Army Aviation Notes/Questions/Etc

Army Aviation Notes/questions/etc

If you came to this website looking for the 123rd Aviation Battalion of the AMERICAL Division, then this is a good place to start. The 161st AHC was reorganized into the 123rd AHB, and this site contains information and images during that transition period in early 1968

Lane Army Airfield, Republic of Vietnam, 1965 - 1967
Chu Lai, Ky Ha, Republic of Vietnam, 1967 - 1968

This home page is dedicated to all the men of the Pelicans, Scorpions and Road Runners
as well as all of the supporting units of the 161st Assault Helicopter Company.

The 161st Aviation Company was stationed in Vietnam from 1965 to 1968. The years may indicate a four-year tour of duty, however, due to actual arrival and deactivation dates, the true tenure is slightly over two years. The company arrived in-country in December 1965 and was deactivated/reorganized in January of 1968.

The 161st Aviation Company was organized on August 25, 1965 at Fort Benning, Georgia for deployment to the Republic of South Vietnam. At this point of the Vietnam War, the military buildup is escalating and as many as two helicopter companies a month are being sent to Vietnam. The 161st was composed of three flight platoons with an authorized strength of seven helicopters each, a helicopter maintenance platoon, the 406th Transportation Detachment, the 449th Signal Detachment, and the headquarters section.

Two of the Huey platoons flew the UH-1D Huey and used the call sign of PELICAN. Many of these aircraft were brand-new Hueys right of the Bell Helicopter assembly line and had consecutive serial numbers.

The third Huey platoon flew the UH-1B Huey gunship and used the call sign of SCORPION. The 161st was the last Army unit to be organized with the UH-1B gunship. An observation at the time was that most of the UH-1B’s were the "Hanger Queens" from various military units across the country. One aircraft had a previous duty station in Puerto Rico.

The 406th TC augmented the 161st service platoon, providing support in the area of rotor maintenance, engine repair, and airframe repair and general aircraft maintenance. The 406th TC used a call sign of ROADRUNNER.

The 449th Signal Detachment provided maintenance and repair of the aircraft avionics systems.

CW3 Robert Warns: Robert was in 228th Bn Hq down at Phouc Vinh. His radio call was Qbee 377. This photo was take in the Battalion street at Phouc Vinh in 1969 after the 1st Cav moved down to III Corps.

CPT Norman E. Lassiter: Gene was 228th's Bn S-3, Bulldog 3 in 68-69. Gene says, "this is the most pitiful mustache in all of Vietnam".

MAY 1968: (Vietnam)

The 272nd Avn Company begins deploying to Vietnam, arriving by ship on 21 May 1968. At that

time, the unit was placed under the operational control of the 222nd Avn Battalion. The Unit was
based in Vung Tau Republic of Vietnam at a base now designated as Camp Bear Cat.

JUNE 1968: (Camp Eagle and the 101st)

Bravo Company sends 4 CH-47B aircraft TDY in support of the 101st Airborne Division located at
Camp Eagle. Additional requirements were later placed on the unit and the 272nd Avn Co is
assigned to the 101st Airborne Division.

OCTOBER 1968: (Varsity)

The 272nd Avn Co is relocated in its entirety to Camp Eagle. The unit is redesignated as Company
B, 159th ASH Battalion. The same month the Company was nicknamed VARSITY, because it was
the 1st team, second to none.

JANUARY 1969 THRU FEBRUARY 1972:

In late 1969 Varsity started replacing the CH-47B with the new CH-47C and the Super C. By May of
1970 the Varsity Team was an all CH-47C company. In May of 1970 two Varsity CH-47s and all on
board were lost to enemy ground-fire. Varsity remained in VARSITY Valley (also known as the
Locker Room) at Camp Eagle until 31 August 1970, when the company was relocated to an airfield
at HUE / PHU BAI. The relocation provided for better living conditions and improved aircraft
maintenance. Varsity as a member of the 159th ASH Bn provided lift support to the 101st Airborne
Division operations to include:

OPERATION KENTUCKY JUMPER

OPERATION MASSACHUSETTES STRIKER

OPERATION APACHE SNOW

OPERATION CAMPBELL STREAMER

OPERATION MONTGOMERY RENDESVOUS

LAMSON 719

OPERATION JEFFERSON GLEN

LAMSON 810

The unit conducted artillery support, troop movement, resupply operations, flare and flame drops,
firebase insertions and extractions, IFR airdrops and downed aircraft recovery operations to name
a few. One of Varsity's most prized accomplishments was its outstanding flying record. Varsity had
over 22,000 accident free flying hours and only one aircraft accident in the total of 32,000 hours
flown in the Republic of Vietnam. In flying those 32,000 hours the Company completed over 80,000
sorties and carried over 116,000 tons of equipment

Flying Circus 1 Bde, 1st Cav HHC

... OUR TRUSTY STEEDS ...

history page

UH-1 Iroquois - "Huey"

The aviation unit had five UH-1’s assigned to it, all configured as Command & Control helicopters. These were used by the Brigade Commander as well as the three Battalion Commanders belonging to the 1st Brigade of the 1st Cav. To make up the five, there was also one spare machine.

As the 1st Cav arrived in Vietnam in late 1965, and the UH-1H was delivered to the Army in the later part of 1967, the first UH-1’s were UH-1D’s. The first UH-1H was delivered in late October, 1967, and the next four arrived in early November. This model remained in service with the Circus until January and February of 1971 when parts of the 1st Cav began leaving Vietnam.

