November-December 1970-page 18,19,20,21

“Southeast Asia”

Pedro Pilots Also Instructed

TRAINING THE  'MEN IN THE SILVER SUITS'

By Sgt Ken Hacker

PHU CAT AB, Republic of Vietnam (7AF) - There's a plaque on an officer's club wall, stating, "If you drink, don't fly; if you fly, don't stall; if you stall, don't flame out; if you flame out, don't spin; if you spin, don't crash; if you crash, don't burn."

Good advice, but what if a plane crashes without leaving the ground, say the aircraft's engines catch fire halfway down the runway? Or, what if a pilot comes home with holes all over his fuselage caused by an irate Viet Cong? The answer lies with those people on the ground in those silver and asbestos fire suits, who have the job of getting the crews out of the burning aircraft with the maximum amount of speed. Whether they be overhead in an HH-43 Pedro helicopter or screaming down the runway in one of the base's 50-foot-long crash trucks, the sight of one of these silver-clad firemen is quite  welcome to a wounded pilot looking out of his cockpit. But these unsung heroes in the silver suits do not just happen to be in the neighborhood when an accident occurs. They are on their way to the scene while the aircraft is still 10 minutes away from the base. The tower contacts them, and they are in position and ready before the pilot ever feels his wheels touch the ground.

The training of these airborne and truckborne firefighters takes place on an almost daily basis at this air base. Phu Cat has the distinction of being one of the few bases in the Republic of Vietnam with the facilities for training firefighters to battle their foe, JP-4 ... the go-juice for the Air Force's jet fighters. As one of the few bases with a pit for simulated aircraft fires, the 12th Civil Engineering Squadron and Det 13, 38th ARRSq, play host every month to firefighters from almost all bases within the Republic. They have the facilities for training up to 50 firemen and 30 pilots every month. This job includes igniting some 20 simulated pit fires every month.

Pilots of the twin-rotor Pedros go through eight hours of flight training, covering the delivery of the firefighter to the scene and the delivery of the red satellite which they call a fire suppression kit (FSK). The FSK is a roupd tank and hose affair which holds 690 gallons of firefighting agent for use by the aircraft's firemen.

After delivering these, the copter is again airborne and will hold above the firemen, beating down the flames with the downdraft from its rotors. The firemen will set up the suppression kit and begin to clear a path to the aircraft's cockpit and the crew. In the meantime, the base's four crash trucks will have arrived on the scene and will begin extinguishing the fire itself.

The proficiency of these men in silver and the men who pilot and man the Pedros is maintained with practice fires and rescues, check rides and the like. They are required to perform at least one day and one night-fire flight and crew extraction each three months. The question is, how do you do it without an aircraft crash? The answer lies in an abandoned rice paddy not far from the base.

With the help of bulldozers from the 12th CES, a pit has been dug to use for simulated rescue exercises. Under careful supervision, the pit is filled with 500 gallons of jet fuel. A flare is thrown in and, voila, a simulated burning aircraft.

Once the fire is going strong, a Pedro comes in and deposits two firefighters and their equipment. Trainees, under the eye of their instructors, go through the time-tested actions of cutting an 8 to 10-foot wide path through the flames, simulating the approach to an aircraft cockpit. The exercise gives the trainees the actual experience of suppressing the flames with the foam from the kit carried by the helicopter. The only difference between this exercise and the real thing is the lack of an aircraft. Instructors make the most out of the exercise by having the firemen put out the entire fire. In an actual incident the men brought in by Pedro would only cut a path to the aircraft. The base fire department personnel in the crash trucks would take care of the rest of the blaze.

But what if in an actual incident the crash trucks beat the helicopter to the fire? Technical Sergeant James E. Hooker deputy fire here, said "The first truck would initiate crew extraction. It's important for all our personnel to know the procedures for extracting crewmembers from burning aircraft. No one knows who will be first on the scene. And the first man on the scene has the responsibility for that crew in the aircraft."

Base fire chief, MSgt Robert E. Hunter, added, "If the base fire department trucks get there first, then the Pedro backs up the men in the first truck in their path-cutting journey to the aircraft. But in normal instances, Pedro will get there first, and its men will cut the path while our trucks work on the remaining fire."

SSgt Robert E. Morris, noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the airborne firefighters assigned to the Pedro unit, commented on why his only job is to extract the crew and leave the bulk of the fire to the trucks crews. "The fire suppression kit carried by the HH-43 holds 78.5 gallons of water and five gallons of foam. These two ingredients combine to form 690 gallons of fire reducing agent. This amount is not enough to work on the whole fire, but is more than sufficient to cut a path to the aircraft and push the flames away from the cockpit."

Sergeant Morris continued, "On the other hand, the trucks from the base fire department carry an almost unlimited amount of agent and with their four trucks have the capability to extinguish the entire fire." 

Training for the men in silver starts after basic training. They'll go through four weeks at Sheppard AFB, Tex., where they will learn the fundamentals and two weeks of academics. At their first assignment, they will undergo on-the-job training and further familiarization with the various pieces of firefighting equipment. Once selected for airborne assignment, the individual will attend the U.S. Air Force Survival School at Clark AB, R.P. Completing that course, he will be sent to a rescue detachment for his airborne fire training.

