Fort Rucker
Court Martial Defense

To be clear, there is nothing particular about Fort Rucker and the Soldiers who train there that makes them more prone to a military court martial. No, that honor goes to wherever the grunts are training. However, Army Aviation Soldiers see their own fair share of trouble with the UCMJ and a court martial is often not far behind. It’s a shame when a good Soldier gets left behind by the military justice system because Army Aviation routinely embraces the motto, “leave no man behind.”

Army helicopters routinely brave hostile conditions to retrieve their wounded and few men exemplify this motto Lt. Col Charles Kettles. In 1967, Kettles was the commander of the 176th Assault Helicopter Battalion when members of the 101st Airborne came under fire from a battalion-sized NVA force. Recoilless rifles, mortars, and machine gun fire poured down upon the men during this heavy ambush. Casualties began to mount and the call for resupply and reinforcements went out.

Kettles volunteered to lead the group of six Hueys and when they arrived, the Hueys became the center of the NVA’s attention. Some pilots wanted to drop their load and immediately head to the skies above. Kettles refused. He sat there patiently while taking fire until the wounded were loaded. When arrived back at the base, the call for more reinforcements came out. Despite knowing exactly where he would be heading and what was facing him, he volunteered for a second run.

This time, his helicopter would take significant damage while insisting the wounded be loaded up. Despite leaking fuel, he nursed the Huey back to base. Upon returning he then got word that the enemy was on the verge of overwhelming American forces and evacuation was needed. He again volunteered for another run into the kill zone. When all the men were loaded and the Huey was still taking heavy fire, Kettles headed back to base for what he thought was the final run.

That’s when he got word that 8 men didn’t make it to the chopper in time. He passed off command to another Huey and then returned to the kill zone by himself. Not just one Huey for the enemy to fire on, Kettles landed, retrieved the men, and somehow took off one more time. For his actions that day, Kettles was only awarded the Distinguished Service Cross as some thought higher command didn’t want to highlight the disaster on the ground. However, after 50 years and multiple reviews later, Kettles was finally given his rightful place among Medal of Honor recipients.

Now, we tell that story to highlight what it looks like to leave no man behind. The military justice system has a terrible habit of asking the world of gallant men and then, at the first sign of legal trouble, they ditch them. Not on our watch and not as long as The Bilecki Law Group draws breath, we will fight for those men and their honor.