Lt.Gen."Whip" Wilson (Read 2,044 times)

When I arrived at Ubon in February 1967, I was assigned to the 433 TFS and given Col. Robin Olds' F4 to crew. Col. Olds, as I recall, had a bird in all three squadrons and flew them all quite regularly. One day I had to take the plane to the trim pad for a burner run after some engine maintenance.
It was there, on the trim pad, that I met Lt. Gen. "Whip" Wilson. Gen. Wilson was commander of 13th Air Force at Clark Field.
What the general came to the pad for is still a mystery. However, he was known for doing things like that. Even in a combat zone.
As he and his followers walked around the pad he talked to all the people who were there. He came to the GPU that was hooked up to a bird and began opening panels. The first panel he opened had the GPU's forms in it. He knew where they were, and that was the first thing he looked at. There was a Tech with the plane and the general asked him if he was the one who was supposed to do the daily on the GPU. The Tech told him no, as he was with the airplane, not ground power. That didn't stop the general from chewing him out for not having checked the unit. The form wasn't signed off, and was low on oil. He told the Chief who was with him, his enlisted aide, to make a note to get the ground power chief out there. The Chief took a notebook and pen out of his pocket and began to write. Then he went to the staff car and called Maintenance Control and told them to send the NCOIC and OIC of the ground power shop to the pad, at once. Then I was spotted. I was just standing there waiting my turn for the run crew to do the checks on my bird. As he walked toward me I snapped him a highball and stood at attention. When he told me to be at ease he asked if the tool box sitting there was mine. I told him it was and he asked me to open it. Never having even heard of Whip Wilson, I had no idea why he wanted to look in my tool box. He stooped down and began lifting up tools, even the bottom of the box. Then he turned to me and said my tool box was perfect. There were no pieces of hardware or snips of safety wire in the box. Said it was clean and looked like a tool box should. I thanked him, but didn't tell him I had just been issued the box a couple of days before and hadn't had a chance to get it looking like most tool boxes did. He asked if there were any tools I needed. I told him I, and others, didn't have the special wheel screw remover used to take wing panels off of the F4. He turned to the major with him and asked him why. The major, it turned out, was the wing supply officer. He told the general that there were lots of the tools available and I should have been given one. I told him that there were lots of troops that didn't have any and we had to share them. The general told the Chief, who already had his notebook and pen out, to make a note. He told the major to double check the number available.
I was told later that Gen. Wilson was prone to dump tool boxes on the ramp and make the owner clean up the mess and make sure that only valid tools were in the box. Just one of his things.
About that time a pickup pulled on to the pad and as the two men got out they were asked if they were from the power shop. When they said yes, the general gave them a tour of the GPU and handed the officer the forms. I don't know what he told them, but they followed his staff car as it left the pad.
All of us on the trip pad breathed a sigh of relief as the staff cars drove off.
I thought that was the end of it.
A couple of days later the expedite truck pulled up to my bird and called me over. In the truck was the supply officer and he didn't look happy. He handed me a box of the special wheeled screw drivers and told me they were for me from Gen. Wilson. He then said that the supply records showed several boxes, but none could be found. So, to us crew chiefs it was almost like Christmas. The expedite truck took the box and made sure that every crew chief had at least two of the tools.
A few days went by and I was under the plane helping hang a weapons rack. I saw a blue Chevy pull up behind the plane and heard a voice calling me from the car. I crawled out from under the back of the plane and saw it was Col. Olds. As I saluted he asked if the bird was ready to go. I told him once the racks were on they would be loaded and ready for his mission. Then a voice came from the other side of the car; "Sgt. Scanlon, did you get the special delivery I sent you?" I looked and there was Gen. Wilson. I told him I did, thanked him and told him they were being put to use. Col. Olds told me that he had no idea what the general was talking about and got an explanation as they drove down the flight line.
Those were the first encounters with Whip Wilson, but not my last.

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