KNIGHTS OF THE SKIES & A NATION APATHY

There was a request by a group of veteran pilots last year on the appeal to the government to extend to them the revised quantum of allowances for those who earned bravery medals. Till date there was no news or update on their request, I am writing this article in support of these helicopter pilots, on behalf of a grateful nation.
Picture this, your platoon of 30 odd soldiers is forward deployed deep in the jungles somewhere near the Malaysia-Thai border. Your line of communication with the outside world is your trusted PRC 77 radio which relay your request to battalion headquarters stationed miles away at the BMA (Brigade Maintenance Area). Your troops have trekked the enemy for the past 2 week waist deep in swamp area with scarce respite and constantly on high alert.

You are out of rations for 5 days and living off the land by munching on tree barks, plants and the occasional insects that instructors taught were edible at Jungle Warfare School in Ulu Tiram.

Ammunitions are running low, due to the long fire fight with the Communist Terrorists (CT) couple days ago. You communicated this predicament in your Situation Report (SITREP) to Battalion HQ. The Battallion Intelligence Officer has highlighted that the turf where your platoon is operating has a regiment size CT camp and based on the current grid reference on the map your are right smack in the middle of it. The UCIS (unit combat intelligence squad) boys the forerunners of Risik Gempur after a reconnaissance mission confirmed the Battlion Intel report. You have a hunch that enemy knows about your presence, while your platoon began to prepare for lunch, the enemy launched a full scale assault on your position effectively encircling it. Your troops by virtue of stand-to took up position and returned fire. You began frantically calling your Batt HQ and request for ammo, medical evacuation (medevac) and gunship support. While you engage the enemy a 7.62mm round slams on your shin and shatters it, you began to loss blood. The platoon medic under heavy fire crawls to your position and gives you a shot of morphine to ease the pain while another presses the bandage to stop the bleeding. It was hell all around as the pandemonium of you section commander yelling battle orders, groans and moans of the injured fills in. As you slowly drift in an out of consciousness you could hear the faint distinctive sound made by the 5 bladed rotor of the RMAF workhorse the Nuri or its more formal name Sikorsky SH-61A4 and the whining high pitch sound of the Alloute with the occasional machine gun burst as the door gunner spews our hot 7.62mm lead on the enemy position as it provides close air support for the troops down below.

The Alloute gunship flanked the Nuri and once one hot Landing Point (LP) began to form a clockwise orbit around the Nuri . The Captain of the nuri maintained hover atop of the beleaguered troop’s position trying to find an opening in the mist to bring his Nuri down but to no avail. The Captain and his team comprising of a co-pilot ,Air QM and Air Despatch crew from the Army understood the predicament of the troops down below, as they have been briefed prior to take-off from their base. The Captain is determined to get the wounded out of the firefight and also off-load vital cargos like ammo and rations. He called on R/T (radio transmission) “Ops……Tangkas 03…. going in…..hot (LP)……” He tighten his grips over the cyclic and the collective in order to prepare for any eventualities as he began to descend, his hawkish eyes darted in and out between the instrument panel and outside, going into the mist he lost all visual reference and rely purely on the artificial horizon (AH) in the centre the instrument panel which proves to be challenging as human instinct and instrument does not always tally. There is possibility of disorientation and losing control of the chopper and at this height would be fatal. With nerve of steel the Capt inched the Nuri closer to the ground purely relying on his instinct and AH (artificial horizon), just as he cleared the mist below 60 feet AGL (air to ground level), the AQM yelled “tuan……abort……..abort….abort”. The Nuri’s tail rotor was precariously close to a tree out of the Capt sight in the rear, he yanked the collective all the way up and climbed out of the descend. Sweating profusely from the near disaster of his making and after a quick word with his crew they decided to descend again, but agreed that they would not hit the ground but hover inside the mist while the Aqm winch down and extract the dead and wounded. The Capt entire body is drenched with perspiration with occasional sweats dripping from the forehead entering the eyes stinging it, but the Capt maintained his constant instrument scanning. As he descended to about 80 ft, he stopped descending and yelled over the microphone for AQM to winch down. The AQM without hesitation unlocked the mechanical winch and lowered himself to ground zero. The Co-Pilot monitored the engine rpm, temperature and occasional look out while the Captain peered his eyes to the AH which was guiding his position albeit a little.

