Origin of the term "chalk"

[Spinner]

Any former,or current, helicopter crewmember can help me out with this, I would really appreciate it. A guy I know who for years has talked about his exploits during Vietnam as one of the first LOH observers during the war swears he has never heard the term. He also said he served on Huey crews. I was under the impression that the term "chalk" was used to identify helicopter flights early in the air assault concept. Got to ride in a Huey during basic and that was one of the first terms we heard. Like how they use the word "stick" to identify a plane full of airborne troops.

Can anybody out there tell me when the term "chalk" was first used and what its origin was? Thanks.

[KJ]

My "guess" would be D-day, but worth the research I suppose. Don't see the use of chalks much for LOH's.

[Spinner]

Yea, I'll wait and see what others might have to say. I thought it might have to do with the way they kept track of crews and their passengers. Like writing a number on a chopper and a corresponding number on a chalk board. I should have asked one of the various crews I met over the course of time. Maybe I'll post up on VHPA. Somebody on there is bound to know.

[Doogie320]

"Chalk" describes an aircraft (usually a helo) and its soldiers. My educated guess is this derives as KJ said from D-Day where numbers were written in chalk by the doors of the C-47's. Paratroopers were assigned a "chalk number" that corresponded with the a/c they were to board.

IIRC the first Air Assault units were also Airborne Infantry or descended from Airborne Infantry so that tradition was probably carried over.

I suspect that if I'm wrong Match, airbornelawyer, or RangerCharlie will be along shortly to correct me. :)

[Spinner]

Thanks, KJ and Doogie. That actually sounds pretty credible. I'm wondering if the term was in common usage during the Vietnam War.

[SN]

Originally posted by Doogie320
"Chalk" describes an aircraft (usually a helo) and its soldiers. My educated guess is this derives as KJ said from D-Day where numbers were written in chalk by the doors of the C-47's. Paratroopers were assigned a "chalk number" that corresponded with the a/c they were to board.

IIRC the first Air Assault units were also Airborne Infantry or descended from Airborne Infantry so that tradition was probably carried over.

I suspect that if I'm wrong Match, airbornelawyer, or RangerCharlie will be along shortly to correct me. :)

That's pretty much the way I heard it too.

[CB]

Chalk once did literally mean a number in chalk on the door or side of the aircraft or glider. Pilots refer to their aircraft by the last three digits of their tail number, so that a UH-1H Huey helicopter 67-17145 would become "Army 1-4-5" on the radio. Grunts on the ground, especially at night, have no idea of the tail number of the aircraft they are flying in.

The other aircraft in the formation would refer to themselves -- and everyone else would refer to them -- by their position in the formation, as if there was a big number written in chalk on the nose of the aircraft.

For example, if he was the lead aircraft of a lift then he might report himself as "Army 1-4-5, Flight Lead, Flight of Eight in Trail" and the Pathfinder would know he had eight aircraft flying in in this formation:


1-LEAD
2
3
4
5
6
7
8-TRAIL

The troops on the PZ would be organized into "chalks," based on the ACL of the aircraft.

(ACL = Allowable Cargo Load, the load the aircraft could carry measured in pounds or passengers, usually limited by the density of the air and the fuel on board, and which for passengers in peacetime would never exceed the number of seats with seat belts).

Much simplifed, airmobile (now called air assault) planning went something like this:

Number of troops / ACL = Number of Sorties. [Round up]

("Sortie" = One takeoff and landing by one aircraft).

Number of Sorties / Number of Aircraft = Number of Lifts [Round up]

("Lift" = One or more sorties, flown in formation, from one PZ to one LZ).

Number of Chalks = Number of Aircraft carrying cargo/passengers on each lift. (Note that in the olden days, when helicopters were less reliable, we would sometimes add a "bump ship" to the formation in case one aircraft had to abort during the lift. In that case "Trail" might become "Chalk 5" as the former "Chalk 5" headed back to base or diverted due to mechanial problems).

As a 101st Airborne Division Pathfinder in 1972-1973 we organized up to 50 ship lifts. Soldiers were assigned a chalk number and were expected (and assisted) in counting the correct aircraft based on the position in the formation.

"Trail" (in line like ducks in a row) and "Staggered Trail" (left or right) were easy. By the way, the Air Force term for "Staggered Trail" is "Offset Trail," a formation well known to every paratrooper who ever jumped a mass tactical.

"Vee's" and "Heavy Left" and "Heavy Right" formations were more difficult for the grunts to count.

BONUS QUESTION: In the above sample tail number "67-17145," what does the "67" stand for?

[Lancer33]

"BONUS QUESTION: In the above sample tail number "67-17145," what does the "67" stand for?"

Year of manufacture.

[Bohr Adam]

Cool thread, but can someone - anyone - explain why the high speed tracking board some moron in the 3-43 ADA R&U shop had made - and that I used during Desert Fox to track our deployment in the EOC - had it spelled "chaulk?" Are these the same fuckers that name their daughter a "normal" name but add letters to make it "cute?" :D

[Fire-Gunner]

BONUS QUESTION: In the above sample tail number "67-17145," what does the "67" stand for?

The year that the aircraft was ordered.

[CB]

Lancer33 is close, Fire-Gunner is closer.

The first two digits are the Fiscal Year in which the funds were appropriated and obligated for the contract leading to the production of the aircraft. Actual manufacture and delivery could be several years later.

[Spinner]

Thanks again, one and all, for the information. That's what I love about this board. It is a plethora:D of information.

[Xdeth]

Yea, some nice teasers in there for long drives that make eveyone hate you.

GTG :)

[KJ]

Yeah, cause we can say big words like "plethora" and "nitrogen". You know, some people don't even know what that means.

[WS-G]

I recall the wording "...identified with a chalk number written...." within one of the paragraphs of a jumpmaster publication I thumbed through years ago. The meaning that a number being written by using a piece of chalk for that purpose was perfectly clear to me — my take on the origin of "chalk" as used in the US Army today is that it's simply someone's flawed reading comprehension that just happened to stick. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened, and I'm sure it won't be the last. (e.g.: a simple typesetter's omission is why Americans call element #13 on the Periodic Table of the Elements "aluminum" instead of "aluminium" like everybody else; it completely violates the pattern of all the other "-ium' elements when one thinks about it!)