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Another BTW:

I learned yesterday from a friend that the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, General Casey is the son of the 1st Cav General who was killed in a helicopter crash in Vietnam. Damn, I'm feelin' old.

General Patton was also an Army Aviator. I don't know when he went through flight school but maybe others will come along with some of the stories while he was at Ft. Wolters and Ft. Rucker. I understand there are many. During Vietnam the Army had a program that allowed a number of field commanders to attend what was termed "The Gentleman's Course." I believe Patton went through as a Colonel. The stipulation was that they could fly in Nam but their co-pilot had to be an Instructor Pilot who was instrument rated. After a number of Generals were killed, including General Casey, the Army ended the program.

In 71 and 72 I was running the Instrument Training Program for the Air Cav Squadron. It was designed to upgrade all of those Army Aviators who had Tactical Instrument ratings to Standard ratings. General Patton got his flight time on a regular basis and he had his own pilot who always flew with him. One day I got a call from the CO who said the regular pilot was on leave and Patton wanted to go get his flight time which would include some Hood time. When he got to Godman Field we talked about where he would like to go and when he needed to be back. We decided to fly the Huey down to Bowling Green, KY, have a snack, and come on back. I had the feeling that his regular pilot usually hovered the aircraft, because when I asked him if he would like to hover it out, he, of course, said yes. "Rusty" is an understatement, but we made it off the ground and on our way south. Putting the Hood on was a whole 'nother experience, but he gave it his best shot. I never saw him smoke cigarettes but did see him chew on a cigar once in a while. After he had had enough of the instrument training, he bummed a smoke from the Crew Chief. I remember getting the impression that he did it just so the young Specialist would have something else to write home about. Patton loved the troops and was a natural leader.