Harris, John, CW5

PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE ARMY.

PO3 Harris w/Queen Mary from deck of USS Sterett - DEC 67

As far back as I can recall, I expressed a great interest in things involving military service. My mother worked as a civilian employee for both the Army and Navy during WWII. I had two Uncles who served in combat, one as a Naval Aviator and the other as a Surface Warfare Chief Petty Officer. I was intrigued by the multitude of adventures and travels they spoke of as a result of their service.

At the same time, I found myself reading more and more military history books. During these readings, I was particularly interested in both aviation and submarines. While still pretty young, I expressed my desire to join the military as soon as I was eligible.

WHETHER YOU WERE IN THE SERVICE FOR SEVERAL YEARS OR AS A CAREER, PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DIRECTION OR PATH YOU TOOK. WHERE DID YOU GO TO BASIC TRAINING AND WHAT UNITS, BASES OR SQUADRONS WERE YOU ASSIGNED TO? WHAT WAS YOUR REASON FOR LEAVING?
Over 58 years ago, I read an article on page 16 of the October 10, 1965, issue of Parade Magazine entitled: "Join the Navy - at 14!" It described the opportunities and adventure afforded to young men who would join the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps (USNSCC), which was organized

Cobra gunnery in freezing Korea

to closely parallel the U.S. Naval Reserve (USNR). (Note: I still have that original issue of Parade.)

Since I had just turned 14, I called a Navy Recruiter, and he directed me to the nearest USNSCC unit, located at NAS Los Alamitos. I immediately applied and found out that new "recruits" had to pass the same aptitude tests and physical exams as "regular" USNR recruits. Within a few months, I was scheduled to attend a compressed two-week USNR Boot Camp. There were three companies of "regular" USNR recruits and one company of USNSCC recruits during my cycle.

After Boot Camp, I was assigned to a surface warfare unit, the USS Los Angeles Division. After almost one year of weekend training on the USS Vammen DE-644 (Destroyer Escort), our unit leadership decided to think outside the box and asked the Department of the Navy for permission to offer different types of "hazardous" duty training to Cadets. Of course, that was if we obtained additional written consent from our parents.

The Navy granted permission, and each cadet was given a "dream sheet" on which they could select the additional training. My first choice was to enter submarine training. Before long, eight other cadets and I formed a submarine section, and we began weekend training on diesel submarines, along with Naval Reserve Sub Div 11-6.

For the next two years, we conducted regular weekend drill training on the USS Roncador SS-301. The sub was a vintage WW II Balao class Fleet Boat, permanently berthed at the Long Beach Naval Station. An active duty diesel sub from San Diego would come up to Long Beach several times per year and embark both the USNR & USNSCC trainees for underway, submerged, weekend training. The problem was these wonderful, exciting weekend adventures made going to regular high school classes rather boring, and I longed to join the "regular" USNR as soon as possible, which was understood to be 17 years of age with parental consent.

I was about to start my senior year of high school when I turned 17 and wanted to begin the process of switching from the Sea Cadet Corps to the Naval Reserve; however, I was informed that the USNR had recently decided not to enlist anyone under the age of 18, parental consent or not. I did not want to wait another whole year to join the "real" service, so my disappointment turned into determination. I sought out whatever reserve service could get me in the soonest. One of the other Sea Cadets, James Scott, also a PO3 with whom I had attended both USNR boot camp and sub training, expressed an identical desire to join any service as quickly as possible.

We first tried the United States Coast Guard Reserve, then the United States Air Force Reserve, but at that time, both had the same policies as the United States Naval Reserve; no enlistments until 18 years of age. As a last resort, we checked with the California Army National Guard, and they said yes. There was a hitch, however. Due to the draft and a very long waiting list, it would take up to a year before we would actually get to be part of the unit. Scott then came up with the idea of trying the United States Army Reserve. Our local unit, the 736th Transportation Company, told us yes, we could join at age 17. But again, there was a long waiting list. It was 1968, and large numbers of draft-age men were scrambling to try and get into the reserves. Here we go again, I thought, but then we were told there was one HUGE exception: If the applicant had not registered with their draft board (which, of course, we had not, since that was not required until one's 18th birthday), the applicant could be advanced to the top of the waiting list, over everyone else. This did come with one caveat; we could not enlist until we had started the final semester of our senior year in high school.

