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00:00For more than two decades now, the lands of Southeast Asia have been torn by conflict.
00:10During this time, the people of Vietnam have seen bitter wars against the Japanese and the French.
00:18Now, with their country divided between Communist North and Nationalist South, the fighting continues.
00:30Since 1957, Communist-backed Viet Cong guerrillas in the South have been engaged in a campaign of terrorist attacks against the government of President Diem.
00:43In 1959, the leader of the Communist North, Ho Chi Minh, announces his intention to reunite the entire country through armed struggle.
00:54The conflict escalates as regular units of the North Vietnamese Army infiltrate South through the jungles of neighboring Laos and Cambodia to join up with the Viet Cong.
01:08The United States has been supplying assistance to South Vietnam since the Eisenhower administration, as part of its policy to combat what was seen as the domino effect of Communist expansion in the region.
01:29By 1961, despite millions of dollars in USAID, the South Vietnamese Army are losing in their struggle against the Communist guerrillas.
01:44General Maxwell Taylor is sent to Vietnam on a fact-finding mission for the U.S. government.
01:49Making a tour of the country, it takes little time for him to realize that the geography of Vietnam is perhaps the single biggest factor hampering the fight against the Viet Cong.
02:02South Vietnam has three principal geographic areas.
02:06From the sea, a narrow coastal plain stretches inland for a distance of no more than 15 miles, where it meets the second feature, the An Am Central Highlands.
02:21The Central Highlands are a range of steep jungle-covered mountains which run south from the demilitarized zone to within 30 miles of Saigon.
02:37The south of the country is covered by the arable plains of the Mekong Delta.
02:41Here, amongst the 3,000 miles of navigable waterways, the land is a mixture of low forest, dense mangrove swamps and rice paddies.
02:54Most of the major towns and cities are concentrated along the coastal plain, leaving vast, sparsely populated areas in which the Viet Cong are free to roam unchecked.
03:05In his report, General Taylor concludes that to be effective in a war of counter-insurgency in such an environment would require the commitment of sizeable U.S. ground forces.
03:21Until now, America's contribution to the war has been restricted to supplying equipment and military advisers to train elements of the South Vietnamese Army.
03:36And although Washington is still reluctant to commit their own troops, they agree to provide immediate additional aid to the region.
03:43Within weeks of their decision, a new sound is heard over the jungles of Vietnam.
03:54U.S. advisers accompany South Vietnamese paratroops on an assault against Viet Cong positions.
04:02The paratroops are transported into the area not by parachute, but by U.S. Army helicopters.
04:09Part of the latest package of military aid.
04:17More helicopters are sent to Vietnam in the new year.
04:21Reports of their success are greeted with caution in military circles, but they attract the interest of the Secretary of State for Defence, Robert McNamara.
04:30The Defence Secretary calls for a study to be made into the potential of air mobility and the helicopter in the U.S. Army.
04:41By the time the report is completed, many of its findings are already being put into practice.
04:55The Army has formed its first specialized company for armed helicopters to provide escorts for the troop transports.
05:04Recovering from the shock caused by the first helicopters, the Viet Cong have found that for all their speed and mobility,
05:23these machines are particularly vulnerable to small arms fire at the critical times during landing and take-off.
05:34Quick to exploit this weakness, the guerrillas are making the job of ferrying assault troops increasingly hazardous.
05:41Now the helicopters will respond in kind.
05:47Fitted with a variety of machine guns and rockets, the Utility Tactical Transport Helicopter Company are dispatched for duties in Vietnam.
05:56With more of their helicopters en route for combat, a major overhaul is on the way for U.S. Army Aviation.
06:16For months, trials have been taking place at military aviation schools around the country.
06:35Their work, along with recommendations from the study for the Defense Secretary, will now be combined in an intensive development program for the use of helicopters in combat.
06:47In January of 1963, an Air Assault Test Division is established at Fort Benning, Georgia.
07:00The new unit revives the colors of the old 11th Airborne Division,
07:04and veteran fliers and experts are brought together in an effort to put some of these recommendations into practice.
07:11The central idea put forward in the report is the concept of the Air Assault Division,
07:30a new type of Army Division with air mobility as its highest priority.
07:35The concept of air mobility is not entirely new.
