Vietnam War: The War Where Helicopters Really Came to the Stage

"You will kill ten of us and we will kill one of you, but in the end you will be bored first."

Ho Chi Minh

Why did the Vietnam War break out?

The Vietnam War lasted 21 years, from 1954 to 1975. The United States provided funds, weapons and training to the South Vietnamese government and military since the division of Vietnam into the Communist North and Democratic South in 1954. Tensions escalated into armed conflict between the two sides and in 1961 US President John F. Kennedy chose to expand the military aid program. The terms of this expansion included more funds and weapons, but the main change was the increased involvement of US troops in the region. Kennedy's expansion of the military assistance program was partly motivated by Cold War fears of the Domino Theory: if Communism prevailed in Vietnam, it was thought that this would topple democracies throughout Southeast Asia.

In July 1959, the first American soldiers in South Vietnam (serving as military advisors) were killed when the Viet Cong raided their living quarters near Saigon. In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy decided to send a large number of helicopters and some 400 Green Berets to South Vietnam. This authorized covert operations against the Viet Cong on the US side.

Meanwhile, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. However, his successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, continued the work Kennedy had started. By the end of his first year in office, Johnson had increased the number of US troops deployed to South Vietnam to 23,000. Political turmoil in Vietnam and North Vietnamese attacks on US naval vessels eventually forced President Johnson to issue the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964.

The Vietnam War was in fact a war waged by South Vietnam between 1954 and 1975 against the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, the Viet Cong guerrillas. The main ally of the South Vietnamese government in this war was the United States. The North was supported by the Soviet Union. In other words, the Vietnam War was seen as a manifestation of the Cold War between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies.

How was the decision to use helicopters in the Vietnam War made?

As a result of the positive experiences with helicopters in the Korean War, military planners came to the conclusion that helicopters could be an effective war machine. I explained the details of this in my article about the use of helicopters in the Korean War (https://strasam.org/savunma/kara-silah-ve-sistemleri/kore-savasinda-helikopter-sosyalimi-2675).

Test activities regarding helicopters have started in the 11th Airborne Division. It was reactivated on February 1, 1963, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and its name was changed to the 11th Air Force to test ideas about what could be done on the battlefield with helicopters and to develop and improve useful attack tactics and equipment for airborne troops and participating in such operations. It became the Assault Division. Following the completion of this mission, the 11th Air Assault Division was closed on 29 June 1965.

When the 11th Air Assault Division was first activated with helicopters in 1963 as a test and evaluation division for the Air Mobility doctrine, it had several helicopter types in its inventory, including the Bell UH-1 Iroquois, Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave, and Boeing CH-47 Chinook. was given. In fact, the main task of the 11th Air Assault Division was to test how helicopters could be used on the battlefield and to present an evaluation report to the American army. The division carried out various exercises and trials. With these activities, the division subsequently contributed to the development of various doctrines and helicopter usage tactics, including airborne operations for helicopters that can move quickly from the air in the battlefield. The work of this division also paved the way for the widespread use of helicopters in the Vietnam War.

During the Vietnam War, in addition to the 11th Division, the 1st Cavalry Division was the first division to use helicopters extensively. The 1st Cavalry Division was a unit established on February 25, 1921, at Fort Knox, Kentucky. II. This division, which took part in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and the Afghanistan War, is considered among the leading divisions of the USA. He is currently stationed at Fort Hood, Texas.

The 1st Cavalry Division first encountered helicopters in 1952 during the Korean War. The division had gained experience using a small number of helicopters used for reconnaissance and medical evacuation. However, the use of helicopters in the Korean War was still in its infancy and the division did not have significant air transport capabilities.

By 1965, the 1st Cavalry Division was deployed in Vietnam and was given an active role. In this context, the division was equipped with a much larger number of helicopters. Meanwhile, the 1st Cavalry Division was also given the task of developing and implementing the Air mobility combat concept. With this war, the 1st Cavalry Division became known as the most proficient division among helicopter-using divisions in the US Army.

