deployed units and were responsible for these vehicles and equipment, including the directed transition.

The very limited number of vehicles at the air facility aboard Camp Pendleton was provided on a satellite basis from the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton transportation department, which would be handling their transition.

We needed to get the support of all the Third MAW units since we supplied all their vehicles and support equipment requirements, regardless of their location, in order to accomplish the task in the time frame stipulated by HQ.

Making a call to the Third MAW Logistics officer, a full colonel, I explained the situation that we were facing and asked him for his help in solving the dilemma we were facing.

At the conclusion of my lengthy explanation, I indicated that without his help, I would be forced to recall all the Third MAW's five hundred vehicles and equipment back to the air station parking area and deadline the vehicles and equipment until my staff and I could complete the redesignation and number task.

After a couple of seconds, the colonel said, "I will make sure that all the vehicles and equipment we currently have in our custody are remarked per the directions that you are going to provide me.

"I need to keep the air wing running, and without the vehicles and equipment that you provide us, we could not do it.

"Plus, I never did like to have to use Navy vehicles and equipment anyway. It's about time the Marine Corps got rid of the Navy vehicle system.

Major, when you're ready, let me know and I will make myself and my staff ready to assist you in making the changeover happen.

I concluded by saying thank you for your understanding and support in this matter. I will call your NCOIC to set up a time on January 25 for us to meet to work out the details of the changeover. We need to start the transition on January 30 and complete it no later than January 31.

On January 25, Jim and I met with the Third MAW colonel and his staff and recommended a sequence of events procedure for the implementation of the changeover starting on January 30 and being completed by midnight on January 31. It was the same installation sequence procedures we were planning to use to changeover both air stations' vehicles and equipment during the same period.

The colonel and his staff reviewed the recommendations we had made and agreed that this was the most effective way to get it accomplished. He indicated that they were going to adopt our recommendations. We also arranged to have the lists of equipment and vehicles showing both the new and old numbers. This list, along with the six precut strips of the adhesive tape with the new MC designation and MC numbers on them for each piece of equipment or vehicle in their custody, was delivered to them the next day.

*****

Since Jim and I had been working together, our wives decided to get to know each other. A friendship blossomed after their first meeting. After it became apparent that Jim and I were going to be working overtime on the changeover project together, they both said they wanted to be part of the team in order to support us. We were somewhat dubious about their participation in the project, but after some discussion, we decided that they could be a valuable addition to our efforts.

Early on the morning of Saturday, January 30, we got started. Our crew consisted of our five enlisted Marines and their staff NCO, Jim and I, along with both our wives. We started the process of the changeover of the 250 vehicles and equipment in our inventory. We broke the process of the changeover into three geographic locations. The Marines and Jim, with his wife, would concentrate on the MCAS El Toro vehicles and divide them into east and west sides of the base, where approximately two-thirds of the vehicles and equipment were located, while my wife and I would work on the MCAS (H) Santa Ana base assets.

Our first task was the identification of each vehicle's location, which was accomplished by knowing what station organization used them. Once we found the vehicle, we cross-checked the Navy number and the Marine Corps number.

Once we were sure we had the right vehicle, we cleaned the areas where the new designation and numbers would be located over the existing designation and numbers with rubbing alcohol.

We then peeled the backing off the strips and applied them to the vehicle using a soft towel to rub out any air bubbles. This process was repeated twice more on each vehicle before we moved on to the next one on the list.

At first, the process was a little slow, but with practice, we got it down to an average of about ten minutes per vehicle. At the end of nine hours of work, my wife and I had completed forty-two of our eighty vehicles and equipment at MCAS (H) Santa Ana.

Returning to MCAS El Toro, we met with our Marines and Jim along with his wife. They reported that they had completed just over one hundred vehicles and pieces of equipment. Everyone was tired but agreed we could complete the remaining parts of the job the next day.

Jim also said they had observed the Third MAW Marines changing over their vehicles while they were working on our assets. My wife and I had observed the same thing at MCAS (H) Santa Ana while we were doing change overs.

