Part #2, U.S. Army Helicopter Crewmen

WO2, 1st Field Force, Pilot:

During the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, USARV I Field Force Vietnam I (“I” pronounced "eye"), had the mission of exercising operational control over the U.S. and the rest of the allied forces in the II Corps Tactical Zone. They were also providing combat assistance to the South Vietnamese Army units fighting there.

I Field Force Vietnam was also used as a basis for what would become the “Second Regional Assistance Command” (SRAC) on April 30, 1971. The U.S. Military Forces, Military Region 2. was organized in Fort Hood, Texas in early 1965, using cadres from III Corps.

I Field Force Vietnam (originally Taskforce ALPHA) was in Vietnam from August 1st, 1965, providing combat assistance to the South Vietnamese Army's II Corps and controlling U.S. military operations in the area of the Central Highlands. They were Headquartered at Nha Trang, when re-designated as I Field Force Vietnam, now a corps-level organization, in March 1966.

The uniform here, depicts a pilot, of one of the aircraft specifically assigned for Feild Force. A Warrant Officer, he has an early style pattern fatigue shirt, that was being replaced I think by about 1967 by the new jungle fatigues, made in rip-stop material.

But it does have subdued insignia. The helmet, being white, seems to be from the 1966-67 period of the war, they soon were issued green, and the white helmets were later painted over. Like most in my collection, the helmet is all marked up, The helmet says WO-3, but I think the collar shows WO2 so maybe he had a reduction in rank? Or just never added the rank to this shirt. The Field Also is a different style having the black and the green reversed, so I am as confused as you too.

Specialist, 1st Field Force Crewman:

Specialist Donahue here wears what might be called the “late~War” Shirt, or fire retardant shirt, they are light, like wearing a parachute, maybe more like that of a race car driver’s Nomex suit of the times. They are seen in many photographs, but they took, a long time, to become available to the actual flight crewmen in Vietnam, and by 72 the US had pulled out, the uniforms were used through the 1970s stateside.

He would likely have worn, jungle fatigue trousers with the shirt, and black boots. He has taken the liberty, (probably had someone back in the world, send him some model paints) to paint his name boldly across his plastic visor cover, in the popular hippie “Flower Power” style, or national lampoon is it? cartoonish Baloon Lettering style of the time, beat flowers and flower power peacenik stuff, albeit this was seen too.

Corporal, 1st Field Force, Door Gunner:

There were many units assigned to I Field Force, at different times, rotating in and out, added as necessary, like the 41st and 52nd Artillery Groups and combat service support battalions. Some of the more famous who served with the I Field Force Vietnam were the First Cavalry Division (Air mobile), Fourth Infantry Division, 3d Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile), and the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate).

This Troop, I’m calling him a door gunner but, he could have been a crew chief, I took the liberty to add some pictures of some flight crewmen, taken randomly off the internet, are not likely from this unit, but you can see a bit of how they operated, wearing the heavy “Chicken Plate” at least the front side, and how they would twist their bodies around their weapon, often hanging from a chord, and belt-length to the chair, hanging out the door to look around and protect their aircraft.

The uniform is again the special air-crew shirt, with subdued insignia on it, including, his prior tour patch, where he served with the 196th Infantry Brigade. Corporal Magee wears the typical ball cap and green flight helmet, in its issue stat, it was in tough shape and rebuilt a couple of times. New type of helmet for this second tour troop.

Chief Warrant Officier, 2nd Field Force, Pilot, RVN:

The Second Field Force was activated on 15 March 1966, It developed into the largest corps command in Vietnam, and really ever. They were headquartered in Long Binh. II Field Force was also a part of (MACV) Militar Assistance Command Vietnam, there were a number of Army units assigned to them throughout the war.

like the 1st Infantry Division, 9th Infantry Division, 25th Infantry Division, 101st Airborne Division, 1st Cavalry Division, the 3rd Brigade of the 82n2 Airborne Division, as well as the 3rd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division. They also operated with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, 196th Light-Infantry Brigade, 199th Infantry Brigade, 11th Armored Cavalry Division, 12th Aviation Group, and Artillery Groups, Signals, Etc. Components from all over to make it operate as smoothly as possible.

