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Early attempts had been made to arm the CH-21 with a light machine gun at the door, but this fire was relatively ineffective. To better meet this requirement, the Army formed the Utility Tactical Transport Helicopter Company and deployed it to Vietnam in mid-1962. This company was equipped with UH-1 helicopters armed with .30-caliber machine guns and 2.75-inch rocket launchers and was designed to provide protective fires for the CH-21 transport helicopters. Much of the tactical doctrine for armed helicopter employment evolved during this period including the techniques for protective fire preparation of landing zones prior to and during a helicopter assault. The Utility Tactical Transport Helicopter Company was designated the 68th Aviation Company and later the 197th Airmobile Company. Its early history was studied intensely by a special group known as the Army Concept Team in Vietnam which was established in Saigon on 6 November 1962.

General Rowny, after duty with the Howze Board, had been designated to form the Army Concept Team in Vietnam by the Chief of Staff of the Army with the mission to evaluate new methods of countering insurgency in actual combat. The Army Concept Team in Vietnam had a variety of projects to include rotary and fixed-wing aircraft, communications, armored personnel carriers, logistics, and civic action tests. Fortunately for the purpose of this study, they were able to document the early attempts at airmobility in a special and objective way.

One of the most important reports made by General Rowny's Army Concept Team in Vietnam evaluators was their analysis of the effectiveness of the armed helicopter company during the period 16 October 1962 through 15 March 1963. This test unit had a dual mission in that it was actually fighting a real war and providing armed protection for the transport helicopters, while, at the same time, it provided data to the evaluators (who sometimes were heavily engaged in combat themselves).

The first element of fifteen armed Hueys was deployed to Vietnam in September 1962. To assure proper employment, General Rowny hammered out a modus operandi with Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, on 29 September 1962, which provided a framework for the forthcoming test. The terms of reference provided that the test activities must not have an unacceptable impact on military operations. Therefore, testing was undertaken only in conjunction with actual operations, and in no case was the test