 In the long history of mankind, there has never been a war which has demanded such complex tactics and so many sophisticated weapons as the war in Vietnam. An entirely new concept of warfare known as Helleborn or Air Mobile Operations has been developed by the United States Army and has been successfully employed to meet the problems posed by Southeast Asia's hostile wilderness and the enemy who hides there. In the fluid situation where actions are fought from one end of South Vietnam to the other, the Air Mobile concept has given birth to the Army Air Mobility Team. The first thing that the Army had to overcome in Vietnam was the terrain itself. Approximately 80% of the country is undeveloped wilderness or in the southern part of the Republic, endless marshes, bogs, and waterways of the Mekong Delta. All of the land features which are unfavorable to a modern, highly mechanized fighting force are used by the Viet Cong as a weapon against the American military effort there. Seeking out the elusive, hidden enemy, U.S. troops are daily confronted by nightmarish natural obstacles. In a close range, the Viet Cong remain unseen. The full power of our Army cannot be brought to bear upon the enemy through ground operations alone. As the American fighting men inch their way into the Asian wilderness where the enemy has prepared underground fortresses and has entrenched himself for decades, the attack spirit of our troops is frustrated and progress is limited. A speedier, more effective method of getting at the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army forces had to be found. Traditionally, the need for ground movement by the Army is vital. Troops are still deployed on a massive scale on wheels and treads in Vietnam, and the final victory must be won on the ground. Too quickly over difficult ground and to put the firepower where it's needed, the Army developed the Air Mobile concept. This concept requires that Army aircraft be employed by and assigned to the fighting division. These aircraft and the men that fly them are immediately responsive and solely committed to support of the ground commander. For land transport, the Army still needs its workhorse vehicles, ambulances and various types of armored war machines. These are the tools of the ground force elements of the Air Mobility Team. In the Air Mobile divisions, many of these ground vehicles are replaced by helicopters which carry the men and equipment of the team. The Air Mobility Team system works is demonstrated in a battalion-sized operation to search out and clear away known enemy forces. Advanced reconnaissance is the first step for any planned attack. In Air Mobility operations, this advanced scouting is usually done from the air. Light fixed wing aircraft look for areas near suspected enemy positions which will provide a suitable landing zone for the waves of assault troops which will soon be coming in. To determine enemy strength in the area, helicopters are sent in for a closer examination of the ground. From intelligence reports and the information gathered by air reconnaissance operations, pilots and Air Mobile officers are briefed on the mission which lies ahead. From day to day, heliborne missions vary so much that these briefings must be extremely accurate. Ground commanders are also given the latest information on the operation. The operation begins when the infantry soldiers load aboard the assault Hueys to fly to the strike objective. The Air Mobile Team concept is designed with the idea that the airborne soldier must ultimately fight on foot. Every effort is made to keep small units together on the same aircraft. A combat company's mortars and machine guns are divided among several aircraft, however, so that the loss of one or two helicopters would not knock out all the company's heavy weapons. Troops are seated in each attack helicopter so that the first man off will be an automatic weapons man. If necessary, he will provide a heavy volume of fire to cover the offloading of the rest of his squad. The aerial deployment of assault troops may call for some modification of normal leadership tactics. On the ground, the company commander will be up forward. However, in the air like this, the command and control ship may well be the last one in formation. This gives the troop commander a clear view of his entire unit and allows him to break out of formation without disrupting it. In air mobile operations such as the one now underway, the hilltops overlooking an enemy held valley are pounded by army artillery units to make way for the incoming waves of helicopters. Artillery fire is carefully coordinated with attacks directly upon enemy positions by tactical aircraft of the U.S. Air Force. The jets rain bombs into the valley to neutralize the enemy there. When the fighter bomber attack is masked by the advance of the ground troops, the close support is continued by helicopter gunships. Helicopter gunships lay down suppressive fire with 2.75 rockets and machine guns when required. Using the position-marking rockets of the helicopter as a guide, the Air Force jets dart in with air heavy ordnance. The landings of the assault helicopters are the most critical phase of the operation. Despite the heavy preparatory fires, enemy small arms, automatic weapons and mortar fire may be severe. The attacking airborne soldiers must be ready to engage the enemy immediately with every type of weapon. They also must deploy swiftly to push back or eliminate enemy forces which may be blocking expansion of the landing zone. The air mobility team system provides another great advantage for the assault troops. In addition to flexible rapid transport to meet any maneuver of the enemy, the U.S. infantrymen can be landed on key terrain such as this high ground overlooking the valley. Given his vertical envelopment, this enables him to come in behind the enemy whose prepared defenses are usually oriented to cover the ground below. As the initial landings are completed without resistance from the enemy, the men spread out quickly to secure the various landing zones. Another advantage in landing atop high ground is that the assault forces are unable to attack downhill. This decreases fatigue and speeds up ground movement. The enemy is given little time in which to adjust his defenses to the attack. In an effort to land behind the enemy, some of the troops are required to land on terrain where natural obstacles make it far from an ideal landing zone. The men of the air mobile team are extremely resourceful and manage to complete their landings despite the hazards. Here for instance some of the troops must descend into the solid mass of tall jungle in order to take up a strategic blocking position. The descent is made with the aid of a trooper ladder. An air mobile landing which has been slowed down by difficult terrain is vulnerable to attack by the enemy. In this situation it is vital to have suppressive fires placed on the perimeter of the landing zone by the fire support