Encheer Memoirs
crashed. All was not lost, however, because the helicopters were able to show
their versatility and take the wounded pilot and other crew members to the hospital.
It was a rather disastrous day for McNamara. After he left us he went aboard an
aircraft carrier which was involved in another accident. A plane about to land on
the carrier lost one of its bombs which came loose. It skidded along the deck,
narrowly missing the secretary. One of the whiz kids reportedly quipped that he
should get combat pay for attending military demonstrations.
The Howze Board tests were a lot of fun, but they also involved a lot of hard
work. We not only had to write and execute the tests, but had umpires evaluate
them. Unfortunately, the tests were conducted in the days before there were video
cameras. Nevertheless, we documented the tests with still and moving pictures.
We then critiqued the tests and wrote our final reports. Based on these reports
General Howze and his board of officers wrote their conclusions and made
As a result of these
recommendations to the Secretary of the Army.
recommendations an air assault division was subsequently formed to take its place
in the Vietnam War.
Chief, Army Concept Team, Vietnam
Q ..
Ambassador Rowny, after the Howze Board tests were finished, where did you go
from there?
A ..
While the Howze Board was putting together its final report, I was elated to learn
I had been selected for a second star. I was assigned to Korea to become the
commanding general of the 1st Cavalry Division. I was particularly pleased on two
counts. First, that I had been selected for promotion after having been a brigadier
general for only a year. Second, that I would be allowed to put on my two stars
and command the division while waiting for my number to come up on the
promotion list.
I wound up my work with the Howze Board on a Friday afternoon and drove up
to Washington on Saturday. The moving van would arrive on Sunday and begin
unloading our household goods on Monday morning. Early Monday I was awaiting
the moving van when a limousine drove up. The driver said he had a note for me
from Cyrus R. Vance, Secretary of the Army. The note said that the secretary had
tried to get in touch with me over the weekend but couldn't do so because my
phone was not hooked up. He asked me to get into his limousine and come have
breakfast with him. You can imagine that my decision to do so was not a very
popular one with my wife.
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