Oddly, I can’t seem to find many good photos of the patch in use in RVN. Warrant Officer 2, Pierino here, wears the common fatigue shirt, that was officially replaced, but it was seen throughout the war years, a completely subdued uniform probably places it in the late 1960s.

He has a prior tour under his belt too, where he served also with “MACV”, and has earned the Infantryman’s Combat Badge as well! So could be on his second or even third tour, having had his pilot’s training somewhere in the middle of them.

While his cap has metal insignia pinned on it, a set of wings, with the Basic-Warrant Officer insignia under it, and his helmet is issue-new, well taken care of, it is clean of any markings on it. He would have had matching trousers and black leather boots, he likely wore a “chicken-plate” vest, and possibly a web belt with a 45 auto on it, and maybe a fighting knife as well with him. When not flying, he wore his ball cap, note his wings on it didn’t have the “Senior Pilot” star on it, maybe he got hung up on things the metal insignia was not preferred, so it could be stuck in a pocket.

Note I can’t believe it, another CIB in the wrong place! I’ll fix this.

“NEW” Specialist, Door Gunner, 2nd Field Force, RVN:

This Specialist is a typical door gunner, and possibly a crew chief for one of the aircraft assigned to Two Field Force directly, and has been trew helicopter school, and has the crewman wings, as opposed to the common practice of taking infantry short-timers, gunners who are getting near the end of their tours sometimes volunteers orr even picked to serve as helicopter door gunner spots that needed filling. Again the condition of the helmet implies a new issue, so, he would be an FNG, but many of these helmets had been in really tough shape, and I have “Fixed them up” as best I can in most cases, and haven’t had the heart to beat them all up to match old uniforms.

Captain, 1st Platoon 192nd Aviation Company, MACV (AVN):

Captain Miller…(ring a bell here) I’m thinking “Saving Private Ryan” right? But no, this could be his son eh? And he got stuck going to the Vietnam War in the 192nd AVN.CO. “Just saying”.

Anyways Captain Miller here did his officer schooling with the Infantry as shown by the crossed musket rifles on his collar, I imagine he had transferred to Helicopters soon after his commissioning, as an Infantry Leutnant, so he may have earned his rank to Captain from flying, and through battlefield necessity, Prior to, and/or with his service with the Second Field Force, he now earned his senior pilot wings above his Army Name Tape the hard way.

The Captain is flying with the 1st Platoon, 192nd Aviation Company for which the unit is depicted with a Pocket Hanger Patch, The 192nd Aviation Company was originally activated at Fort Riley, Kansas, and deployed to Vietnam and arrived in September 1967. Interestingly he has the MAC-V Pocket Hanger on the other side, implying they were removed before the flight possibly or during the temporary assignment.

Even though his personalized Flight-helmet has already identified him with “Winged One” of the 1st Airlift Platoon, and their “motto”, Super Primus (known to be Operating with MACV), and the pocket-hanger would have been covered with a “Chicken Plate” vest, and possibly even with a regular vest underneath that as some did when expecting trouble.

The company was assigned to the 10th Combat Aviation Battalion, 17th Combat Aviation Group, under the 1st Aviation Brigade. After in-country orientation and training the 192nd was declared operationally ready in December 1967 and underwent a name change to become the 192nd Assault Helicopter Company.

The 192nd Aviation Company came to Vietnam in September of 1967 and became operational in December 1967 becoming the 192nd Assault Helicopter Company. They were based out of Phu Hiep, later at Phan Thiet and Phan Rang. They supported the 3/506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile), sometimes the Phan Thiet MACV compound, Bao Loc MACV, Dalat MACV, 53rd Regiment ARVN, Phan Rang MACV, 5/27 Artillery, 44th ARVN Regiment, within II Corps.

He has a “Ball Cap” and wisely has the insignia sewn onto it. His Helmet has not survived as well and is a bit beat up and in tough shape, While the jungle fatigues are completely regulation, the helmet not so much, and has had artistic personalized emblems applied to the front and back, possibly by a crewman for a surprise, or from him over some time.

Note: The helmet’s visor cover is broken at the bottom, just haven’t had the heart to put another one on, with the special artwork on it, I’m leaving with the saying the kids must have played with it at some point, story. The Captain had a prior tour assigned to the 2nd Field Force.

