From Pharmacy to Helicopters
by
Jim GrantI was born in Sexsmith Alberta and grew up on a farm in the Peace River Country. As a child I could look out and see 3 to 12 to 25 airplanes. P39s. A 26s, C 47s, B 17s, flying overhead enroute to Russia, part of the massive ferry program in being in 1944-45. In addition my heroes of the day were local slightly older school friends, farm workers, town employees who put down their pitch forks, school books or whatever and went out to Edmonton to join up. The next time we saw them was on their embarkation leave and then watched the papers for hopefully good news, but more often casualty reports of that boy from the next farm, the elevator agent, the bookkeeper. The war was real and the admiration for men and women in uniform was instilled in my make up, never to vanish to this day.I was in cadets, then a Private in the Loyal Edmonton Regt (Res), moved to Chilliwack and a Private in the Westminster Regt (Res) My brother, John, a year younger, was an avid air devotee from about 16 onwards He took lessons at Chilliwack and received his private pilot wings and continued to build up his hours while I went on another route to the pilot world. Johnny joined the RCAF in the winter of 1949 and after wings, went to Transport Command and 426 Sqn. He was a Captain on North Stars on the Korean Airlift before his 21st birthday. After the airlift, he went on to CO Resolute for 6 months,then to fly Otters in Churchill and then to 412 Sqn as chief C-5 pilot. After early retirement Johnny went to MOT as the Chief VIP pilot, on Jet Stars and Viscounts. He retired to Kelowna to flog real estate to his friends selling insurance etc .
I enviously watched the flying activities of brother John, but elected to apprentice as a pharmacist, went to UBC and initially joined the Reserve University Flight of the RCAF. The summer camp was at Abbotsford, too close to home, so I went across the armory floor and joined the Canadian Officer Training Corps (COTC) and because of a background of trucks and farm equipment opted for RCASC, despite the urgings of the Resident Staff Officer (RSO) to apply for the Medical Corps. I went regular in 51 and served 30 full time years of regular service.
In the last year at UBC I again applied for the RCAF as aircrew, and went through the initial selection process. The examining flight surgeon said I had a color deficiency and would probably not pass through the London stage as a pilot, but could be a Radio Officer (RO) or a Navigator. No thanks, I went back across the armory floor and went regular RCASC.
I first served with 55 Tpt Coy in 27 Bde at Hannover (Stonehenge Barracks) and on return to Canada was seconded to Defence Research Board (DRB), because of my chemical background, to work at Suffield on flame warfare.(F/L Dave Adamson was just leaving on promotion to S/L in 412 Sqn) 2 years later I was transferred to Camp Borden to 1 Tpt Coy and 2 years later selected for flight training and off to Canadian Joint Air Training Centre (CJATC) Rivers Manitoba.
Dave Fromow was OC of the Light Aircraft School (LAS) and our Flight Comd was Don Foster followed by Fred Joyce. The Chief Flying Instructor (CFI) was Nels Gesner RCAF. My instructor was Tommy Musgrave. We started out with 7 and finished with 4-Vern Taskey, Charlie Panet, Chuck Burant and myself. Great times with some truly remarkable characters in the CJATC expanded family. We were pre-integration/unification and there was a camaraderie and mutual admiration for people of different backgrounds. Happy hour at Rivers was a mixture of graduating jump school, army pilots, T 33 fighter flight, Land Air warfare courses, Air Supply school courses, 1 Airborne Platoon, Box Car (C119) crews and some of the greatest “mess characters” of my life. Great bar talks with Roger Stone, Paddy Pyne, Frank Ledoux, Scotty Shier, Russ Allan, Bill Jones, John Steele, Frank Dunster (DFC and Olympic gold medal-hockey)(Shoot fast, skate hard, and don’t tear your sweater, we might need it for next year ) and a host of others. We never bad mouthed any group, but enjoyed the variety and circle of great friends.
