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Co. A nose art
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Co. A, 82nd Aviation Battalion |
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| Served in III
Corps 1965-66 Co. A, 82nd Aviation Battalion was part
of the 82nd Airborne Division's aviation battalion structure at Fort
Bragg. In April 1965 Co. A deployed to Vietnam (the rest of the 82nd
Aviation Battalion deployed to the Dominican Republic in support of
82nd Airborne operations on the island). When it arrived in Vietnam
Co. A operated from Vung Tau in III Corps. It was tasked with
supporting the 173rd Airborne Brigade. In October 1965 the unit
moved to Bien Hoa, continuing to support the 173rd in its operations
around III Corps. In Sept. 1966 Co. A,
82nd Aviation Battalion was deactivated and its assets assigned to
the 335th Aviation Co. In early 1967 the 335th was redesignated as
the 335th Assault Helicopter Company.
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| 1965 - UH-1D When the unit became operational in Vietnam, Co. A, 82nd Aviation Battalion Hueys were painted gloss black overall. The ships had white-blue roof stripes, and the unit logo was painted on the upper nose. Five-digit a/c numbers were painted in white on the tail. Early operational Co. A aircraft also had high visibility vertical stripes on the fuselage and engine cover. Co. A ships did not carry any national markings or "US Army" legends on the tail or tail boom. | ||||||||||
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| 1965-66 - UH-1D In late 1965 Co. A began to repaint their aircraft in a two-color camouflage scheme. They used flat black patches over an OD base. At this time I'm not sure when the roof stripes disappeared. The color of the a/c number on the tail is not certain for 1965-66, but by 1967 the five-digit number was painted black. Co. A was one of the few helicopter companies to adopt a camouflage scheme. | ||||||||||
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