P1(5t'DOC Historical Monograph Series

A HIS CRY FARMY AVI T - 1950-1962

by Richard P. Weinert, Jr.

Officeofthe CommandHistorian V.niteaStates .!itnny Traininqand'DoctrineCommand TRADOC Historical Monograph Series

A HISTORY OF ARMY AVIATION - 1950-1962

by Richard P. Weinert, Jr.

edited by Susan Canedy

Officeof the CommandHistorian Army Training and DoctrineCommand Fort Monroe, 1991 TRADOC HISTORICAL MONOGRAPH SERIES Henry O. Malone and John L. Romjue, General Editors

TRADOC Historical Monographs are published by the Office of the Command Historian, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. These studies of training and leader development, and doctrinal and combat developments subjects provide his­ torical perspective to support the Command's mission ofpreparing the Army for war and charting its future.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Weinert, Richard P. A history of army aviation, 1950 - 1962 / by Richard P. Weinert, Jr. edited by Susan Canedy.

p. em. - (TRADOC historical monograph series) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. United States. Army-Aviation-History. 1.Canedy, Susan. 11. Title. 111. Series. UG633.W36 1991 358.4-dc20 91-8199 CIP

iii U.S. ARMY TRAINING AND DOCTRINE COMMAND

General John W. Foss Commander Major General James W. van Loben Sels Chief of Staff Dr. Henry O. Malone, Jr. Chief Historian Mr. JohnL. Romjue Chief, Historical Studies and Publication

iv Table Of Contents Foreword xi Preface ...... xiii

Chapter I• Early History of Army Aviation ...... 1 Balloons and Dirigibles ...... 1 Development of Military Aviation 2 Establishment ofOrganic Army Aviation...... 3 World War II Training 6 The Separation of the Army and the Air Force...... 10 Joint Regulations 10 Training Agreements " 11 FlightTraining ...... 11 Endnotes...... 14

Chapter Il'- The Evolution of Army Aviation " 15 Planning for Organic Air Transport 16 Department ofthe Army Proposals ...... 16 Army Field Forces Board No.1 Projects 18 The Memorandum of Understanding of 1951 19 Development of a Long Range Program ...... 21 ChiefofTransportation Study 22 Endnotes...... 25

Chapter ill . The Formative Years " 27 Helicopter Units 27 Unit Activations 27 Field Training 29 Materiel Requirements Review Panel 33 Memorandum of Understanding of 1952 38 OCAFF Review of the Army Aviation Program 39 Army Aviation Plan 41 Endnotes 45

Chapter IV· Research, Development, and Procurement 47 Early Procurement Activities 47 Army Observation Aircraft 48 Fixed Wing Utility Aircraft 49 Rotary Wing Aircraft ...... 51 H-13 Sioux 51 H-23 Raven 51

v H-19 Chickasaw 52 Development of the Cargo Helicopter 53 Procurement Planning 56 Endnotes 58

Chapter V - The Organization of Army Aviation 59 Army Field Forces 59 Army Field Forces Board NO.1 61 Staff Organization 63 Organization in the Field Army 64 Aviation Organization 65 Army Aviation within the Division 65 Tactical Aviation Units 66 Medical Service Helicopter Ambulance Detachments 66 Light Cargo Fixed Wing Aircraft Company 67 Division Combat Aviation Company 67 Cargo Helicopter Units 69 Supply Support 72 Division of Responsibility 72 Expansion of Responsibility 72 Shortage of Parts 72 Incompatibility of Army and Air Force Supply Structures 73 Depot Transfer 73 Endnotes 75

Chapter VI - Early Aviation Training 77 The Impact of the Korean Conflict 77 Helicopter Pilot Training 79 Expansion of Courses 80 Liaison Pilot Training 81 Fixed Wing and Helicopter Mechanic Training 82 Development ofInstrument Training 84 Endnotes 87