So far, we had completed 144 vehicles and equipment at the two installations out of a total of 250. Not bad for the first day's effort, I thought.

Just before we left the office, I saw my phone light up, indicating I was about to receive a call. I quickly asked the group to wait a couple of minutes while I answered the telephone call.

I was happy that I had taken the call, since the call was from the colonel at Third MAW, who was their logistics officer. He told me that all the units in the Third MAW had reported that they completed the changeover of all but five of their vehicles and equipment. These five were not completed because they were on the road but would be completed on Sunday. I will let you know when the last five have been completed, he said.

My thoughts returned to the news that I had just received, thinking we had completed 639 vehicles and equipment at the two installations out of a total of 750. Not bad for the first day's effort.

I thanked the colonel for his support of the project and his team efforts to complete it well before the deadline of tomorrow night. He responded by saying, No problem. Semper fidelis, Marine. Have a good evening.

Ending the call, I told the assembled group about the colonel's good news regarding the number of changeovers that they had completed. Everyone was surprised to hear the number that had been done but also commented that they had seen a lot of Third MAW Marines doing the same task as we were all day long today.

Before we left for the night, we agreed to meet tomorrow morning after church to complete the last 106 vehicles still requiring changeover. Since I had thirty-eight items to change over, I asked two of our enlisted Marines to accompany my wife and me to complete the work at MCAS (H) Santa Ana. Jim, with his wife and the other four Marines, would complete the remaining seventy-eight vehicles and equipment at MCAS El Toro.

On Sunday morning, we again gathered, after church, to start the changeover of the last 144 vehicles and equipment in our inventory. We completed the process of the final changeovers at around five o'clock in the afternoon.

Meeting back at the transportation office about 1730, our entire group was tired but satisfied with the final day's work. Looking at my phone on my desk, I saw it blinking, indicating that I had a message on my answering machine.

Retrieving the message from the colonel at Third MAW from my answering machine, I heard him say, I am happy to report that all the units in the Third MAW had reported that they completed the changeover at 1230 today. Let me know if I can help in any other way. Semper fidelis.

Hanging up the telephone, I told the assembled group about the colonel's answering machine message. I congratulated all the members of our team and gave my enlisted Marines the next three days off since they had worked the entire weekend. I thanked Jim and his wife, as well as my wife, for going above and beyond the call of duty in helping complete a task that was difficult under the best of circumstances.

All my team departed the office, except my wife and me.

I had one additional duty to accomplish before the job was officially completed.

I had prepared a naval message to Headquarters Marine Corps logistics department from the commanding general of MCAS El Toro (preapproved by him) indicating that the changeover of all 750 vehicles and equipment at MCAS El Toro and MCAS (H) Santa Ana, including tenant command vehicles, had been completed per the headquarters' directive. I also thanked the CG Third MAW for their support of the changeover.

Retrieving the naval message from my desk, my wife and I headed for the message center to drop off the naval message, which was to be transmitted to HQ. I dropped off the message at the message center and got a receipt for it. We then drove to the officers club to meet Jim and his wife for a well-deserved dinner, on me.

The next day, I submitted Jim Fincham for a beneficial suggestion award. Since my wife had originated the idea but Jim had worked out the implementation process and strategy, I felt that the award should go to him, since my wife could not qualify for the award.

*****

With the vehicle and equipment changeover process completed, Jim and I took on the next challenge of the reduction of 15 percent fuel and operational expenses required by the draconian reductions in military spending leveled on the military by Congress through the administration.

Jim and I had already scrubbed the operation and maintenance staffing posture to look for ways to reduce costs. We reorganized the shop functions and were able to reduce costs associated with two billets that were eliminated through our reorganization efforts. However, we also found that without a significant number of additional layoffs, we could not reduce costs much further.