Private, (Door Gunner) 1st Infantry Division, Rebels Gun Platoon:

the 1st Aviation Brigades’ beginnings came In April 1965 with the institution of the U.S. Army Aviation Brigade (Provisional) that was activated using the 13th, 14th, 52nd, and 145th Aviation Battalions. They had been formed up using the newly developed concept of vertical envelopment by helicopter insertion rather than Air-Bore Parachute drops that had proved very chancy during daylight hours and quite dangerous for the jumpers any other time, but the concept was still all very new.

The Aviation Brigade (Provisional) arrived in the Republic of Vietnam In August 1965, where it became the 12th Aviation Group, and began to grow, so much so, that it regrouped as the 1st Aviation Brigade in March of 1966. This would start a long history of helicopter soldiers, that would fly in and out of battle on a daily basis, many two or three times a day, pushing their fate, flying at tree top level, while dead tires, and avoiding ground fire.

That’s how much of this war in Vietnam would be fought, Many soldiers would serve in the 1st Brigade, who at times seemed to be involved with every helicopter unit at some point or another. The Brigade had taken the independent aviation companies, which all had developed their own networks of supply and made them one, and the aircraft and operations became standardized.

The Brigade HQ & HQ Company was in Saigon City from 1966 to 1967, then it was relocated to Long Binh till closing up shop in the Autumn of 1972 as the US Military began its withdrawal from the War, they transferred over to the MACV compound at Tan Son Nhut, where they were when it all came to an end.

The 52nd Aviation Battalion worked with the 4th Infantry Division in the Central Highland area, with the 10th Aviation Battalion supporting a brigade the 101st Airborne Division and the Republic of Korea division, the 11th Combat Aviation Battalion was with the 1st Infantry Division, the 214th—the 9th Division and the 269th Aviation Battalion with the 25th Division. The 13th Battalion, which became a full group, stayed working in the Mekong Delta region. Two aviation groups, the 17th, and the 12th worked in the II and II Corps Tactical Zones.

This flight crewman flys with the “Rebels” Gunship Platoon of the 1st Aviation Battalion, assigned to the 1st Infantry Division, he sits in the back of one of the UH-1C Huey Helicopter Gunships, a door gunner to shoot at what the pilots can’t see. The "Rebels" of the Gun Platoon, 1st Aviation Battalion, 1st Infantry Division had adopted a Southern flag-themed insignia to distinguish themselves as a breed apart.

The uniform shirt was typical in 1966-67, and was pretty much regulation for the time, having adopted already the subdued format for his insignia, other than the pocket Fob. His helmet has gotten a lot of attention though, and he has patiently applied all his paint work to it.

WO2, Outcasts, Indian Head, “Scout” 1st Infantry Division, 4th Cavalry Regiment:

The Warrant Two’s uniform is a fatigue shirt, with a mix of insignia on it, The WO2 collar rank, is one of 4-to 5 different examples of fatigue uniform cloth patches, from gold and brown to black on silver, to black on green, even others, as regulations changed I suppose, and the availability at the place of assignment mixing this order all up. This uniform is the start of a large section, depicting the various stages and variations in their uniforms, over those war years, and I think this one here represents the early stages of the 1st Infantry Division, 4th Cavalries Reconnaissance Platoon. This section shows some of the Slick and Guship Crewmen of these flying soldiers.

He also carried the crossed sabers of the cavalry, where he was working on a commission in OCS, but ended up becoming a WO, to get to Helicopters I would presume. His first infantry division patch, is an issue item or was stateside, and to be changed when deployed to Vietnam, but why throw away a perfectly fine patch right?

The Big Red One carried a tremendous amount of pride, and it took a while before the black and green format became the norm, and often then bought in-country, and although subdued, still not in the issue manufacture, but generally accepted.

His assignment with the 4th Cavalry Regiment is noted on the patch on his chest from the (DUI) in patch form. and on the other pocket, the short-lived Indian Scout with an arrow pointing the way, sewn on squarely on his uniform. Apparently, the Troop D, Scouts, Arrow through the Indians Head Unit ID Patch, was pretty quickly replaced with a different Outcasts patch.

