The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile): Ia Drang to Khe Sanh
by Al Berke

Organization (continued)

One of the keys to the success of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) was the permanent integration of the aviation assets into the unit. This allowed a degree of planning and coordination that other units could not attain with aviation groups attached only for a specific mission. The 11th Aviation Group was responsible for putting the Airmobile into the 1st Cavalry Division. Its helicopters were expected to provide enough airlift capability to move the combat elements of two cavalry battalions and the three light artillery battalions at the same time. 120 UH1D's (later UH1H's) formed the 227th and 229th Aviation Battalions that airlifted the cavalry trooper into action. Each battalion also had a dozen gun ships to carry out escort duties and provide fire support at the landing zone. Heavy lift was handled by the 228th Aviation Battalion, which had 48 CH 47D Chinook helicopters. Their chief function was to transport the artillery battalions, but they were also involved in logistics resupply and large troop movements (Stanton, 201). The main eyes of the 1st Cavalry Division were supplied by the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry. In essence an aerial reconnaissance battalion, each of its three troops had scout, gunship and rifle platoons designed to find the enemy and fix him in place. Other reconnaissance assets include a vehicle troop of the 1st of the 9th, as well as pathfinders and Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols (LRRP) (Stanton, 200).

Rounding out the units assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division were a plethora of support units, including logistics and supply, engineering, communications, medical, administrative, military police and maintenance for aircraft and other divisional equipment. 

In addition to permanently assigned units, the 1st Cavalry received support from many other units at one time or another. The 1st Battalion, 50th Infantry (Mechanized) and later elements of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment added some armored punch starting in the fall of 1967. Attached Scout Dog platoons helped locate traps and tunnel systems. The 273rd Aviation Company provided CH-54 Flying Cranes for heavy lifts, to include airlift of 155mm medium howitzers (Stanton, 255-256). 

The nickname Air Cavalry was only official for two months. In June 1968 US Army Pacific Headquarters named the unit the 1st Air Cavalry Division. Due to complaints from traditionalists, however, that order was countermanded by the Department of the Army in Aug 1968 and the division reverted back to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) (Kelley, 4-1).

The Ia Drang Valley (Stanton, 48-49)

The Ia Drang Valley Campaign

The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) commenced operations in Vietnam in September 1965. The base camp was at Camp Radcliffe, located at An Khe in the Central Highlands near Pleiku. The 1st Cavalry's mission was to maintain open Highway 19 from the coast to Pleiku, guard Camp Radcliffe and protect the coastland rice harvests (Stanton, 45). It didn't take long before these limited objectives were achieved and then expanded upon. In mid-October 1965, enemy forces besieged the Plei Me Special Forces camp. Suspecting that this was the opening move in a plan to at least destroy the relief force, if not mount a attack on Pleiku itself, the 1st Brigade and its supporting artillery was moved into the area. When the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) relief column was ambushed, Divisional artillery was in place to support them and expedite the lifting of the siege. The 1st Cavalry was then turned loose on 27 October to find the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces that were attempting to withdraw. As per their mission, most of the initial contacts were made by the scouts of the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry. On 1 November, a NVA Field Hospital was captured and a NVA counterattack held off with the help of airlifted reinforcements from the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry. The next day, a night ambush by the three rifle platoons of the 1/9 Cavalry destroyed a NVA company, but provoked a violent reaction from the 8th Battalion, 66th NVA Regiment. Attacks through the night and into the morning where stopped through the intervention of aerial rocket attacks and the airlift of additional defenders from the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry (Stanton, 51-53). On 06 November, a company of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry ran into an entrenched NVA battalion. The Cavalry attack did not get very far and they were soon in danger from the superior enemy forces. A flanking attack by another company also ground to a halt. Despite air and artillery support, the NVA forces held firm and were able to withdraw during the night (Stanton, 54). This action was a harbinger of many other engagements in Vietnam in which a smaller US force stumbled upon an entrenched enemy who was able to inflict significant casualties and then slip away despite the availability of massive fire support. 

On 10 November, the 1st Brigade was relieved in the field by the 3rd Brigade, consisting of the 1st and 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry and the attached 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry. After some initial patrols to the east, the Brigade headed to the Ia Drang Valley near the Chu Pong Massif, where intelligence had indicated the presence of an NVA base camp. In fact, the North Vietnamese had the better part of two NVA regiments and a Viet Cong (VC) battalion in the vicinity (Moore, 69-70). On 14 November, the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry (Gary Owen) began an air assault into LZ X-Ray. This was the first battalion level air assault of the war and it had been planned meticulously. Twelve 105mm howitzers had been airlifted into nearby LZ Falcon to provide fire support. Sixteen UH-1D's from the 229th Aviation Battalion were allocated as troop transports and the airlift plan was carefully coordinated with the air and artillery fire support plans so that the initial landing occurred just as the artillery stopped (Moore, 79). Able to land less than a company at a time, heavy fighting began with only about half the battalion on the ground as the three battalions of the NVA 66th Regiment and elements of the NVA 33rd Regiment started attacking. A platoon from B Company was isolated and took heavy casualties. Attempts to extricate the platoon were forestalled by the NVA attacks. The Gary Owens's were put on the defensive and spent the rest of the day under constant assault. Artillery and air support, including the aerial rocket artillery of the 2nd Battalion, 20th Artillery played a crucial part in breaking up the NVA attacks, while the helicopter pilots braved heavy fire to bring in reinforcements. With Alpha and Bravo Companies deployed in a line to the Northwest of the LZ, Charlie Company and elements of Delta Company were inserted straight from the helicopters to the Southwest to stop NVA attempts to flank the Landing Zone. The day ended with a final unsuccessful attempt to reach the isolated platoon, which spent the night fighting off attacks with the help of air and artillery support. The rest of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry had been brought in, along with the only other reinforcements immediately available, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, allowing for an all around defense of the LZ. Meanwhile, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry, was at a nearby LZ, getting ready to march to LZ X-Ray the next morning to reinforce their fellow troopers.

A Blue Troop Rifle Squad from the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry exiting from a Huey (Tolson, 171)

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