HMM-163 USMC CHA

REUNION 2006

FORT WORTH, TEXAS

SQUADRON BULLETIN 1

November 2005

It is that time again when we all start planning and getting ready for another United States Marine Corps Combat Helicopter Association reunion. The upcoming bi-annual reunion will be held in Fort Worth, Texas from August 10 to 13, 2006. Fort Worth is a new location for our reunions. It was selected in fairness to those living in the middle part of America. Those members have always had to travel long distances to the East Coast or West Coast for past reunions. The Fort Worth Convention Center is a fine location to have our reunion with adequate facilities and close hotels to handle a group the size of our Association. As you may know, the Association Banquet on Saturday evening had 2000 participants at our last reunion in Reno, Nevada.

As for our squadron, the same crew of volunteers that had handled the squadron activities for the last four reunions has agreed to volunteer to do the coordination for this reunion with the addition of three other squadron members that have agreed to be our on site representatives (2) and a coordinator for the Shu-Fly Marines. They have been a great help during the planning and initial preparation phases of the event. The following is list of all coordination personnel for HMM-163 at this years reunion (contact information on page 7):

Carl Bergman – Head Coordinator – CO

Bernie Gordon – Administration/Finance Coordinator – XO/S1

Dale Eddy – On Site Coordinator (Squadron Dinner, etc.) – S3

Rick Rivers – On Site Coordinator (Squadron Dinner, etc.) – S3

Bill Halvorsen – Web Master/Squadron T-Shirt Coordinator – S4

Joe D’Arcangelo – Squadron Historian – S2

“A. B.” Bates - Shu-Fly Coordinator – Detachment CO

I was fortunate several years ago to spend a month conducting business in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and grew to become very fond of it. I’m sure many of you are also familiar with the area and can vouch for the fact that it is a great location for our reunion. There are many, many sites and activities located within the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area making it an ideal location to spend additional time for those wishing to coordinate a family vacation with the reunion. Additional information on the area will be provided by the Association and the Squadron as we get closer to the actual event.

For those of you that have never attended an Association reunion, you have missed some very special times. In the last decade, our squadron, HMM-163, has had some of the largest turnouts of members for the Association reunions. Each year our member participation has grown to where we now see more than 100 members attending the reunion along with many of their family members.

The format for these reunions is a four day event starting with registration on Thursday and concluding with breakfast on Sunday morning. During the event and particularly during registration, there is a vendor area with numerous participating suppliers selling every kind of Marine Helicopter Aviation memorabilia you can imagine. For that missing badge or patch you always wanted, to helicopter art work, shirts, hats, paintings, books, model helicopters, etc., you will never find a larger selection of nostalgia items in one spot. Additionally, the Association has traditionally supplied a “goodie” bag to all registered participants. The bag usually contains various free souvenirs for all registered members of the Association. In the past, the “freebies” included items such as an overnight bag with Association Logo Patch, a Commemorative Coffee/Beer Mug, T-Shirt, night shirts for the ladies, etc.

As in the past two reunions, we will be selling a squadron commemorative t-shirt. These are great to have as a souvenir and remembrance of the event. They also act as an easy way to identify members of HMM-163 to other participants at the reunion. An order form will be included with the next mailing so that you may designate the number and sizes desired. We are very fortunate to have Bill Halvorsen, our web master, coordinating this activity as he has done in the past.

Each Squadron maintains and operates Hospitality Suites (“Hooches”) during the convention. This typically is in a suite in the main hotel used by the Association. The HMM-163 Hooch sells booze, beer, wine and soft drinks at a nominal charge ($1.00 per). This service is run on an honor system and enables our members to save a great deal of money on their refreshments compared to room service. The hours of operation will be posted at our registration booth once the Association event schedule is finalized. The Squadron Hospitality “Hooch” is a great place to relax and visit with friends and is a main source for obtaining the latest reunion information. It is also an ideal place to arrange for meeting other squadron members staying at other locations.