His ball cap has the cavalry sabers and his rank sewn on it, and his early model helmet has had a rough existence, still in fair shape, and held the green pain on it. I see this scout pilot, doing his snooping work, looking around in the scout aircraft used before the OH-6 LOHs, more like the OH-13.

Warrant Officer, 4 Cavalry Regiment, 1st ID. D Company (Air) Scout, “OutcastS”:

This uniform depicts a later period, Warrant Officer / Scout, from the 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division shows yet again a possible variation of the unit’s emblem, when the skull was turned black from white, presumably as other units also had a white skull (an insignia popular for intimidation, and to fear, throughout history).

The regulation fatigue shirt still being used here, the Warrant Officer, carries the cross swords of the cavalry, he has the silver-backed WO collar insignia, with the Red One patch on the shoulder, and he wears two “FOBs” the hanging patch on his right, boldly declares his affiliation with 1/4 Scouts, and on his left, the 4th Cav. Regiment Identification.

These come apart easily, with the hanger holes too big or in the wrong place-leaving a thin spot, so I think, were not worn on their missions, but I don’t know for a fact, but they would be hidden behind their Chicken Plate armored vest, and one would not like a couple dangling damn-it’s hanging off your chest when flying into a" “LZ” to look for any signs of the enemy!

His helmet is interesting, as two orange lines- in a V or chevron on his visor cover, it goes with the orange in the 4-Cavalries DUI, The orange is generally attributed to flight training and flight instructors, I think, so I’m not exactly sure why the officer would have it, maybe to give check out’s to new pilots.

Like the other aircrewmen of the company, he would have had matching trousers, black leather boots, a side-arm, and possibly a good luck charm and ID tag.

WO2, C Troop, 16 Cavalry Regiment 'Outcasts' 1st Aviation Brigade, OH-6 Pilot:

Note: The uniform represents one of these fellows of this now famous unit, but Toms is not an actual person from this unit, It is not for me to guess at a fellow’s story, and if I do find a guy, then tell a bit of that, but there are so many more stories that could be told here in sure, I’ll recommend a book for that, The picture at the bottom, is about one of these pilots, it was a great book to read, it’s not my book, but just thought I’d put it out there, I don’t want to step on anyone feet, I have great respect for all of our military personnel, veterans are a special kind of people. The helmet carries the “1st Aviation Brigade” Unit Insignia, as well as the “Black Horse” Insignia, that the Outcasts was working with, and as a Pilot, would have flown with before he got into the reconnaissance section. His fire retardant shirt was a rare item, right up to the pull-out of Vietnam, though some acquired and some issued them.

*Sergeant “Crew Chief”, 1st Infantry Division, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Squadron:

*Note: I’ll get the story of this on here, but I’ve been pulling hairs, trying to sort 2 different Sergent-Brown uniforms out, I went threw old pictures I had and came up with 2 different guys! But one no longer exists? And what I could find in my boxes…I figured out the original had been…call it upgraded, and a different helmet applied, now That I had made a helmet! So I painted that over that, 1 uniform-1 helmet That’s how it works, I had been fiddling with this for weeks, as I went through 2 different “site-makers” in the last year! and it’s all cleared up now are pictures from a year ago, but up to date.

Spec. 4, C Company, 16 Cavalry Regiment, 1st Aviation Brigade, Door Gunner:

Obviously, I’m drawn to this unit, but I do know not why exactly, it kind of just came together like that going through patches and then figure-out who they represented, and the stories come in there. The group does have an interesting history and they went through a number of title-changes, I guess I tried to show how some of the Helicopter units evolved and quickly changed assignments, much in the flow of the paperwork, they are some of my favorites in the collection.

Corporal, 16 Cavalry Regiment, D-Troop, Lift Platoon, “The Four Horseman” Door Gunner:

The corporal wears the later war, jungle fatigues, with the standard all-subdued insignia, except for the unofficial pocket-hanger unit patches. His cap carries on it subdued metal insignia. and the helmet is not an issue color, so he somehow had a custom helmet made, or has acquired one, quite modified with a professional finish, and the markings were added sometime later, and hand-painted on.

