3 buah nuri ditugaskan untuk membuat 'troop/freight lift' dari Kroh ke beberapa LP. Saya, 'callsign' Alpha, dilantik sebagai 'flight leader'; callsign dua lagi pesawat ialah Bravo dan Charlie. Kapten nuri Bravo dan Charlie adalah 'D Cat Captain'. Mereka hanya boleh membawa freight sahaja. Penerbangan ke LP memerlukan escort sebuah GS.
Bagi menjimatkan masa dan keselamatan, pengangkutan freight dilakukan mengguna kaedah 'underslung'. LP pertama ialah di dalam kawasan Thailand. Beberapa sortie ke LP tiada menghadapi sebarang insiden.
Semasa trup sedang menaiki nuri di Kroh, kapten nuri Charlie, dalam penerbangan balik ke Kroh dari LP, telah menghubungi saya memberitahu bahawa nuri Bravo telah ditembak oleh PK semasa hovering. Selepas release load, kapten nuri tersebut terus 'took off'. Saya telah mengarahkan Charlie mengiringi Bravo dan Bravo mendarat di 'landing strip (LS)' di Banchatharat (lebihkurang begitulah ejaannya). GS juga diarah berlegar di ruang udara LS sementara menunggu ketibaan saya. Tujuan saya ialah untuk memastikan pesawat tersebut selamat diterbang.
Setiba di LS, trups dideploy untuk memberi perlindungankeselamatan. Bravo diarah untuk 'shutdown' dan saya mengarahkan krew mengambilalih nuri saya tanpa mematikan enjin. Saya sendiri telah memeriksa keseluruh nuri Bravo. Selain fuselage berlubang-lubang, satu generator tidak berfungsi terkena tembakan. Seterusnya, saya telah mengarahkan trups menaiki semula nuri Alpha dan mengarah kapten Bravo membawa balik trups ke Kroh. Saya pula mengambilalih nuri Bravo dan mengarahkan kapten Charlie mengekori saya dan diescort oleh GS. Pesanan saya kepada kapten Charlie ialah untuk 'pick-up' saya dan krew sekiranya saya terpaksa membuat pendaratan kecemasan.
Syukur Alhamdulillah, saya selamat mendarat di Kroh. Ketua Skuaderon di Butterworth bertanyakan tindakan saya selanjutnya, samaada saya memerlukan recovery team. Saya memaklum kepada beliau yang saya akan terbang balik ke pengkalanTUDM Butterworth.
Trups di LP memberitahu apa yang berlaku semasa Bravo 'hovering' di LP. Mereka ternampak 'varey light' di udara. Tiba-tiba, PK telah menembak Bravo dari semua arah. PK telah mengelilingi LP dan hanya menunggu waktu untuk menembak nuri.
Cukuplah disini hujah-hujah saya yang terus menentang membawa Chin Peng kembali ke Malaysia.
DEDICATED TO ALL THE AIRCREW OF NO 3 SQUADRON, RMAF BUTTERWOTH, DURING MY TOUR THERE. SEMOGA ALLAH MENCUCURI RAHMAT KEPADA ANDA SEMUA.
Squad,
BalasPadamWhy weren't all Nuris equipped with guns (GPMG) when on ground support missions/tasks?
I saw some were equipped with the GPMGs.
There's no GPMG in RMAF inventory then. We had to rely on the gunship with its 20mm canon and acommando with his personal M16. That's why we were simply a target impossible to miss!
BalasPadamIt was a pleasant surprise for me to find that my good friend Maj Nor has established his own blogspot. Pleasant? Yes as it contains varied subjects of parochial and general interest. Surprise? Yes, because just a few months ago Maj Nor's sole knowledge and interest regarding internet was ebay where he used to scout for golf paraphernalia offered by those pulvarised by the current economic downturn. How he, within such short duration of time, metamorphosed from a mere ebay enthusiast into a full- pledged-blogger is way beyond me. It's not only a surprise but a stunning development. I salute his tenacity and learning capacity. Cogratulation!
BalasPadamThere were times when flashes of desire crossed my mind to establish my own blogspot; nothing serious, nothing exotic but just me reminiscing the lighter side of life that I have gone through. However my time is absolutely occupied by morning golf with Maj Nor and other retirees, afternoon music practices, evening gardening and night-time TV and dot dot dot. How I wish that a day spans hundred hours instead of 24.
Though our golfing gang members are at the prime of their ages, they are still at the peak of their mental and physical being. One day while discussing our monthly golf outing one wise guy suggested that we make a trip to Hatyai. Maj Nor instantly reminded him of the current ravages of H1N1 flu on cross border travellers.
"That the very reason why he suggests Hatyai" retorted another
"How come?"
"His one naughty one..laaa"
Maj Nor, though not a medical doctor, is our team medical advisor. When he was on the losing streak he advised us to go for full medical checkup saying that he has done his and came out with a clean bill of health. Assuming that this was one of his many health programmes for our well being, we went to the hospital in droves. Two weeks later when the results came out every single one of us were put on Lovastatin due to high cholesterol count. The side effect took a high toll on our game thus giving Maj Nor easy victory every morning.
Maj Nor, don't take anything to heart. This is my way of spinning fiction into probable reality in my slumberland.
Bye, see you tomorrow!
Thank you Abang Tad. No matter what, you've to play hc 15 whenever we go for our outing. Otherwise, we've no chance at all to have free makan.
BalasPadamSaya berasa pelik dengan banyaknya trajedi2 semasa pihak keselamatan membuat operasi di Gubir pada tahun 70'an kenapa terlalu rapuh keadaan kawalan keselamatan tentera disana sehinggakan pihak pengganas2 Komunis begitu sewenang2 bermaharajalela dikawasan itu.Begitu kerap & betapa mudahnya helikopter tentera ditembak setiap kali terbang dikawasan itu.
BalasPadamMengapa tak dibersihkan dahulu kawasan laluan helikopter tadi dengan mengerahkan troop kekawasan tersebut atau cari sahaja laluan alternatif lain bagi mengelakkan daripada ditembak.
Tindakan melalui atau berada dikawasan Gubir sama seperti membunuh diri, lagipun apalah pentingnya Gubir pada negara kerana
pihak sempadannya adalah Thailand.
Pihak Thailand tak kisah tentang apa pentingnya logistik Gubir....
Walaubagaimanapun kami pihak awam perlulah diberi penjelasan yang sepatutnya, kerana kami masih ada akal untuk berfikir secara kami....
Nota Fikir,
BalasPadamSaya pun tak faham. Looking back now at Gubir and knowing it was infested with CTs, why didn't the Army pour in troops and neutralise the CTs there. No doubt troops had been inserted there but apparently it was not big enough in numbers as the CTs seemed to have their way in inflicting casualties on our troops and aircrafts.
Saudara Nota Fikir,
BalasPadamKetika Ops Gubir dilancarkan, saya difahamkan kawasan tersebut dipenuhi dengan jerangkap samar. Itu sebabnya trup diterbangkan ke kawasan operasi melalui kaedah 'winching/abseiling'. Ketika Ops Selamat Sawadee pula, hutan sangat tebal dan kemungkinan trups tidak dapat 'sweep' semua kawasan berhampiran. Wallahualam.
Dear Squad,
I got no comments. We were just the workers...not the planners!
Squad,
BalasPadamUnderstood. I'm just wondering why didn't the planners do something to release the stranglehold of the CTs on that area. They have sent in troops, no doubt, but why not more troops with harder punches - more aggressiveness.