They got us in, and eventually, I attended Basic Training at Ft Ord and quickly discovered my earlier completion of USNR Boot Camp, combined with all the Sea Cadet experience, prepared me well for Army Boot Camp. I was appointed one of the squad leaders. This was followed immediately by my Light Vehicle Driver AIT at Ft Ord. Once my training was completed, I returned home only to find my truck unit did very little real driver training on drill weekends. I began a quest for something of greater substance when I read the 63rd Army Reserve Command had just activated a small aviation detachment and needed volunteers to staff it. I contacted a Chief Warrant Officer, Two (CW2) Verne Comstock, the first Army Helicopter Pilot I ever met, and came in for an interview. He was a decorated Vietnam Veteran who related many flying adventures. I was impressed, and he asked if I was interested in becoming a helicopter mechanic/crew chief. I said I was unsure, as I had never been in a helicopter. He promptly arranged my first flight in a helicopter of any kind. It was an ancient bubble-canopied OH-23C. (Note: The helicopter was quite similar to those featured in the television show MASH.) Nonetheless, it was a blast. I was immediately hooked on helicopters and said yes to becoming a mechanic.

But before I could even get to mechanic school, CW2 Comstock then asked if I would like to become a Warrant Officer pilot. He said that as an 18-year-old high school graduate with Basic Training behind me and a decent G.T. score, I could immediately take the Flight Aptitude Selection Test (FAST) & flight physical. If I passed both, I could then apply. I passed, and in less than a year after completing my helicopter mechanic course, I was accepted to Warrant Officer Flight Training (WOFT) at Ft. Wolters, Texas. The course was ten months of combined OCS-style training along with flight school.

Upon arrival, I discovered I was the only reservist in the class. I felt a little guilty knowing I would be returning to the Army Reserve while all of my active-duty classmates could expect immediate deployment to Vietnam upon graduation. So about two weeks before graduation, I asked DA if I could be deployed to Vietnam and the rest of my active duty classmates. In Washington, the Aviation Warrant Officer managers informed me that I would first have to graduate as a reservist, then return to my unit and apply for an individual mobilization and deployment. I graduated on January 25, 1972.

I returned to my unit, the 336th Aviation Company in Southern California, and submitted my packet. While it was working its way through the chain of command to the Department of the Army (DA), I was told as a 20-year-old Warrant Officer One (WO1) with zero pilot experience the fact that since U.S. troops were rapidly being withdrawn from combat, I had virtually no chance of being "recalled to Active Duty." Not one to give up, I was on the verge of filing a congressional action in an attempt to get to Vietnam when suddenly, in April, the North Vietnamese Army invaded South Vietnam with conventional forces in what is known as the "Easter Invasion."My packet made it to DA at this precise time, and with the sudden need to reinforce the remaining U.S. forces, my application was promptly approved. I was later advised that I was the last Army Reservist who was voluntarily mobilized & deployed for combat duty in Vietnam, effective on August 23, 1972.

When I arrived in Vietnam, I was assigned to the 18th Aviation Company in Can Tho, IV Corps, the Republic of Vietnam, as a UH-1 Huey Helicopter Aircraft Commander.

Our unit was conducting flight operations right up until the Cease Fire was declared at 08:00 hrs local on January 28, 1973. A few flight crews stayed behind for the next 59 days to fly the International Commission for Control and Supervision (ICCS), which was comprised of military personnel from Canada, Indonesia, Hungary, and Poland. Our aircraft were unarmed, and we were only allowed to carry one .38 caliber revolver per soldier.

Our unit had the sad distinction of losing both the last Army Helicopter pilot KIA in Vietnam, WO1 Anthony Dal Pozzo Jr., and the last Army Helicopter Crewmember KIA in Vietnam, SP5 James L. Scroggins, both of whom are listed on TWS. I have the honor of being the administrator for both their profiles.

Historian's Notes: The two hundred-mile flight Mr. Dal Pozzo was flying on January 28, 1973, originated in Can Tho Airfield on to Ca Mau, then to Bac Lieu and to Chuong Thien, and back to Can Tho Airfield. About ten minutes after taking off for Chuong Thien, Mr. Dal Pozzo followed a large canal north to Can Tho when his unarmed helicopter approached a large rice mill where a huge Viet Cong flag fluttered on a long pole. A single V.C. jumped out from the rice mill, took aim, and let loose at the Huey with his AK-47 automatic weapon. Mr. Dal Pozzo was struck in his helmet and slumped over, releasing the controls. The Aircraft Commander, CW2 Goodhope, grabbed the controls and regained altitude, saving everyone aboard. WO1 Dal Pozzo died of his wounds in Saigon the following day.