07:42During World War II, forces on both sides had used aircraft for rapid troop deployment,
07:48and to provide a form of airborne artillery in support of armoured or infantry units.
07:54Although parachutes, gliders and dive bombers had all provided individual elements of air mobility,
08:01the pace of battle had still been determined by the speed of soldiers on the ground.
08:18The aim now is to develop a unit in which all aspects of troop movements, intelligence, command and control, firepower, and logistical support
08:28would be provided by aircraft which were organic to the Army itself.
08:32The workhorse of air mobility will be the Bell UH-1 Iroquois, the Huey.
08:51Originally designed as an air ambulance, and now working in Vietnam in the role of escort gunship,
09:05this helicopter has already proved itself to have many of the characteristics required for this new type of unit.
09:12A series of extensive trials are conducted flying over long distances and in all weather conditions.
09:33Low level flying, and the ability to maintain tight formation by day or night, are also an essential part of the programme.
09:48If air mobility is to work, then not only the combat troops, but every aspect of the division must be air transportable.
09:56A standard army division numbers over 15,000 personnel.
10:02Moving these numbers at short notice will be a massive logistical task.
10:10The plan is to raise the division's normal complement of aircraft from 100 to about 450,
10:17while at the same time reducing the number of ground vehicles from almost 3,500 to just over 1,000.
10:33Other changes would mean that all support material would be restricted to equipment which is transportable by helicopter.
10:40In the case of artillery, this will mean a reduction in divisional firepower.
10:47But it is envisaged that the shortfall will be compensated for by greater mobility,
10:53and the introduction of armed reconnaissance aircraft and helicopter gunships.
10:57While the Hueys go through their paces, experiments are also underway to devise methods of moving divisional artillery and key supplies.
11:14Central to this role is the Boeing Chinook.
11:17These twin-rotor helicopters are each capable of carrying more than 40 combat troops, light vehicles,
11:25or even a full artillery section with personnel.
11:31For more unusual or outsize payloads, the transport commanders can call upon the services of the aptly named Sky Crane.
11:47Fixed wing aircraft will also play a part in the new division.
11:52Planes like these Mohawks, fitted with surveillance equipment or light armaments,
11:57would perform reconnaissance and support duties,
12:00while the larger Caribou would serve as a general transport.
12:05Both of these aircraft, capable of operating out of confined or hastily prepared airstrips,
12:12would add greatly to divisional mobility.
12:17The U.S. Army are paying close attention to every theatre of helicopter operations.
12:20Mindful that they may be called on to send more troops to a war zone,
12:25the U.S. Army are paying close attention to every theatre of helicopter operations.
12:38The escort gunships in Vietnam are no exception.
12:41Since November, a Special Army concept team based in Saigon have been reporting on the progress of the Hueys under combat conditions.
12:52In the first five months since their deployment, losses of escorted transports are down by 25%,
13:01while operational losses of those without gunship protection have doubled.
13:10The only major setback suffered by the helicopters was in an incident during a January assault near the village of App Back in the Plain of Reeds.
13:18Four twinrotor Shawnees and one Huey were lost in an ambush after they put down in a landing zone surrounded by a detachment of heavily armed and well-entrenched Viet Cong.
13:32The area had not been subjected to a pre-strike by fixed-wing aircraft,
13:39and for all their efforts, the armed Hueys could not dislodge a well-dug-in force.
13:45A costly lesson, but also a timely one which would ensure that future assaults into this unforgiving territory would have better preparation.
13:55Throughout this period, there is a continuous cross-flow of information between Vietnam and the test division at Fort Benning.
14:13It is an unusual opportunity for the military planners who are free from some of the pressures and restrictions of a full-scale war,
14:20and at the same time able to put their theories into practice in live situations.
14:27Officially, the American forces in Vietnam are there in an advisory capacity.
14:34And although this role extends to providing air crews and advisers in the field,
14:39US personnel are supposed to be non-combatant.
14:45Under these circumstances, rules of engagement are restrictive,
14:48and helicopter crews are not allowed to open fire on the enemy unless they or the escorted transports are fired on first.
14:58These restrictions preclude the testing of any offensive tactical concepts at this time.
15:04On the 26th of February 1963, the rules are changed.
