"Cub Driver" wrote in message
...
On 19 Jun 2004 03:39:49 GMT, (BUFDRVR) wrote:

I'm puzzled. Granted, I'm relatively "new" in the big scheme of things,
but I
can recall squadron, group and yes wing commanders leading flights in
nearly
every conflict since the birth of an independant Air Force.

The question was asked by a guy in army aviation. Does the army have
wing commanders?

I think I understand what he's after, besides getting on active duty.
(Good for him!) He wants to fly too, perhaps. What for a career path
does an army (commissioned) officer have in aviation? Forty years ago
all helicopter pilots were WOs, but I believe that's no longer true.
Indeed, I seem to recall a father-son team later in the Vietnam war,
where dad was an officer and son was a WO.

I don't believe the Army has ever had an exclusively WO flying force;
commissioned officers did indeed fly helos forty years ago. But the majority
of the pilot force has been, and continues to be, provided by the WO side of
the house. And I believe your recollection is a bit off--the father-son team
you refer to was probably the Novosel's, where the father had indeed at one
time been a commissioned officer (former B-29 pilot) who later took a
warrant to fly helos for the Army; he and his son were both WO's, both
flying Dustoff UH-1H's in Vietnam in the same unit, IIRC. As Ron noted
earlier, the senior Novosel was awarded the MoH for action during that
conflict. He died eight or ten years ago, again IIRC.

Brooks



all the best -- Dan Ford
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