1st Leutnant, 1 / 4 Cav. Pilot, Mustangs (Snake Pilot):

1st Lieutenant ABBENSETTS, from the Guns Platoon of the 1/4 Cavalry, pilots a Cobra Gunship now and knows how to use it to its maximum performance, but late in the war the enemy has purchased heat sealing-hand held rockets just for this purpose, and for the Sandy’s, they also now had RPG shoulder-fired weapons with their rockets having proximity fuses on them, all they had to do was get close enough.

The mission of flying armed helicopters was by nature a dangerous trade. By 1970, the odds of finishing your tour without getting shot down was slime, and many got shot down 2-3-4 times.

His fatigued shirt by 1971 was getting long in the tooth, and the jungle fatigues had taken over to some extent. The light-weight fire retardent uniforms were still desired, the missions in Cambodia and Laos were in the works, and the Americans….pulling out.

His helmet depicts several aspects of his affiliation with the unit and its changes of identity, having at one point been assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division. He’s gone through Signals School as well. The uniform’s insignia is all subdued, except the fob on the pocket, and his helmet, which had many various updates done to it, is still in good form.

Major, 16 Cav. “GUNS” Platoon, ‘Mustangs’:

“Death Rides a Dark Horse” with a Cobra wrapped around an AH-1 Helicopter, and on the other side, a pocket hanger, with the C-Company 16 Cav. “Dark Horse” emblem on it. On his sleeve, confirmation of his place in the unit, he has a scroll over the 1st Aviation Brigade patch. His fire-retardent shirt I think would have been an appropriate thing, as there is no doubt how hot it could get in that in-closed cockpit.

His flight helmet has all the appropriate insignias applied to it as well, pretty dolled up as they say, but has been kept in his bag much of the time, As a Major, he had more important situations to take care of, rather than one of the daily flyers, he was in a command position, this is like someone more in charge might look.

Specialist, 1 Infantry Division, 4 Cavalry Regiment, khaki “Going home” Shirt:

This could have been any mother’s son, coming home from the Vietnam War, but he’s now, he’s on from the ist Infantry 4th Cavalry Regiment. He’s coming home to a Country in Turmoil. He’s confused but happy, happy to be coming home from “Vietnam”, He’s got his crewman’s wings over his decorations, he’s cleaned up, and been given his DEROS Day, he’s outta here, and they took his weapon away, he’s ready to go, but heard the horrors in letters from prior soldiers going him, that they seem to be not wanted there either!

But he’s alive, and going home bottom line, back to the land of the Big P-X, the World as they have been calling it, but he’s not the same person that he was when he came to this land, he’s changed somehow, as has the war, but for better or worse, he feels lucky enough to go back. The fact is, everything has changed, dramatically, and in just a year.

His brass is polished perfectly but feels odd, his real uniform has been ditched because it was worn out, the others in a sea bag being shipped home, and he feels out of place already, as everyone else is still wearing their fatigues.

He’s a Timer, waiting for the Freedom Bird to take him home, and the anxiety of knowing he’s still in a very dangerous place has him on end! as he counts the time going by. He’s a Specialist now, actually having some authority, and he’s leaving the Army, Odds are, they have all the guys they can handle, he, could possibly re-enlist, and come back, but the war has changed and he has as well, he’s just not sure anymore that we should be there at all, why all the carnage, his girl-friend didn’t wait for him more than likely, and it’s tough to find jobs in the civilian world, and he has not been able to save a dime, so, he’s a bit stuck, and not a lot of people that can help him, not that he would ask for it even.

He’s felt out of place since he’s been taken off flight status, he’s been doing odd jobs, to keep him away from the action, but he’s not comfortable with this either, he wants to be with the guys-his guys, and already has survivors guilt creeping in, but he knows he was on narrowed time out there too…he knows he’s changed, and wonders how the world will accept him now.

This was a common situation for the 19 and 20-year-old soldiers coming home from Vietnam, There may have been few parties in town for them, but most came home quietly, in onesies and twosies, flying with no one they knew, at a time, the war was quite unpopular, and even though many were drafted, and had even opposed the war too, looked down on.

And they filtered into society, putting away their experiences, and their people were still there, but most never talked about it. It was not fair, and it was not how Americans treat each other, or shouldn’t. Often even at the VFW, the WW2, and Korean War veterans didn’t understand what had happened during the war, and its outcome upset them, so they frowned them out.

