Alan C. Mack

They're hitting age 65 and they can't by law fly. Well, in the army, Chinook pilots, a Chinook transition is considered a reward, right? So remember the Vietnam War had been going on, guys were flying Hueys, doing the assault work. If you survived it and got back and then they wanted to send you back, the reward was you could transition to a Chinook, right?

They're hitting age 65 and they can't by law fly. Well, in the army, Chinook pilots, a Chinook transition is considered a reward, right? So remember the Vietnam War had been going on, guys were flying Hueys, doing the assault work. If you survived it and got back and then they wanted to send you back, the reward was you could transition to a Chinook, right?

So now you're not necessarily doing assault work. You're still flying around Vietnam, you know, carrying artillery and supplies and all that kind of stuff, but you're not really doing assault work. And it's an advanced aircraft. So it's considered a reward. So if you think of like that Vietnam timeframe, these guys on their second tour.

So now you're not necessarily doing assault work. You're still flying around Vietnam, you know, carrying artillery and supplies and all that kind of stuff, but you're not really doing assault work. And it's an advanced aircraft. So it's considered a reward. So if you think of like that Vietnam timeframe, these guys on their second tour.

So now you're not necessarily doing assault work. You're still flying around Vietnam, you know, carrying artillery and supplies and all that kind of stuff, but you're not really doing assault work. And it's an advanced aircraft. So it's considered a reward. So if you think of like that Vietnam timeframe, these guys on their second tour.

So about the time I'm in flight school, these guys are all reaching 60, 65 years old, and they're all retiring in droves, right? So it's very senior heavy rank. And the Army realized they had to generate from the bottom up. So they're going to take W1s, right? And once again, you go W01, CW2, CW3, CW4, and now CW5, which is a relatively new rank. But at the time, it was CW4 was the senior guys.

So about the time I'm in flight school, these guys are all reaching 60, 65 years old, and they're all retiring in droves, right? So it's very senior heavy rank. And the Army realized they had to generate from the bottom up. So they're going to take W1s, right? And once again, you go W01, CW2, CW3, CW4, and now CW5, which is a relatively new rank. But at the time, it was CW4 was the senior guys.

So about the time I'm in flight school, these guys are all reaching 60, 65 years old, and they're all retiring in droves, right? So it's very senior heavy rank. And the Army realized they had to generate from the bottom up. So they're going to take W1s, right? And once again, you go W01, CW2, CW3, CW4, and now CW5, which is a relatively new rank. But at the time, it was CW4 was the senior guys.

So how are you going to replace those guys? The Army's plan was to take W-1s out of flight school and inject them in while you still had senior people to mentor them. But who do you take, right? I mean, it's supposed to be an advanced aircraft, supposed to be a reward. So you want the cream of the crop, if you will.

So how are you going to replace those guys? The Army's plan was to take W-1s out of flight school and inject them in while you still had senior people to mentor them. But who do you take, right? I mean, it's supposed to be an advanced aircraft, supposed to be a reward. So you want the cream of the crop, if you will.

So how are you going to replace those guys? The Army's plan was to take W-1s out of flight school and inject them in while you still had senior people to mentor them. But who do you take, right? I mean, it's supposed to be an advanced aircraft, supposed to be a reward. So you want the cream of the crop, if you will.

And the only way to do that, the metric that they have is grade point average, right? So, you know, I happen to be- Like high school grade point? No, no, flight school. Okay. Flight school grade point average. So you get graded on your academics, your participation, your flying. Each flight gets a grade slip, you know, with a numerical grade. And they end up with this grade point average.

And the only way to do that, the metric that they have is grade point average, right? So, you know, I happen to be- Like high school grade point? No, no, flight school. Okay. Flight school grade point average. So you get graded on your academics, your participation, your flying. Each flight gets a grade slip, you know, with a numerical grade. And they end up with this grade point average.

And the only way to do that, the metric that they have is grade point average, right? So, you know, I happen to be- Like high school grade point? No, no, flight school. Okay. Flight school grade point average. So you get graded on your academics, your participation, your flying. Each flight gets a grade slip, you know, with a numerical grade. And they end up with this grade point average.

There was a rumor, and it was sort of true, it depended on the class, was that if you were in the top five classes of the class, right? There's 72 of us. But if you're in the top five, when it got to aircraft assignments, you could pick what you wanted, right? So if you wanted to pick what you wanted, you wanted to be in the top five guys. So there were a bunch of us that were,

There was a rumor, and it was sort of true, it depended on the class, was that if you were in the top five classes of the class, right? There's 72 of us. But if you're in the top five, when it got to aircraft assignments, you could pick what you wanted, right? So if you wanted to pick what you wanted, you wanted to be in the top five guys. So there were a bunch of us that were,

There was a rumor, and it was sort of true, it depended on the class, was that if you were in the top five classes of the class, right? There's 72 of us. But if you're in the top five, when it got to aircraft assignments, you could pick what you wanted, right? So if you wanted to pick what you wanted, you wanted to be in the top five guys. So there were a bunch of us that were,

you know, there were probably 10 of us that were all within, you know, hundreds of a point, you know, 98.2, 98.3, you know, that kind of thing. And we're competing, right? And every time you get your exams back, you're like, oh man, that guy, he got like 0.1 above me and he just moved up. And so it turned out that I was number one in the class.

you know, there were probably 10 of us that were all within, you know, hundreds of a point, you know, 98.2, 98.3, you know, that kind of thing. And we're competing, right? And every time you get your exams back, you're like, oh man, that guy, he got like 0.1 above me and he just moved up. And so it turned out that I was number one in the class.

you know, there were probably 10 of us that were all within, you know, hundreds of a point, you know, 98.2, 98.3, you know, that kind of thing. And we're competing, right? And every time you get your exams back, you're like, oh man, that guy, he got like 0.1 above me and he just moved up. And so it turned out that I was number one in the class.