15:19Following from an incident in which two helicopters were shot down and a US serviceman killed,
15:24the chopper crews are given sanction to initiate fire against targets identified on the ground.
15:32Although they remain in name non-combatant and will continue their job of ferrying South Vietnamese troops,
15:40no longer bound to shoot second, the choppers will now begin to adopt an offensive role.
15:45By mid-1963, the use of helicopters in Vietnam is widespread,
16:01and many elements of the air mobility concept are now in practice.
16:16Most of the old twin rotor Shawnees have been replaced,
16:20and the Hueys are operating in a whole variety of roles, each with its own distinctive nickname.
16:25As troop transports, they are called slicks, while their escort gunships are referred to simply as guns.
16:46Sporting red crosses and in growing demand, the air ambulance versions are known either as medivacs or dust-offs.
17:02Showing little regard for the Geneva Convention, some Viet Cong have found that these red crosses made ideal aiming points,
17:10and some crews in response have added door guns to their aircraft.
17:14Showing an aerial assault, the helicopters now follow a well-established pattern,
17:27with each operation breaking down into two phases.
17:30The on-route phase, and the approach phase.
17:33As yet, Viet Cong have little by way of heavy air defences, and so the on-route flights are made at an altitude of about 1,500 feet.
17:50This keeps the choppers out of range of small arms fire, but means that they are visible for quite a distance.
17:58The flight formation is determined in the main by two factors, the size and shape of the landing zone,
18:11and the company commander's requirements for disembarkation.
18:14The most commonly used formation is the V, which is easy to control, and permits the landing of the flight in a short space of time without bunching.
18:26A few miles from the objective, the approach phase begins.
18:36The helicopters drop down close to ground level to take advantage of terrain masking.
18:42Two or four gunships employed for escort and reconnaissance travel a few minutes ahead of the main group to prepare the landing zone.
18:58Prepping, as it's called, involves circling the area to draw enemy fire,
19:03and shooting into the tree line and any other places in which enemy forces may be concealed.
19:15Knowing when the machines are most vulnerable, the Viet Cong frequently hold their fire until the last moment when the helicopters flare, committing themselves to land.
19:26A cold landing zone can quickly turn hot, so during this stage the idea is to put as many of the ships as possible down at the one time.
19:41The theory being that this minimizes the chances of the enemy concentrating their fire on one helicopter.
19:48It also allows the maximum number of troops to unload and return fire.
19:56The gunships remain in the area throughout, circling and laying down suppressive fire until the last of the transports have left.
20:17The development of the air assault division had brought with it the need for more trained fliers.
20:20The development of the Air Assault Division had brought with it the need for more trained
20:46flyers. An estimated 9,000 pilots would be required by the end of the year, and that
20:53figure would be increased to 20,000 by 1968. In order to meet this demand, the officer
21:01training program is being revised to allow for an increase in the number of warrant officer
21:07commissions. The prospect of flying helicopters held great appeal, and at Fort Walters, Texas,
21:21the U.S. Army Primary Helicopter School, hundreds of hopefuls had signed up for the warrant officer
21:27program.
21:57Here, the candidates will begin their nine months of intensive training, with one month
22:02of pre-flight tuition. Before going near a helicopter, they must first understand the basic principles
22:10of how these aircraft work. For the next four months, each candidate will be with an instructor-pilot,
22:23spending several hours each day flying small H-23 and H-53 helicopters.
22:30They must use this time well, for once they have mastered the rudiments, things become increasingly
22:48complicated.
22:58Now the instructors may cut the throttle without warning, forcing the pilots to practice auto-rotation,
23:05the emergency procedure for landing after the helicopter has suffered an in-flight power failure.
23:10In the future, such a power failure may occur over hostile territory as a result of enemy gunfire.
23:32At the end of four months, the candidates each get to make their first solo flight.
23:50Once they've soloed successfully, they will receive their wings and are ready for the next stage of training.
24:01Fort Rucker, Alabama, is the location for the U.S. Army's Advanced Helicopter School.
24:16The skills acquired at Fort Walters will now be sharpened as pilots concentrate on the more refined aspects of flying.
24:31They practice navigating blind, an essential skill for poor visibility and night operations,
24:46when all judgments about the helicopter's whereabouts must be made trusting only on readings from the flight instruments.