At this time the CT were close to the infantry’s perimeters down below, rounds began slamming into Nuri fuselage, but the Captain did not abort but maintained his position and hovered atop the infantry’s position. The AQM has finished off-loading the vital ammo and rations and now preparing to winch out the injured. He secured the badly injured first on the stretcher and began hoisting them up, while the injured was being winched enemy rounds began slamming again onto the fuselage. One of the rounds penetrated the cockpit’s bottom Plexiglas and entered the sole of the captain’s flying boot, the bullet traveled all the way up and exited through the knee cap. Blood were gushing from the wound and with his flying suit drenched with blood below the knee, he summoned all his strength and ignored the excruciating pain to level the anti-torque pedal and maintain hover. This lasted almost an eternity as the wounded were being winched out. Without any reference point it proved to test the airmanship skills of the captain to the limit. The gunship continued spraying burst of 7.62mm round in order to suppress the enemy fire and protect the Nuri. The Alloutee pilot put himself in the line of fire by drawing the enemy fire towards him and away from the Nuri. Round slammed into Alloutte unarmoured body as the pilots commenced evasive maneuvers in order to dodge the enemy bullets. The troops on the ground looked in awe as the Alloute pilot manouvered its machine with absolute precision.

By this time the AQM has successfully winched out the wounded and dropped vital supply of rations and ammo to the troops down below. He signaled to the Captain with thumbs up do indicate the job is done and to egress out of the area. The Alloute provided covering fire as the Nuri began to climb away from hot zone. The Nuri Captain….transmitted to mission control “Tangkas 03 ….. picked up dead and wounded……advise medical standby on arrival…..co-pilot has control of the aircraft…..Tangkas 03 inbound…..to base” He passed control to his co-pilot and began to apply tourniquet to stop loosing blood on his legs. The AQM and the Air Despatch crews were busy tending to the needs of the injured, while occasional words of prayers were whispered to the ears of the dead. As you began to slip into coma again you could see the Captain is looking at the cargo hull from his seat, his face sadden with the dead, concern with the injured and as he move his head to face his cockpit, he gives you an assuring nod that everything is going to be just fine.

The above narration is not a scene out of a movie, but what RMAF chopper pilots faced on daily basis during the insurgency period. While the sacrifices of infantry officers and soldiers whom I held in high esteem both in terms of lives and limbs are incomparable. What the veteran flyers are seeking is equally important, for it takes a special breed of men to fly these slow, lumbering and venerable aircraft through hailstorm of enemy fire, rescue troops, supply them with reinforcement and perform the mission over again and again. If you ask any infantry officers worth his salt who have seen action during the insurgency period, he would vouch for the dedication, determination and above all the courage and tenacity of these helicopter pilots. While fighter pilots are glorified in movies, helicopter pilots are the one who risk their lives to save them behind enemy lines when they are shot down. The former US Chief of Air Staff General John Jumper a veteran fighter pilot always has the insignia of the Jolly Green Giant (famed helicopter callsign during Vietnam War) on his left arm shoulder sleeves as a mark of respect for those helicopter pilots who rescued him when he was shotdown over Vietnam. So much so there is saying among the pilots during Vietnam War, “fighter pilots have no fear the jolly green giants are here”

The former Marine Commandant of USMC General Loenard Chapman once quipped of helicopter pilots “"When a Marine in Vietnam is wounded, surrounded, hungry, low on ammunition or water, he looks to the sky. He knows the choppers are coming..." which can be aptly said about our helicopter pilots. On time, on station, day in day out, without failing.

Please seriously consider what these gallant knights of the skies are requesting and do justice to them in return for all that they have given this blessed nation of ours.

JEYAGANESH GOPALSAMY