A Military Helicopter Pilot Was Told To Drop Passengers Exactly Where He Was Ordered, No Matter What—So He Followed Orders To The Letter
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Imagine being told to do something specific at your job, but when you look at the details, you realize that following the directions exactly as they were given to you is a bit of a problem. Would you do it anyway, or would you tweak the directions to avoid problems?
In this story, one helicopter pilot in the military is in this situation when it comes to landing and dropping off passengers, so he decides to land in a slightly different place.
The Major was not happy.
Keep reading for all the details.
Tell me I have no choice, and I will comply.
Back in the day, my dad was a helicopter pilot in the Army.
On one deployment they flew out to the National Training Center (NTC) in California.
A troop had apparently arrived a day or two before my dad’s and they had a mission where they had to pick up a squad or platoon of infantrymen and drop them at coordinates x.
But there was a problem.
However, as anyone who has ever used an old military topographical map knows, they were not updated frequently, so when they arrived at the prescribed coordinates, they found that the location marked on the map as an open clearing was overgrown with trees.
So, not wanting to test the durability of their rotors against tree trunks and branches, they did what any sane person would do and they dropped them at the nearest open spot they could find.
As a result, the unit was late making a rendezvous at the prescribed time.
But the higher ups didn’t care about the pilots’ reasonsing.
So when my dad got the the airfield, and after landing, his troop was taken to a meeting room where, for 45 minutes, they got chewed out about putting people where they are told to put them.
The pilots tried to explain the situation, but their logic fell on deaf ears.
They were told, in no uncertain terms, that when you are given grid coordinates, you put them down there, period. End of story.
Well, it would have been if my dad was not assigned the very next training mission.
His dad learned his lesson.
So, being the obedient pilot that he was, when he picked up his guys, he made absolutely sure that he had the correct coordinates. He verified with the platoon leader 3 times before proceeding to take off and place them at EXACTLY the location he had been told and verified.
After dropping them off, they were to go on a training flight, but 5 minutes in they were ordered to return to base.
Upon arriving back at base, his commander demanded that my dad show him where he put the guys down.
But the major was confused.
He pointed to a location on the map that was well outside the training area.
The commander asked why he put them there.
So he reminded the major about the 45 minute chewing out they had just gotten about having ZERO say in where to put them and that he was simply following the orders exactly as given.
Not much he could say after that.
He was told not to think and just do, so he did.
Let’s see how Reddit responded.
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It’s not worth risking safety.
Always get it in writing.
Again, safety should come first.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who finds herself in a tough spot when a coworker reports her for the “policy violation” of having her personal water bottle at the register.
This person is confused.
Following directions is usually a good idea but not when safety is at risk.
OP’s dad did the right thing by avoiding the trees, but he also did the right thing by following the directions the next time.
He really should get the directions in writing that he is supposed to follow orders exactly as given no matter what, but I still hope he ignores them when there’s a safety issue.
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