Then we looked at the potential of privatization of the transportation division. A study that had been completed a year earlier was the basis for our review. Our review of that study indicated that privatization would cost the government almost one and one-half times as much as the continuation of the current operations. After we reviewed the study together, we disregarded this option.

The next area we looked at was gasoline and vehicle use reductions.

We started the process by looking at the list of the 750 vehicles and equipment that were currently in our inventory. I asked Jim to pull the records for the fuel usage for each of the vehicles and equipment for the past two years.

Once Jim had accomplished this, we sat down and looked at what equipment and vehicles had utilized the least amount of fuel, per Marine Corps directive, for setting the average vehicle utilization. This was done for both our air station organizations and the Third MAW organization by specific squadrons.

Our review showed that if we deadlined the vehicles that were underutilized for both the air station organizations as well as the Third MAW squadrons, we could exceed the 15 percent reduction required without pulling any flight line equipment off-line.

We put together a plan that encompassed all the air station organizations as well as the Third MAW squadrons that would implement the deadline requirements that we had identified for each specific squadron or organization.

The idea was to provide maximum flexibility to the individual squadrons to manage their soon-to-be-limited motor transportation resources.

Our plan was to have the vehicles that were underutilized returned to a central parking area and not driven. The fuel credit cards for each of these vehicles were to be turned in as well.

If the unit that had the underutilized vehicle wanted to keep a specific vehicle, they could substitute a replacement vehicle, as long as it was the same type of vehicle as the underutilized one. These deadlined vehicles would be periodically returned to the squadron, along with the vehicle-specific fuel credit card, to be replaced by another like vehicle, in order to keep the same number of vehicles in operation and/or deadlined.

The program was going to be seen by the using organizations, both at the air stations and at Third MAW, as draconian, since all these units had almost always gotten all the motor vehicle and equipment support that they requested.

However, times were changing, and this strategy appeared to be one of the only ways to meet the financial and gasoline reductions in a fair and equitable manner.

The other feasible alternative was to have the motor transportation division select the vehicles that would be deadlined and provide them with no gasoline.

If we were going to be successful in reducing the gasoline and costs mandated by HQ to the 15 percent reduction level, we needed to get the support of the Third MAW.

I again called the Third MAW logistics officer. I explained the situation that we were facing at both the air stations and Third MAW to levy the requirement to reduce gasoline and operation expenses by 15 percent per the mandate of HQ. I then asked him informally to give me feedback and his thoughts about the plan.

At the conclusion of my lengthy explanation of how the process would work, I indicated that without his informal buy-in, I would be forced to recommend to my boss and the comptroller the alternative of deadlining the vehicles by the air station's transportation division, which would not offer the flexibility to the individual units that our plan offered.

The colonel said, "It sounds a little like blackmail to me, Major. However, since the reductions are mandated by HQ, I don't see any alternative to the reductions.

At least your plan does give the individual squadrons some flexibility so that they can make their own choices as to what rolling stock they may want to retain and operate.

He again stated that his job was to keep the air wing up and running. While the loss of vehicular support might slow down the operational tempo, I believed we could still get the job done.

The colonel continued, Major, you understand these are off-the-record comments and are not hard commitments. I believe this decision must be reviewed and agreed to by the commander of Marine Corps Air Bases Western Area and the commanding general of Third MAW.

My response to the colonel was that I agreed that this was a matter to be decided at the commanding general level and that I would start the ball rolling on the air station and Marine Corps Air Bases Western Area side today.

My next step in the process was to get support from the air station and Marine Corps Air Bases Western Area comptroller, so I made an appointment to meet him at his office.

I asked the comptroller of the air station and Marine Corps Air Bases Western Area, Mr. Doug Sayre, to review the gasoline- and cost-reduction plan. I told him about my conversation with the Third MAW logistic officer and his informal concurrence with the plan.

Mr. Sayre indicated he thought the plan was well conceived and implementable. Further, he stated that he would go see our commanding general this afternoon and explain the plan to him and the chief of staff. Mr. Sayre was concerned about any delays in the potential implementation of the plan because we were well into the fiscal year. He believed that these reductions needed to be initiated quickly or we would not be able to achieve the goal.

