12th Combat Aviation Group

12th Combat Aviation Group - Saigon, Long Binh - III Corps – 1965 12^th CAG Christmas Card, See 1967 article,

See Tet article, See 1969 Article, See 1970 article, See 1972 Article

Meritorious Unit Commendation—1 Jan–31 Dec 67, Meritorious Unit Commendation—9 Nov 66–31 Dec 68

Initially formed by USARV as US Aviation Group (Provisional) in April 1965, it assumed command in May 1965 of the 13th, 14th, 52nd and 145^th Battalions plus the 765th Transportation Battalion. It was redesignated 12th Aviation Group on August 28, 1965 and was located at Tan Son Nhut (Saigon) until June 29, 1966 when it moved to Long Binh as part of the newly formed 1^st Aviation Brigade. One of its early large campaigns was in support of Operation Attleboro in Oct and Nov 1966 during which the group flew over 46,000 troops. In Jan and Feb 1967 they supported Operations Cedar Falls and Junction City on a similar scale. The 12th CAG had about 8500 personnel organized in several battalions made up of companies. Each assault helicopter company had about 20-25 choppers including troop carrying slicks and gun-ships for escorts and combat support. In III Corps we had major bases surrounding Saigon, within helicopter reach of the city. Saigon was the capital of South Vietnam. During this period we supported the major infantry units in III Corps including the 1st Infantry Division, the 25th Infantry Division, 5th Special Forces, and the ARVN 5th, 18th, 199th Divisions. An interesting unit was the 135th Assault Helicopter Company, which was a combined U.S. and Australian unit. Today the 12^th Aviation Group is now the 12^th Aviation Brigade http://www.12cab.eur.army.mil/

269^th Battalion Cobra by Art Hannum

Headquarters & Headquarters Co. – Long Binh http://mysite.verizon.net/wlfitz/index.htm Link to Tet ’68 at Long Binh site Meritorious Unit Commendations— 1 Jan–31 Dec 67, 9 Nov 66–31 Dec 68 87^th QM Detachment - Ham Tan (attached to 223^rd Bn) Meritorious Unit Commendation—1 Jan–31 Dec 67 390^th QM Detachment – Duc Hoa (attached to 25^th Inf. Div) Meritorious Unit Commendation—1 Jan–31 Dec 67; 16 Feb 69– 28 Feb 70 365^th Aviation Support Detachment – Long Thanh (attached to 210^th Bn) Below is how the group was organized in June 1969. If your company is not listed here, please refer to the 1969 brigade org chart on the home page Abbreviations used below: AHC - Assault Helicopter Company - (Huey's) ASHC - Assault Support Helicopter Company – (Chinooks) AWC - Aerial Weapons Company - (Cobra's) HHC - Heavy Helicopter Company - (Skycranes) CAC - Corps Aircraft Company - airplanes, choppers UAC - Utility Aircraft Company - Small planes for observation, artillery support SAC - Mid size planes for observation
The 3rd of the 17th Air Cavalry Squadron - Bien Hoa – See 1969 article, See 1970 Article, See 1972 Article – See C Troop 1969 article, See C Troop 1970 article, See D Troop article A self-contained airmobile cavalry battalion. It was made up of troops (companies): HHT - Headquarters A - Silver Spur B - Burning Stogie C - Charlie Horse D - Blue Tiger F/4^th – Centaur (from 71-73)

11th Combat Aviation Battalion - Phu Loi – See 1968 Article, see 1970 article Made up of Helicopter companies 128th AHC Tomahawks - Phu Loi 173rd AHC Robin Hoods - Lai Khe 205th ASHC Geronimos - Phu Loi – see article 213th ASHC - Blackcats - Phu Loi – see 1968 article, see 1971 article
145th Combat Aviation Battalion - Bien Hoa – See 1968 article, See 1969 article Was made up of helicopter companies. 68th AHC Top Tigers - Bien Hoa – see article 118th AHC Thunderbirds - Bien Hoa 190th AHC Spartans - Bien Hoa – see article 334th AWC Sabers - Bien Hoa – See Jan 1968 article, see Dec 1968 article, see 1970 article, see 1972 article F Battery, 77th Artillery Blue Max- from 1971 see article

The 210th Combat Aviation Battalion - Long Thanh - See article Was made up of airplanes used for reconnaissance and surveillance. 25th CAC Red Carpet – Plantation – See article 54th UAC Big Daddy - Vung Tau – see article 73rd SAC Warriors - Long Thanh – see article 74th RAC Aloft Phu Loi - see article 184th RAC Non-Stop - Quan Loi - IV Corps – see article, see second article

The 222d Combat Aviation Battalion - Bearcat - See 1968 article, See 1970 article Was made up of helicopter companies. 117th AHC Warlords - Bien Hoa See article 195th AHC Skychiefs – Plantation – See article 240th AHC Greyhounds - Long Binh 273rd HHC Superhooks - Long Binh – see article, see 1968 article, see 1969 article 59th CAC Red Cloud (‘71-’73) B/229^th AHC (’71-72)

269th Combat Aviation Battalion - Cu Chi - See article Was made up of helicopter companies. 116th AHC Hornets - Cu Chi – see article 187th AHC Crusaders - Tay Ninh – see article 242nd ASHC Muleskinners - Cu Chi – see article
Units transferred to 12^th Group in 1972 and 1973: F Troop 8th Cavalry - Blue Ghost - Quang Tri - with us from Sep 1972 - Apr 1973. Valorous Unit Awards 24 Aug–25 Sep 68, 31 Aug 69 Org Site: http://members.aol.com/BluGhstGrn/odgreen.html or http://www.blueghosts.com/ Patch is from Blue Ghost org site. Blue Ghost served in Vietnam from April 1968 as part of the Americal Division. As units pulled out of Vietnam, it was reassigned to 1st Aviation Brigade in Sep 1972 using assets from our C Troop, 7th of the 17th Air Cavalry. The troop departed RVN Feb 1973. H Troop (Air) - 16th Cavalry (F - 9th Cavalry) It operated as part of the 1st Aviation Brigade from May 1972 to Feb 1973. Presidential Unit Citation—5 Apr–7 Jul 72 (as F Troop, 9^th Cavalry) H /16^th was activated Jun 71 in Vietnam from assets of B/1/9^th Cav and operated as part of 3^rd Brigade, 1^st Cavalry Division until May 1972 during which time it became F 9^th Cavalry Patches are property of Mike Slonicker 388^th Transportation Company – Served with the brigade in 1973 Meritorious Unit Commendations—1 Nov 66–31 Oct 67; 1 Nov 67–31 Oct 68; 1 Nov 68–31 Jan 70; 1 Aug 71–15 Sep 72 Patch is from VHPA Museum 129^th Med Detachment Presidential Unit Citation—10–13 Jun 65 312^th Aviation Support Detachment
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