Warrant Officer in History

Chief Warrant Officer Manford L. Kleiv, Aviation

By Dr. Leonard S. Momeny, Ed.D., CW5 (Ret), U.S. Army, Aviation

Article published on: April 1, 2025 in the Strength in Knowledge April 2025 Edition

Read Time: < 2 mins

*Editor's note: This biography was adapted from a primary resource at https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/24463

Many readers of the Warrant Officer Journal will most likely hear the name Kleiv and think back to the US Army Warrant Officer Career College (USAWOCC) campus in Fort Novosel, Alabama. Today, Kleiv Hall hosts Warrant Officer Intermediate Level Education and Warrant Officer Candidate students. Additionally, the building houses the USAWOCC History Department and various artifacts from the past, such as original candidate class guidons dating back to the mid-80s. If you were to walk in the hall today, you are likely to spend time looking at those guidons, and various prints adorning the walls and potentially miss the history of the building's namesake, which sits on a corner wall near classrooms five and six.

Manfred Kleiv was born in Whitefish, Montana, and served his nation for twenty years. When World War II began, Manfred Kleiv was a young man hungry to serve his country. CWO Kleiv did not just serve in WWII, he was a part of the early Army Ranger Battalions, the foundation of what would become America's eventual special operations forces. The Rangers of WWII are renowned for their heroism, fighting across Europe and in remote areas of the Pacific. The Rangers of that period are memorialized in some ways in the modern classic, Saving Private Ryan. Kleiv was cut from that cloth and earned his Combat Infantryman's Badge, fighting with some of the bravest our nation had to offer then and now.

By 1964, CWO Kleiv was nearing retirement and a return to his beloved Montana, where he hoped to finish the rest of his days. Instead, CWO Kleiv found himself in Vietnam, a then relatively unheard of country in southeast Asia. On October 9, 1964, CWO Manfred Kleiv's UH-1 came under concentrated enemy fire and ended up on the ground with the enemy rapidly approaching. Kleiv would not survive the encounter but was awarded a Silver Star for the following actions:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 8, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Chief Warrant Officer Manford Lloyd Kleiv, United States Army, for gallantry in action while engaged in military operations in Vietnam on October 9, 1964. Chief Warrant Officer Kleiv was performing his duties as an Instructor Pilot of an Army UH-1B helicopter in connection with a support mission in the Republic of Vietnam when a hostile force shot down his aircraft. Immediately after the initial impact of the aircraft, he evacuated the crew and established defensive positions around the downed helicopter while exposing himself to the advancing enemy troops. Despite the hail of heavy small arms fire, he returned to the aircraft, made an emergency distress call, and then covered the crew members as they maneuvered to defilade positions. Assured that the crew members were well covered, he again returned to the aircraft, repeated the distress call, and, while attempting to rejoin the crew, was mortally wounded. His fortitude, courageous actions, and deep concern for his crew members enabled them to be evacuated from the area by helicopter. Chief Warrant Officer Kleiv's conspicuous gallantry is in the highest traditions of the United States Army and reflects great credit upon himself and the United States Army.

Kleiv laid down his life for his fellow Soldiers. The remainder of the crew was transported to safety, and Kleiv would eventually travel home to his beloved Montana, where he now rests. CWO Manfred Kleiv represented the very best of us, and he embodied the ideals and values of both Army Rangers and Warrant Officers.