U. S. Army's 1st Air Cavalry Division Conducts Massive Air Assault in South Vietnam-October 20, 1967

October 20, 1967

During a recent operation, units of the U. S. Army's 1st Air Cavalry Division, based at An Khe, South Vietnam, conducted a massive air assault on positions near the South China Sea.

Considerable coordination is involved in employing the air mobility concept,
including the use of artillery, observation helicopters, UH-1 "Huey" "Gun Ships" armed with rockets and machine guns, and CH-47 "Chinook" and "Huey" "Slick Ship" unarmed, troop- carrying helicopters .

Troops board "Huey" helicopters bound for the battle area.

Aerial rocket artillery softens up landing zones (LZ) where the troop- carrying helicopters will unload their passengers .

"Huey" "Gun Ships", fly with the troop carrying "Slick Ships" to provide protection and serve as a form of aerial artillery. CH-47 "Chinook" twin-rotorchoppers, which also carry airborne cavalrymen, fly in formation with the "Hueys ". The "Chinooks ", often called the workhorse of the infantry, are heavy cargo helicopters used primarily in resupply operations . For this mission, they carry soldiers .

After the landing zones have been saturated with aerial rockets from the "GunShips", the helicopters land, off-load troops, and depart rapidly.

Some of the choppers land on a small plateau, others on a hilltop beside the
ocean, and others on the beach itself.

The soldiers quickly move out from the helicopters into positions around the
landing zone to defend it in case of enemy opposition in the operation.

Thanks to the helicopter, men and equipment can be moved quickly and precisely into selected battle positions . Helicopter air mobility has proved an important factor in the type of tactics employed by American forces in Vietnam.