Late that same afternoon, Jim received a call from Mr. Sayre since I was flying a CH-53 over at MCAS (H) Santa Ana. He said that he and the chief of staff had briefed the CG concerning the gasoline-reduction plan. The CG indicated that he approved the plan but was against the concept of reducing vehicle support, which could adversely affect the operational readiness of both his air stations and Third MAW.

The CG then called the CG of the Third MAW to talk about the problem of cost and gasoline reductions. After a lengthy discussion, they both agreed that since HQ had mandated the reductions, they would have to live with them. The CG of the Third MAW indicated that his logistics officer had briefed him on the proposed plan and it appeared to be the best solution to a bad problem. So they agreed to the implantation of our gasoline- and cost-reduction plan.

Returning from flying, I was briefed by Jim on his conversation with Mr. Sayre. We then made plans to quickly notify all the units regarding the plan and to implement the strategy as soon as all the notifications had been made.

After the receipts of notifications were received, we implemented the program and started deadlining underutilized vehicles.

Shrieks of protests were heard from a number of organizations at the start of the program but soon faded away once the squadrons or organizations realized the reductions could be overcome by better scheduling and utilization of their existing motor transport assets.

We continued to monitor the progress of our program, and it was on track to meet the reductions goals several weeks into the program.

Sitting in my office early on a Friday afternoon several months later, I got a phone call from the comptroller indicating that he wanted to have Jim Fincham and myself come to his office for a 1500 (3:00 p.m.) meeting. I asked him what the subject of the meeting was going to be so we could prepare for it. He said, You will find out when you and Jim get here. He then hung up on me.

When I told Jim about the phone call, he said he had no idea what the subject of the meeting might be. I said, We will just have to show up to the meeting to find out.

Jim and I arrived at the comptroller's office a couple of minutes before 3:00 p.m. and were told that the comptroller was in the CG's office and we should proceed there right away. Jim and I looked at each other, rolling our eyes as we departed for the CG's office.

I thought on the way, Boy oh boy, what did we do this time?

The general's secretary saw us coming down the hall and ushered us directly into the CG's office, not saying a word.

As we entered, I saw several people already gathered in his office—the chief of staff, comptroller, director of the Public Works Department, and a photographer. We moved into the office and moved to the side, hoping to keep a low profile, since we did not know why we were there.

The general got up from his desk, holding several pieces of paper in his hand. As he rounded the desk, he asked Jim to come forward.

Jim looked at me; I nodded to him as he stepped forward and stopped in front of the general.

The general then proceeded to read the submittal I had written for Jim Fincham's beneficial suggestion award. The second piece of paper the general read was a real surprise. Jim had been awarded the beneficial suggestion award, not only for our two air stations but for all the Marine Corps installations that had been required to make the vehicle transitions, since his suggestion was used at all the Marine Corps installations.

Jim was to receive one half of 1 percent of the savings created by his beneficial suggestion. The last piece of paper that Jim was to receive was the check for his beneficial suggestion. As the general read the amount on the check, twenty-seven thousand dollars, I watched Jim's face, at first a look of shock, then a look of satisfaction replaced the shock. The general then asked the photographer to take a couple of pictures as the general presented the award and check to Jim, who was now all smiles as he shook the general's hand.

On our trip back to the office, Jim was quiet. When we got back to the office, he said, We need to talk. Following me into my office, he closed the door and said, I did not earn this award. Your wife had the idea, not me. She should be the beneficiary of the award, not me.

Looking Jim in the eye, I said, "Jim, you were the one who had worked out the implementation process and strategy, and without your knowledge and expertise, we could not have gotten the job here at El Toro and Santa Ana accomplished. Since the materials and processes were used throughout the Marine Corps, we should both be proud we helped save all that money for the Corps.

When I wrote the recommendation for the beneficial suggestion award, I was thinking of your and your wife's contribution to our efforts. The award went to the right recipient. You and your wife should enjoy the fruits of your labors.

