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the efficacy of their fire against escorted aircraft dropped by 25 percent. Consequently, it was concluded that the suppressive fires delivered by armed escort helicopters were highly effective in reducing the amount and accuracy of enemy fires placed on transport helicopters. The response of the transport helicopter pilots to this added protection was clearly enthusiastic. Even the skeptical Marine pilots began to rely heavily on the Army armed helicopters.
Although the safety of the transport helicopters was the primary consideration in escort operations, the vulnerability of the escorts themselves was a matter of concern. The escorts preceded the transports into the landing zone and remained until all transports had departed. When the landing zone was small and the transport force used an expanded formation, the period of exposure for armed escorts was unnecessarily long. The escorts generally flew at no more than 100 or 200 feet above the ground and were well within the zone of maximum vulnerability from small arms.
The Utility Tactical Transport Helicopter company flew 1,779 combat support hours from 16 October 1962 through 15 March 1963. Most of the operations were conducted in the III and IV Corps Tactical Zones. Suppressive fire delivered by the escort helicopters accounted for an estimated 246 Viet Cong casualties. During this period, eleven armed helicopters were hit by hostile fire. While no armed helicopter was shot down, one UH-1B was seriously damaged as a result of ground fire. It appeared that the vulnerability of armed helicopters was well within acceptable risk limits.
The first official Air Force recognition of the role of armed helicopters, and their first attempt to regulate their use in Vietnam, appeared in a document dated 27 December 1962, entitled "Helicopter Escort," and signed by Brigadier General Rollen H. Anthis, Commander of the Second Air Division. Generally, the armed helicopter was limited to one minute of fire before the transport helicopters landed and one minute after the last departed.
...The fighter aircraft will have primary responsibility for the security of the entire helicopter formation during the escort phase until the formation commander makes the one minute warning call prior to landing. At this time the responsibility will shift to the armed helicopters and they will precede the transport helicopters to the landing zone to draw fire or engage targets. Armed helicopters may be designated to attack specific targets enroute when their assistance is requested by the fighter aircraft.
This arrangement proved unworkable and the Army continually sought more flexible guidelines. The Air Force consistently main[tained]