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AIRMOBILITY

to the death. When wounded, he continued fighting and had to be approached with extreme care. Many friendly troops were shot by wounded North Vietnamese Army soldiers. He also appeared fanatic in his extreme efforts to recover bodies of his dead and wounded and their equipment.

In the after action report, high praise was given to the pathfinders and their control of the "hot" landing zone. Until they had arrived, every incoming aircraft had to be guided in and out by the battalion commander on the battalion command net. The pathfinders took over this responsibility and made possible the invaluable night supply and evacuation missions. The fact that pathfinders were available and trained as part of the 1st Cavalry Division's organization was testimony to the soundness of its early doctrine.^[1]

The action of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, was one of a series of major actions fought by the 1st Cavalry Division in this, its first major campaign in Vietnam. The 3d Brigade continued its systematic search and destroy pattern and defeated each of the three enemy regiments in turn. All together, the 1st Cavalry Division and Army of the Republic of Vietnam troops killed an estimated 1800 North Vietnamese troops.

The battle lasted 35 days, and on 26 November 1965, the 1st Cavalry Division had completed its mission of pursuit and destruction. The statistics of the aviation units involved, to a large extent, tell the story of how the mission was accomplished.

During the 35 days of the campaign, the aircraft delivered 5,048 tons of cargo from the wholesale terminals to the hands of the troops in the field. In addition, they transported 8,216 tons into Pleiku from various depots (primarily Qui Nhon and Nha Trang). Whole infantry battalions and artillery batteries were

↑ The U.S. Army almost lost its "pathfinder" role completely after World War II. In the reorganization of the Service roles and missions, it was determined that the pathfinders for the joint airborne assaults should be Air Force personnel since the Air Force insisted its Combat Control Team should be inserted first and control all subsequent drops. However, in 1955, when I had the Airborne-Army Aviation Department at Fort Benning it became obvious that the Army should have its own pathfinder capability for the terminal control of the Army's organic helicopters. I received permission to reactivate Army training in these skills and Lieutenant Colonel John F. Stannard wrote the manual. Fundamental to this decision was a determination of where Army pathfinders would be assigned. We tried to incorporate the pathfinder skills into each infantry battalion, but this solution was disapproved by Continental Army Command. The pathfinder almost became a man-without-a-country until the formation of the 11th Air Assault Division, where they were made part of the Aviation Group. As a result, only the 1st Cavalry had organic, trained pathfinders when required. Our other units in Vietnam would find many occasions when they needed them—desperately.

[ref1-1] The U.S. Army almost lost its "pathfinder" role completely after World War II. In the reorganization of the Service roles and missions, it was determined that the pathfinders for the joint airborne assaults should be Air Force personnel since the Air Force insisted its Combat Control Team should be inserted first and control all subsequent drops. However, in 1955, when I had the Airborne-Army Aviation Department at Fort Benning it became obvious that the Army should have its own pathfinder capability for the terminal control of the Army's organic helicopters. I received permission to reactivate Army training in these skills and Lieutenant Colonel John F. Stannard wrote the manual. Fundamental to this decision was a determination of where Army pathfinders would be assigned. We tried to incorporate the pathfinder skills into each infantry battalion, but this solution was disapproved by Continental Army Command. The pathfinder almost became a man-without-a-country until the formation of the 11th Air Assault Division, where they were made part of the Aviation Group. As a result, only the 1st Cavalry had organic, trained pathfinders when required. Our other units in Vietnam would find many occasions when they needed them—desperately.

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