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TOO MANY trees-pull out!"
As the words crackled through the Marine pilot's earphones, he pulled up on the throttle stick and the CH-46 helicopter gained altitude.
But, the advice hadn't come from a fellow officer pilot; it had come from a lance corporal!
That's right, a lance corporal advising a major what to do with an aircraft. What's more, the major followed the enlisted man's advice without hesitation. The reason-the lance corporal was crew chief on the helicopter and pilots know that if a crew chief says a bird won't fit, then it damn well won't fit!
Sound a little strange? Enlisted men advising officers? It might seem strange at fil'st, but there's good reasoning behind it. A crew chief is a young Marine trained to know everything about a Sea Knight CH-46 transport helicopter. He's the man in charge of all aspects of its maintenance; he flies in it every day and his life depends on how it performs. He learns quickly what his bird will or won't do.
As one crew chief put it, "I'd say there's a sort of mutual understanding between pilots and crew chiefs. The pilots know their business and we know ours. The difference is that we know our individual birds and they don't. A helicopter is sort of like a woman; no two react the same. And when you're being shot at, the little differences between helicopters can mean your life."
Although crew chiefs merely advise them, pilots will usually take a crew chief's word as final. Although a pilot can override the man's suggestion, cases where pilots try to do things a crew chief says their birds can't do are very rare.
Before a man is allowed to take over as crew chief of a helicopter in Vietnam, he must be well prepared. He's been through at least 52 weeks of formal training and from nine months to two years of on-the-job training in the States.
After boot camp, prospective crew chiefs go to Memphis, Tenn., for aviation training. After two weeks of orientation, the training starts with a two-week familiarization course in aviation. There the students learn basically what makes an aircraft fly. Following this instruction, the men start a 13-week course in aviation mechanical...