elements of the air mobile team. The artillery forward observer plays a critical role calling in and directing artillery fire. Another triumph of the air mobile team is its truly remarkable ability to shuffle artillery through the air. In Vietnam today most aerial delivery of these field pieces is being accomplished by huge Chinook helicopter sling delivery. New light weight howitzers have been developed especially for this role. From these forward battery positions the artillery can not only support the troops moving up in the field but can cover the landings of other battalion-sized units at nearby satellite landing zone. Further support for the foot soldier comes from the Air Force. The Air Force counterpart of the Army forward observer is the FAC, the forward air controller. Riding in Air Force spotter planes the FAC can call in devastating jet airstrikes on enemy positions. The Air Force provides close air support until it can no longer attack the target without endangering our own troops. Spectacular though the air mobile teams assaults are. These brilliant aerial deployments would grind to a halt on the ground if the troops were not constantly supplied and resupplied with the many articles of war needed to fight the battles. Things like jeeps and water trainers and ammunition. Spot delivery of mail, communications equipment, small arms ammunition and food is a vital part of every operation. Pure fresh water supplies are as important as food due to the fact that natural water sources in Vietnam are carriers of disease. One of the most outstanding aerial delivery feats however is the constant shuttling in of tons of heavy shells which are consumed so rapidly by the forward artillery units. Aerial resupply means not only material but manpower as well. The Army Air Mobile Team's ability to rush reinforcements by helicopter and move troop units to keep up with rapidly changing situations on the ground has led to some of the Viet Cong's most crushing defeats. The enemy could not anticipate the reaction timing of this swift air mobility. Keeping the swarms of helicopters airborne so long and so often is made possible only because the team gives these aircraft expert maintenance on the ground. Checkups and inspection procedures are exacting and carried out according to a rigid schedule. After every combat mission an inspection is made for possible damage. Another contributing factor to the capability of these helicopters to return so swiftly to action is the multiple fueling techniques devised by the team's ingenious support personnel. Inflatable rubber fuel tanks flown well forward of the main air base cut refueling time to the bare minimum. No supporting role is more brilliantly and widely carried out in air mobile operations than the role of the combat engineers. They too take to the air along with their equipment and supplies to perform their key function of clearing the way for the fighting infantry. They not only give the troops ground mobility by clearing and building roads but they rep bridges to span rivers and gullies in the underdeveloped provinces of South Vietnam. They further the team's aerial mobility by laying down metal runways and aprons for the big airlift and resupply operations. Another important mission of the engineers is the systematic expert demolition of enemy underground fortifications, tunnels and other obstacles. Once discovered by our ground troops such enemy bunkers are never allowed to stand intact. Probably no feat of the air mobile team is as spectacular or heartwarming to the fighting man as evacuation of the wounded by medical helicopter. The swift removal of wounded soldiers from remote battlefields and aerial delivery to modern hospital facilities has cut combat fatalities to an all-time low. It is no wonder that this life-saving capability of the army air mobile team is one of the major factors in sustaining the morale and fighting spirit of the soldier. The special nature of the Vietnam War has called for application of the air mobile concept in ways never expected by the men who develop the system. Sometimes it may be the evacuation of the native populations of a remote Vietnamese village which is suspected to be a base of operations for the Viet Cong. Or more cheerfully it may be a means to implement the program in which villages and hamlets are visited by the army's civil assistance teams bringing aid to the needy villagers through gifts of food, medical care and clothing. In some of the more remote hamlets the people have never known modern medical care and this phase of the program is especially welcome. Where food is concerned the hearty wholesome meals fed to the villagers are a prime ingredient in the program. The hearts of many are won over through the gift of food. There is even entertainment to delight the villagers. These activities are just another example of the air mobile team's remarkable versatility and scope of operation. The self-sufficiency of the air mobile team is one of its most valuable assets. An example is the helicopter recovery of damaged aircraft. Since the wrecked aircraft is most often the victim of enemy action in the forward areas these recovery operations are frequently carried out while the rescue ship itself is under fire. However the men of the recovery teams are so skilled, so quick and so daring that most aircraft shot down or forced down by accident are recovered, repaired and are returned to combat duty again. Even the largest of our helicopters can be retrieved from wilderness crashes and whisked back to the capable hands of expert aircraft repairmen. The air mobile team concept has its most classic application in actual combat. In a typical operation, troops of the first cavalry division air mobile supported by mechanized units discover a regimental sized force of North Vietnamese army regulars in the foothills near Bong Son. The enemy is deeply entrenched in an area adjoining two villages. Progress is halted because of enemy mortar and automatic weapons fire. A combined arms fire mission is imperative if the ground forces are to succeed in dislodging the enemy from his system of hidden underground fortifications. Supporting fires must be called in. First to respond are the Huey Cobras, gunships and aerial rocket artillery ships. Simultaneously the supporting artillery units fire concentrations on the entire enemy position. Finally our ground forces begin moving up. They are greeted by well disciplined fire from North Vietnamese army troops who have escaped the aerial attack by burrowing deep into their underground bunkers and tunnels. And so it is all over. The army air mobile team has prevailed. The enemy has been defeated in this confrontation with the Americans at Bong Son. One thing is clear. The battle tested teams of infantry and armor, infantry and artillery and the many other combined arms teams still play their historic roles in battle. But their missions are carried out faster and more effectively as part of the army air mobility team.