His future is up in the air, but he hasn’t even got on the “Freedom Bird” plane yet, he’s waiting for a Flying Tigers Airline Plane, and soon he’ll drift off and wonder what the hell was going on, what the heck had just happened to him, why? Everything was great with him before the Government called on him, What happened to all his buddies, What were his Mom and Dad going to be like…what would I do?

We will hope things came together, and he pulled his life together again, lucked out with a decent job, and long career, found a wife, and raised a family, maybe even able to tell his story, writing it down on paper in his memoirs, and his kids will find it someday. Look I’m now a Vietnam Veteran, but I have worked around with many veterans from Korea and Vietnam and had friends and family who served there, and some who were top NCOs even, who, never went overseas…Anyway, I wanted to let those I know, I now understand a bit of what went down in the 1960s and 70s. Welcome home to all of them, and thank you for your service, I’m very proud of you, job well done. Now our lead politician…. that’s quite another story.

Corporal, 4th Infantry Aviation “Gambler Guns”, Crew-Chief:

This uniform represents a troop from the 4th Aviation Battalion, A Company, called the Black Jacks. The 4th Aviation Battalion had been put together at Fort Lewis, Washington July 1963.

Their Commander was Major William Kaufman. The 4th Aviation Battalion was activated in November 1963, and soon on their way to the Republic of Vietnam in September 1966, to save Vietnam, they deployed with the 4th Infantry Division. The first members arrived on 25 September 1966 and were then sent off to Pleiku, in the II Corp area, They made the Dragon Mountain area their base. The second group of the 4th Aviation flew and they arrived on the 9th of January 1967.

Their Camp was simply called Dragon Mountain, that is until early in 1967when they became known as Camp Enari, in memory of Lieutenant Mark N. Enari as he earned the Silver Star while fighting the North Vietnamese regulars in the Central Highlands of II Corps. Lt. Enari died as a result of the wounds he received during that battle.

The camp was not the safest place to be in Vietnam. January 1967, 'A Company' of the 4th Aviation Battalion deployed to Pleiku Air Base. 'A' Company had several call signs, they were known as 'Black Jacks' and each platoon had another call sign as well, for a while 1st Platoon was called the 'Lizards' they were the VIP flight platoon, the 2nd Platoon was called the 'Rustlers' with the 3rd Platoon being named the 'Renegades', there was a fixed-wing platoon as well and they were the 'Buzzards'. The company logo was the card of Ace of Spades and the Jack of Diamonds, but 'B' Company, the Gunships only had one call sign, 'Gambler'.

The emblem of the cards was all over their aircraft, on all sides, even the tail. They fought all over the entire II Corp area of the Central Highlands. one of the main areas for traveling, and moving tons of North Vietnamese supplies, and personnel to pass through. Beginning of 1970 the battalion was sent to An Khe along with the rest of the 4th Infantry Division when the 1st Cavalry Division was pulled out in 1969. The 4th Aviation Battalion left Vietnam for the States on 7 December 1970 and went to Fort Carson, Colorado, and part to Fort Hood, Texas.

This uniform, has this astonishing helmet, of the planet on the helmet visor cover! Some serious artwork, and was done likely, bit by between missions, he also managed to pick up a Tiger Stripe Boonie-Hat, he may have grabbed it out of the dirty clothes pile, or at one of the small shops just outside one of the larger base’s he’s flown into.

The 4th Infantry Division insignia, on the Right part of the helmet, has on the back is the Ace of Spades, It was thought to be a Vietnamese bad luck symbol, but not a fact. The jungle fatigue jacket has seen better days. It has subdued insignia as expected, even the pocket patch was sewed in with the subdued format. He would have had matching trousers, a web belt, and maybe a canteen and med kit, chicken plate body armor, and worn leather boots.

Captain, 11 Armored Cavalry Regiment (AIR), THUNDER HORSE:

The story of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment referred to as the “Blackhorse Regiment” became quite famous during the Vietnam War., It was one of the major players one might say, along with the 1st Cavalry Division, the 101st Airborne-Infantry elements, and a number of Infantry Divisions and Brigades.

