The 1st Air Cavalry Division arrived in Vietnam aboard military transport ships between July and August 1965. Their mission was to take control of the Central Highlands and coastal plains of II Corps. Upon arrival, the advanced party of 1st Cav soldiers established a new base camp—Camp Radcliff—in the wilderness of the Central Highlands, near the town of An Khe. With over four hundred aircraft, the division pioneered an entirely new concept in warfare known as airmobile, and airmobile infantry soldiers were known as skytroopers.

Books about the 1st Air Cavalry in Vietnam:

The Ground You Stand Upon: Life of a Skytrooper in Vietnam

2018, by Joshua and Wilbur Bowe. Personal account of a father’s war written by his son, drawing from personal memories and letters sent home from the war zone (see homepage).

HEROES: A Year in Vietnam With the First Air Cavalry Division

2008, by Mike Larson. Memoir of a combat journalist writing for the 1st Air Cavalry Division’s Cavalair newspaper.

The 1st Cav in Vietnam: Anatomy of a Division

1987, by CPT Shelby L. Stanton (Ret), who served in the 82nd Airborne Division in Southeast Asia and was wounded in action. The book tells of the 1st Air Cavalry Division’s develop­ment of the Airmobile concept in Vietnam.

1st Cavalry Division: Memoirs of the First Team, Vietnam, August 1965 to December 1969

1970, edited by J.D. Coleman.

Air Cav: History of the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam 1965 – 1967

1970, edited by J.D. Coleman.

The airmobile concept was first tested in November, when skytroopers of Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore’s 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry faced thousands of North Vietnamese in the Ia Drang Valley, as depicted in We Were Soldiers.

In August 1966, the newly formed 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry would set sail from San Fransisco to join Moore’s battalion among the airmobile fighting units of the 1st Air Cavalry Division.