Notable Statistical Information About Helicopters and Pilots in the Vietnam War

The US military used various types of helicopters in the Vietnam war. In total, approximately 12,000 helicopters served in the war. According to the results of the research conducted by the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, exactly 11,827 helicopters took part in the Vietnam war. This number was the numerical value that emerged when looking at the special tail numbers given to helicopters assigned to the Vietnam War. 5,086 of these helicopters were disabled during the war for various reasons, and many of them crashed.

We see that the use of UH-1 type helicopters took the lead in the Vietnam War. Statistical data shows that 7,013 UH-1 Huey type helicopters served in Vietnam. The total number of helicopter pilots killed or killed in the Vietnam War was 2,202. This is a pretty high number. The losses, which include flight crews other than pilots and people in the crashed helicopters, are calculated as 2,704. Interestingly, one in every 18 helicopter pilots who served in Vietnam lost their lives. According to Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine, “An Army helicopter was lost every 7.9 sorties between 1966 and 1971; 564 pilots, 1,155 crew members and 682 passengers lost their lives in accidents alone.

When we look at Vietnam movies, we mostly see images of UH-1 helicopters. UH-1 can be considered as the helicopter that left its mark on this war. As a matter of fact, the fact that more Huey type helicopters were shot down than other aircraft deployed in Vietnam confirms this. Based on a database from the Pentagon, it is estimated that more than 40,000 helicopter pilots served in the Vietnam War. In the Vietnam War, helicopters were used on more than 850,000 medical evacuation missions, improving casualty survival rates. In the Vietnam War, unlike the Korean War, wounded soldiers were taken to the helicopter and then on the return route.

It is carried in the rear cabin of the helicopter until it reaches the field hospitals. In this way, medical personnel could easily treat injured soldiers. Wounded soldiers could be transported to the field hospital within 30 minutes in most cases. All of this could be achieved thanks to helicopters operating under all conditions.

In the photo, a wounded soldier during the Vietnam War is seen being taken on a stretcher to a UH-1 Huey.

It is understood that a total of approximately 5,000 helicopter pilots and helicopter crews lost their lives while conducting air operations in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. More than 300 helicopter pilots and crew members who died while serving during the war were buried in Arlington National Cemetery. For this reason, a "Vietnam Helicopter Pilot and Crew Monument" was built at Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate the helicopter pilots and crews who lost their lives during the Vietnam War on April 18, 2018. Additionally, Arlington National Cemetery is a place of particular importance to U.S. Army helicopter pilots, as it also serves as the final resting place of helicopter pilots and crews whose remains were found years after the end of the Vietnam War.

At photo; A UH-1 helicopter that crashed or was shot down in the Vietnam War is seen. Soldiers gathered around the helicopter are trying to save the victims inside the helicopter.

UH-1 helicopters belonging to the American army logged an incredible 7,531,955 flight hours in total during the Vietnam War between 1966 and 1975. The Huey became the helicopter type with more combat flight time than any other aircraft in the history of the war, including the Huey Cobra (AH-1G), which had 1,038,969 flight hours in Vietnam. UH-1s and AH-1G attack helicopters flew approximately 16 million sorties. These values indicate a truly incredible size. The Vietnam War is called helicopter warfare. Indeed, looking at these numerical data, there is no need to use another name for Vietnam.

The drawing shows the AH-1G Huey Cobra Gunship (Snake) attack helicopter (Image source https://www.historynet.com)

A single Bell AH-1G Huey Cobra bound for Muc Hoa on 4 September 1967 intercepted a sampan (a relatively flat-bottomed Chinese and Malay wooden boat) carrying four armed Viet Cong in the waterway below. Some sampans include a small shelter on board and operate in inland waters. It can be used as a permanent settlement.) noticed. The 1st Air Brigade commander gave the order to attack. Thus began Cobra's first combat mission in Vietnam. The Huey Cobra attack helicopter, which successfully completed its mission to sink the sampan, destroyed the Viet Cong with rocket and machine gun fire. After this success, it became a sought-after helicopter in countless missions. The helicopter of successful missions, the AH-1G Huey Cobra Gunship (Snake), could not avoid losing between 270 and 300 during the Vietnam War.