24:52At this point in their training, it is likely that few, if any, of these pilots are aware of the political situation in Vietnam.
25:07America itself is undergoing great change, with the growing civil rights movement and the recent assassination of President Kennedy shifting the focus of public attention to domestic matters.
25:32Towards the end of their time at Fort Rucker, the pilots get the chance they have waited for.
25:59of working with the comparatively slow and lumbering trainers, each of them will get
26:04to spend 27 hours clocking up flight time on the Huey.
26:15The training at Fort Rucker is devised in close consultation with the researchers at
26:19Fort Benning and the pilots from Vietnam. And although the manoeuvring becomes more
26:25realistic day by day, amongst these students there is still little thought of going to war.
26:55In August 1964, US warships patrolling in the Gulf of Ton King are involved in a series
27:03of exchanges with vessels from the North Vietnamese Navy.
27:14In the wake of these incidents, Congress passes a resolution giving President Johnson the power
27:20to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attacks against forces of the United States
27:27and to prevent further aggression.
27:31In Johnson's words, the bill is like Grandma's nightshirt. It covers everything.
27:39It also marks the starting point for a massive escalation in US involvement in Vietnam.
27:46in Vietnam.
28:04Acting with this new freedom, the President initiates a campaign of limited, retaliatory strikes
28:10against military targets in North Vietnam.
28:21As the year progresses, the attacks carried out by carrier and ground-based aircraft become more frequent.
28:28And the range of targets broadens to encompass infiltration routes and Viet Cong staging areas north of the border.
28:36In the United States, two years of developing the techniques of air assault has convinced the military
29:01that the concept of air mobility is a viable one.
29:05We'll be right back to Japan.
29:13Events since the Gulf of Ton King clashes have brought ever nearer
29:18the time when America will commit ground troops for direct military action in Vietnam.
29:22In Vietnam after a final series of war games in the Carolinas,
29:34the decision is taken to form a fully-fledged Air Assault Division.
29:44The 11th Test Division are given the colours of the historic 1st Cavalry,
29:49and the process of building them up to full divisional strength is set in motion.
30:04The new pilots start to arrive at Fort Benning for yet more training.
30:15Here, on a special low-level route called the Confidence Course,
30:19the pilots will test their nerve as well as their control technique,
30:23and in a few short weeks put the finishing touches to the skills
30:27which they've been developing for the past 9 months.
30:34As activity intensifies, rumours abound about the reason for the build-up.
30:48This speculation is dismissed.
31:04By January of 1965, there are already 23,000 American personnel
31:17and hundreds of helicopters at work in Vietnam.
31:25It is indeed a chopper war, but it is only the start.
31:30The events in the region are developing a momentum of their own.
31:42In February, American planes are launched on further retaliatory strikes.
31:47The largest so far to take place against the North
31:49in response to Viet Cong attacks against airbases at Pleiku and Qui Non.
31:55The operation, codenamed Flaming Dot, is the start of a series of bombing missions,
32:06which by March has evolved into the sustained campaign of Operation Rolling Thunder.
32:123,500 US Marines, the first official combat troops, arrive to protect the airbase at Da Nang.
32:24Within weeks, it is decided that they may be committed for direct military action upon request by the South Vietnamese Army.
32:32U.S. forces in Vietnam relinquish their advisory mantle and assume the role of a fully-fledged combat force.
32:41Their numbers increase rapidly, and by mid-1965, there are 70,000 in-country.
32:58On July 28th, President Johnson initiates a series of dramatic measures concerning American involvement in the war.
33:13The number of U.S. forces in the region will be raised to 125,000, with a two-fold increase in the current monthly draft figure.
33:26In support of a speech detailing his intention to stand in Vietnam, Johnson adds that he has, today ordered to Vietnam, the airmobile division.
33:39Their deployment will almost double the number of helicopters in the region.
33:43For all their mobility, transporting an entire division across half the world is a mammoth task.
33:57Four aircraft carriers, six troop transports and seven cargo ships are set aside to move the 1st Cavalry Division with its vehicles, artillery, aircraft and personnel.
34:11Ahead of them, a party of 1,000 men will fly with all the hardware required to begin preparations for their new base.
34:29As the USS Boxer arrives off Vietnam, the preparations get underway to disembark.
