CHAPTER 1
Jack Roberts arrived at McChord Air Force Base, outside Seattle,Washington in the late evening of Friday, 19 Jan. It was a lotcolder than he was used to, only about 50 degrees, having justcome from southern Texas. It was starting to drizzle and he hustled toget into the passenger terminal from the Air Force bus that broughthim from SeaTac Airport. He was only wearing his summer khaki1505s. Coming from Texas and going to Vietnam, he saw no reasonto wear a warmer uniform. Once inside the terminal, he found a placewhere he could sit down, lay back, rest, and wait for his morningflight, Seaboard World Airways flight U-237. It was very crowded inthe passenger terminal with hundreds of military personnel, probablyall waiting for overseas flights. He assumed that most all were going toVietnam, as they were all very quiet and reserved. After a few minuteshe started to get nervous of what the days and months ahead wouldbe like. His thoughts went back to how the events of the past few dayscame about to putting him on his way to Vietnam. These thoughtsgave him some comic relief from the nervousness as he chuckled tohimself about the way events were handled back in Texas. His headhas been one of those that rolled and he was glad of it. It was the onlyway out of Texas and away from a colonel known as Psycho.
Jack had trained as a pilot before he had joined the Air Force.His uncle, a B-24 pilot during World War II, taught him how to flyhis twin-engine plane on his ranch in Nebraska. After joining the AirForce he was accepted in the pilot training program. He was threeweeks from graduation when on a training flight with his instructorpilot they were taxiing at Randolph AFB in Texas with the canopyof their T-38 in the up position when a mass of bees got into thecockpit. Jack got one of them under his visor and the bee stung himon the right eye. After many examinations by the medical staffs andflight surgeons, it was deemed that permanent damage occurred. Jack'svision in his right eye did not meet the minimums to continue pilottraining. Since Jack was in the top 5% of his pilot training class, he, hisInstructor Pilot and Commander lobbied that he be able to continue.They were denied, so they then lobbied for Jack to continue on intonavigation training. Jack was in the top 3% of his class in navigation.This was accepted and Jack went on to navigation training andgraduated. His vision was corrected with prescription glasses and whileflying he had a prescription visor that he wore. When he was flying,most aircraft commanders would let him ride right seat, co-pilot, andnavigate at the same time, they soon discovered he was tops in both.
Earlier that week on Wednesday the 17th, he was on duty at hisground duty station as the senior controller at the control tower inMcConnolly Air Force Base in Texas. His operations officer was aColonel Clinton, a person that he and those he worked with calledPsycho, not Col Psycho but just plain Psycho. He was one of themost incompetent adults Jack had ever met. Jack often wonderedhow this person got to be a full Colonel in the Air Force. It was amystery to Jack and to all who met Psycho. Jack not being a militarycareer minded person still did not comprehend the mindset of a lifer,career person.
Psycho was so self occupied in advancing himself and in tearingdown his peers, it was a standard joke that he was a paranoid. Atno time should one confront him or offer a differing opinion. Asdisagreeing with Psycho was an instant threat to one's military career.
Psycho was in the habit of listing the control tower OperationalProcedures, OPs, for each day on a `Read and Sign' sheet. Thecontrollers had to read and sign the sheet each day before they wenton duty. This was for Psycho's own protection in case anythinghappened. He could then point his stubby little finger at someone elseand say, `He knew the rules and did not follow them.' Jack had heardof many a career ruined by Psycho in his own blind and bewilderedclimb through a military career.
That morning's 'Read and Sign' sheet however had an error init that would change the lives of all involved. It seems that Psycho'sclerk, Ronnie, in making up the control tower operational procedureslists, put the DON'Ts in the DO column and the DOs in theDON'T column. This was pretty normal because Ronnie, known asRonnie-the-Rummy, spent most of his off duty time at the NCOClub drowning his sorrows and the memories of three ex-wives. Inthe drowning of his sorrows, he was also making many mistakes onthe job that Jack and the other controllers would cover up to protectRonnie. But this day Jack decided to stop covering and see what wouldhappen. If it were a quiet day nothing would happen. Jack read themout loud and said to his co-controllers, "I wonder if Psycho realizesthat his boy Ronnie-the-Rummy fucked up the OPs list again."
Jimmy, a junior controller, said, "I read the OPs list andimmediately saw Ronnie's screw up but signed anyway." Both Dannyand Joe, the other controllers on duty with Jack agreed that they alsosaw the mistake but went ahead and signed, as they knew what thecorrect procedures were anyway.
Jack replied with a sly smile, "I'm ready to get out of Texas andaway from Psycho and I'll do almost anything legal to do it."
"How are you going to go about that?" asked Jimmy.
Jack answered, "If anything big comes in, I am going to follow theOPs to the letter and not vary one bit. The only thing we can ask forwas some dignitary to come in and be ignored."
