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completed until June 1969, involved the conversion of the armored cavalry squadron to an air cavalry squadron. The last phase involved the activation of an aerial rocket artillery battalion. It was determined that a full year would be necessary to convert the 101st to an airmobile configuration. This time lag took into consideration the long range procurement of aviation assets and the fact that the Division would continue to conduct combat operations throughout the conversion period without degradation to its combat posture.
The reorganization progressed in a smooth manner with a few exceptions, one of these being in the aircraft maintenance area. U.S. Army, Vietnam, and the 101st planners envisioned the new airmobile division's aircraft maintenance as decentralized rather than centralized. In this case, they hoped to profit from the experience of the 1st Cavalry Division and the 1st Aviation Brigade. Higher headquarters had failed to establish this cellular concept in its order for the conversion. Instead, it called for a large centralized maintenance and supply battalion. This problem was resolved by U.S. Army Pacific General Order 607, dated 11 October 1968, which established the desired cellular maintenance organization within the division. In effect, this married a maintenance cell with each company-sized aviation unit. This cell would have the capability of providing both direct support and avionics maintenance.
Many "chicken and the egg" arguments resulted from the final maintenance structure of the 101st versus the then current maintenance structure of the 1st Cavalry Division. The 1st Cavalry had espoused decentralized maintenance ever since its deployment to Vietnam, but there was finite limitations on the number of skilled mechanics and maintenance tool sets during the early build-up phase. The arguments of the logisticians for centralized maintenance prevailed.
When I took over the division in 1967, the division was still tied to the maintenance "hub" at An Khe. Only the detached battalion combat team at Phan Thiet had its own maintenance capability. Operation LEJEUNE, a week after I joined the division, convinced me that drastic action would have to be taken, and I ordered our logistics planners to develop maintenance kits that could be easily moved with displaced units. In October 1967, when I had to send a brigade to Chu Lai, the problem became critical. Part of a maintenance battalion had gone with the brigade, but there was still insufficient capability.