Comms In Extremis: Seven Lessons from a Recon Extract
By Dennis N. T. Perkins
During my time in Vietnam, I witnessed striking examples of exceptional leadership and courage.
One such episode stood out.
It lasted only twenty minutes, but it stayed with me the rest of my life.
It was another dark night in Chu Lai. I had just taken over as CO of India 3/5, and was standing at the entrance to my bunker, leaning on a sandbag. I was monitoring the radio and turned on a small recorder, getting ready to tape a message to send home.
Gunny Sergeant Clore, standing next to me, suddenly spoke out: “Hey, Skipper, listen to this.”
Most of the messages were routine, but one was different.
Even with the static, I could hear stress in the transmissions. A Viet Cong force surrounded a reconnaissance team of ten Marines, call sign Duckbill.
Low on ammunition and enveloped by rain and fog, with each passing moment the team risked being overrun.
Duckbill needed help, and there was no way that my company—or any other ground unit—could reach them in time.
Their only hope was an emergency helicopter extract.
Three choppers circled overhead. The first one—an armed Huey, call sign Klondike—was coordinating the mission. The other two—CH-46s, call signs Switch 23 and 24 — were trying to land and extract the team.
Only afterward did I realize that my tape recorder captured every transmission I heard. I used this recording to produce a video of the rescue for today’s leaders to examine the circumstances of the event and hear what leadership in extremis sounds like.
After I got back to the States, I used the recording to track down the Klondike pilot, John Arick.
For his actions that night, John had received a gold star — in lieu of a third Distinguished Flying Cross — for his “superior aeronautical skill, fearless determination, and steadfast dedication to duty under extremely adverse conditions.”
We had lunch, and I asked John how he was able to maintain such incredible composure in the heat of battle. His explanation was simple.
He had flown over 100 emergency extracts, and over a dozen like this one. In his typically unassuming tone, John explained: “I know what happens when people don’t take the time to talk.”
I have never forgotten what happened on that night and the seven lessons I learned from John Arick during that recon extract.
Lesson #1
Maintain a cool, calming presence — Channel your Inner Klondike.
The tone of John Arick’s communication provided a level of reassurance that things would eventually work out, even though a positive outcome often seemed impossible.
Lesson #2
Talk politely, even when people screw up.
Pause and resist the temptation to lash out. Things will go wrong in combat; they always do. There will be conflicts, but words matter. “Let me have hot guns, please” was delivered as politely as “Pass the potatoes.” “Have you got a base of fire down there, Duckbill? I know Switch would appreciate it” could have been another dinner conversation.
Lesson #3
Encourage and reinforce small wins.
When things go right, call it out. “Okay, straight on up, Switch. You’re looking real good” was interspersed with “Okay, Duckbill, let’s have some fire out of the zone.” And “Okay, you’re looking real fine, Switch” provided valuable reinforcement that helped cut through the confusion.
Lesson #4
Add humor to defuse tension when things go wrong.
Klondike’s message, “I’d like to put a couple of rockets in ahead of you, from behind you. Don’t worry, I’ll miss,” came as a surprise.
It was grim humor after “Switch just shot into our position, Duckbill,” but it worked. And referring to the VC as “those gents down there” was sarcastic, but the comment created an ironic way of looking at the life-threatening danger from their attack.
Lesson #5
Take the time to regroup and have a little discussion so you can remedy things the next time in.
The discussion that Klondike moderated between Switch and Duckbill was heated. There was anger. But it was the critical step needed for the extract to succeed. It was short, it was intense, but it worked.
Lesson #6
Think but don’t overthink.
In fast-moving situations, leaders need to depend on instinct letting it precede—but not replace—reflection. John Arick had been in this situation before, and he realized that he would have to act quickly and trust his judgment. He had seen attempts to find a perfect LZ end in disaster, and there are combat scenarios where analysis can lead to paralysis. As I remember from my experience in Vietnam: When you’re in an ambush, Move, Move, Move!
Lesson #7
Never give up: There’s always another move.
“Third time’s a charm if you want to try it” was a clear signal that the mission could succeed. And if the third time hadn’t worked, I know that there would have been a fourth time as well.
The lesson here isn’t to persist in repeating a failed execution. But the belief that there is another move provides the drive and motivation to keep looking for the right answer — the one that will make the mission a success.
Thanks to John Arick and Klondike, I know it is possible to change tactics when things are not working, and to learn in the heat of battle. And I know that we can persevere when things look hopeless, then draw on our experience to make things better on the next mission.
And then there was one more thing. I asked John Arick if he debriefed the mission when they got back to Ky Ha.
“No,” he replied.
“I just said, ‘I’m glad that’s over. Let’s have a drink.”
And that’s another lesson I’ve carried with me: Find something to celebrate, and something to laugh about.
Cheers, John. Your courage lives on. Semper Fi.
Dennis N. T. Perkins is Chief Executive Officer of The Syncretics Group. He previously taught at the Yale School of Management and is the author of Leading at the Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition. He can be reached at Dennis.Perkins@SyncreticsGroup.com.
Great capture of the human side. Even in the data/digital era...maybe more so...the human side matters.