34:48The cavalry find that they'll be living at a camp just north of the village of An Cay in the Central Highlands.
35:00Here they will have little of the comforts of Fort Benning, or that of their predecessors who stayed within the relative security of purpose-built airstrips left by the French.
35:11South Vietnam has been divided by the military into four zones, and An Cay is situated halfway along Route 19, between Quy Non on the coast and Ply Coup in the Con Tom Plateau.
35:36The new division will be based in the heart of the Second Corps Zone, a region which the Viet Cong consider their own.
35:45Their proximity to An Cay village dictates that the cavalry must develop a level of cooperation with the locals.
36:04Their industrious neighbours respond in a variety of ways, providing everything from laundry facilities to labourers who help with the job of sandbagging and clearing the ground for what will be the largest heliport in the free world.
36:23Despite the friendliness shown by the locals, the nature of this guerrilla war brings with it a paranoia which demands that close checks be made around the areas where local labour is used.
36:48For most, the work simply provides additional income, but for some it is an opportunity to reconnoitre the enemy's base and place markers, which after dark may be used to direct mortar and machine gun fire towards vital installations.
37:13Their honeymoon period comes to an abrupt end in October, while the cavalry are still trying to eke out what home comforts they may.
37:28Two regiments of the North Vietnamese army, who had been establishing bases and rest areas in the central highlands, launch an attack besieging a special forces camp at Ply Mee.
37:41The assault is seen as part of a larger attempt by the NVA to split South Vietnam in two, by driving a line across the country from the Cambodian border to the coast.
37:56Having greeted them ashore only a few weeks before, General Westmoreland decides to use the cavalry to overfly the enemy positions, delivering men and supplies to relieve the base.
38:09With the lifting of the siege, the North Vietnamese pull back towards the Cambodian border to regroup.
38:28Unwilling to see them get away, Westmoreland orders the cavalry to go on the offensive.
38:47After a change of plan, the NVA are at the same time regrouping in the Ia Drang Valley some 15 miles west of Ply Mee.
38:57On the 14th of November, the first cavalry helicopters move into the valley to a location designated LZ X-Ray, where shortly after landing they come under intense enemy gunfire.
39:09The cavalry are outnumbered, but are able to call in massive fire support from aerial units which include B-52s, and from elements of their own divisional artillery.
39:30In the following days, as more reinforcements are flown in to join the battle,
39:37the choppers get to play their part in the first real test of air mobility.
39:40In the following days, as more reinforcements are flown in to join the battle, the choppers get to play their part in the first real test of air mobility.
40:02The U.S. forces are spread over a wide area, and the battle lines moving at such a pace that effective close support requires that fire bases be established at short notice, then redeployed for action in another location almost as quickly.
40:23With no fixed battle lines, it is also necessary for the artillery units to supply support for one another during movement.
40:51operations. A task which requires remarkable coordination, as helicopters move through the air to pick up or set down troops and supplies in areas which were about to or have just recently come under heavy fire.
41:07operations.
41:23During the operation, thousands of tons of equipment, supplies and personnel are moved by helicopter.
41:29operations.
41:31And by the time the cavalry return to base, they have inflicted over 1,200 enemy casualties, 4,300 on their own side, and the loss of only four helicopters.
41:41The aftermath of the Ia Drang Valley operation is a time for both sides to take stock of their respective positions.
41:59The past weeks have been a far cry from the war games played in the Carolinas.
42:16For many of the pilots logging their flight hours after their first real taste of combat, it is an experience which will have them counting each day till the end of their tour.
42:30Ia Drang was also the first engagement fought against large numbers of North Vietnamese regular forces, and it is shown that the mobility provided by helicopters, coupled with their fire support, may be the decisive factor in any future set-piece battle.
42:51The lesson is not lost on the North Vietnamese or their Viet Cong allies, and it prompts them to adopt a change of tactics.
43:04They resort evermore to a campaign of guerrilla warfare, staging hit-and-run attacks, then melting away into the countryside.
43:14Operating without any fixed battle lines makes the war against the Viet Cong an exhaustive and frustrating task.
43:37Often the enemy would choose not to fight, vanishing to retreats in the forests and highlands.
43:44The US commander in Vietnam, General Westmoreland, has his own theory about how to deal with the problem of his shy foe.
