The Quintessential ‘Huey’
The term “airborne” has traditionally referred to combat troops who are transported by aircraft and parachuted into battle or, as in certain instances in World War II, landed by glider. The term also refers to a much broader class of actions. In this sense, this article defines an airborne operation as one “involving movement and delivery of combat forces by air.” In current usage, the term “airborne” refers to those troops who are parachute qualified. Here airborne operations are defined as those involving troops parachuting into battle.
During the Indochina War, the French employed airborne tactics in their fight against the Viet Minh. Elite paratroopers (known as paras) jumped to relieve isolated posts, carry out raids, and gather intelligence. They also supported infantry units during ground operations.
On July 17, 1953, three French parachute battalions conducted an operation at the Viet Minh–occupied border town of Lang Son. Located along Route Coloniale 4 on the China border, Lang Son was a major logistics center for incoming Chinese military supplies. The French withdrew after destroying 5,000 tons of matériel, including arms and ammunition.
In Operation CASTOR (November 20, 1953), France conducted its largest airborne operation of the war in northwestern Vietnam at Dien Bien Phu. Sixty-five Douglas C-47 Skytrains dropped two battalions of paratroopers into the valley; they dropped a third battalion during a second lift that same afternoon. By November 22 the French had deployed six airborne battalions to Dien Bien Phu. By December airborne forces, utilizing the airstrip at Dien Bien Phu, began being replaced by ground units there. One of the heroic stories of the Indochina War came during the Siege of Dien Bien Phu (April–May 1954) when parachute reinforcements insisted on dropping into a battle that was already lost so that they might fight alongside their comrades.
During the Vietnam War, airborne operations were not a major factor. This was because of the terrain and the development of air mobile–air assault tactics. The first major U.S. Army ground combat unit sent to Vietnam, however, was the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate). Known as the “Sky Soldiers,” the brigade arrived in Vietnam on May 7, 1965.
Formed in May 1963 and headquartered at Okinawa, the 173rd Airborne Brigade was the U.S. Pacific Command’s quick-reaction strike force. The brigade was initially sent to Vietnam on temporary assignment to provide security for the Bien Hoa Air Base complex until elements of the 101st Airborne Division could be deployed from the United States. The 173rd Airborne Brigade remained in Vietnam for six years.
The 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, of the 173rd Airborne Brigade conducted the only major U.S. airborne operation of the war while attached to the 1st Infantry Division. This was during Operation JUNCTION CITY in February 1967 and included 800 troopers of the 2nd Battalion in a 30,000-man multidivision force against War Zone C. On the morning of February 22 the 2nd Battalion, lifted by 16 Lockheed C-130 Hercules transports, carried out the first major U.S. airborne assault since the Korean War.
The “Screaming Eagles” of the 101st Airborne Division also served in Vietnam. Its 1st Brigade arrived there in the summer of 1965, and the remaining brigades arrived by November 1967. With the introduction of new tactics involving helicopters during this period, the division was in the process of transforming itself from parachute operations to air mobile–air assault tactics. While the 101st Airborne Division remained one of the premier U.S. combat units in Vietnam, it did not conduct airborne operations there.
The U.S. Marine Corps had parachute-qualified reconnaissance battalions in Vietnam, and in June 1966 a marine reconnaissance company conducted a combat jump near Chu Lai. Other military formations possessing an airborne capability and conducting limited airborne operations were the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Studies and Observation Group (MACV SOG); the Vietnamese Strategic Technical Directorate; and the Australian Special Air Service (SAS). All members of U.S. Army Special Forces in Vietnam were airborne qualified. Other U.S. units, including the Navy SEALs and Army Rangers, were airborne qualified but generally used riverine craft and air assault (helicopters) during the war.
Airborne units also developed within the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN, South Vietnamese Army). These began in 1955 with the three battalions of the Airborne (or Parachutist) Group. In 1960 the Airborne Group was reorganized as the Airborne Brigade. On December 1, 1965, it officially became the Airborne Division, with three brigades. A fourth brigade was added in early 1975.
Between 1962 and 1966, ARVN Airborne units conducted various parachute assaults. In 1966 with the infusion of helicopters from the United States, these elements began adopting air mobile– air assault tactics. By 1968 the Airborne Division, headquartered in Saigon, was serving as a helicopter-borne reaction force. ARVN Airborne units made a combat parachute jump on May 4, 1972, during an operation near Pleiku.
During 1966–1968 U.S. Army Special Forces units trained six airborne-qualified battalions of Montagnards as well as other ethnic groups. Led by American Special Forces advisers, these battalions conducted four airborne operations during 1967 and 1968 and established Special Forces camps in Communist-held territory. Special warfare operations incorporating native fighters and marked by rapid movement and fluidity were, on the whole, very effective in dealing with Communist guerrillas. Attempts to construct stationary compounds with set defensive perimeters were not as successful as operations depending on stealth, natural cover, and surprise.
Given U.S. domination of the air, neither the Viet Cong (VC) nor the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN, North Vietnamese Army) utilized airborne forces during the Vietnam War. The small North Vietnamese airborne force, developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s as a part of the North Vietnamese 335th Brigade, was disbanded during the course of the war.
References Arkin, William M., et al., eds. Encyclopedia of the U.S. Military. New York: Hallinger, 1990. Davidson, Phillip A. Vietnam at War: The History, 1946–1975. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1988. Hoyt, Edwin F. Airborne: The History of American Parachute Forces. New York: Stein and Day, 1979. Galvin, General John R. Air Assault: The Development of Airmobile Warfare. New York: Hawthorn Books, 1969. Simpson, Howard R. Dien Bien Phu: The Epic Battle America Forgot. Washington, DC: Brassey’s, 1994.
