We become LL, uhhhh, Cool J
PT IV
P-Ro woke me up the next morning. He had already gone off with the OC to collect our gear and we were getting together to inventory it all. We were also expecting a visit from our company commander. We found a spot to check our stuff and eat some breakfast. It didn’t take long for our commander to show up. We were interrogated for a while and asked to make sworn statements. Our OC was questioned, too. He then went off to measure how short the drop had been. We found out later that there is always a safety ring of 200 meters around a drop zone. You’re supposed to stay outside of this ring just in case something like this happens. Our site was 80+ meters out side this zone. We were nearly 300 meters away from the edge of the drop zone. That put us over 300 meters from the center.
We ended up being locked down at this battalion’s TOC for nearly three days. Our commander wanted us to be easily found anytime someone wanted to question us. And we were questioned many times. We talked to many people, usually followed by yet another person senior to them. Four soldiers nearly crushed by a supply drop that weighed over 2000 pounds is a big deal and they looked to find ways to prevent something like this from happening again, and they wanted to pin it on someone. Now, I don’t know who’s fault it really was. We didn’t know the drop zone was there. It was on the map in the TOC, but we never saw that map. The S2 knew the zone was there and he had seen the map, but never mentioned it to us. I never spoke with anyone from the aircrew or saw any of their statements (if they were ever questioned at all). Could the pilot have turned on the green light too soon? Maybe. Could the loadmaster have pushed the pallets out early? Maybe. I never knew for sure who was blamed, but I heard years later that the OC was blamed. Of all the people to find fault with, he was the last person to blame. I mean, he didn’t know the drop zone was there either. If he had, I doubt that he would have slept there. He had no say in our choice of site. He’s supposed to observe, let us make our own mistakes, and help us learn from them. Now, of course, if we are doing something dangerous, he has to step into the controller role, but he was as unaware of the drop zone as we were. To me, it seems to be a collection of small mistakes and circumstances that led up to this. Preventable? Maybe. But sometimes, you just don’t think to say, “Um, are we going to be anywhere near a drop zone? I don’t mean on one, or even in the safety ring, but maybe about 100 meters away from the safety ring? I mean, I just like to be sure.” We generally had more important questions to ask in a tactical setting – but now, it’s on my list.
During those days, we spent our time, gainfully employed, as part of the perimeter security of the TOC. We were able to work our own schedule (two working/two resting) but we were responsible for a sector of security. During this time, our OC was able to rotate back and get a shower and restock his supplies. Frydaddy asked him to buy some Copenhagen while he was there. Frydaddy had been in a state of ecstasy when we got to Ft Polk because he was able to buy Copenhagen in the cardboard containers. In Hawaii, you can only buy it in plastic containers and apparently, that affects the taste or something – I have no idea. Well, Frydaddy kept the log of dip he had bought in his butt pack along with a few other items he thought he’d need regularly. Well, one of the other items he kept there was his DEET. DEET is an insect repellent that has, apparently, been found to contain some ingredients that are carcinogens. Well, the tube of DEET leaked all over his log and had seeped through the cardboard. Frydaddy tried to salvage what he could, but five minutes after he put in his first dip, his lip went numb and he had to take it out. He told me, “Chipper, I can’t feel my lip. I don’t think that’s good. I’m gonna have to throw this whole damn log away.” The OC took his money and promised to bring some back for him.
We were able to gain respect for military intelligence soldiers by doing the very difficult job of staying up all night and keeping watch. Apparently most infantrymen doubt that MI can do something this hard. The LT in charge of security would come by every night with the soldiers selected to pull guard that night and show them our position and introduce us. He really didn’t have a clue who we were or what we did other than we had a funky antenna. He actually introduced once by saying, “These guys are MI. They’re LL…. Uhhh Cool J? I don’t know, but they stay awake all night and you can count on them.” The soldiers took this in and moved on. I had trouble not laughing before they left.
We couldn’t wait to get out of that area. After three days, we received word that the TOC would be jumping forward again. We were able to get permission to leave the TOC’s area after we moved with them. We couldn’t wait.