The Army did it right with Vietnam helicopter training and tactics

The last paragraph in the story sums up Army rotary-wing aviation in Vietnam, a “’Wild West’ culture among Army Aviators perhaps not unlike what one may imagine was true of service in the horse cavalry regiments serving in the American West during the ‘Indian Wars’ of the 1800s.”

https://www.quora.com/How-did-US-helicopter-pilots-in-Vietnam-become-so-amazing-How-much-was-by-training-versus-through-experience

Link at http://knuckledraggin.com/2019/01/how-did-us-helicopter-pilots-in-vietnam-become-so-amazing-how-much-was-by-training-versus-through-experience/

The first four months of my time in Vietnam (1966-67), I was an infantry sergeant in Aero Rifle Platoon, Air Cav Troop, 11th Armored Cavalry. The final eight months I was assistant flight operations NCO, learned about and flew with pilots and crews who had transported and picked up us grunts on air assaults. Vietnam helicopter pilots were faced with problems never imagined by any other pilots in other wars, and almost always overcame those problems. A few years ago I was talking with a 1st Cav Division 1965 gunship pilot who said he flew a Huey Slick one time on an air assault mission. “When the flight starts in to the LZ, you’re gonna land,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what’s coming up from the ground, you’re gonna land.” He was flying left seat, and when the Slick started its descent, “I got as far down behind the seat armor as possible.” Seeing pictures of 1970 pilots, you have to say, “The Army was enlisting teenagers?” Yep. And they were the ballsiest of the ballsiest.