I was very lucky in my flying career. After wings I was a flight commander of Liaison Flight, then to helicopter conversion, again with Vern Taskey under the tutelage of John Barton and Nick Nichols, and a short summer at Wainwright with an H13 and off to Camp Wolters at Mineral Wells Texas to the Hiller program. Quite a change from Rivers, with 2 Bells and 4 S 51s. There were about 300 Hillers at Wolters, and each training flight consisted of about 24 a/c. The departure and arrival scene at the main heliport was something to behold-a loose gaggle of 20 or so H 23s followed by 4 or 5 more flights all arriving at the same time, landing and then shutting down at the same time! I was the first Canadian after the initial 4 direct helicopter trainees of Fred Zeggil, Dave Guy, Neil Overend and Hal Swain. I was joined shortly by Ted Crosbie, Dave Giffin, on another course, and Bud Carr, Dan Stovel ,Colin Gillis and Buck McBride on a direct helicopter pilot course, and eventually a host of other Canadians as part of the rapidly expanding training program, now including Royal Canadian Armored Corps (RCAC) , Royal Canadian Infantry Corps (RCIC) and others. (Bert Casselman,Murray McDonald incl)
I went to Fort Rucker for 6 weeks to await the arrival of Crosbie and Giffin for an H 34 course and was employed in Base Ops (thru arrangements made by Sam Pinkerton the Liaison Officer) worked on the relocation of the Ozark Non Directional Beacon (NDB) and approval of an Instrument (IFR) let down. My boss was Capt Jim Peck, a very good pilot, who gave me intro rides in some of the a/c at Rucker to incl H 21, H19, Beaver , L 19 D, and others, not a qualification, but good fun. Bill Binney and Jim Brubaker did the same favor from their positions at the Test Board . Jim Peck took me up in an H 21 one night to do 180o autorotations, he said if you can do this you can do anything in an H21. Nothing like jumping into the deep end of the pool!
On our first day of the course, the Flight Commander asked what a/c were we supposed to be flying. We knew we were slated for H 34 in the States, but if there were some doubts, why not opt for the H21, and let somebody find the error. In any event we would get a little extra experience with the H 21. This lasted for a week or so and the people in charge re-coursed us on to H 34 s.
Ted, Dave and I graduated with Ted going to Fort Knox Kentucky and Dave and I to Fort Sill Oklahoma to replace Harry Reid and Gord Walker in the 91st Transportation Company. 21 H-34s and 2 H 13s.We were part of the 45th Battalion, which also had an Otter Company (16) and a Mojave (H37) company, (16) of the big twin engined R2800 smoke belching helicopters. Again a great time for fellowship and many a happy hour at the “Blade and Wing” Great times incl a trip to Ft Bliss (Juarez) to fly the King of Belgium.. We were only at Ft Sill for a few weeks when the unit received a PCS (Permanent Change of Station) to Fort Campbell Kentucky, home of the 101st Airborne.(Commanded by M Gen Westmoreland) We were a Corps troops addition to the 101 Div Aviation Bn which also incl 20 H 34s. They incidentally received the first US Army Huey Hu 1 for op eval. This was pre Viet Nam.
Service at Ft Campbell was exciting-major troop lifts with up to 20 H 34s in formation at night was good for the blood pressure, but we never had any major accidents in my tour. One of the more interesting deployments was to take 4 H 34s to Ft Bliss to participate in the Airborne/airportability trials for the Lacrosse missile. There was a Canadian Royal Canadian Artillery (RCA) Maj Mickey Bru as OC of the test group and myself as Officer in Charge (OIC) of the helicopter support. On our return to Ft Campbell, we had transmission problems and landed in a corn field near Memphis Naval Air Station.(Tennessee) On visiting the Officer’s club that night was surprised to be informed we had over 20 Canadian Navy pilots under training with the USN at this one station. We were truly in the golden era of Military Aviation and all branches of the service were having a great time.
When the posting was over I was extremely pleased to be reassigned to CJATC, initially to LAS, but transferred over to BHTU (Basic Helicopter Trainig Unit) as a replacement for Nick Nicholls to work for John Barton. Great experience, with my first student, one Terrance Stanley Reginald Jones. Terry is a true friend to this day who is still an active pilot (owner operator) and one of the most experienced well known and respected pilots in the helicopter industry. A number of the earlier Army Pilots were students of the time, Andy Desjardin, Buzz Bourdon, Lloyd McMorran, Peter Stevens, Frank Potter, Brian Caldwell, Dan Dunn, Colin Sangster and others. We also trained RCAF pilots, and I had the privilege of having W/C Ganderton as a student. He was the wartime CO of 427 Sqn, with a DSO and a DFC. He went from P/O to W/C in the same unit flying Lancasters. He retired out of Rivers and shortly thereafter was killed in a wire strike accident with a Bell 47 out of Calgary. He survived Me 109’s but not an unmarked wire. Had another summer at Wainwright with the H 5 with Arne Garlick and Doug Hardy. Followed by another winter at CJATC, more students, and off to Wainwright for a short stint and then to Palo Alto California for the Hiller check out and a flight back to Winnipeg in one of the deliveries. (Harry Reid was in the first ferry) The a/c were bare, no radios and it was a 3-4 day trip.
