"Holloman to Takhli"
Jim (JimBart) Bartholomew, SMSgt. USAF Ret.
When the 49th
Tactical Fighter Wing deployed from Holloman AFB, NM to Takhli RTAFB, Thailand
in 1972 I was with the advance party. Takhli
had been closed for some time, the plumbing and wiring had been stolen from the
buildings. The grass was waist high
and there were snakes everywhere
At Holloman I was NCOIC of
the Wing Scheduling Office. I
coordinated range use with White Sands, tankers and Skyspot missions with 12th
Air Force and SAC. 7th
AF sent a Major and a Captain to Takhli to help the Frag Shop get set up.
They asked me who the Frag Officer was and I told them I was.
They said no, every other unit in SEA has a commissioned officer.
When the Wing Commander arrived with the first F-4D, they met with him
and said we needed a Frag Officer. The
Commander BG Jack Bellamy said Bart did it at Holloman and Bart will do it here.
They then went back to Saigon and I never received any help from 7th
AF.
Since my duties were mainly
at night, Gen Bellamy decided that I should pick up any message traffic that
arrived at night from the communications trailer. The first night there was a back channel message for him.
I jumped in my trusty rented Toyota pick-up and rushed to his trailer.
He asked me what the message said, I said I had not read it. He read it then said “Bart from now on read them all and
unless you think it’s really important, give them to me in the morning.”