The 11 Cavalry Regiment story is also told in the “Mechanized Forces Section” Of the US. Army-Vietnam folder of this site, this is very much the same, specifically the “AIR” element of the regiment, while the regiment was conceived as an Armored-” Spear-Head” type of unit, developed from WW2 and Korean War theories, Trained in the early cold war, and now in a completely different arena! No one ever thought the Jungle and Rice Paddys would be the place for these forces… nor did they, so they had to adapt.

The Regiments concept was mainly a mechanized “Ready Reaction Force” for use in Germany in the Post WWII Cold War, was made up, using a bunch of infantrymen, that would ride into battle on the back of Armored personnel carriers rather than Horses, with M48 Medium Tanks, and/pr M551 Sheridan light tanks in support, as canons would have been in the Civil War.

But now, the soldiers would be brought in and dropped off, to pursue, and attack the enemy, while the M113 APCs would give machine gun fire support with their 50 cabre machine guns, and M-60 7.62mm Machineguns as well, this was a lot of fire-power to bring down on any attacking enemy, complete with “Mortar" vehicles” and Communications Vehicles with them.

They had Recconacece vehicles, and observer teams out in the woods so to speak, as well as LRP teams working with them, but they would have an “AIR” element too, the new eyes in the sky, would go out searching for the enemy, and when they found them they could call in the rest of the cavalry to “Pile On”, often that too was by air assault, that is “Huey-Slick Helicopters”

While Mechanized refers to Armor and Mobile Infantry working together was the original concept, In Vietnam they had light, and medium tanks, as well as self-propelled howitzers, and M113 “ACAVs” (armored personnel carriers),

and they fought across the open terrain of III Corps area of operations. The 11th was one of the few, large U.S. armored cavalry units to fight in the war.

The Black Horse Regiment made an amphibious landing At Vung Tau, South Vietnam, by this point they consisted of 3,762 troops, Their commander was William W. Cobb, 7 September 1966. Many thought the Armor would prove futile, and unable to be used in the jungles and mountains of Vietnam, and perhaps rightfully so, as those before them, the British and the French had bogged down and had equipment and supply issues to deal with.

But they made their Base camp anyway, by November 1966, and they were out looking for Viet Cong in the provinces around Saigon, like the Foreign Legion before them. And both sides prepared for battle, the Armored Cavalry picked up the phrase “Find the bastards, then pile on”.

And they would prove, that with all they had available to them, like tanks and personnel carriers would do just that, as the enemy was located by LRP teams, areal scout teams, or by the mobile infantry-troops dropped off from helicopters, they found many of them and engaged them on a regular basis.

They were pretty successful at their mission to root out and destroy the enemy in the area, that is till Tet of 1968.

When the Tet Offensive of January 1968 began, the Regiment was ordered to Long Khanh Province, moving south towards Bien Hoa and Long Binh to restore security. The Regiment moved 80 miles at night through a contested area, arriving 14 hours after its initial alert notice.

This superb demonstration of cavalry agility has become the trademark of this Regiment throughout its history. Always ready to try new ideas, the Regiment added a new element to its Air Cavalry Troop, the Aero-Rifle-Platoon (ARP). This airmobile unit was often sent to search and destroy suspected enemies in areas accessible only by air.

The Captain wears the somewhat rare Nomex Flight / Fire Resistant, single-piece Flight Suit. possibly now late in the war, he has had a prior tour with the 1st Aviation Brigade and wears that patch now on his right sleeve, with his current post, the 11 ACR ‘Black-Horse’ patch on his left sleeve. In flight, he’d have his flight helmet on, with black leather boots, the jungle boots not being used generally. His personnel weapons could include a variety of handguns rifles and carbines, Grenade launchers, etc.

1st Leutnant, 11 ACR. Insulated jacket:

The summer of 1968 brought George S. Patton Jr., (39th COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT) and the 11th ACR back towards Saigon. The North was once again threatening the South Vietnamese capital. After two days of heavy fighting, the Regiment drove the enemy away from Saigon, causing heavy casualties and crushing their ability to muster a large-scale attack in the area.

August 1969 saw another innovation under the command of James A. Leach (40th COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT) when an entire Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle (ACAV) Troop using modified M113 personnel carriers was airlifted by C130 aircraft. This enabled the unit to be in combat at night, move by aircraft in the morning, and be able to re-engage the enemy at a different location by that evening. These bold maneuvers kept the enemy at bay whenever he ventured out of his Cambodian sanctuaries.