Squadron volunteers are needed throughout the reunion to fill short tours of duty. These tours of duty are not scheduled to conflict with and any Association or Squadron planned activities. The volunteer assignments involve two areas.

The HMM-163 Squadron Hooch requires squadron volunteer hosts for short duty tours (typically an hour or hour and a half) when ever open during the reunion. That individual is in charge of the Hospitality Hooch during their brief tour of duty. It is their responsibility to notify one of the coordinators if anything out of the ordinary occurs. The Host is also asked to advise when a resupply of refreshments is needed. A schedule of the hours of operation is provided at check-in along with a duty roster listing the volunteer hosts and their assigned time period.

Volunteers are needed to man the Squadron Registration Booth for check in on Thursday. The assignment is usually for an hour and requires two individuals during all open registration periods. These individuals are responsible for signing in all HMM-163 members and issuing them their Association Identification Badge, Association Meal Tickets, and Squadron Dinner tickets. They also will have available the information on volunteer assignments and schedules as well as other pertinent Association and Squadron information and local Fort Worth information.

The first scheduled reunion event usually occurs on Thursday evening. This event is a “Welcome Aboard” and Opening Ceremony for the entire Association. It usually includes a buffet meal, and numerous bars set up for pay as you go beverage service. The opening ceremony invokes a lot of Marine Corps pride and involves a great deal of pomp and ceremony. Typically with Marine Aviation personnel, you can never fully predict what will happen and there are usually some entertaining surprises worth seeing. There is much celebrating and renewal of old friendships, and of course, many members trying to locate that special individual that shared an important part of their life in combat. The camaraderie is unbelievable. The dress, as it is for all events, is casual.

Friday, during the day, events are planned by both the Association and some individual members and squadrons. Typical Friday events during recent past reunions included golf tournaments, a Harley-Davidson motorcade around Lake Tahoe, trips to “Old Town” in San Diego, shopping trips to malls for the wives, and almost anything you can think of when such a diverse group of individuals get together and someone is willing to organize the activity. More information on these activities will be available as we get closer to the reunion.

HMM-163 is unique among the squadrons as we are honored to have a special unit within the greater squadron structure. This sub-unit is affectionately referred to as the “Shu-Fly Marines”, derived from the name of the Marine operation they participated in during the early years of the Vietnam War. These were the first Marine Helicopter units assigned to Vietnam in the early Sixties. The group has been meeting separately for their own dinner functions during past reunions, while participating with the greater squadron during other parts of the reunion. In order to simplify coordination and planning, this year Shu-Fly has designated a specific coordinator from their group to handle Shu-Fly Marine activities. This will include their own mini-reunion dinner on Friday evening. They have always had their own dinner gathering at past reunions and an unofficial person coordinating for them. This time the only difference will be having an officially designated person to handle their administrative and operational coordination. I am please to announce that A. B. Bates has agreed to accept this responsibility for the Shu-Fly Marines and will be the primary contact for all Shu-Fly functions.

The Friday evening Squadron Dinners (mini-reunions) have been one of the major highlights of past reunions. The early evening time period on Friday is left open by the Association with no activities scheduled until after 9 PM. The Squadron Dinners are handled by the individual volunteer coordinators from each squadron. While there is no formal competition for the best Friday dinner/mini reunion, unofficially people are always comparing the various squadron events the next day. I am proud to say that HMM-163 has had some of the very best mini-reunion dinners during recent reunions. These events have been well attended and everyone seems to have gotten their money’s worth.

Some of our squadron’s recent reunion squadron dinners have been quite special. Examples are as follows:

Reunion 2000 @ San Diego, California - The squadron arranged a private dinner party and with dancing at the Hilton Harbor View Hotel. We had a large private banquet room with a balcony overlooking the marina. The food was exceptional. We had a 10 piece dance band with female vocalist. Many members and their ladies enjoyed dancing through out the evening to every type of music you could want. A raffle was held at one point with numerous door prizes including combat art work, models, and Marine nostalgia items being awarded to individuals lucky enough to be in the seat that was drawn by table number and seat number. Transportation was provided by charter vans from the reunion hotel to the Hilton and back so there was no inconvenience or driving problems for anyone. Approximately 112 members and guests attended.

