Lords of Darkness

I still miss the dedicated and hard charging soldiers with whom I worked. Although my retirement is fulfilling, there are days when I actually miss the thrill of battle, the clawing up hill, the pursuit of excellence, the seeking of victory and occasionally achieving both. However, in my maturity and in retrospect, I can see the faults I had (have) more clearly. I see that so many times, the other guy was indeed right in his deluded position, or in his ludicrous disapproval of my request(s). The volume of paper on which I wrote thousands, upon thousands of words, pages of ideas, point papers, information papers, proposals, concepts, recommendations, requests for equipment, and requests for redesignations, the hours spent arguing my (our) position; in the end it’s the same kind of exercise one gets from shadow boxing, isn’t it? A lot of activity, a bit of sweat, and often very little progress! As a friend and former boss once said to me, “Progress necessitates change, but change does not necessarily mean progress!” The same applies to activity; activity alone doesn’t mean progress. We need to share that with those close to us, especially our young NCOs and officers – tomorrow’s leaders. Did we stumble? Yes, sometimes, but we got right back up. Did we fail? Yes, but not always. Did we quit? Never! Wasn’t it Churchill who told his fellow Brits, “Never, never, never, never give up”? And they didn’t. Did we achieve success? Yes, because we never gave up… More importantly, did we learn? Yes (and I’m still learning). I’ve learned that success isn’t final, and that failure isn’t fatal. I truly believe that we should also learn to respect those with whom we disagree. Just because we disagree doesn’t have to mean that we don’t like each other. My hope is that even though you may disagree with what we did at the time, as you read the following pages, you will be able to see the reasons why we tried so hard. In the mid-1980s and early 1990s, I saw a humbling number of OKARNG aviation soldiers wanting in the fight, and not the interstate wars between Tulsa and the Oklahoma Military Department, but the real ones. Our young (and not so young) men were volunteering for the war in the Persian Gulf – they deserved the opportunity to fly their Little Birds and fight, because they had trained, met the standards, they had volunteered, and they were ready. Most often what we did was right, but even when we were wrong, the loyalty of those behind us was unswerving – it’s called camaraderie and esprit de corps. The 45th Avn Bn (SO) (A) and OKARNG Aviation had both! The leadership and aviators of Task Force 160 had a great deal of respect for the soldiers and aviators of the 45th Avn Bn (SP OPS) (ABN). This was apparent when at one time our NVG flight instructors were asked to conduct NVG flight training for aviators of the Task Force (TF). TF 160, U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), and all of the Special Forces Groups (SFG) whom we regularly supported recognized the 45th’s relevance, our skill and our professionalism. When the active component’s operational tempo (OPTEMPO) was extremely high, we were often asked and performed maintenance on TF 160’s MH-60 and MH-47 aircraft, because they were stretched too thin and P5 funding was available. They would gladly have had us in the Persian Gulf Theater, flying the very same mission! And the members of the 45th Avn Bn highly respected our brethren in TF 160. Our active duty forces and reserve component forces are to complement each other, not compete with each other. Our Army National Guard and Army Reserve aviation and ground units incorporate a vast amount of experience, and much of it is combat experience - something that should be duly noted! In the decade of the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, OKARNG’s 1st Bn, 245th Avn (SP OPS) (ABN) aircrews had as much NVG flight time as their active duty comrades, and had a much higher total flight time average than most aviators on active duty! Why was this valuable experience ignored? Why was this not considered germane by the Army Staff? Is there an unspoken competition between Active Component and Reserve Components within the Total Army? In the Pentagon, not out in the field, leaders used to use the term “seamless Army.” I suppose the term was meant to present an image of the active Army, Army National Guard and the Army Reserve, all being one big, happy family; because we all wore Army green and all knew the words to the Army Song, (…as the caissons go rolling along!) we would always agree with the active Army’s position or statements. This was not the case at all! The Guard and the Reserves want to be considered equal players in the game, both having played real hard ball before; but more often than not, we merely sat on the bench with little or no prayer of ever getting to start or even fill in during the game! We are teetering on the verge of catastrophe, with our military services being spread too thin and worldwide threats and international terrorism on the rise. I personally believe that the Army has dumbed down, and has lowered enlistment standards to meet unrealistic recruiting goals. We, as Americans, should be ashamed and demand that the Department of the Army immediately raise the requirements for all volunteers wanting to enlist in our U.S. Army. It could be (soon I pray) that political doves and hawks choose to re-establish conscription by military draft. Having personally felt this way for the last 25 years or so, I would contend that a non-discriminatory draft, with absolutely no exceptions, no exclusions, where everyone is eligible to be called to 24 months governmental and military service would greatly benefit this nation and its young adults! A program of such wisdom would save our country billions of dollars per year! Yet, I digress; the issue of a military draft for the United States of America is the subject of another book. The importance and relevance of the Oklahoma Army National Guard’s former highly skilled, counter-terrorism aviation unit, the 45th Avn Bn (SP OPS) (ABN) (later redesignated 1st Bn, 245th Avn Bn (SO OPS) (ABN) was almost totally ignored – WHY? Was this earlier, one-of-a-kind Army Guard unit deactivated in 1994 because of political reasons? Who, if anyone, might have gained from this decision? Would the 1st Bn, 245th Avn Bn (SO OPS) (ABN) be considered relevant and utilized in Iraq if it existed today? I say a resounding, “Hell yes!” This book isn’t about an assault helicopter battalion, and it isn’t about a traditional Army National Guard unit. It is about the decisions to organize, to train, and the evolution of a one-of-a-kind, covert, black, Special Operations Aviation unit within the reserve component, specifically the Oklahoma Army National Guard. The 45th Avn Bn (SP OPS) (ABN) and the 1st Bn, 245th Avn Bn (SO OPS) (ABN) was an outstanding aviation unit, which flew extremely small, light, highly maneuverable, almost silent helicopters in the dark of night, over short or long distances, avoided radar and enemy detection, and had unbelievable mission parameters that would still be difficult to meet today, “to deliver unique passengers and/or cargo to a designated target within plus or minus 50 feet and within plus or minus 30 seconds!” The aviators, men and women of this organization were rightfully called the “Lords of Darkness.”