Army Avviation Tactical Training School (ATTS) was formed in the summer of 61 so I met Bert Casselman, the first CO. He was a leader, a very good pilot, wartime P-47 Thunderbolts in the Middle East, and an outstanding friend over the years. Harry Reid was the CFI, Norm Ramsey was OC Fixed Wing I was OC Tactical Helicopter Flight , with instructors Gord Walker, Jim Brubaker, Pat Thornton, Colin Sangster, Bill Charland and UK Army Air Corps, Jim Cullen. These again were great times and I was fortunate in participating in training the first group of recce pilots and others. We had a healthy mix of Hillers, L-19s and even a few Chipmunks that summer and again a real melting pot of the various members of the Army Aviation community. Many more people were coming thru AATTS, from ground jobs, Fred Wagner, John Hugill, Hugh Stevenson to name a few. Our maintenance honcho was Ken Kennah, with WO 1 Fred Leach, later Alex Jackson, and others.
It was too good to continue forever, I took the C 45 Expeditor Instrument course along with Gord Walker, and in the summer of 63, after Gagetown, was selected for Army Staff College and somewhat reluctantly went off to Kingston Canadian Army Staff College (CASC)for two years. Lorne Rodenbush, Don Foster, Al Doucet, Bert Legget, Barry Blair and John McLeish were on the same course. We were due to receive the first Vertols shortly and I would have loved to have been with that early band of warriors, Harry Reid, Gord Walker,Vern Taskey,Dan Danyluk, Stan Hand and the other stalwarts.
After CASC, I was sent to Gagetown as a company commander in the Service Battalion. Our CO, Charlie Provan, RCEME was inundated with pilots. Pete Harrison Burt Lake, Fred Chapman, Lorne Rodenbush, Blaine Bartley and yours truly. The large increase in flying pay came out at that time, and with all of the flying majors making more money than the unit COs, we kept a discrete silence around pay day.
In the fall of 65, the Army planned the first winter exercise in Norway, Arctic Express, and a very new innovation was going to be the inclusion of CH 113A Voyageurs. I was part of the 3 Bde support for the exercise and designated as the detatchment commander for 6 weeks at the SOLA Norwegian Air Force base at Stavanger Norway. I had a small team of tpt operators from the Service Bn, Lt Jim Craig, S/Sgt Dick Smalley and a few others. We were responsible for the transloading of Yukons to Hercs and the accommodation, feeding etc for the transient members of the RHC (Black Watch) Bn group, incl the members of 1 Transport Helicopter Platoon. As part of the build up, Harry Reid and I and others went on a recce to Norway, traveled first class as the few passengers in Air Force 10,000, the C 5 VIP transport. We visited Bardufoss, Andoya and SOLA and made the original arrangements for the exercise. Buzz Borland was also part of the recce as the GSO 1 at Eastern Command. I will leave the details of the enroute R &R activities to Harry and others to relate. Were fortunate enough to have engine trouble in Narvik, so stayed a couple of extra days awaiting parts from Marvelle France. Harry and 1 Tpt Pl did a fantastic job during the actual exercise and truly established the credibility of helicopter support in all weather day and night field operations. The exercise was the forerunner of a number of deployments, Denmark, Germany, Jamaica, Nevada and others. In retrospect, the performance of Harry in those formative days was truly worthy of an Order of Military Merit, but we were reticent about such things in those days (probably the award was not yet established).
After Gagetown Service Bn, I was assigned as Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quarter Master General (DAA&QMG) to HQ 3 Canadian Infantry Brigade Group (3 CIBG). A great job and again the experience of working with a variety of Commanders, Brigadier Milroy, Brigadier Guimond, Brigadier Drewry and all the CO s of the units in 3 Bde. I still had a desire to get back to the flying side of the Army and after Gagetown was transferred to HQ Mobile Command.