43:53If the enemy would not come out and fight, you had to go out, find, fix and destroy them.
44:02This policy, although sound in theory, leads right back to the problem which had brought the helicopters to Vietnam five years before.
44:18A campaign of search-and-destroy missions involving every branch of the armed forces would now be mounted across the four tactical areas,
44:31south from the demilitarized zone to the swamps of the Mekong Delta.
44:36For the choppers, these missions will account for thousands of hours in flying time.
44:55Dropping troops into designated areas, providing gunship support, and flying vertical replenishment,
45:03or VERTRAP missions to ground-based units in the field.
45:06For the pilots, each day is a constant cycle with little break except to re-arm, refuel, and then go out.
45:09For the pilots, each day is a constant cycle with little break except to re-arm, refuel, and then go out.
45:13to support and collect their own troops again when the sweep is made.
45:26For the pilots, each day is a constant cycle with little break except to re-arm, refuel, and then back out to support and collect their own troops again when the sweep is made.
45:37Although they are fighting an elusive enemy, the threat to the chopper crews is ever real.
45:56In terms of risk, their job ranks only after special forces personnel, and that of the long-range reconnaissance operatives working deep in enemy territory.
46:09The original slicks had been designed to carry ten combat troops and a crew of four.
46:28But alterations dictated by war, including the addition of 300 pounds of armour plate around the pilot seats,
46:35has reduced that carrying capacity to just eight.
46:43Traveling ahead of them into the landing zones, the gunships have also been modified, making them into formidable aerial weapons platforms.
46:51During combat missions, the pilots wear chest protectors to give some defence against shrapnel and enemy fire.
47:03Their side arms, which are issued for personal protection, provide just that,
47:08and most choose to fly with these placed firmly between their legs.
47:12Other unconventional safety procedures are adopted by the grunts, who frequently sit on their helmets during their flight into the combat zone.
47:31These precautions still provide little comfort, as the rest of the helicopter is made from a thin shell of aluminium, magnesium and plexiglass.
47:44As a consequence of their construction, one or two hits into a vital area of a chopper can be enough to put it out of action.
48:03This makes the helicopter campaign a hugely expensive undertaking, consuming millions of dollars in hardware.
48:10Once the shooting stops, however, every effort is made to recover any choppers downed in action.
48:19The search and destroy missions are part of a larger strategy to bring South Vietnam back under government control.
48:40Once a sweep has been made and an area cleared of enemy units, the ARVN are supposed to move in to mop up and secure the area against further infiltration.
48:59Hand in hand with these operations goes another, more subtle aspect in this war of counterinsurgency.
49:05The winning of hearts and minds.
49:12There is no point in killing the enemy, only to alienate the neutral population.
49:22As the troops go about their searches, there is a conscious effort to take what opportunities they can to win the trust of the rural communities.
49:31It is a double-edged sword of cooperation or intimidation which both sides are willing to play.
49:45And the Viet Cong know that the discovery of weapons in a village is guaranteed to upset any efforts at local military diplomacy.
49:53On January the 30th, 1968, a truce arranged for the Vietnamese New Year is brought to an abrupt end as the Viet Cong launch their Tet Offensive.
50:07It is their most ambitious assault of the war. It is also to be their last concerted action.
50:25After the initial shock, there is a massive counterattack by US and South Vietnamese troops.
50:32Exposed in such large numbers, it is only a matter of weeks before the Viet Cong are all but spent as an effective fighting force.
50:43With the virtual destruction of the guerrillas, responsibility for the communist effort in this ever-broadening conflict passes to the North Vietnamese regular army.
51:00By the spring of 1969, the US Army have over half a million personnel in Southeast Asia.
51:17After a visit to the region, the Israeli General Moshe Dayan describes American warfare in Vietnam as being primarily helicopter warfare.
51:32And the 1st Cavalry as the organizational and tactical expression of the imaginative use of the helicopter in battle.
51:40The war has long gone beyond the stage of a conflict which can be won by military might alone.
51:52Victory now, however long it takes, is in the hands of the politicians should they choose to talk.
51:59As for the helicopters, which started out in this conflict as part of a fragile military experiment,
52:07their distinctive sound and silhouette will remain perhaps the most vivid symbol of the war in Vietnam.
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