Chapter VII - The Foundation of the Army Aviation School 89 Planning for Expansion 89 Establishment of the Army Aviation School 93 Organization of the School 94 The First Year of Operation 95 Class Schedules 95 Estimated Training Requirements 96 Suspension of Transfer of Air Forces Training 97

Vi Duplication of Training Activities 98 Shortage ofFixed Wing Pilots 98 Training of Mechanics 99 Movement of the Army Aviation School 99 Endnotes 102

Chapter vm -Plans and Programs 103 Army Aviation Plan 104 Department of Defense Policies 109 Personnel Policies 112 Review of Officer Grades for Army Aviators 112 Recommendations for Warrant Officer Aviators 114 Aviator Requirements 114 Planning for Future Development 115 Army Aircraft Requirements Review Board 115 Rogers Committee on Army Aviation 119 The Berlin Crisis .121 Aviator Shortages 122 Mobilization of Reserve Aviation Units .122 Deployments to Europe 123 Southeast Asia Deployments 124 Accomplishments of the Period 124 Endnotes 126

Chapter IX - Organizational Development 129 Organization Changes in the Department of the Army 130 Organization Changes in the Transportation Corps 130 Organization Changes in CONARC 133 Establishment of Army Aviation Section 133 1962 Reorganization 137 Establishment of the Army Aviation Center 137 Aircraft Systems Management 138 Doctrine on Employment of Army Transport Aviation 139 Army Aviation in the New Division Organizations 140 AFTA andPENTANA 140 Aviation in the Pentomic Divisions 141 Fixed Wing Light Transport Companies 144 Medium Helicopter Aviation Company .144 Army Aviation in the ROAD Organization 145 Development of the ROAD Concept 145 Basic Concept for Assignment of Aircraft 147 The Army Aviation Battalion 147 Aviation in Separate Brigades 148

Vll Army Organization for the Period 1965-1970 148 CompositeAviationBattalion 149 Special WarfareAviation Detachment 149 Anny Aviation Air Traffic Operations 150 Army Aviation OperatingDetachments 150 Use of Restricted Airspace .152 U.S. Army Tactical Air Navigation and Landing Aids 153 Common TA for Army Airfields 154 OrganizationalProgress 155 Endnotes 156

Chapter X - Development of Aircraft Armament 159 Weapons System Development 159 Project ABLE BUSTER 159 Army AviationSchool Experiments 160 Aerial CombatReconnaissanceCompany 163 Formal ArmamentProgram 164 Airborne Troop Test of the SS-10 Missile System 167 Adoption of the Armed Helicopter 168 CDEC Experiments 169 Army Aircraft Armament Ad Hoc Committee 174 Armament and Airmobility 177 Endnotes 179

Chapter XI • The Beginning of Airmobility 181 Developmentof the Air CavalryConcept 181 Sky Cavalry 182 Exercise SAGE BRUSH 183 Exercise SLEDGE HAMMER 187 The Annair Brigade Study 190 Helicopter Carrier Tests 193 OrganizationalDevelopments 195 Endnotes 197

Chapter xn -Materiel Development 199 U.S. Army Aviation Board 199 The Development and Procurement Cycle .200 DevelopmentalObjectives for Army Aviation 202 HelicopterDevelopment 203 HU-l Iroquois 203 Light ObservationHelicopter 205 Cargo Helicopters 207

Vlll Flying Crane 209 Development of Fixed Wing Aircraft 209 T-37 Troop Test 210 AO-l Mohawk " .214 AC-l Caribou 216 Convertiplanes and Vertical Lift Research Vehicles 219 Convertiplanes 219 Flying Saucer 220 The Status of Aircraft Development 221 Endnotes 222

Chapter XIIT - Development of Aviation Training 225 Transfer of Training from the Air Force .225 Early Interest in Training Consolidation 225 Army Assumption ofTraining Responsibility 226 Army Aviation Unit Tactical Training 231 Revision in Helicopter Company Activation Schedule .232 Growth of the Army Aviation School 235 Organization 235 Operations 236 Training Developments 239 Courses for Senior Officers 239 Mountain Flight Training for Army Helicopter Pilots 240 Instrument Training 240 Army ROTC Flight Training Program 242 Endnotes 244