My first task was to develop a field-refueling concept for Army Aviation. It was an interesting challenge and I learned a few lessons, the government procurement process was unwieldy, cumbersome, and expensive and has only increased in its ineffectiveness to this day. I visited a manufacturer of tank trucks who provided very efficient effective units for the construction business and forestry operators in Quebec. The only real changes we needed to make was the inclusion of adequate filtering systems. He quoted a very reasonable price and early delivery etc. It looked great to me and was a real practical and economical solution. When I asked about tech drawings, he said forget it. It would cost more than the equipment to prepare the papers for the Army requirement. If something breaks down he said, get a cutting torch and throw away the debris and start from scratch. Not good enough for us, we need detailed tech drawings, repair manual, (all in two languages, etc) He said forget it, it wasn’t worth the frustration. Good common sense approach to the logistics of small operations, which are as valid today as in 1967.
In my first year at Mobile Command (MOBCOM), the HQ had an Aviation cell, the Chief of Tactical Aviation, part of the Force Resources and Development Branch (FRD) The boss was G/C Amos Pudsey, later to be killed in Africa demonstrating a Twin Otter. Buzz Borland was the LCol in the Org and Establishment and wrote the Tactical Aviation Force Structure. It was a sizeable paper outfit, including Mojaves, Buffaloes, Attack Helicopters, Transport , Utility and Recce. They were euphoric days to say the least. I had finished my stint at the refueling study and went over to the Senior Staff Officer Transportation (SSO Tn) shop with Chuck Read and Dan Danyluk. Always remembering Blain Bartley’s quips about happy hour career planning, I knew there was an opening in the Tac Avn cell, and went in to the position of Staff Officer Exercises. It was an invigorating time. B Gen Gerry Edwards, was the Comd, Grant Nichols the Deputy, Russ Roane my boss, Pete Armstrong in Tac Eval and many more.
The exercise business was getting started and we had just formed HQ 10 Tactical Air Group (HQ 10 TAG), so I was an original. There was much new ground to be developed in the setting up of an operationss center, the fleshing out of the Tac Avn command and control organization, Tactical Air Control Centres (TACCs, Tactical Air Control Units (TACUs) etc. I enjoyed the challenge and was fortunate to work with some very good people.
Early on I went to Suffield for “Ex Vacuum” a Nuclear Biological Chemical Warfare (NBCW) scenario with the Queen’s Own Rifles (QOR) group under Herb Pitts. The Brigadier was Stan Waters, followed by Bill Leanord, the Brigade Major (BM) John Deschastelain, Bud MacKay the Air Comd and I was the Ops Centre guy. Fred Zeggil was there with the CH113s, a Navy pilot from Rivers with a Hiller and 408 Sqn with T 33s. I will never forget being in the op center, with troop lifts, T 33 Aerial spray of simulated nerve gas, everyone flying with respirators, including night ops, and the QOR pioneers blowing up obstacles, and we carried it off without an incident. The only casualty was someone asleep in a caravan or tent and succumbing to carbon monoxide poisoning, The personal relationships established during these exercises were invaluable as we all progressed to bigger and better things. (especially Deschastelain, Waters and Pitts!)We had a number of exercises underway and this included Jamaica with Bert Casselman and 403 Sq and a Hiller from 450 Sqn(Bill Pollock) They were all a great contribution to establishing credible tactical aviation support to the army.
Some other events were not that tactical but I will never forget being in the 10 TAG ops desk on Friday afternoon and receiving a phone call from the aide to the Chief ofDefence Staff (Gen Allard) who had a small request, just drop 5 parachutists on all the bases and the pitcher’s mound at Jarry Park for the first game of the new Montreal Expos. It was not long after we had the unfortunate experience of dropping some paratroopers in the Petewawa River, so I was justifiably a little goosey over the idea-through the flight path of Airliners into Dorval, etc and as there was no one else to advise, contacted the Reserve Support Unit (RSU) CO, who agreed it could be done. We organized a hasty test run with some troops from Valcartier and lo and behold we did it the next day, with no major problems. I signed an op order to cover the Otter Sqn and at monday ops briefing told Gen Edwards that the only two names on the venture were JV Allard and Jim Grant. Sometimes you just do what you have to do and make things happen, but always be prepared to cover the other people involved. Accept responsibility. Similar non-tac happenings included the McGill student riots, we had Hueys from 403 and 450 Sqn on standby, but even though downtown Montreal looked like a 20 KT ground burst, we never actively used the a/c.
