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1st Cavalry was alerted to prepare one brigade. The brigade began movement on 1 October as the 2d Battalion, 12th Cavalry and the 3d Brigade command post departed for Chu Lai. By that evening the 3d Brigade command post, the 2d Battalion, 12th Cavalry, B Company of the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry and C Battery of the 1st Battalion, 77th Artillery were closed and the Brigade was under operational control of the Americal Division.

By 3 October all Brigade elements were in place and Operation WALLOWA began the next day with a series of air assaults. This deployment also involved the first major move of significant maintenance elements from An Khe to Chu Lai. This experience would prove to be extremely valuable in later operations in the I Corps Tactical Zone.

The concept of a brigade task force, in the U.S. Army's current division organization, is such that different battalions can be used under any brigade controlling headquarters. This allows a great deal of flexibility. For example, the 3d Brigade which had been deployed to the Dak To area and returned to the PERSHING area of operations had different battalions when it deployed to Chu Lai. During November we were alerted to move another brigade back to the Kontum-Dak To area. This time I elected that the 1st Brigade headquarters under Colonel Rattan would control the task force.

The second battle of Dak To, under operational control of the 4th Division, has been extensively documented elsewhere. For the purpose of this study, it is important to note that the helicopters of the 4th Infantry Division, the 173d Airborne Brigade, the 52d Aviation Battalion, and the 1st Cavalry Division flew in excess of 10,000 hours in support of the battle. Over 22,000 sorties were flown, transporting 40,000 passengers and 6,000 tons of cargo. Dak To was another example of the flexibility of an airmobile division which allows its assets to be parcelled out as rapid reaction forces and still continues on a basic mission of its own. The large PERSHING area of operation was left with only one thin brigade during this period. I was glad we had spent so much time working with the 22d Army of the Republic of Vietnam Division on airmobile tactics, since the 22d, under the able leadership of Colonel Nguyen Van Hieu, would have to bear the major burden in Binh Dinh Province for a time.

During the long period of the Binh Dinh operations, the 1st Cavalry Division had developed a special rapport with the regiments