*****

On July 25, 1975, while I was sitting at my desk, studying the latest fuel reduction reports with Jim, I received a telephone call from Lieutenant Colonel James Shelton that would take me down the road to a new challenge in my ongoing Marine Corps career.

Chapter 2

Heavy Marine Helicopter Squadron 363's Aviation Maintenance Officer's Story

Getting a telephone call from Lieutenant Colonel James Shelton was a great surprise. I had not seen much of the colonel since we served together in HMH-463 and later at Dong Ha in Vietnam. Answering his call, I was really surprised by his asking me if I was interested in coming to work for him when he took command of HMH-363, a heavy helicopter squadron, at the end of the week. Going back to a flying job was always preferable to my current assignment of working at a desk job at the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) El Toro motor transportation department.

Thinking back to the last time Lieutenant Colonel Shelton and I had served together, I remembered a specific event where we worked together in Vietnam in early 1968 to solve a very unique problem. I came to know Major Shelton during my first combat tour in Vietnam in 1967, where he was part of the first detachment of CH-53s to ever be deployed to Vietnam in late 1966. He had been the detachment's maintenance officer. The arrival of the main body of the squadron pushed most of the detachment personnel to support jobs outside the squadron because all the jobs had been duplicated in the main body. So the newly arrived main body command opted to move out most of the people who had combat experience in the aircraft and replace them with newly arrived officers. Major Shelton was one of them who was transferred to other duties.

*****

If I recall correctly, one of the jobs Major Jim Shelton performed after leaving the unit was to be assigned duty as the aviation liaison officer (ALO) coordination officer for the ground Marine combat base at Con Thien, along with several other bases in northern I Corps. He spent most of his time working out of the air facility at Dong Ha because it had enhanced radio communications and provided the ability to have face-to-face discussions with the helicopter pilots who were flying the support missions. He coordinated and ensured that support was provided to Marine ground censuring helicopter and fixed-wing support missions were scheduled and flown in a timely manner to support their operations. He was also responsible for the interface and coordination of the artillery and naval gunfire missions with aviation activities throughout the area. The Marines, as part of building the McNamara line, established artillery positions along the demilitarized zone between North and South Vietnam. The McNamara line was approximately six hundred yards wide and fifteen miles long and was anchored on its west end on a hill that later became Con Thien Marine Combat Base.

The major problem the Marine ground commander in this area faced was the lack of a reliable supply of 105- and 155mm artillery shells for his artillery units. Ammunition originally was trucked to the base, but as the NVA artillery fire increased, the vehicle trips were more and more hazardous. This, coupled with monsoon weather occurring in that part of Vietnam, made the roadways impassable.

As a result, helicopters replaced the trucks as the principal way of resupplying the Con Thien base with artillery shells and other essential items. Then another problem surfaced as NVA spotters and snipers slipped into South Vietnam so they could be used to alert NVA artillery gunners that a helicopter was en route to the base with external loads of ammunition. This early warning made delivery of external loads of munitions again very hazardous. Weather was also a problem in delivering supplies by helicopter. The low ceilings forced resupply helicopters to fly low-level routes, which could be accurately targeted by NVA artillery through their spotters as well as directing their snipers to shoot at the helicopters along the way. As the low-level flight became more and more hazardous, they became less and less frequent, creating a situation where the supply of munitions available at the camp became critically low.

A solution had to be found to get the critical needed munitions to Con Thien before an NVA ground attack could be mounted that could potentially overrun the base.

Seeing the problem of resupplying the base becoming critical, Major Jim Shelton formulated a written plan which used and combined some unusual aviation assets to solve this critical problem.

He had been working with the Air Support Radar Team (ASRT). This unit was housed in a mobile trailer colocated at the Dong Ha air facility. Their mission was to use radar to vector fixed-wing attack jets to targets along the DMZ during night and poor weather conditions. Their work, along with a steady supply of attack aircraft, had kept the NVA from mounting a ground attack during these periods.