I was promoted to LCol in early 69, originally on the logistic list, but was thoroughly involved in the aviation scenario and B Gen Edwards requested I stay at 10 TAG and change to the Air Ops classification. I replaced Buzz Borland as SSO Organization and Establishment, and Jim Brubaker replaced me in ops. I was active in the creation of the Tac Hel Sqns, the a/c assignments, the selection of locations for new hangars and liaison with Ottawa on tac hel matters, Our initial survey of the Sqn sites was a team composed of myself, Stan Cote, Al Cooper and others. So if you want to blame anyone over why 430 Sqn is at Valcartier and not Ancienne Lorrete, 408 Sqn in Edmonton and not Wainwright or Calgary, 427 Sqn at Silver Dart and 403 Sqn at Gagetown and not Fredericton, the buck stops here. The main force in having the Tac Hel Sqns all co-located with their army units was LGen Turcot who was adamant they should not be in the white sheet environment of a commercial airfield. The emotions over living in the field continued through the early days of 10 TAG and the mixed marriage with the Buffalo unit etc.
In early 70 I was transferred to National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) to the Directorate of Equipment Requirements Air (DERA 5 )slot. I again replaced Buzz Borland, who had gone to Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth. His immediate predecessor was Ted Crosbie who was working with Frank Piaseki and the Hiller team, the previous Director, a Gp Capt Murray was working with Hughes, so once again I was in the deep end of the pool. The Light Observation Helicopter (LOH) program was in the final approval stages, but the competition was still active. The project officer was John McLeish, and in company with Norm Ramsey the program was successfully completed with Treasury Board approval on 26 March 71 (my birthday). DERA 5 was the successor to the old Directorate of Land Air Warfare office, DLAW and was a fascinating place to work. It was always blessed with good people and the incoming chief always had the full support of the staff. Norm Ramsey had steered the Huey program with Ted Crosbie, and John McLeish the LOH program with initially Ted, then Buzz, Norm and at the end myself.
We operated with a very small team of truly dedicated professionals. The DERA group was the spark plug and guidance for the Central Planning Team, which included reps from the Aircraft design engineers, Al Sentence and Stan Knowles, the maintenance and program people, Norrie Nishimura, the systems guys, the financial bean counters, Dick Blythman, Bill Crossman, Terry Marshall and a number of others but never more than about 20 people. The system was somewhat flexible but it seemed to be designed to support disapproval rather than success. My original Director was Col Herby Herbert who was always supportive, as was the head of the Air Force Staff, then BGen Dave Adamson along with John Buzza and others. We had a narrow tight rope to walk in trying to maintain support of two divergent at times titular heads of our section. We had to have the endorsement of the Army, but were in competition with tanks, radios etc, sibling rivalry, and on the Air Force side were seen as a threat to fighter programs and weapons updates etc. It was a lesson or apprenticeship in the art of bridge building and coalescing opposing forces. I think we were very successful and much credit goes to the staffs, who worked through the turmoil. It was always helpful to have former staff college friends in location through out the HQ, and old friends from Rivers, Gagetown, MOBCOM etc.
We were a very successful group, with the single Huey, the Twin Huey, and the LOH programs. It was a momentous increase in the Army Aviation inventory and coincidentally one of the major increases in the pilot seats in the Forces. All of this was occurring in the early stages of unification and probably the biggest benefactors were the ex Navy pilots. There was a limited number of Army background people available and not all of them were in the pilot classification. The Navy had a lot of helicopter experience through the Sea King and earlier programs, while our Army people with the most experience were in 403 and 450 Sqn so it was natural that many Navy people were selected. A tent was preferable to a rolling deck and night over water work. Very few RCAF members had extensive helicopter time.
In 1972 I was posted to Petewawa as CO of 403 Sqn. Bert Casselman had been promoted Col to command Portage.The initial training of the first CO’s and key personnel for the Tac Hel Sqns had been completed and many of the original members had been posted to the new units, Pat Thornton, John Hugill, Joe Oakley, Alf Tait and others. Another interesting posting and once again blessed with excellent staff with Marsh Wright as DCO succeeded by Bob Chisholm. 403 was transferred to Gagetown in 1973 and I returned to Ottawa, to my old job in DERA 5.
