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select hilltops for artillery positions since those were easier to defend and provided open fields of fire.

Artillery has always been notorious for consuming large tonnages of ammunition. Again this is symptomatic with the kind of the support that the U.S. infantryman has taken for granted. However, in Vietnam where practically every round had to be delivered by air, artillery ammunition proved to be one of the biggest logistics problems. Commanders had to exert supervision at all levels to make sure that the right fire support means was chosen for the target of the moment. A wise commander did not spend too much ammunition on harassment and interdiction fires that could not be observed.

The airmobile artilleryman had learned to fire in all directions with a minimum of confusion. He became accustomed to rapid and frequent moves and developed confidence in his airmobile prime moved, the Chinook. He even developed his own special tactics, known as "the artillery raid." In this case, an artillery battery would be moved deep into suspected enemy territory, rapidly fire prepared concentrations on targets that had been developed by intelligence, and then pull out before the enemy could react. Some of these raids were conceived, planned, and executed in less than three hours.

Workable methods were found to employ aerial rocket artillery at night, but the mainstay of fire support during the hours of darkness remained the tube artillery. Welcome was an infantry unit required to hold a position at night out of range of its friendly guns.

Close-in fire support has always been inherently dangerous. In the fluid situation of the airmobile battlefield, the ever present danger of the proverbial "short round" is multiplied by all the points on the compass. An error in any direction may well result in friendly casualties. As a result, coordination and control of all fire, the knowledge of the exact location of every friendly element is more important in the airmobile division than in any other combat force. A year's experience in Vietnam had matured the 1st Cavalry Division's fire support techniques and had proven its organization to be fundamentally sound. The artilleryman had not been left behind in this new dimension of combat.

The fall of 1966 saw many operations develop as the U.S. strength continued to grow. The newly arrived 196th Light Infant[ry]