After Vietnam, I served at multiple posts and active duty pilot assignments, including Ft Lewis; as a 9th I.D. Unit of Choice representative with U.S. Army Recruiting Command; CDEC at Ft Ord, 8th Army in South Korea. I then completed the Huey Instructor Pilot Course and was assigned to D Troop, 1/10 Cav at Ft Carson. I then left active duty and returned to my former USAR unit, the 336th Aviation Co.

I subsequently became an Instructor Pilot in the Cobra as well and taught at the U.S. Army Aviation School, Ft Rucker, AL. I later joined the CA-ARNG and served as a full-time flight instructor. For two years, I was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica, and acted as an adviser/instructor pilot to the Jamaica Defense Force (JDF) Air Wing, which awarded me JDF pilot wings.

I returned to the CA-ARNG and served for several years in Air Cavalry Troops as both an Attack and an Aero Scout Pilot, followed by service as both a Brigade Aviation Safety Officer and as a Brigade Tactical Operations Officer. Eventually assigned to an Aircraft Maintenance Company, I acted as a section chief and twice served as the unit's Commanding Officer when no commissioned officers were available. I have also been attached as an Aviation Tactical Operations Officer to the Joint Staff of Special Operations Command Pacific (SOCPAC).

I was then attached to the NTC Aviation Company at Ft Irwin for two years as a Huey Instructor Pilot until we were forced to retire them in Dec. 2011. I served as the Senior G-5 Aviation Officer on the staff of the 91st Training Division at Ft Hunter Liggett, CA, until I was forced to retire at the age of 62 and two months in Oct. 2013.

IF YOU PARTICIPATED IN ANY MILITARY OPERATIONS, INCLUDING COMBAT, HUMANITARIAN AND PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS, PLEASE DESCRIBE THOSE WHICH MADE A LASTING IMPACT ON YOU AND, IF LIFE-CHANGING, IN WHAT WAY?

Boarding AC-130H for mission over Tora Bora - JAN 2002

Yes, as a Huey pilot in Vietnam and as a Cobra pilot in Mogadishu, Somalia. I also deployed with the 1st Cav Division in Bosnia, the 1st Armor Division in Kosovo, Special Operations Forces - JSOTF North/5th SF Group aka “Task Force Dagger” to Uzbekistan and Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF-1) and again with CJSOTF-West/5th SF Group, to Jordan for Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF-1). During OEF-1, I embarked on an AC-130H Gunship for a six-hour night mission against the Taliban over Afghanistan and again on an MH-60 DAPP gunship for a five-hour NVG mission into Afghanistan.

My Vietnam service was both my most demanding and most rewarding experience!

DID YOU ENCOUNTER ANY SITUATION DURING YOUR MILITARY SERVICE WHEN YOU BELIEVED THERE WAS A POSSIBILITY YOU MIGHT NOT SURVIVE? IF SO, PLEASE DESCRIBE WHAT HAPPENED AND WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME.

USS Charr SS-328

In 1968, while training one weekend with the USNR on the diesel submarine USS Charr, SS-328, a fire broke out while underway, killing all electrical power and bringing the sub to a standstill in complete darkness. Myself and another 16-year-old Sea Cadet, R.J. Hansen, were both in the after-torpedo room. Although novices, in our initial emergency procedures training, we had both paid close attention as to where the switches to turn on emergency lighting were located, which were wired directly to the sub's batteries. We managed to locate the switches and immediately returned some lighting to the compartment. We started reviewing the procedures to escape from a sunken sub via the after hatch when, fortunately, power was restored and resumed operations.

I had quite a tale to tell my fellow 11th graders when I returned to my high school on Monday!

OF ALL YOUR DUTY STATIONS OR ASSIGNMENTS, WHICH ONE DO YOU HAVE FONDEST MEMORIES OF AND WHY? WHICH WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE?
Fondest: I had many great ones, but my top ones include the 18th Aviation Company in Can Tho, South Vietnam - really became a pilot as a Huey Aircraft Commander; My 13-month assignment to the 128th Assault Helicopter Company at Camp LaGuardia, Uijongbu, South Korea. Flying both Hueys and Cobras

DMZ training flight for WO1 Paul Shega in front seat.

as a PIC along the DMZ, we had an extremely high esprit de corps and believed we could kick the North Korean's butts if we only got a chance; the 336th Assault Helicopter Company in the USAR; D & C Troops, 1/18th Air Cavalry in the CA-ARNG.

