ABOUT THE FOUNDER
OF
"RINGS WITH WINGS"

Greg Ross, the Founder of Rings With Wings, graduated from U.S. Army flight school in April 1967. Upon graduation, Warrant Officer Ross was ordered to report to Fort Knox, Kentucky, to be assigned to C-Troop, 7th Squadron, 17th Air Cavalry, a new Air Cavalry Unit that was being formed, outfitted with men and machinery, and would deploy to Vietnam in October, 1967.

Upon arrival in Vietnam, the 7th of the 17th Air Cav. was sent to Camp Enari in the Central Highlands on the out skirts of the city of Pleiku, in II Corps. Though C/7th/17th Air Cavalry Troop, (Call Sign BlueGhost), became operational while at Camp Enari, in less than a month, the Unit was detached from the 7th/17th and was redeployed to Chu Lai in I Corps to become part of the 14th Aviation Battalion under command of the Americal Division.

When a newly formed C/7th/17th Air Cav. Troop arrived in Pleiku, the original C/7th/17th was redesignated F-Troop, 8th Cavalry. The Unit Call Sign remained “Blue Ghost”. Though F/8th was under direct support of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, the unit was assigned direct operational support to the 1st of the 1st Armored Cavalry.

Warrant Officer Ross flew C-Model Gun Ships (Call Sign BlueGhost 22) before being transferred to the Lift Section of F/8th, when he began flying D-Model “Slick or Troop Transport” UH-1 helicopters, (Call Sign BlueGhost 38).

Warrant Office Ross was wounded the first time in December while covering a Medical Evacuation Helicopter extracting wounded soldiers, sustaining shrapnel wounds to the upper right arm and back of the neck. Then, on August 4th, 1968, Mr. Ross was shot down while executing a “snatch” mission, (landing in an unsecured area, grabbing someone suspected of being N.V.A. or V.C., and transporting them back to Head Quarters for interrogation). Mr. Ross sustained a sever lower back injury in the crash, as well as shrapnel wounds to the face and neck.

After four months of hospitalization and physical therapy, now Chief Warrant Officer Ross returned to active duty, assigned to Fort Rucker, Alabama, where he was became Operations Officer for Lowe Army Air Field, and later became a Flight Instructor in B, C, D, & H Model “Huey” helicopters.

During his tour in Vietnam, Warrant Officer Ross was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star for Valor, Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, and Air Medal with 19 Oak Leaf Clusters. While he served with F/8th the Unit received the Presidential Unit Citation and the South Vietnamese Unit Citation with Palm.

Mr. Ross was medically retired out of the Army in July of 1971.