Alan C. Mack

Right.

So I started in 89.

Really, I graduated in 90.

And in the summer of 90, I get to Savannah, Georgia, which is my first assignment.

and Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait.

And we're designated, we're part of the 18th Airborne Corps, and our headquarters was at Fort Bragg, and we were designated to go there, which was interesting because

As a new pilot, there's a readiness level progression that you have to go through.

And to make sure you're a competent co-pilot, you have training that usually takes four or five months as you get to the unit.

And they're like, all right, we're sending our helicopters away.

So we flew them up to Wilmington, North Carolina.

They sent them on an old ship over to Saudi Arabia.

In the meantime, we had nothing to fly.

So the 160th was right next door to us, and they were going to go by airplane, by C-5.

So they lent us a helicopter for me to get trained.

Oh my gosh.

Because then, you know, I spent 17 years with them later on.

Yeah.

Well, the nice thing is, once again, you're the junior guy in a two-person crew.

And then you've got actually crew chiefs in the back, three, maybe four of them.

They can tell you what to do.