YCORD by Chickenman 24
	I spent my last few months in country flying C&C for 1st Bde, 1st Cav, mainly in I Corp. Our ships were rigged with a "Y" cord which allowed you to separate your commo from the backseaters. You used the floor switch or the Cyclic switch to talk to the crew only or the press to talk switch on the "Y" cord to include the pax. It was late in the day and we were getting pretty tired when the Lt.Col. Bn CO we were hauling had us take him to one of his companies working the bush north of the Quang Tri River and west of HWY 1. It was a fairly clear area and the chance of running into NVA was pretty slim. We landed and the Col. got out to confer with a brand shiney new 2LT. They then boarded to do a recon by air. I think the Col. was getting off showing the 2LT "his" helicpter. Anyway the flight ended with a request that we come to a high hover over the ground troops and shoot a compass heading to a very obvios dead tree landmark so the 2LT knew where to go. The PP was holding the nose on the target tree when he said to me: " Hey Chickenman, Don't they give these 2LTs compasses??" Seeing the humor in the remark I replied: " Sure they give them compasses, they just don't give them maps until their 1LTs." Quicker than you could think "Oh Shit" I realized that I had used the "Y" cord. There was a very icey, " You can drop the LT. off now and return me to base Mr. Potvin." The return flight to Sharon was very quiet and the Lt. Col. left the Aircraft with no comment. On the return flight to Betty we were pretty sure that the shit would hit the fan on our return. On landing both mt CO AND the Bde CO were waiting for us. The Brigade commander, a full bull, asked me what I had done that had so deeply offended one of his colonels. I explained the situation and they both slowly looked at each other and cracked up. " Mr. Potvin, I suggest you stay away from that Lt. Col. for a while and learn how to use the patch cord. " " Yes Sir!", was the only suitable reply. Chickenman24