Reunion 2002 @ Pensacola Beach - The squadron dinner was held at a very elegant hotel, The Old World Landing, in downtown Pensacola across the street from the famous Trader John’s bar. Following dinner and presentations by the squadron, we adjourned to Trader John’s where we partied with the rest of the Association to live rock & roll music and dancing. Transportation to and from Pensacola Beach was coordinated by the squadron contracting two of the Pensacola historic trolley shuttles to provide continuous round trips from the beach to town and back, exclusively for HMM-163 members. Approximately 118 members and guests attended.

Reunion 2004 @ Reno, Nevada - Our Friday evening dinner was held at the National Automobile Museum in downtown Reno. The entire museum was reserved for the squadron and open all evening for participants to wander among the hundreds of antique cars. Dinner was catered by the Sienna Hotel (across the street from the museum) and served in a wing of the museum among some of the displayed vehicles. Private shuttle buses were used to provide round trip transportation between the Reno Hilton and the museum (about 5 miles). In my opinion, this turned out to be the best squadron dinner of the event. Most of the other squadrons had banquet rooms in the Reno Hilton with nothing additional to offer their members. Approximately 123 of our members and guests attended.

Reunion 2006 @ Fort Worth, Texas - Be there and see for yourself. You will not be disappointed according to our On Site Coordinators. We plan a Mexican Dinner with a wide variety of food choices to suit all palates, and hopefully a few surprises to delight everyone.

Saturday morning and/or afternoon normally involves some form of Association activity. These will be announced by the Association in their registration information provided shortly after the first of the year. This time period may also provide you an opportunity to explore the Fort Worth/Dallas area on your own. Information on what to see and do will be available at our registration desk and in the Hospitality Hooch.

Saturday night is the spectacular event of the reunion. The Association holds the all member banquet and show. This is the grand finale of the reunion. The food is always excellent as is the entertainment. In Reno 2004, the Saturday evening banquet had over 200 tables of 10 persons each. At the Reno event the name of the Association was formally changed to the USMC Combat Helicopter Association and opened up to all Marine helicopter associated combat personnel. Lifetime memberships were awarded to the crews of two active duty Marine helicopter crews that brought their aircraft to the reunion for display. These men were all Marine veterans of the Persian Gulf War and the first non-Vietnam combat veterans to be given membership.

On behalf of the HMM-163 members and coordinators, we sincerely hope you will plan to attend next summers reunion. Information on the hotels, airline discounts, car rentals, meals, and much more will be included in the Association registration packages which you should receive shortly after the first of the year. All dues current members as of November 10, 2005 will be receiving the reunion packet with registration materials and information. If you are not current, I strongly suggest you contact the association and bring

your membership current so that you will not miss out on this event. Once you receive your packet, I recommend you make your room reservation as early as you can. The main events are scheduled for the Fort Worth Convention Center and there are several hotels within a short walking distance. The names of hotels that have agreed to provide special discounted rates are included with the registration materials. The recommended hotels usually provide us with discounted rates for the reunion and a couple of days before or after the event. For convenience you will want to be in one of these hotels if possible.

HMM-163 will be sending out two bulletins prior to the reunion. These will include more details on the squadron activities and instructions for squadron registration and signing up for the Squadron Dinner. We will also be soliciting financial support of the administrative costs. These cost include the squadron bulletin mailings, Hospitality Hooch rental and initial set-up, copying expenses for various information handouts, etc. With that bulletin we will also be asking for volunteers for the duty assignments previously mentioned.

Please ensure that the squadron and the Association have your most current address, telephone number, e-mail address, and cell phone number if applicable. Should you need to contact any of the squadron coordination team, our contact information is included as an attachment to this bulletin.

I look forward to seeing you next summer in Fort Worth.

Semper Fi,

Bernie Gordon

Administration Coordinator

HMM-163 USMCCHA

Attachment: Squadron Data/Contact Sheet