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At 0900 hours on 22 February 1967, Brigadier General John R. Deane, Jr., stood in the door of a C-130 aircraft. When the green light flashed, General Deane jumped, leading the first U.S. parachute assault in the Republic of Vietnam, and the first such assault since the Korean conflict fifteen years earlier. This parachute jump of the 2d Battalion, 503d Infantry, signaled the beginning of Operation JUNCTION CITY ALTERNATE. The original plan, as conceived in November 1966, called for the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division to make the parachute assault; but, much to their chagrin, they were engaged in other operations and the honor was to go to the 173d.

Operation JUNCTION CITY employed the 1st and 25th Infantry Divisions, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, elements of the 4th and 9th Infantry Divisions, and South Vietnamese units, as well as the 173d Airborne Brigade. Their target was enemy bases north of Tay Ninh City, in the area the French had named "War Zone C." The decision to make a paratroop assault was based on the urgency to place a large force on the ground as quickly as possible and still have enough helicopter assets to make a sizable heliborne assault as an immediate follow-up.

The requirement for helicopter lift on D-Day was substantial. The 1st Infantry Division had five infantry battalions to put in by air assault and the 173d had three infantry battalions. In addition to the requirement for the Huey slicks, there was a tremendous requirement for CH-47 lift for positioning artillery and resupply of ammunition. The 173d had computed that they would free 60 Hueys and six Chinooks for support of other forces by using the parachute assault technique. The paratroopers were assigned landing zones farthest to the north—areas that would have cost many extra minutes of flying time for lift helicopters. The practical aspects of making more helicopters available were perhaps colored