History of the 227th Aviation Battalion
(Assault Helicopter) Continued

Area of Operations Map

The History of 227th for the year of 1966

1 January 1966 - 31 December 1966

PREPARED BY

Major Richard R. White

and

Captain Louis A. Barber

APPROVED BY

JAMES F. HAMLET
Lt. Colonel, Infantry
Commanding

1ST CAVALRY DIVISION (AIRMOBILE)
APO San Francisco, 96490

NINETEEN HUNDRED SIXTY SIX
1966

Chapter 1

The base camp of the 227th Aviation Battalion remained at Camp 
Radcliff, An Khe, Republic of Vietnam, throughout the year. 
Improvements of living areas, maintenance facilities and aircraft 
parking areas progressed slowly due to the battalion's heavy 
operational commitments in the field. Semi-permanent buildings, 
showers and latrines were erected by the individual companies 
whenever they were left at An Khe in support of base defense 
mission. A great portion of the building materials for these projects
were purchased by individuals and assembled though unit initiative.

Engineer support was very limited although a mess hall was erected
in each company area. Very little lumber and cement was available 
through normal supply channels. Foundations for buildings were dug 
by hand. Sand and gravel was carried in by organizational vehicles.
Cement was mixed with shovels and rakes and then hand carried in
buckets. This was a slow tedious task. The heat and humidity increased
the fatigue factor and further decreased the amount of work that 
could be accomplished. Officers and enlisted worked as laborers on 
these projects. Any individual that had previous building experience 
was accepted as project director and the rest of the personnel 
pitched in with a tremendous spirit to make the base camp a better 
place to live.

Better protective bunkers were constructed and sandbagged. Pierced
steel planking was used as a base for the bunker covers and then sand
bagged for further protection. This work also was done by hand. A
significant number of personnel stilled lived in tents. Many of the 
tents were in extremely poor condition. No relief in replacing the 
tent age was realized until late summer. During the monsoon season,
everything became damp and leaking tents were a normal part of 
everyday life. Individuals erected shelter-halfs or ponchos over 
their cots to shed the rain that came though the tents.

The two basic seasons in Vietnam rendered equal harassment to
everyday life. During the dry season, Camp Redcliff became a dust
bowl. The development of dirt roads throughout the camp caused dust
to penetrate all structures. The wind, no matter how slight, carried
the dust into every conceivable spot. This condition also increased
the helicopter maintenance problems. The life of hydraulic and oil
seals was considerably shortened. The engine dust filters had to be
cleaned daily or a noticeable reduction in engine power was
experienced. During the monsoon season, the dust bowl was 
transformed into a mud bowl. The transition time was almost 
nonexistent.

Soft wet mud appears where ever people walked or vehicles drove.
In the heavily used areas, the mud became six to ten inches in depth.
It was impossible to keep helicopters or vehicles clean. Layers of
mud would build up on boots and clothing after a few hours on the
job. Clothing was difficult to dry once it was washed. Uniforms hung
on lines and remained wet until a break in rain showers allowed for
semi-dry conditions. Many individuals donned damp clothing and 
permitted body heat to slowly dry their clothes.

Chapter 2

The 227th Aviation Battalion Continued to support brigade elements
of the First Cavalry Division. The normal mission was to provide 
direct support to a specific brigade for a particular operation. On 
initial assaults of the brigade elements into an AO 
(area of operations), as many as sixty helicopters (UH-1D's) might be
employed. The 229th Aviation Battalion, our sister battalion, would 
provide support to the 227th Aviation Battalion, on these initial 
moves, with aircraft and crews as required.

OPERATION MATADORE
4-20 January 1966

The 227th Aviation Battalion supported the First Brigade on OPERATION
MATADORE. The AO extended along the Cambodian border from the 
Ia Drang river north for one hundred kilometers, and covered
approximately twenty five kilometers in width. One company of the
229th Aviation Battalion was attached to the 227th Aviation Battalion
for this operation. A refueling point was positioned at Katecta, 
eighteen kilometers southwest of Pleiku, with subsidiary points at
Duc Co and Plei Djering special forces camps.

Very little enemy contact was made during the operation and hostile
ground fire was seldom encountered. The landing zones were small and
covered with high barriers, stumps and elephant grass. Landing zones
were created by bombing with conventional ordnance and napalm. the
conventional bombs cleared some of the elephant grass and small trees
which did improve the landing zone. The napalm bombs developed a 
condition which was more of a hazard to the helicopters than the 
landing zone would have been in its natural state. The napalm did burn
out the elephant grass but simply blackened the stumps and small
trees.

These hazards were very difficult to see since the ground was 
blackened in the same way. An additional hazard was created by the 
heat in the landing zone which raised the density altitude above the
normal high level. One helicopter could not hover after making an
approach and crashed on a stump. There were no casualties but the
ruptured fuel cell caused a flash fire that destroyed the helicopter.
Blowing ashes and cinders picked up by the rotor wash produced a near
IFR condition at a hover.

MASHER-WHITE WING-EAGLES CLAW-BLACK HORSE-JIM BOWIE
25 January - 21 March 1966

These operations were conducted in sequence in an AO sixty kilometers
west of a north-south line running between Phu Cat and Bong Son.
Company B, 227th Aviation Battalion was attached to the 229th Aviation
Battalion and moved with that unit to the vicinity of Phu Cat. The 
mission was to support the 3rd Brigade on 25 January 1966. As the 
tempo of the action increased, the 2nd Brigade was also committed 
in the AO. The 227th Aviation Battalion, remained at Camp Radcliff, 
An Khe, in support of the base defense mission.

Hostile ground fire was very heavy on all assaults into the valleys 
and low ground. This resulted in a change of tactics as operations 
progressed. Assaults were made to the high ground to support a ground
tactical plan of sweeping down the valleys. Very little hostile 
ground fire was encountered with helicopter assaults to the hill tops
but aircraft accidents increased. Landings were made to the mountain
peaks or ridge lines which required a greater amount of pilot skill 
to overcome turbulence and density altitude problems. One Helicopter,
which attempted to land on a high pinnacle, rolled over and killed 
two infantry passengers. Two night missions were successfully 
preformed during these operations. One medical evacuation and the 
other was an extraction of an infantry platoon. Both missions were 
supported by flares to illuminate the landing zones.
  
During Operation JIM BOWIE, 13 - 21 March 1966. two more UH-1D 
helicopters were destroyed. One fatality occurred. These tow accidents
involved pinnacle landings. Very little enemy contact was made during
the search and destroy operations; consequently, JIM BOWIE was 
terminated earlier than initially planned. Lift helicopters landed at 
an artillery position to wait to extract one security company of the
1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry, after the CH-47 helicopters completed the
extraction of the artillery tubes. It was dark when the last tube was
finally lifted out. No prior planning for loading the security 
company had been made during daylight hours. This resulted in 
confusion and excessive delay before the extraction could be 
effected. The infantry company commander had a difficult time getting
his troops loaded because he could not see which helicopters were 
loaded or not loaded.