one more S.E.A. Story
LINEBACKER II BRASS O2
17 December 1972
This mission is a classic example of the importance of aircrew Stan/Eval where any aircrew member
can work as a team member, though not familiar with the other members. I was assigned as Chief, Aircrew
Stan/Eval for the 40 ARRS (formerly under 3rd ARRS GP); I was primarily responsible for all Pedros in
SEA except those at Korat. I was seldom at NKP (28 days) due the TDY demands to all the detachments,
so I flew only two Pedro missions with the NKP Detachment. I helped train and evaluate on other local
flights. The reason for this example is to help understand why I can’t recall the crew member’s names other
than Capt. George Schrimpf , Co-Pilot, who I had flown with in the ZI. Hopefully, someone who was on this
mission or knew those on the mission will contact Steve as we certainly want them to get well-deserved credit.
They were unbelievably precise!
Lt Col Bert Berthold, Sq Commander, advised that my Christmas leave would have to be cancelled due to
upcoming Linebacker II missions by B-52s and anticipated heightened rescue activity.
http://www.afa.org/magazine/nov1997/1197lineback.asp
We were old friends since we were young rescue pilots at England AFB and had flown missions
in SEA together (he in Pedros and me in HC-54 Crowns) so I knew he hated to have to tell me that;
but he, like all good COs, put mission first; and I fully understood.
Well, almost immediately, the fireworks lit up the skies over Hanoi. I was on alert with my crew at NKP
on 17 Dec 1972, when, shortly after dusk, we were alerted to an inbound B-52 (Brass 02) with only one
engine operating and no communications. They put the emergency radio antenna through the sextant port
and advised they were in a descent and planned to bail out over NKP at 10,000 feet. We were held on the
ramp until the bailout; and, as we were taking off, a gigantic fireball exploded about 4 miles off the north
end of the runway. The location of the Brass O2 aircrew members was unknown so we headed for the crash
site. Then a weird thing happened; beepers were going off like crazy all around us. DF use caused the needle
to swing wildly all around our position, so it became obvious they were coming down or were already on the
ground or in trees. We were hoping for the latter since swinging down through a hail of rotor blades and
turboprops didn’t support longevity! Joining our mission were 2 H-53s (one Jolly and one Knife)
and a King (HC-130). Talk about tight jaws, we could have eaten nails like all good Pedro “Men of Steel”.
With the area saturated, it became impossible to tell who was talking to whom; so we turned the landing lights
on and asked any survivor seeing them to vector us to them. Immediately, one responded and steered us right
overhead. We landed in a small open area and recovered him.
When airborne, we got another beeper and since the on-board survivor was uninjured, we proceeded directly
to his position. By use of the flood lights, we found him about 1/3 way down in the jungle canopy. The hoist
operator directed us over the survivor to the largest opening in the trees where the firefighter was lowered.
He indicated the survivor was entangled in many of the shroud cords, hanging about 45 degrees head down;
but he was conscious and appeared uninjured. We moved closer to him so the ABR/firefighter could cut
some cords, allowing the survivor to become upright in order to be pulled onto the penetrator.
Once on, the ABR started to cut the cords. This was a very tedious and slow process. At this point the
standardization and training factor became paramount. The intercom failed! This was an extremely critical
situation as any aircrew member knows. The survivor still had numerous cords still wrapped around him;
so any excessive movement could cause injury, cable entanglement, and loss of aircraft control or cutting of
the cable. You can imagine the results! The hoist operator immediately began intercom-out procedures to
keep us directly over the survivor. So precise was his use of hand signals on the neck of my flight suit that
we maintained position for over 10 minutes. The survivor was finally cut completely free of the cords, and
both men were hoisted to the cabin.
As we headed for home plate, we were advised that the Jolly recovered two survivors; the Knife recovered
one, and another survivor caught the baht bus to the front gate and was enjoying a cool one at the club.
This was the toughest mission I ever experienced in over 20 years of rescue experience, including rescue
fixed wing. It was also the most rewarding, not only for the recoveries we made, but because of the absolutely
flawless performance of our aircrew. Much of my career has been in Stan/Eval and I, like most S/Es, have
preached the importance of standardization for ages. I want to assure anyone reviewing this that, had the
performance of aircrew members on this mission been other than standardized and superb, someone else
might be writing this saga.
As a final thought and I ask your indulgence, the HH-43 is the best aircraft I have flown. I believe it is the
safest aircraft ever built as I have flown over 2,000 hours and have not had a single accident or serious
incident. Fuzz on the transmission plug was about it! Not only was it the most reliable aircraft I flew, but it
was the most fun! The aircrew members and support troops in the detachments, as well as the squadrons,
wings, and headquarters, were top notch. Should anyone doubt my loyalty to Pedros, consider this-- I never
wanted to leave Pedros for upgrades to Jollies or the Super Jollies (though they are fine aircraft); and I did
not upgrade until Pedros were phased out. This may have caused me a promotion, but my decision today
would be exactly the same as years ago. Whoever coined the phrase
“Blades of Wood-Men of Steel”
deserves a place in the rescue history books.
Lastly, this is not part of the mission; but to not give credit where due, would be remiss. Lt Col Bert
Berthold placed complete trust in me to get and keep all the detachments and our local Pedro flight operating
safely and effectively even though many aircrew members who arrived in the theater were not fully trained
or qualified. Because of his trust, confidence, and full support, we had only one accident. A Pedro at NKP
experienced engine failure over the jungle; and the brand new RCC found a small opening in the canopy,
performed a full flare autorotation, and dropped her straight in. They all walked away.
You know what they say about a good landing!
My final wish is to set a new world altitude record in a Pedro enroute to the Big Hangar in the sky.
Don’t let your rotors droop!
“Rapid” Robert Reeves, Lt Col, USAF, Ret.
8 December 2005