Major Shelton recognized the potential for using the same radar control systems to guide helicopters to the Con Thien base. These helicopters flying in the clouds would carry external loads of munitions to the base. His concept was to have the helicopter with its external load fly under radar control down a glide slope to a position one hundred feet above the combat base while staying inside the low cloud cover. If the helicopter obtained visual contact with the base, they would deposit the external load and depart back into the clouds quickly. If no visual contact was made by the helicopter, it would climb out of the area, remaining in the clouds, to be vectored again to the hilltop location.

He discussed the potential radar control of the helicopters with the ASRT Marines, and they agreed that this type of operation was feasible but cautioned him that it had never been tried before. After his discussion with the ASRT Marines, Major Shelton needed to put the plan into action. Seeing a CH-53 in the parking area at Dong Ha, he contacted the pilot and explained the plan. The pilot, who was senior to Major Shelton, refused to take on the mission that afternoon, saying it had never been done before and he was not going to be the first one to try it.

*****

The next day, I was flying with a senior captain named Robert Bobby Strand. We had just attempted to get an external load of munitions to Con Thien. We were unsuccessful in getting to the Con Thien base because we were driven back by heavy incoming artillery fire hitting along our low-level route to the base as well as hitting the base itself long before we arrived. We had to return to Dong Ha with the undelivered load of ammunition.

Major Shelton found our aircraft in the refueling pits at Dong Ha and asked us to park and shut down the aircraft. He wanted to discuss the plan face-to-face with us so we could potentially get the resupply job done successfully—the same one that we were not able to complete.

After shutting down the aircraft, Bobby and I met with Major Shelton. I almost did not recognize him in his dirty Marine utilities and needing a shave. Then I remembered that Dong Ha was well within range of the NVA artillery and being hit almost every night, and things like showers were in fact a luxury.

Major Shelton explained his unusual plan to both of us, then suggested we walk to the ASRT trailer to talk to the controller, who would be vectoring us through the clouds. Bobby and I both thought the plan had real potential for success. Once inside the ASRT trailer, we talked to the controller and watched him vector a flight of two Navy A-6 attack jets through the clouds that were dropping their munitions on targets north of Con Thien. We all agreed that the only way we were going to get the job done successfully was by attempting this new mode of delivery.

It was very evident to me at the time that Major Shelton had put into practice the Marines battle tested concept of adapt, improvise, and overcome in order to find a solution to this critical problem.

As Bobby and I returned to our aircraft, our real concern as pilots surfaced. We had not been trained to fly external loads in the clouds, with no outside horizon to provide reference points to help stabilize the oscillations that sometimes occur with external loads. We were going to be carrying an eight-thousand-pound load of munitions externally in the clouds. It was going to be a real challenge.

We briefed the crew chief and gunners about our upcoming attempt to get some loads of ammunition to Con Thien. The crew chief said it had to be a better plan than what we had just previously tried. Major Shelton expressed his confidence in our abilities to make it happen again, telling us how critical it was that we were successful. Marine lives are hanging in the balance, he told us as we started the aircraft.

Bobby and I discussed the division of duties that would be necessary to pull off this plan successfully. We decided that one of us would pick up the external load and fly the aircraft. Just before entering the clouds, control would be passed to the pilot who was looking only at his instruments. At that point in the evolution, the original pilot would make all the radio calls, frequency changes, and back up the pilot who was flying, in case the load started to oscillate badly, which could create a vertigo reaction.

The pilot not flying would have the responsibility to watch outside the aircraft as they flew down the ASRT glide path to the hilltop. Once visual contact was made with the hill, not lower than fifty feet above ground level, then control of the aircraft would be transferred to that pilot, who then would find the specific drop zone and place the load in it. Once the load was dropped into the zone, the aircraft would climb back into the clouds, where the control of the aircraft would again be transferred back to the pilot who was flying on instruments. The aircraft would again be picked up