My least Favorite: D Troop, 1/10th Cavalry at Ft Carson. I arrived at the unit with the intention of staying in the Active Army for 20+ years; 92 days after I signed in, I was released from Active Duty at my request. The unit had horrible morale, as the Air Cavalry Troop Commander, Major R. H., was the worst C.O. I had ever experienced in my over 44 years of service. Although I had just completed the Huey Instructor Pilot (I.P.) course, the C.O. adamantly refused to let me perform such duty or to approve a transfer to any other unit, either on Ft Carson or any other post, where I could be utilized, even though my skill was needed. I had to travel to Washington, DC, at my own expense to plead for a release from active duty so that I could return to my former Army Reserve unit, where I could at least use my I.P. skills part-time. Therefore. The "Catch-22" was that I had to "end my active duty career" in order to salvage and utilize the new I.P. skill that the Active Army had just paid for!

FROM YOUR ENTIRE MILITARY SERVICE, DESCRIBE ANY MEMORIES YOU STILL REFLECT BACK ON TO THIS DAY.

In Huey at firebase Cai Cai - NOV 1972

Being selected to be a Huey Aircraft Commander (AC) in Vietnam. As an AC, I was entrusted with the responsibility to conduct combat operations and accomplish the assigned mission while at the same time safeguarding the lives of my crew and passengers. I was fortunate to have been able in late March 1973 to have performed the last downed aircraft crew recovery mission flown by Army Aviation during the Vietnam War. Armed with only our .38 caliber revolvers, we safely extracted the crew and passengers of a downed Air America Huey, just one week before all American troops left Vietnam.

WHAT PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF FROM YOUR MILITARY CAREER?

Advisor/Huey Instructor for Jamaican Defence Force 1989

Being appointed a WO1 and Army Aviator at the age of 20; being the last Army Reservist voluntarily mobilized and deployed for Combat Duty in Vietnam, and remaining in continuous Army service for 44 years, seven months, and 18 days, from age 17 to 62. (Might be a record for my generation.). Receiving a Bronze Star for Meritorious Service as a Huey Aircraft Commander in Vietnam; being awarded Jamaican Defence Force Pilot Wings after serving as an advisor and Huey Instructor Pilot in Jamaica for two years.

OF ALL THE MEDALS, AWARDS, FORMAL PRESENTATIONS AND QUALIFICATION BADGES YOU RECEIVED, OR OTHER MEMORABILIA, WHICH ONE IS THE MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU AND WHY?

Ready for AH-1F launch in Mogadishu, Somalia 1994

At the top are my Master Army Aviator wings, followed by the Army Achievement Medal. My Air Cavalry Troop.

awarded me the AAM for being the first Army Reserve Components Aviator to fly actual combat missions patrolling over the Mogadishu crash sites portrayed in "Blackhawk Down" in a Cobra while performing weekend IDT drill duty in Somalia.

WHICH INDIVIDUAL(S) FROM YOUR TIME IN THE MILITARY STAND OUT AS HAVING THE MOST POSITIVE IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?

Working on 1951 model OH-13E as PFC - July 1970

CW2 Verne Comstock was the first helicopter pilot I ever met, back in early 1970, when I was an 18-year-old Private E-2. He was such a positive, helpful and motivating role model who motivated me to excel and to become a Warrant Officer pilot just like him. Verne helped me learn to hover an OH-13E before I left for Flight School. When I had bad days in Warrant Officer Candidate School with fleeting thoughts about washing out, I would realize that I couldn't bear to disappoint "Mr. Comstock" after all he had done to help me get there. I would then get back on track!

Much later, In 1981, we were fortunate to work together commercially, flying helicopters for Catalina Airlines. And in a complete 'role-reversal, on 11 June 2014, I took Verne out in a helicopter at Long Beach airport and gave him some refresher training on how to hover directly above the same helipads over which he had instructed me some 44 years before!

LIST THE NAMES OF OLD FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH, AT WHICH LOCATIONS, AND RECOUNT WHAT YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT THEM. INDICATE THOSE YOU ARE ALREADY IN TOUCH WITH AND THOSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE CONTACT WITH.
James J. Scott - At age 14, we both joined the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets on the same day, then went through USNR Boot Camp at NAS Los Alamitos on Dec 65. We left the Sea Cadets at 17; then, both joined the Army Reserve together. We went through Army

Hansen, Harris, Scott at Harris's 1995 wedding

Basic Training together from Oct-Dec 69 at Ft Ord, and then our career paths split; he went ASA, and I went Army Aviation. Over 58 years later, we live rather close to each other and get together for lunch about every two weeks. Scott is also a member of the Army, Navy & USMC TWS.

