‘A generational milestone’ Hennies family’s aviation legacy spans three generations

“A generational milestone” is the way they were described at a recent ceremony honoring a family comprised of three generations of Black Hawk pilots.

Retired Maj. Gen. Lou Hennies; his son, CW5 Dave Hennies who is ASO for the 110th ATB at Fort Rucker; and his grandson, CW3 Vince Sandoval, just back from supporting TF Raptor as part of the 16th CBT Aviation Brigade in Afghanistan were honored at the Sikorsky Black Hawk Breakfast at the recent Association of the United States Army Convention.

Spanning three generations, the Hennies family can boast that all three are qualified in the three various versions of the Black Hawk models flying in Army Aviation today.

Between the three men are a combined total of 87 years of honorable military service, to include eight aviation combat tours and one by Lou Hennies as an Infantryman in Vietnam.

They are rated in 16 different aircraft – from the OH6 to the C-20 Gulfstream— and have flown over 8,350 total hours.

With more than 50 percent of that total flight time in the UH60 Black Hawk helicopter, CW5 Hennies said it best when describing the long time Hennies military heritage: “We are a Black Hawk family.”

The family’s military story actually began in World War II with Hennies’ cousin, Vern Pfantz, who flew the rugged P47 Thunderbolt in the European Theater.

The metal aviator wings Dave Hennies pinned on his son upon Vince’s graduation from flight school were the same ones worn by his father, Lou Hennies. Pfantz had pinned those wings on then Capt. Lou Hennies in 1969. Then in 1987, then Brig. Gen Hennies pinned those same wings on his son, Dave, and in 2007, those same wings were passed on and proudly displayed on the Class A uniform worn by WO1 Vince Sandoval.

Lou Hennies served as commanding general of the U.S. Army Safety Center and Director of Army Safety at Fort Rucker before retiring from active duty in November 1991. He was appointed adjutant general of the Alabama National Guard in June 1995 by former Gov. Fob James and served in that capacity until his resignation in 1999 to accept the appointment as president of Lyman Ward Military Academy in Camp Hill.

Lou Hennies’ path to Army Aviation began at Officer Candidate School in Fort Benning, Ga. Sent to

South Vietnam, he commanded two Infantry rifle companies. In 1969, Lou Hennies, then 34 years old, graduated flight school as a Cobra pilot and immediately returned to Vietnam to lead two air troops and command an assault helicopter company.

Little did Lou Hennies, then a captain, know his letters and pictures home were a huge influence on his young son, David. The dream of becoming an Army aviator for Dave was finalized after his father, then the 1-17th Cavalry Squadron Commander, gave Private Dave Hennies a ride in one of the unit’s Hueys on a mission to Virginia.

As Dave Hennies began his own Army Aviation career his young son, Vince, was quietly observing the passion his father had for flying and decided to follow a similar path— become an Army aviator and fly the Black Hawk—like his grandfather and father before him.

Sleek, fast, agile and rugged is the way Lou Hennies describes the Black Hawk. “It can take a lot of punishment. It is fun to fly.”

“The best helicopter out there,” is what his son calls it. “It’s tough, reliable, powerful, fast and just plain fun to fly.”

The youngest in the Hennies legacy agrees. “It is versatile, powerful, very safe and extremely well built,” he said. “I love this aircraft!”

David Hennies said that he had wanted to fly since he was a boy. “My grandfather, Leslie Lowthian, was a flying Officer in the Royal Air Force during WWI and into WWII and my father (Lou Hennies) flew helicopters in Vietnam and continued to do so throughout his career, so it was always a conversation point in my family.

“My father was the absolute influence on me becoming an Army aviator,” David Hennies said. “He would send me pictures from Vietnam of him flying, which gave me a burning desire to follow in his footsteps.

He gave me my first helicopter ride when I was a private in the Army— which sealed it for me.”

David Hennies’ son Vince has followed in his footsteps, pursuing a career as an Army aviator. “I can’t begin to tell you how much that means to me,” David Hennies said. “As a dad watching Vince grow up, I always knew he had the same spark in him for aviation that I did. When I started taking him in the simulator as a young boy, I quickly discovered he had a gift for it.

“From the start, he had a great control touch which you can’t teach; he really took to it naturally,” he added. “Vince loved the Black Hawk and I always knew deep down he would fly them one day and would be good at it. I am so proud of Vince and his accomplishments.”

Lou Hennies said he had wanted to be in aviation since graduating from high school and serving in the Air Force as an enlisted man.

“My cousin, and mentor, was a P-47 Fighter Pilot in WWII serving in the European Theater. I had read many of his flying training manuals and was fascinated with the combat close air support footage he brought back,” Lou Hennies said, adding that he had considered applying for Air Force pilot training in the mid 1950s, “but youthful procrastination prevailed.”

Lou Hennies ultimately graduated from Army flight school in 1969, at age 34, and returned to Vietnam as a member of the 7/17th Cav, where he commanded two air troops and an assault helicopter company over a 25-month period.

Lou Hennies said he attended the Black Hawk qualification course and instructor pilot training as a prerequisite to assuming command of the TF 160 Night Stalkers in February 1985. “My only claim to fame is that I’m the only one of the three of us that is an instructor pilot in the Hawk,” the retired general said with a smile. “My son probably has the most overall Hawk time and my grandson wins the Hawk combat time.

“My son trumps us as far as fixed wing since he is qualified in the Army’s Gulfstream,” he added. “But we are all very proud of our family’s service in the Army and Army Aviation.”

At the ceremony, Vince Hennies was recognized for 1,000 flight hours in the Black Hawk, David Hennies for 1,900 hours.

Hennies himself was presented a framed print tracing the history of Igor Sikorsky’s immeasurable contributions to Army Aviation.

The citation on the print for the retired general sums up a career that spanned active decades of service to his country. “Lou Hennies, Army Aviator, Leader and Patriot.”