Hoist Checkout - SSgt Jerry W. McCutcheon observes hoist operations by one of his students, Sgt Glen G. Lucero. Hoist operation is just one of the facets of flight testing done by Sergeant McCutcheon. The student will go through 12 hours of flight training in the HH-43 "Pedro" for the initial qualification as an airborne firefighter. (USAF photo by Sgt Jose Sanchez)

According to SSgt Jerry W. McCutcheon, flight examiner for the 12th CES fire department, "The students start off with 13 hours of ground training and are taught pre-flight checking of all the alert equipment, emergency procedures and the hand signals used to communicate with the aircraft commander during engine starts and shutdowns." 

"They also learn about the fire suppression kit. We teach them the daily maintenance which must be performed, how to refill and recharge it, and how to hook it up properly to the HH-43 Pedro's cargo hook," added the sergeant.

"The men also get 12 hours of flight training, including familiarization with the aircraft's hoist, operating the craft's cargo sling, handling litters and constant briefings on flying safety. They then go on to the two fires at the base fire pit - one during the day and the second during that same night." 

Det 8 Makes Hazardous Medevac

An HH-43 crew from Det 8, 38th ARRSq, Cam Ranh Bay AB, responded after a request was received to evacuate a seriously-ill soldier from a night-shrouded hilltop 10 miles away. As Capt Peter F. Dineen held the Pedro in a hover over the 30-foot trees, the medical technician, A1C Thomas P. Gratton, was lowered on the forest penetrator seat. Aided by the lights on the helicopter, he made his way through a five-foot opening in the trees and then reached the ground. He and the evacuee were then hoisted to the HH-43 one at a time by Crew Chief Thomas W. Hooker.Aiding Captain Dineen in maintaining a stable hover over the small opening in the trees were the crew chief and copilot, Capt Bruce W. Staples.

In another Det 8 mission, an HH-43 crew evacuated a seriously-ill seaman from the S. S. Trans Colorado almost 30 miles off the coast of South Vietnam. As Captain Dineen hovered the Pedro over the moving vessel, SSgt Eugene E. Cramer was lowered on the forest penetrator to the deck. He secured the evacuee to the seat and it was hoisted to the Pedro by SSgt Thomas W. Seibert. The medical technician was then recovered in the same manner and the helicopter headed for the hospital.

In a third mission, a man who had been seriously injured when two jeeps collided, was taken to the hospital in an HH-43 from Det 8. Manning the Pedro were Captain Dineen, Major Lamkin, Sergeant Cramer and Airman Hooker.

Pedro Helps Hijacker Victim

A crewmember, shot during an attempted C-141 hijacking at Bien Hoa AB, was taken to the hospital in an HH-43 from Det 6, 38th ARRSq. The detachment is stationed at the base. The seriously wounded man, who had been shot at close range with an M-16, was accompanied to the U. S. Army 24th Field Evacuation Hospital by a flight surgeon. The hijacker had been captured immediately after the shooting. Manning the Pedro were Capt Roy M. Litzen, pilot; Capt Russell T. Birmingham, Jr., copilot; Sgt Earl S. Wright, helicopter mechanic; and TSgt Grady J. Mullins, medical technician.  ( add by Ragay :  Thanks to Mr. Mike Novack - former C-141 pilot and webmaster for "C141 Heaven...."- we now know that the aircraft involved was C-141A  66-0192 ; more details can be found here : http://c141heaven.com/66/pic_66_0192.php )

In another Det 6 mission, an HH-43 crew scrambled at night after an O-2 reported it had lost an engine and was going down. The crash site was located in a rice paddy four miles from Bien Hoa and the pilots, both uninjured, were picked up without incident. Manning the Pedro were Maj Elmer Funderburk, Jr., pilot; Capt Richard S. Dunlap, copilot; SSgts George W. Tatum, Harry W. Bryant, and Glenn A. Mumpower, crewmen.

During a third mission carried out by Det 6, a seriously injured airman was taken to the hospital by an HH-43 crew consisting of Captain Dunlap, pilot; Capt Leo P. May, copilot; SSgt Elex R. Scroggins, Sgt Thomas Mack and Sgt Timothy J. Thomen, crewmen.

Night Medevac Saves Two

Two firefighters, among 14 injured when ordance exploded aboard a blazing Marine aircraft on the ramp at DaNang AB, were taken to the hospital in an HH-43 from Det 7, 38th ARRSq. The detachment is based at DaNang. The pre-midnight flight to the hospital was made over hostile territory. Afterward, a doctor said the immediate medical evacuation meant the difference between life and death for the critically-wounded men. Capt Isamu S. Momii was pilot of the rescue helicopter and Capt Joseph A. Ori was co-pilot. SSgt Herbert L. Belcher was helicopter mechanic, and SSgt Garland D. Becker, medical technician.

Protector - An HH-43 "Pedro" from Det 6, 38th ARRSq, settles down on its landing pad at Bien Hoa AB after a mission. Standing around-the-clock alert duties, Pedro and other helicopters just like it provide almost instantaneous rescue coverage for the Bien Hoa AB area. Should a pilot go down near the base, he can expect Pedro's distinctive form to be hovering above him quickly. (USAF photo by SSgt David Spaner)

last update : 14/09/2007