Chapter XIV - Supply and Maintenance 247 Transfer of Depot Responsibility 248 Army Aviation Depot Plan .249 Provisions of the Plan 249 Implementation of the Plan 250 Army Procurement of Aircraft 252 Maintenance Personnel Problems 252 Depot Maintenance Support 254 Fifth Echelon Maintenance .254 Fourth Echelon Maintenance .256 Maintenance Training .257 Army Aviation School 257 Transportation School 261 Endnotes 264

ix Chapter XV - Summary 267 List of Abbreviations 275 Appendix 277 Fixed Wing Aircraft 1942-1962 278 Rotary Wing Aircraft 1942-1962 279 Convertiplanes and Vertical Lift Vehicles 1953-1962 280 Army Aviation School Courses 281 Army Aviation School Maintenance Courses 282 Transportation School Maintenance Courses 283 Headquarters, CONARC 1 Feb 1955 284 Headquarters, CONARC 10 Oct 1957 285 Headquarters, CONARC 1 Jan 1959 286 Aviation in the ROAD Division .287 Aviation School .288 Army Aviation Organization 289 Directors of Army Aviation 290 - 293 Pictorial Display of Army Aircraft 294 - 313 Index , 315

List Of Dlustrations

Piper Cubs used during 1941 maneuvers 5 L-4 Grasshopper during Carolina Maneuvers in 1942 6 L-20 and two L-19 aircraft in flight near Ft Monmouth 7 Wounded trooper evacuated during Exercise Southern Pine 30 Division Support helicopter & tanks on Exercise Longhorn 31 509th Transportation Company airlifting troops during Exercise Flashburn 34 First attempt to fire rockets from H-13 helicopter 162 H-25 Army Mule firing 1.5 inch rocket 164 Armed H-34 166 UH-l helicopter armed wI SS-l1 antitank rockets 170 Friendly infantry troops boarding an H-34 for Exercise Sage Brush 184 Headquarters, USA primary helicopter school and Camp Wolters 227 Ozark Army Airfield, Ft Rucker, 1955 238

x Foreword Since their publication in the 1970s, the two separate works, The History ofArmy AViation. Phasel: 1950-1954. and The History ofArmy Aviation. Phase Il, 1955-1962. have been in steady demand by U.S. Army and other military researchers in the Army aviation field. Appearing in June 1971 and September 1976, respectively, those volumes were written by Mr. Richard P. Weinert, Jr., a staff historian in the Historical Office of the U.S. Command until 1973, then Deputy Chief Historian in the Historical Office of the Army Training and Doctrine Command. The two volumes detail the early, formative years of Army aviation following the separation of the ground and air forces of the United States Army and the establishment of the United States AirForce as an independent service by the National Security Act of 1947. The call for this documented study has repeatedly exhausted printings of the two works. Prior to his retirement from federal service in 1988, Mr. Weinert took initial steps to organize his earlier work into a single publication. Since then, Dr. Susan Canedy, Research Historian and Archivist in the Office of the Command Historian, edited the combined manuscripts and completed the many other tasks necessary to bring the work to publication. The resulting volume is a reorganization of the two volumes, in which only redundancies of introduction and conclusion have been deleted. This single volume provides a useful record of the earliest stages of the battlefield function that would come into its own so dramatically in Vietnam and that would eventually be designated an Army branch in 1983.

