tactical problems
Vietnam was the first helicopter war. At the height of the conflict, the Americans fielded about 5,000 helicopter that were able to transport whole battalions of infantry into a combat zone at a moment’s notice and bring in supplies and provide air support. Another advantage of the helicopter was that the enemy was unfamiliar with their usage and tactics of such a weapon. The helicopter was a threat to the VC’s way of fighting. The first real test of air mobility came in the Ia Drang Valley campaign. Here, helicopters lifted in over 5,000 tons of cargo to the troops in the field and moving whole battalions of men and artillery batteries during the course of the battle. Total, there were only four helicopters shot down. On paper, the American air mobility tactic seemed great, but there were some very real and practical problems while trying to make it work. Helicopters needed a place to land. In the jungles of Vietnam, suitable landing zones were hard to come by. The other problem with this tactic had to do with the soldiers. Once the men landed, they were often reluctant to move away from the LZ (Landing Zone) because they knew that is where they could be resupplied or evacuated. Therefore, air mobility often provided a poor substitute for mobility on the ground.
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