At about 0945 they got an inbound notification from the HoustonARTCC of a flight from Andrews Air Force Base, WashingtonDC. After receiving the notification, Jack checked the weather. Itwas unusually hot for southern Texas in January, sunny, 84 degrees,winds from the west at 6 mph, and humidity at a high 86 percent. Itpromised to become more extreme as the day continued. The forecastwas for a high of 92 degrees by mid afternoon. It was going to be avery uncomfortable day if you were outside for any amount of timeespecially if you were just coming in from Washington DC where itwas snowing and 15 degrees. The notification also stated that a SenatorHernandez from southern Texas was aboard, probably for a visit to hisconstituents. The ETA was 1315 and the aircraft call sign was Lima-62.Usually, the OPs list gave in the DOs column those instructions ofwhom all to call from the Protocol Office, the Operations Office, anddown to the Transit Alert Crew to inform them of a high rankinggovernment official's arrival. That day however, there were no suchinstructions in the DOs column. Senator Hernandez would not havean air-conditioned staff car waiting for him. He wouldn't even have anopen-air jeep, he would be walking. Jack gave a sly grin to the othersin the tower.
On a normal aircraft landing the Transient Alert Crew is notifiedso they can go out and lead the aircraft into the transient aircraftparking area and prepare to refuel the aircraft. This is all thathappened to Lima-62, the senator's aircraft. There was no parking inthe VIP area; there were no high-ranking officers to greet him, or anair-conditioned staff car for him. He exited the aircraft with his aidsand looked around wondering why no one was there to meet him. Jackand his crew of controllers watched the senator with binoculars to seewhat was happening. After about five minutes of standing and waiting,it was obvious that the senator was becoming very hot and upset thatthe usual protocol procedures were not being followed. He was usedto having his ass kissed by Psycho when he landed at McConnollyAFB. Jack knew from past experience that Senator Hernandez didn'tlike the military and abhorred any lack of protocol or luxury becauseof a military SNAFU. This would be just one more of a long lineof incidents where heads would roll and careers would be on thechopping block.
Senator Hernandez had worked himself into a frenzy on theTransient Alert crew then stormed into the Operations and Protocolbuilding. Jack seeing this said to the others in the tower, "Hold on toyour asses because Psycho is about to get nailed to the wall by onehighly pissed off and sweaty senator. Then Psycho's shit is gonna tohit the fan and we're standing behind it. Everybody say good-bye toTexas and hello to Vietnam."
Jack then took the binoculars and looked down to Psycho's officeand he could see him looking out his window up at the tower andtalking on the phone at the same time. Psycho really looked pissed off.His fat little baldhead was red as a beet and looked as if it was aboutto explode. He then slammed down the phone and left the window.Jack immediately knew Psycho was on his way to the tower.
Jack said to the others in the tower, "Psycho just got called by theProtocol Office and knows that Senator Hernandez is red hot andpissed. I saw him looking up here from his office window and give usa dirty look. Next stop for him, up here, look around and get the placeshaped up and look sharp when he gets here. Don't say anything tohim unless personally asked, this is my doing and I'll handle it."
The tower was over 100 feet tall and had a single stairway thatconsisted of 22 flights of 8 steps each. It was manned around the clockevery day of the year. There was always someone on duty. The towerhad a heavy-duty solid metal security door at the bottom. A personwanting entry needed to use the security phone by the door and call upto the duty controllers with a password to gain entrance. The door hadno lock or doorknob and couldn't be opened from the outside.
The controllers looked out and down from an open window andcould see that Psycho was at the security door, and he was kicking ittrying to get it open. He then called up on the security phone and Jackturned on the speaker so all could hear the conversation and answeredthe phone in a very military manner saying, "McConnolly Tower,please state the password for access, sir."
Psycho was so mad that he could not remember the password andstarted yelling into the phone, "LOOK, YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH,OPEN THIS GODDAMN DOOR IMMEDIATELY OR I'LLHAVE YOU IN CHAINS."
Jack hung up the phone ending the call as according to militaryregulations, all non-military mission conversations are prohibited andJack felt this was abuse and not productive to the military mission.After he hung up he jokingly said to all in the tower, "No doubt inmy military mind that Psycho is pissed off about Senator Hernandezbeing snubbed because of Ronnie-the-Rummy's screw up."
Psycho knew the tower access rules and also knew Jack was correctin disallowing access to him. So he went back into the Operationsand Protocol building to get the password from Ronnie. At thistime Ronnie, your typical lifer Staff Sergeant, 18 years in service,short, overweight, alcoholic, balding, and three times divorced; knewsomeone had screwed up big time, but he didn't realize that it washimself. He knew Psycho was out for blood and urged him on withencouragement by saying, "Don't let those college punks up there inthe tower run this man's Air Force. It's us, the career men that run thisplace. Chop heads, kick ass, and don't take any names." This really gotPsycho's blood pumping and he WAS going to chop heads, he WASgoing to kick ass, and he WAS NOT going to take any names. Deepinside, Psycho's extreme gut churned and he knew his career was over,but he also knew he was going to be true to his own nature and takeeverybody he could down with him.
In a few minutes he was back at the door and calling again on thesecurity phone, this time he had the password. The senior officer inthe tower was alerted and came from his office just below the towerdeck to see what was happening. His name was Col Hastings and waswithin a few months of retiring with 38 years active duty. Everyonereferred to him as Pappy, as he was a very easy going 56 year old andjust wanted to get out and enjoy retirement.