HENRY O. MALONE, JR.

xi Author's Preface Army aviation has grown dramatically in both size and breadth of activities since its inception in 1942. No comprehensive history of this growth has appeared. This monograph attempts to delineate the activities of Army Ground Forces (AGF), the Office of the Chief of Army Field Forces (OCAFF), and the United States Continental Army Command (CONARC) in the development of the aviation program from 1950 to 1962. The period from 1950to 1954witnessedacritical phase in thegrowthof Armyaviation. During this period the helicopter first began to perform a major tacticalrole, combat experience in Korea pointed the way to future developments, and the formation of the Army Aviation School provided a firm training base for expansion.Following 1954,Army aviation not only introduced new aircraft which significantly improved its capability, but also began development of new doctrinal concepts. The work on helicopter armament and airmobile concepts provided the ground work for the large scale airmobile combat operations which the Army would conduct during the following decade. Because of the complexity of the subject, it has been necessary to organize this monograph topically rather than chronologically. Cross references are inserted where it is considered necessary to provide clarity. Most of the primary documentary sources cited in the footnotes are located in the Civil Branch of the National Archives in Suitland, Maryland. Copies of many of these documents have been retained in the files of the United States Army Center of Military History and the lRADOC Command Historian. The published reports and secondary sources dealing with the Transporta­ tion Corps may be found in the library of the United States Army Transportation School at , Virginia. The semiannual historical reports of AGF, OCAFF, and CONARC are in the files of the TRADOC Command Historian and the Center of Military History. The annual historical summaries of the Department of the Army staff elements are also located in the files of the Center of Military History. The preparation of this monograph would not have been possible without the cooperation and assistance of the staffs of the Transportation Museum and library of the United States Army Transportation School, the United States Army Aviation Museum, UnitedStatesArmyAviation Digest, the library of the United States Army Aviation School at Fort Rucker, Alabama, the National Archives, the United States Army Center of Military History,and the HistoricalOffice, United States Army Materiel and Readiness Command. The cooperation and assistance of many individuals contributed significantly to the research on this project: Mr. William D. Shaver, Jr., formerly of the CONARC Historical Office: LTC Donald F. Harrison, formerly with the Office of the Chief of Military History; Mr. Thomas E. Hohmann and Mrs. Ruth Nester of the Modem Military Records Division, National Archives; Mr. James Craig of the Army Aviation Museum; and COL W. R. Mathews, Aviation Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff of Operationsand Reserve Forces, Headquarters,CONARC.

RICHARD P. WEINERT, JR.

xiii Chapter I

EARLYHISTORY OF ARMYAVIATION

Army organic aviation augments the capability of the Army to conduct effective combat operations. It is under the full and immediate control of, and subject to the direct orders of, the commander responsible for ground operations. Army aviation as it is known today dates from 1942, although aviation in various forms has been used by the Army for reconnaissance and observation since the Civil War. The capabilities of observation aircraft were developed during World War II and following that war, the helicopter began to play an increasingly important role. It was not until the Korean conflict, however, that Army aviation began to assume its present form. The period from 1950 to 1954 saw the emergence of Army aviation as a separate entity. During this period, the foundation was laid upon which the vast aviation structure of the period was built. Balloons and Dirigibles Aerial observation had its beginning in the United States Army on 6 June 1861 when Thaddeus S. C. Lowe brought his balloon to Washington to demonstrate its military potential. On 18 June, Lowe successfully sent a telegraph message from his balloon which in the presence of President Abraham Lincoln and War Department officials, he had maneuvered to an altitude of 500 feet. The War Department then asked Professor Lowe to ascend his balloon near Falls Church, Virginia, to determine the location of Confederate troops menacing the Capital. He began making ascensions on 22 June and eased the tense situation in Washington by reporting no offensive movement following the Confederate victory at Bull Run. He later used the balloon for artillery spotting with some success. The Balloon Corps was added to the Army of the Potomac on 25 September 1861. The corps expanded from four to seven balloons by early 1862 as operations spread out from Old Point Comfort, Virginia, west to the Mississippi River, and south to Mobile. Despite the initial success of the Balloon Corps, it was disbanded in June 1863, following a disagreement over placing it under the jurisdiction of the Signal Corps. 1 Balloons were not again used by the Army until 1892 at which time the Signal Corps had only one balloon and no trained personnel. A balloon was in during the Spanish-American War. Its observers provided the Army with valuable information concerning the roads to the front lines