On 7 December 1969 Donn A. Starry (41st COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT) assumed command. By 28 April 1970, the Regiment was alerted to a major offensive that would finally “take out” the North Vietnamese sanctuaries in Cambodia. The 11th ACR received just 72 hours to refit, re-supply, and move into a staging area south of the Cambodian Fishhook. This required the Third Squadron, which was the farthest away at the time, to road march 145 kilometers to its assembly area.

On 1 May 1970, the Blackhorse stood ready to spearhead the Allied incursion into Cambodia. Massive air strikes by B-52s had already prepared the target area. The Second Squadron led the attack, followed by the Third Squadron while the First Squadron provided rear guard security. Trailing the Regiment were elements of the First Cavalry Division and several Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) units. At 1030 on 1 May 1970 the Blackhorse crossed into Cambodia.

The Regiment was ordered to force-march 40 kilometers further north to capture the City of Seoul. Within the given 48 hours they reached the city and attacked with incredible ferocity on 5 May, reminiscent of those mounted cavalrymen charging into Ojo Azules, Mexico after Pancho Villa in 1916.

Then Major Frederick M. Franks (50th Colonel of the Regiment), Second Squadron’s S3, joined in an assault on an enemy anti-aircraft position when an NVA grenade landed near him. Colonel Starry burst into motion and actually dove into Franks trying to knock him out of the way of the blast. Major Frank’s life was spared with his chicken plate (flack vest), but his left foot was a total mess.

Colonel Starry hadn’t worn his chicken plate that day – if he had, he would have only been scratched. Starry remains the only Colonel of the Regiment to date to have been wounded while in Command. With Snoul secured and 148 enemies killed, the Blackhorse began a systematic search of the surrounding area.

Colonel Starry turned over the reigns of the Blackhorse to John L. Gerrity, (42nd Colonel of the Regiment) on 22 June 1970. The Regiment had captured or destroyed massive amounts of supplies and equipment depriving the enemy of desperately needed succor.

On 7 March 1972, the Second Squadron was the last of the Regiment to be deactivated, bringing to a close the Regiment’s 5 ½ years in Vietnam. As the Blackhorse troopers left Vietnam Wallace H. Nutting, (43rd COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT) told them “We have all been privileged to ride together with the Blackhorse in the cause of freedom. There is much on which we can look with pride. Stand tall in the saddle. Allons”.

Sergeant, Crew Chief, 11 ACR (Air), RVN:

The 11th ACR’s Air Cavalry Troop (ACT) was made up of three platoons. The ‘White Platoon’ was to use the OH-6A Scout Helicopters, the “Blue Platoon” did insertions using the UH-1H Huey’s using ’Aero-Rifle squads’, and then as per norm, there was the ”Red Platoon”, was the ‘Guns Outfit’ they used UH-1 ‘Gunships’ and AH-1 Cobra Gunship Helicopters.

Brawly Speaking, the plan was for the OH-6 Crews to fly around ‘Low and Slow’ to conduct aerial reconnaissance and draw in the enemy, generally at treetop level or lower, trying to attract incoming for fire, (like trawling for sharks), with the Gunships hovering in some circular pattern high above, wait to prance on the enemy assault, and bring hellfire onto them.

They would bring in the Aero-Rifle Platoon to do an assessment on the area, or often enough, brought in because someone got shot down. Push to shove the Ground elements, or the Armored Cavalry would make an assault on a stronghold. The lift ships take them in and out and for evacuation, pile the troops into the area, often standing by as a quick reaction force, etc.

Staff-Sergeant, 11 ACR (Air):

This would represent another Crew Chief of the 11th (AIR), perhaps a later time, but could have sat on the other side of the aircraft than the prior crewman. this is a later war fire retardant shirt.

He’s using the later metal rank insignia on the collar and cap, while the shirt insignia is all the subdued cloth type, which may indicate a recent raise in pay grade. His helmet has acquired some nice artwork as well, I think this was common because it was the only way to individualize yourself, you can’t be personal in how you look in the service, even in the field generally, they stick with the order. but flight personnel had their helmets, and they could get away with it.