R.J. Hansen - also met at age 14 in the Sea Cadets. Hansen, Scott & I all trained on diesel subs together, but when Scott & I went to the Army, R.J. instead stayed and enlisted in the USNR on his 18th birthday. He earned his Dolphins on an active-duty diesel sub and then eventually obtained a direct commission in the USNR. He retired as an LT CDR with over 32 years of service and is a Navy TWS member.

CAN YOU RECOUNT A PARTICULAR INCIDENT FROM YOUR SERVICE, WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN FUNNY AT THE TIME, BUT STILL MAKES YOU LAUGH?

Ft Irwin at age 17 as E-2 with my M-1 Garand - July 1969

Even though I served continuously in the Army for over 44 years, I never actually qualified on either the M-16 or M-4 rifle. For my first field training exercise at Ft Irwin in July 1969, while I was still 17, my assigned weapon was an M-1 Garand. (An adjacent photo was taken there.) When I then went through BCT at Ft Ord in the fall of 1969, we were in the last BCT Tng Bde cycle that used the M-14. Once I attended Flight School, my TOE or TDA assignment was always as an aviator. That has always listed my assigned weapon as a pistol; first, a .38 revolver, followed by an M-9, 9mm automatic, which remained my assigned weapon until my forced retirement in October 2013.

WHAT PROFESSION DID YOU FOLLOW AFTER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW? IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY SERVING, WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY?

Fire/Rescue Pilot for Kern County Fire Dept Hueys

I flew as a Commercial Helicopter Pilot for several years; I even owned and operated my own Bell Jet Ranger helicopter. I am also a retired Political/Military Officer for the U.S. Department of State. Until November 2021, I flew former Army Vietnam Veteran Huey helicopters for Fire Fighting/Search & Rescue work for the Kern County Fire Department. Until January 2020, I also flew restored AH-1F Cobra Gunships as an unpaid volunteer demonstration pilot for the Army Aviation Historical Foundation. I continue to fly as an FAA Certificated Helicopter Flight Instructor, providing annual proficiency training to individuals who own restored AH-1 Cobras and UH-1 Hueys. I last renewed my CFI in December 2023.

WHAT MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS ARE YOU A MEMBER OF, IF ANY? WHAT SPECIFIC BENEFITS DO YOU DERIVE FROM YOUR MEMBERSHIPS?

Brought last Ft Irwin Huey to VHPA booth at Los Alamitos AAF - Oct 2011

I am a Life Member of five military associations: the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA), the Army Aviation Association of America (AAAA), the Army Aviation Historical Foundation (AAHF), the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI), and the Daedalions. I am most active with the VHPA as it reflects the single most intense duty period and the highest shared comradeship of my military service. I joined VHPA in 1984 as a Founding Member before the 1st reunion and am Life Member 51.

IN WHAT WAYS HAS SERVING IN THE MILITARY INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU HAVE APPROACHED YOUR LIFE AND YOUR CAREER? WHAT DO YOU MISS MOST ABOUT YOUR TIME IN THE SERVICE?

Being awarded 1st LOM by BG Dan Nelan - 2009

I try to adhere to the Army values and live up to them each day. Values such as focusing on mission accomplishment and fostering teamwork and respect for junior soldiers, peers, and superiors alike, and, most importantly, standing for what is right. Hopefully, I will treat everyone as I would like to be treated. I really miss all my Army buddies!

BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO HAVE RECENTLY JOINED THE ARMY?

Instructor Pilot of still operational UH-1M Hog gunship at El Toro MCAS airshow - 1985

Make the most of your service; "Go for it," and do not be afraid to "push the envelope" whenever you can in order to follow the classic Army slogan of: "Be All You Can Be." Take care of your family and friends, and they will take care of you.

IN WHAT WAYS HAS TOGETHERWESERVED.COM HELPED YOU REMEMBER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND THE FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH.

Pilots BOQ lounge at Camp LaGuardia, ROK - 1975

I "recruited" my two best friends from my U.S. Naval Sea Cadet service, which started over 58 years ago. Both are full members of TWS. In addition, numerous other friends from my Army service are listed as well. I usually find another old friend on TWS every couple of months. Together We Served is also a great place to read about the history of soldiers from World War II, Korea, and more recent operations and to see the photos they have posted.

KC 2.7.24