US Air Cavalry Trooper vs North Vietnamese Soldier

Vietnam 1965–68

US Air Cavalry Trooper vs North Vietnamese Soldier cover

US Air Cavalry Trooper vs North Vietnamese Soldier

Vietnam 1965–68

Description

Drawing on extensive primary source documentation, this lively study of US air assault operations and North Vietnamese countermeasures assesses the clash between two highly contrasting approaches to warfare in a particularly challenging landscape.

The tactics and technologies of modern air assault--vertical deployment of troops by helicopter or similar means--emerged properly during the 1950s in Korea and Algeria. Yet it was during the Vietnam War that helicopter air assault truly came of age and by 1965 the United States had established fully airmobile battalions, brigades, and divisions, including the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile).This division brought to Vietnam a revolutionary new speed and dexterity in battlefield tactics, using massed helicopters to liberate its soldiers from traditional overland methods of combat maneuver.

However, the communist troops adjusted their own thinking to handle airmobile assaults. Specializing in ambush, harassment, infiltration attacks, and small-scale attrition, the North Vietnamese operated with light logistics and a deep familiarity with the terrain. They optimized their defensive tactics to make landing zones as hostile as possible for assaulting US troops, and from 1966 worked to draw them into 'Hill Traps', extensive kill zones specially prepared for defense-in-depth. By the time the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) withdrew from Vietnam in 1972, it had suffered more casualties than any other US Army division.

Featuring specially commissioned artwork, archive photographs, and full-color battle maps, this study charts the evolution of US airmobile tactics pitted against North Vietnamese countermeasures. The two sides are analyzed in detail, including training, logistics, weaponry, and organization.

Table of Contents

Introduction
The Opposing Sides
Operation Masher
Operation Crazy Horse
Tam Quan
Analysis
Aftermath
Unit Organizations
Bibliography
Index

Product details

Published Sep 22 2020
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 80
ISBN 9781472841759
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Dimensions 10 x 7 inches
Series Combat
Short code CBT 51
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Chris McNab

Chris McNab is an author and editor specializing i…

Illustrator

Johnny Shumate

Johnny Shumate works as a freelance illustrator li…

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