CHAPTER V

Airmobility Comes of Age, 1966

Airmobility in the Delta

The 173d Airborne Brigade (Separate) launched the new year on 1 January 1966 with a smoothly executed move into the Mekong Delta. This was the first time an American ground unit had operated in the notorious 'Plain of Reeds.'

The Brigade had moved from Hau Nghia Province into the Delta by land and air. The air elements, consisting of the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry; the 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry; the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment; and 'C' Battery, 3d Battalion, 319th Artillery, came into Bao Trai airstrip.1 By 1425 the 1st Battalion of the 503d had the honor of being the first American force to make an air assault west of the Oriental River. This assault, which was preceded by an effective landing zone preparation by Tactical Air, artillery, and armed helicopters, only experienced light opposition which was quickly brushed aside. The Australian battalion established themselves by air assault on the east side of the Oriental River which effectively cut this enemy supply route.

As previously scheduled, the 2d Battalion of the 503d remained at the brigade forward base until the following morning when they conducted a heliborne assault into landing zone WINE. This landing zone was approximately five kilometers south of the Australian position and also on the east side of the river. Here they met very strong enemy resistance and the battalion fought a bitter and fiercely-conducted battle throughout the day against a dug-in, well-concealed, battalion-size Viet Cong force. Intense artillery fire,

1. The 2d Battalion, 503d Parachute Infantry Regiment was the first U.S. unit to jump in combat during World War II (Operation TORCH in Africa). As executive officer, I helped organize the 2d Battalion and later activated, trained and led the 3d Battalion of the 503d which made the first combat jump in the Pacific. As a coincidental footnote to history, when we made that jump into the Markham Valley of New Guinea, our total artillery support was a battery of '25- pounders' of the Royal Australian Artillery.