Lords of Darkness

Prior to 1979, you probably hadn't heard of counterterrorism or Special Operations. Even so, special warriors have been around since Moses sent Joshua to spy out the land of Canaan. In 1986, Colonel Billy R. Wood served as the operations officer of the newly organized 45th Aviation Battalion (Special Operations). This unit was highly classified. The special operations training and missions carried out by the team were conducted in secret, and members couldn't even tell their wives and families where they were going. These soldiers were called the Lords of Darkness. Prior to its formation, much was written about the failed hostage rescue mission in Iran. The Pentagon leadership implied, "Whatever the costs, whatever we do, we can never have another Desert One." Secret exercises were conducted with modified aircraft and soon-to-be-skilled night flyers of Task Force 160, today known as "Night Stalkers." What you didn't read about was the "other" US Army Special Operations Aviation Battalion-an Army National Guard unit. Highly classified and therefore less known, it was a "mirror image" special aviation unit. You didn't realize they existed because you weren't supposed to know. These teachers, businessmen, lawyers, salesman, citizen soldiers, and traditional guardsmen were called the Lords of Darkness of the Oklahoma Army National Guard. The night belonged to them-and their hearts belonged to aviation.