[Vhfcn-l] Fwd: Contribution of Engineers to Army Aviation

[MoeElmore at aol.com]

Just forwarded as a possible item of interest.
 
 
  
____________________________________
 From: BSilvey at aol.com
To: BSilvey at aol.com
Sent: 8/23/2017 4:39:56 A.M.  Mountain Daylight Time
Subj: Contribution of Engineers to Army  Aviation


This from our 1st Air Cav point of contact - some good information - we  
have several who served in TOPO units - one comes to mind is Bill Kelly - who  
reportedly accepted the 5th Otter form production way back in the 1950's - 
he  was also an Engineer.  Another is Bill Potts, a Past President of our  
association but I don't recall if he was an Engineer - probably was.   
Mentioned below is member Del Deginiffe - who I knew during our battles in  
Germany in 1967.
    The original content is by Bruce Crandall, MOH  for his actions with 
1st Air Cav in RVN.  The TOPO units operated in some  extreme environments and 
made significant contributions to Army  Aviation. 
   
 
Bruce, 
I believe this recent conversation with MOH Bruce Crandall  about the 
contribution of Engineers to Army aviation is worth a share.   Not sure how many “
seasoned” aviators would agree or disagree. 
Bruce made some salient points that probably won’t get “air  time” in today
’s world.  The recent recognition and commendation (Gold  Star?) of Medevac 
pilots with congressional approval doesn’t even come close  in comparison 
to what Bruce is talking about. Their aviation credentials for  the task 
assigned at the beginning of the Huey’s intro into Vietnam were far  beyond 
anything in my limited knowledge of Army aviation history.  I  think Bruce has 
good reason to make his point.  
Hank  
“FYI, most of the assault commanders that went over with  the Cav were 
Corps of Engineer officers and among the most experienced  Aviators in the Army. 
All of us had flown in Topo units and been together for  about 10 years. I 
had A Company 229th, Dick Rogers B co. Cornelius (Jon) Radu  D co, Too Tall 
Ed Freeman was my 1st platoon CO and Pyne  Gramly my ops  officer. The 11th 
AVN Gp staff for later LTG  Al Burdette were all  Engineer majors. ( Bob 
Flint, Del Degeniffe, Hugh West and I believe a  Gonzalez). The Corps had 2 
units in Topo with over a hundred aviators  assigned. One out of Calif 30th 
Topo, supporting the mapping in the Arctic and  later Libya and Iran and the 
other out of Panama  (The Inter-American  Geodetic Survey  IAGS) with aviators 
assigned in most countries  supporting Central and South American national  
mapping operations. 
All aviators were dual fixed and rotor qualified. All in  the Cav probably 
had close to 5000 hours or more of flight time before  Vietnam. We all were 
qualified in l-19s, Beavers and Otters as well as small  helicopters and 
Huey's. All of us that had flown in the Arctic were qualified  in floats and 
skis as well.  Gen Burdette loved Engineer aviators and  kept most of us in 
our jobs for the whole of our first tours. Many of us went  back to Topo 
before our after our tours in Vietnam. Most completed at least 20  years before 
retiring and some of us almost 30. Four or five retired as  Colonels and the 
rest as LTCs except one major. There were a number of DFCs,  several Silver 
Stars and the first 2 Medals of Honor for helicopter aviators  in any branch 
of Service in history. In my judgment, the contribution of  Engineers to 
Army aviation history has long been overlooked or ignored. Just  some thoughts 
to get off my graying chest.”   
Snake 6  (Bruce Crandall) 
Sent from _Mail_ (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986)  for 
Windows  10 


 (mip://0afbbf20/default.html#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2)