Jack said to Col Hastings, "We all read, signed, and followed theOPs list to the letter. I hung up on him as he was abusive and did nothave the password. Nobody but nobody gains entrance to the towerwithout the password; this is in the tower standard operation rules."
Col Hastings replied, "True, correct, and I agree with you 100%,but you realize that Col Clinton will probably go way over the boundsof sanity and people will suffer. You've really pissed him off, eventhough you are 100% correct in every action you've taken. This isgoing to be good. I may get my early release."
"We're already suffering and anything would be a move for thebetter. Something has to give; he's driving everybody crazy with hisDOs and DON'Ts. This is no way to run an Air Force. I'm ready totake whatever assignment he can come up with," was Jack's reply.
"Oh, you can bet he has something in mind for all of us already,but for me, its retirement. I've been in this man's Air Force too longalready. I hear golf courses calling me all the time."
They all knew how many flights of stairs Psycho had to climb, andthat he was also about 100 pounds overweight. They even thoughtPsycho would have a heart attack or stroke trying to get to the top.Eventually he made it up to the main tower deck and came throughthe door and slammed it behind him. The first thing he did was banghis fist on the main radio console and yell, "WHAT THE FUCK ISGOING ON HERE?"
In hitting the radio console, he broke some of the crystals puttingthe radio out of service. This got the others attention, but it reallypissed off Jack as it was an uncalled for action, but he knew he hadbetter keep his cool as Psycho was going to attempt to provoke himinto a confrontation.
No one answered him and he then yelled, "WHO THE FUCK ISTHE SENIOR CONTROLLER ON DUTY?"
Jack stood at attention and replied, "Colonel Clinton sir, I am thesenior controller responsible for the current shift, SIR," emphasizingthe second sir.
Psycho then yelled, "DO YOU REALIZE THAT ONESENATOR HERNANDEZ JUST LANDED AND NO ONE INTHE PROTOCOL OFFICE NOR MYSELF WAS NOTIFIED?"
Jack replied, "Yes sir, I am aware of that, SIR," again emphasizingthe second sir, which now he could tell was getting Psycho's ire up.
Psycho then looked as if he had been struck by lightning byJack's honesty. He looked at Col Hastings then at each of the othercontrollers. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was expectingexcuses and blame passing, but got the truth. He was so mad that avein on his forehead bulged out about half an inch and looked as if itwas about to burst.
He continued to yell, "WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOUFOLLOW THE OPS? AND DON'T GIVE ME THATEMPHASIZED SIR SHIT."
Jack's simple but calm reply was, "SIR, I did read, sign, and followthe OPs instructions to the letter, SIR," being sure to emphasize bothsirs.
Psycho then again yelled very disgustingly, "BULLSHIT, IWROTE THEM UP THIS MORNING AND I KNOW WHATTHEY SAY, GIVE ME YOUR COPY AND I WILL READ THEMTO YOU, YOU INSOLENT PUNK."
Jack remained at attention, glanced at Pappy who gave him a keepcool sign. Jack kept his cool.
Psycho then grabbed the tower copy of the OPs and startedreading. Then he said in a very meek voice, "But these are wrong,Ronnie got the columns mixed."
He stood motionless for a minute his blood pressure buildingand everyone in the tower again thought the big blood vessel in hisforehead was going to explode. Danny, the newest member of thecontroller team, and still timid towards senior officers, moved backout of the way as if not to get any on himself when Psycho's foreheadblood vessel did explode.
Psycho then more calmly but still yelling addressed Jack, "THESEORDERS ARE WRONG, YOU'RE A COLLEGE GRADUATE,YOU SHOULD HAVE INTERPOLATED THEM AND MADETHE CORRECT REVISIONS."
Jack said in a very military manner, "Sir, with all due respectCol Clinton SIR, I don't get paid to interpolate and change a seniorofficer's orders. I get paid to follow orders that senior officers give me,SIR."
This struck Pappy as funny, and he replied with kind of a loudlaughing grunt, "EEH."
Psycho turned to him and yelled, "PAPPY, YOUSON-OF-A-BITCH, YOU'RE FIRED, YOU WILL LEAVEIMMEDIATELY AND PREPARE YOUR RETIREMENT PAPERS.DO YOU HEAR AND UNDERSTAND ME?"
Pappy got up shook Jack's hand and said, "Don't worry about me,he can't fire me, I retire this spring anyway, I'll just skate till then. Takecare of yourself wherever you end up, although I'm sure he will see toit that you go to Vietnam." He did not acknowledge Col Clinton butwent straight to the door and left the control tower.
Psycho then yelled again at Jack, "YOU HAVE JUST RUINEDMY CAREER, YOU DISRESPECTFUL PIECE OF SHIT,AND I'LL SEE YOU GET ASSIGNED TO THE DEEPESTDARKEST SHIT HOLE IN VIETNAM AS PAPPY SUGGESTS.HOW DOES THAT GRAB YOU, YOU BACK STABBINGSON-OF-A-BITCH?"
