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helicopter gunship fire, and Tactical Air pounded the Viet Cong positions continuously. Late in the afternoon a strong coordinated attack behind a wall of artillery fire drove the Viet Cong from his positions. He left 111 dead behind along with considerable equipment.

The Brigade attempted to employ the armored elements, Company D, 16th Armor and the Prince of Wales Light Horse (Australian armored personnel carriers), with the infantry battalions but found that the carriers had extreme difficulty in traversing the marshy rice paddies. They were returned to the Brigade base area and later were successfully employed on security missions. On D+2, the Australian battalion conducted search patrols south of their position and eventually linked up with the 2d Battalion of the 503d on the east bank of the Oriental River. Operations proceeded through D+4 with only light contact being made and the enemy obviously making every effort to remain hidden.

On D+5, the 173d Brigade demonstrated its growing sophistication in airmobile techniques. On this day, three Eagle Flights, one consisting of 144 men, the others 72 each, orbited the target area just beyond visual range. When the commander was ready to move the force in, he announced the command of execution "Skyhook," which was the signal for all supporting actions to include firing to begin a countdown. From this prearranged signal with minimum radio communications, all supporting actions were time-sequenced to place the landing force on the landing zone immediately after the coordinated delivery of supporting fires and a last minute reconnaissance. After the first flight landed, the second was in orbit position until it was apparent that no reinforcement was needed in the first landing zone. The "Skyhook" procedure was then reinitiated and the second flight landed on another nearby landing zone. Following the same procedure, a flight was put in on yet a third landing zone. By this maneuver, three stripped down companies had covered an area with reconnaissance by fire that normally would have taken a battalion or more, using previous formations.

Operation MARAUDER was terminated on D+7, 8 January 1966, after decimating the 267th Viet Cong Battalion and the headquarters of the Viet Cong 506th Battalion. The 173d Airborne Brigade, as the first American unit to operate in the Mekong Delta, demonstrated its ability to swiftly co-ordinate the tactical air, helicopter gunships, artillery, and troop maneuvers. They had ranged over a very large area but always had their artillery in position by Chinook movement. Armor had been used successfully when it was given