| Operation Chopper | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of TheVietnam War | |||||||
 an H-21 flying over South Vietnam | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 South Vietnam United States |  Viet Cong | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 360 | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | 2 killed | ||||||
Operation Chopper occurred on 23 December 1961 and was the first time U.S. forces participated in major combat in theVietnam War.
On 11 December 1961, theUSS Core (T-AKV-41) docked inSaigon with 32U.S. ArmyPiasecki H-21 helicopters and 400 crewmen of the 8th Transportation Company (Light Helicopter) and the 57th Transportation Company (Light Helicopter). A little more than 12 days later, Operation Chopper commenced.[2]: 3
On 23 December the helicopters transported 360Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)paratroopers for an assault on aViet Cong (VC) stronghold and radio transmitter location inWar Zone D 10 miles (16 km) west of Saigon. The operation resulted in two VC killed, one wounded, and 46 suspects captured. The VC radio transmitter went off the air and was not located. Additional ARVN troops were flown in on 27 December.[2]: 3 [3]
This operation heralded a new era ofair mobility for the U.S. Army, which had been slowly growing as a concept since the Army formed twelve helicopterbattalions in 1952 as a result of theKorean War. Their observations of French and British airmobile operations in Algeria and Malaysia also fueled this development.[2]: 4
On 15 April 1962 theUnited States Marine Corps beganOperation Shufly, the rotating deployment of Marine helicopter squadrons, associated maintenance units and air traffic control detachments to South Vietnam to improve the mobility of ARVN forces.[4]
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