History of the 227th Aviation Battalion (Assault Helicopter)
Continued
While the main body was en route, broken down among four aircraft carriers and four troop transports, eighteen officers and eight enlisted men comprising the battalion's advance party proceeded by air. Lt. Colonel Cranford and thirteen of the other officers were sent to units throughout South Vietnam as "Combat Observers" while the remaining four officers and eight enlisted men made up of the quartering party. The observers flew over seven hundred hours during their three weeks with the aviation units in II, III, IV Arvn Corps sectors. Their experience there was carefully evaluated and compared to the operational concepts gained during the two and half years of air assault testing to assure the utilization of the soundest of airmobility tactics. On 9 September 1965, the aircraft carrier USS Boxer anchored in Quin Nhon Harbor and the first of the 227th helicopter and personnel began to arrive. The quartering party had begun preparation of the battalion's new home just outside the small mountain village of An Khe, RVN and the battalion moved in and begun the long hard process of making a cantonment area and heliport out of a piece of jungle. Just eight days after the arrival of the first helicopter, with over half of the battalion's aircraft and personnel still at sea, the 227th Assault Helicopter Battalion flew it's first combat mission. A unit of the 101st Airborne Division had been surrounded by a superior Viet Cong force and elements of the battalion spent the following two days resupplying ammunition, lifting reinforcements, carrying wounded 101st troopers to a field hospital and extracting units from the battle area. On the 21st of September, that operation was terminated with another extraction and the 227th Assault Helicopter Battalion had come though its first combat operation, its baptism of fire, and had acquitted itself in the same manner it had been displayed in the past whenever confronted with a requirement. The battalion sustained no losses and two of its members were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and one Bronze Star medal as a result of their heroic actions on 17 September. During the next two weeks, the battalion concentrated on small combat actions in close proximity to the base camp. These operations were utilized as training vehicles for both the aviation units and the supported infantrymen. The effect of this brief training became immediately apparent. Formations tightened and settled down to a steady, professional standard. The aircrews began to work as teams. They started to mold into platoons and companies, with each continually improving as their skill and proficiency increased. The Delta Company aerial weapons crews became familiar with their guns and rockets and as they worked with the lift units, a mutual confidence and respect developed which enhanced the evolution of the battalion into a tight, well-rounded team. While the aircrews were out applying their trade, things began to take on a new look back at An Khe. This huge base camp, that was to become the world's largest heliport, had been named the "Golf Course" by the advance party because of the care taken to retain the sod and topsoil, while removing by hand all of the trees and other obstructions. Personnel bunkers having been completed, the necessities of everyday living were beginning to appear; slowly at first, and then in rapid tempo as materials became more readily available. By the end of September, all the companies had built combination showers and latrines and mess facilities. Concrete floors began to appear in some of the GP tents, then screen siding on some and even a few corrugated tin roofed "hooches" sprung up. The members of the battalion were able to improve their living conditions to a great extent without the benefit of outside help in either labor or the procurement of materials. On 10 October 1965 operation "Shiny Bayonet" began. The battalion lifted the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry on a combat assault to their objective early on 10 October. This was their first large combat lift of the 1st Cavalry Division unit and was made without difficulty. This lift was Vietnam's introduction to altitude flexibility, which has since proved so valuable in avoiding enemy automatic weapons. On 14 October, the 227th extracted the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, which was in contact with the enemy. Viet Cong automatic weapons and small arms fire was intense and the pick-up area was attacked during the loading of the last unit, but the members of the "Pouvoir" battalion completed their mission like veterans. Lt. Colonel Cranford was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his display of heroism during that extraction, which included rescuing the crew of one of the battalion's helicopters which had been shot down. Nearly half of the aircraft involved in that lift were hit by Viet Cong fire, but there was never any hesitation, every ship except the one that was actually shot down completed the mission.
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