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armchair strategists applied to the B-52 effectiveness, those who had witnessed this effect on the ground will testify that the B-52 was an awesome weapon which could destroy the deepest Viet Cong tunnel structure, open up instant landing zones, and strike terror into the hearts of the enemy. A single B-52 usually carried 36,000 pounds of "iron bombs." Like any new system, it took some time to smoothly integrate it into the overall fire plan and develop confidence in its control. However, many a prisoner of war substantiated the psychological effect of the B-52's and many enemy dead gave mute evidence of its lethality.

The B-52's relation to the story of airmobility is in the firepower half of the firepower-maneuver equation. The best utilization of the B-52 power included an immediate follow up of a strike, and the air assault was the natural means of such exploitation. In the next few years this combination would be used more and more.

A civilian might be surprised to learn that the most important training takes place in combat. This would hardly surprise the veterans of World War II and Korea. Every theater of war—and each area of that theater—presents special problems that require the commander on the scene to develop new tactics and techniques to fit the situation. The helicopter was probably the only solution to the dense tropical jungle, but even this versatile machine needed some place to touch down. Every unit in Vietnam had to adapt many of its airmobile procedures to fit its mission. The following sample, from the 1966 files of the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, is typical.

Brigadier General Willard Pearson, Commanding General, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, had established a training program for helicopter rappelling techniques since his brigade frequently operated in dense jungle terrain which did not have accessible landing zones. This training was particularly concentrated in the reconnaissance elements and the engineer landing zone clearing teams. These latter teams performed a most necessary and dangerous task of going into an unknown and lightly protected area—with equipment that had to be airdropped or sling delivered—and felling enough trees to permit several helicopters to land simultaneously. Vietnam abounds with many large hardwood forests which are extremely difficult to cut, even with the best heavy equipment. To add to the frustration of clearing operations, the