Operation Chopper occurred on 23 December 1961 and was the first time U.S. forces participated in major combat in the Vietnam War.
Background
On December 11 1961, the USS Core (T-AKV-41) docked in Saigon with 32 U.S. Army Piasecki 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.
Operation
On December 23, the helicopters transported 360 Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) paratroopers for an assault on a Viet Cong (VC) stronghold and radio transmitter location 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.
Aftermath
This operation heralded a new era of air mobility for the U.S. Army, which had been slowly growing as a concept since the Army formed twelve helicopter battalions in 1952 as a result of the Korean War. Their observations of French and British airmobile operations in Algeria and Malaysia also fueled this development.