Huey maintenance - Bong Song
LZ English, 1967 - by F. Vanatta

Though some Hueys sported markings on them from time to time, they were particular to that one helicopter. There was no separate marking to denote their belonging to the Flying Circus until some time in 1970 when the Brigade Commander’s aircraft began sporting the Brigade crest on the cockpit doors.

C&C with crest (patch in door from 50 cal. round that went through Bill Hogan's leg and exited there)
Brigade CO’s ship, 1970 - by J. Harris

OH-13S Sioux

When the first elements of the 1st Cav arrived in Vietnam they had with them 122 OH-13’s, and this is the type first used by the aviation unit in the scouting role. Eight of these Korean War veteran helicopters made up the scout section of what was to become the Flying Circus.

The only other helicopter used for scouting missions at that time was the OH-23, but the 1st Brigade never used this type.

The OH-13’s had distinctive white markings on them to help them stand out from above. These were applied to the tops of the stabilizers and along the top of the fuel tanks. The only other normal marking was the addition of the French Tricolour on the fin ahead of the tail rotor from late 1967 in conjunction with introduction of the name "Lafayette Escadrille" for the scout section. When the name died out about a year later, this marking began to disappear as well.

Records show that the last OH-13 left the unit in late 1968 after the type had accumulated just over three years of distinctive service.

OH-13 near Quang Tri, 1968
by F. Vanatta

OH-6A Cayuse

In January, 1968, Frank Vanatta was sent to An Khe to attend the OH-6 transition school set up there by the Hughes Aircraft Company. Frank became the Flying Circus’ first pilot to be checked out in the Cayuse, delivering the unit’s first example in early February, 1968.

Only two OH-6’s were delivered in the early days, and these were eventually damaged in combat. The unit was without the type again for almost four months from the end of February.

Bob Potvin went for his checkout in the type in May, and also received his checkout as the unit’s first Instructor Pilot on the type. Bob brought an OH-6 back with him at the completion of his training, and the unit began to receive more of the type over the proceeding weeks.

The distinctive white markings applied to the upper surfaces of the OH-13’s were carried over to the OH-6. There were two stripes on the upper surface of the angled stabiliser and a single stripe almost half the length of the top of the tail boom running aft from the "dog house". The French Tricolour, as used on the OH-13, was painted just below the mast on the side of the "dog house", and suffered the same fate as those on the Souix. There were some cases of individual markings on some machines, but there is no history of any other type of unit marking.

OH-6 at Quang Tri, 1968
by B. Potvin

Though the Bell OH-58A Kiowa was first delivered to the U.S.Army in May, 1968, the 1st Brigade did not receive any of them during its time in Vietnam.

Just about every pilot who had the opportunity to fly the OH-6 would agree that it was the best helicopter suited to the scout role. Its maneuverability, its small size, and its ability to absorb punishment were extremely hard to beat. Besides, it was fun to fly!

compiled by Frank Vanatta

The aviation unit of the HHC, 1st Brigade, consisted of five UH-1 helicopters used for Command & Control and eight smaller helicopters used for scout missions. It was more from the exploits of these scouts that the unit’s reputation was made. Moving ahead of the main units, they performed much as did the scouts of the old wild west. Because they were not restricted to operating as part of a bigger aviation group, these scouts went when and where they were needed in more of an atmosphere of "have gun, will travel". This philosophy meant that the scouts performed a more varied type of flying and became proficient in a wide variety of missions. Their exploits produced a fine mixture of those early cavalry scouts with the spirit of those days when the original Flying Circus took to the air.

As proper names were not used over the radio, each person had a nickname. If the individuals did not choose a name for themselves, one would soon be given to them by the members of the unit. These names were used not just by the pilots, but by most of the members of the Circus.

There was also a series of more formal military type callsigns used in normal communications. These were assigned by "the powers that were running the show" and were changed from time to time.

The callsigns for the Command & Control helicopters stemmed from the callsign of the units to which they were assigned. Examples of these names could come from football positions such as "Fullback", "Halfback", or "Quarterback", or they could be names with no particular association such as "White Knight". These names were followed by a number which denoted the rank of the person being addressed. A "6" represented the Commanding Officer of the unit, and then the numbers reduced as the rank decreased. An example would be a Battalion Commander’s helicopter with a callsign of "Fullback 6".

The scout helicopters usually had a generic callsign which denoted which unit they were assigned to. The Flying Circus scouts were known as "Stingray" for many years. This name seems to have been in existence from sometime in 1967 to at least early 1970. This callsign was followed by a color code which showed what type of mission was being flown. White was used for scouts, red for guns or artillery, etc. This combination was in turn followed by a number which belonged to the particular pilot flying that aircraft. This number may have been assigned in a random order at first, but it soon settled into a pattern of each pilot taking the next number in the sequence as they were assigned to the unit.

An example of such a callsign would thus be "Stingray white 24".

What this added up to was that while a particular scout pilot may be addressed as "Chartreuse OX" by those who knew him, he would be "Stingray white 31" to another aircraft from outside the unit.

All of these things came together to produce the colorful names to which various stories have been attached over the years that the unit operated in Vietnam. The members of the unit, no matter what job they performed, all contributed to making the history of the Flying Circus a memorable one in the annals of that war.

http://www.flying-circus.org/history/history.htm

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http://www.geocities.com/b214hillclimbers/history1.html

All photos provided by 1st Lt. Jim Nolan of the 180th

I was assigned to the 180th Assault Support Helicopter Company at Lane Army Heliport, flying the CH-47C Helicopters. The 180th was known as "Big Windy".

Lane Heliport 1972

Crusader http://incolor.inetnebr.com/iceman/

Dolphins and Sharks http://www.americal.org/174/audio.htm