NDHQ was going through one of its many reorganization turmoils and DERA 5 was re-assigned to the Land staff as a section under the Directorate of Land Resources (DLR) as DLR 6. We were reduced in strength down to just 3 officers. Don Frierson, US exchange, and Murray McDonald. and myself. After much negotiation and back room dealing with MGen Adamson and MGen Reid and his Deputy Herb Pitts, we were finally established as the Directorate of Land Aviation with fixed and dotted lines to both the Army and the Air chiefs. Dave Simmons and Alf Tait joined us and eventually Keith Lavender, Bill Pollock and Bill Lewis. It was a constant battle, but we survived and continued our conquest of new programs. One of the interesting ventures was the setting up of the Cobra evaluation Trials through Canadian Forces Europe (CFE). The project was initiated by Canada and with the help of then LCol Paul Manson at HQ CFE, we were able to have a key role in the trials. Bruce Muelaner was involved as was Butch Waldrum. It was at this time we initiated a program for a replacement for the CH 113s with the Chinook. Alf Tait was the initial project officer, followed by Bill Pollock, and we developed the program from the initiation of the requirement, to an evaluation, to procurement. It was a little easier this time with the experience of the earlier programs behind us. We had total support from L Gen Carr, then Deputy Chief Defence Staff (DCDS) and M Gen Adamson as Chief Air Doctrine and Operations (CADO) and the Chief Land Doctrine and Operations CLDO, M Gen Roy Reid. I had the unfortunate task of conducting the Board of Inquiry on CH147001, which was destroyed with 5 fatalities on the initial acceptance delivery flight (Dale Cavanaugh RCASC co-pilot).
Shortly after the crash, I was selected to be posted to the newly formed Air Command (AIRCOM) as SSO Tactical Helicopters (SSO Tac Hels). Again a good job with an excellent co-worker, Butch Colwell of the 8 CH. I enjoyed AIRCOM and had a few very rewarding jobs, one being assigned on Temporary Duty (TD) to work for Dave Garland, Base Comd Namao for operation Morning Light.(the crash of the Russian satellite) It was a remarkable operation, no accidents, a completely new situation with the nuclear contamination and an operation in the most remote part of Canada. Dave was a great leader and I admired the way in which he dealt with the press twice a day and was always cool, calm and very professional. We were involved for 2-3 months and finally went to Las Vegas and Stanford University to complete the report.
LGen Carr was our Commander, and was an outstanding leader. Three years of attending morning briefings and being responsible for defending the activities of the Tac Hel and Chinook fleet kept you on your toes. We had a real mix of personalities in the HQ and a number of lasting friendships were established with people like Larry Ashley, then LCol, SSO Maritime and the “Golden King of the Sky” Neil Gillespie, SSO Fighters. We were all involved in the setting up of the relationships between Air Command and the Army and Navy. There was always a degree of tension between the Comds as independent as Bill Carr, Stan Waters and Boyle, so we all graduated with practical degrees in conflict resolution! I believe we did a good job in being the interphase between the commands.
Shortly after Morning Light I was transferred to a NATO job in the POLEX (Policy and Exercises) branch at HQ AFCENT (Allied Forces Central Europe)in Brunssum, Netherlands. After 3 years and 30 years service, I decided to retire and on a visit to the Paris Air Show signed on with MBB Helicopters to start a new life. That in itself is another story.
What are the major lessons learned? I have never been carried away with scenery or climate, and having grown up in Teepee Creek Alberta, there was room for more growth. People are far more important than locale. We had a great brotherhood in the formative days of Army flying, sharing the challenges of a new skill, and also being hardened by the competitive nature of the flying game. Many good people never made it past the initial selection, or were unsuccessful during the training cycle. In addition there was not always support from the old Army hierarchy towards the pilot world. (RCASC was supportive-Joe Sarantos, Harry Brodie & others) We are the survivors and I would say, the winners.
What do you think!
Jim Grant is a retired LCol pilot,
who served in Rivers,(2) Winnipeg (Aircom) and
other asignments in 30 years of regular service
Also by Jim Grant: Military Heritage of the Extended Grant Family