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Chapter II

THE EVOLUTION OF ARMY AVIATION

Organic Army aviation had emerged from World War II with a vast amount of both training and tactical experience. During the following five years the drastic reduction in the size of the Army had caused a major curtailment in aviation activities. It was during this period, however, that the Army began to give serious consideration to the use of the helicopter. Partially shackled by agreements with the Air Force, the Army in 1949 began to take the first tentative steps in expanding its aviation program. The outbreak of war in Korea gave an impetus to this expansion which resulted in a rapid growth of Army aviation in both size and importance. Late in 1949, the Office ofthe ChiefofArmy Field Forces (OCAFF) conducted studies which indicated the need for various types of helicopters to provide short-haul air transport to corps, division, and smaller tactical units of the ground forces. This proposal received strong support in a Department of the Army G-3 study prepared in May 1950. It was therefore recommended that the Army provide funds in the fiscal year 1952 budget for the organization and equipping offive transport helicopter companies which would be placed with divisions in the United States for the purpose of developing doctrine for their employment. The Transportation Corps' role in organic Army aviation stemmed from the development of this experimental program in the summer of 1950. Transportation Corps functions, largely of a staff nature, involved planning and coordination with the Army Field Forces and the Army General Staff regarding the activation, equipping, and formulation of doctrine for the employ­ ment of cargo helicopter units. 1 The outbreak of the Korean conflict resulted in quick action in the development of the helicopter program. Provision was made for five Army helicopter transport companies in the Emergency Supplemental Budget for fiscal year 1951. In order to organize such units as soon as practicable and to gain combat experience in Korea, OCAFF was instructed on 9 August 1950 to undertake the early activation and training of four of the five units. These four companies were to be equipped with the H-19 CHICKASAW helicopter. The fifth company was planned to be organized in the latter part of fiscal year 1951 and would be equipped with H-21 WORKHORSE helicopters which were expected to become available in the fall of 1951.

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Chapterill

THEFORMATIVE YEARS

Army aviation in 1952 entered on a period of rapid expansion and change. After numerous delays and difficulties, the first helicopter companies were organized, trained, and deployed. At the same time, the entire aviation program underwent extensive review which resulted in a significant expansion of the program. By the end of 1954, the aviation program had taken the form which it was to retain until the development of the airmobility concept in the 1960s. Helicopter Units Unit Activations The Army Field Forces in June 1952 revised its plan for the activation of twelve helicopter ambulance detachments. Two units, the 37th and the 53d, were activated in July, earlier than planned, in order to establish requirements for personnel and equipment The remaining ten detachments also were to be activated sooner than scheduled. Only the 53d was to remain in the continental United States for general use.' Early in 1952, the XVIII Airborne Corps recommended to OCAFF that a helicopter company be activated at Fort Bragg and attached to the corps. It was the opinion of the corps that the establishment of tactics, techniques, and doctrine concerning the tactical employment of the helicopter could be accomplished only by placing a helicopter unit at the disposal oftactical field units. Despite the recommendations of XVIII Airborne Corps and Third Army, OCAFF recommended that for the time being all transportation helicopter companies should be activated and initially trained at Fort Sill or a helicopter training school. Units would then be moved to a division station to complete their unit training. The Fort Bragg-Camp Mackall area was, in the opinion of OCAPF, a suitable station because of the presence of a division and also the availability of suitable facilities. The Department of the Army in May 1952 approved the recommendation ofOCAPF that all transportation helicopter companies be activated at Fort Sill. A total of three companies in addition to the 6th and 13th Transportation Helicopter Companies had been programed for activation at Fort Sill during fiscal year 1953. The Department of the Army anticipated that the 6th Transportation Helicopter Company would be deployed overseas upon completion of unit training, which it hoped would be under a tactical unit. In order to

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