Operation Shufly

9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade came ashore in Vietnam as the vanguard of the United States' commitment of large numbers of regular combat units into South Vietnam.^[2]

Okinawa, Japan to fulfill the need.^[3]: 58 The deployment order for the Marines was approved on 16 March 1962.^[4]

Saigon.^{[3]: 59–60} Shufly was under the Operational control of ComUSMACV, but remained under administrative control of 1st MAW. This allowed the Marine Corps and Navy to provide the majority of logistical support for the unit.^[3]

Vietcong (VC) in the rice producing Delta region.^[3]: 57 The squadron was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Archie Clapp and it gained the nickname "Archie’s Angels".^[3]: 62 The nickname evolved to "Ugly Angels" that gave HMM-362 their call sign. The squadron conducted their first operation on 22 April lifting soldiers from the ARVN 7th Division.^[3]: 65 On 24 April the squadron supported the ARVN 21st Division in Operation Nightingale near Cần Thơ, during this operation VC fire hit a UH-34 severing a hydraulic line forcing it to make an emergency landing, but the helicopter was repaired and flown out.^[3]: 65 In June the squadron developed the concept of the Eagle Flight where four Marine helicopters loaded with about 50 ARVN soldiers circled above an operational area on alert for any VC attempting to evade the ground forces. Once the VC were located, often by the OE-1 observation aircraft, the helicopters would land the ARVN soldiers at a position where they could block the VC escape.^[3]

HMM-163 deployed to Sóc Trăng and on 1 August it replaced HMM-362 as the Shufly squadron.^[3]: 70 In early September 1962, HMM-163 began redeploying with its support units from MAG-16 to Da Nang Air Base, completing the redeployment by 20 September.^{[3]: 73–4} On 6 October the squadron suffered its first fatalities when a search and rescue UH-34 crashed due to mechanical failure 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Tam Kỳ killing five Marines and two Navy corpsmen with only the pilot surviving.^[3]: 83 During their time in South Vietnam the squadron's crews had flown a total of 10,869 hours, 15,200 sorties and had lifted over 25,216 combat assault troops and 59,024 other passengers.^[3]

Danang escorted for the first time by U.S. Army UH-1B gunships from the 68th Aviation Company. In spite of the additional support three UH-34s were shot down during the operation. All three aircraft were eventually recovered.^[3]: 115 On 27 April the squadron supported Operation Bach Phuong XI, an ARVN attack on the VC stronghold at Đỗ Xá (15°10′37″N 108°04′41″E / 15.177°N 108.078°E / 15.177; 108.078), one helicopter was hit in the initial landings and had to be destroyed. From late April the squadron supported a 90-day operation by the ARVN 1st Division along the Laos border.^{[3]: 115–6} On 8 June the squadron was replaced by HMM-261, During its deployment it had flown 17,670 sorties for a total of 8,579 flight hours, losing one Marine killed and three UH-34Ds destroyed.^[3]

HMM-261 began serving as the Shufly squadron.^[3]: 116 In mid-July the squadron suffered its first aircraft loss in a non-fatal accident 37 miles (60 km) southwest of Da Nang.^[3]: 117 On 16 September another UH-34D was destroyed in a non-fatal crash 25 miles (40 km) west of Huế.^{[3]: 120–1} The squadron achieved 5,288 combat flying hours and 11,406 sorties during its deployment.^[3]

HMM-361 become the latest Shufly helicopter squadron.^[3]: 120 On 8 October two squadron UH—34Ds crashed almost simultaneously while on a search and rescue mission 38 miles (61 km) southwest of Da Nang. Both helicopters burned, killing 10 men; the pilots, copilots, the squadron's flight surgeon, and five crewmen. It was unclear if the helicopters had been shot down or collided in mid-air.^[3]: 120 On 3 January 1964 another squadron UH-34 was shot down by the VC 30 miles (48 km) west of Da Nang with no casualties.^[3]: 140 The squadron completed its Shufly assignment on 1 February having flown 4,236 combat flight hours and just under 7,000 combat sorties.^[3]

Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) crews to operate the UH-34 in preparation for forming their own squadrons.^{[3]: 146 [5]} On 14 April a squadron UH-34D was shot down on a medevac mission 40 miles (64 km) west of Danang near the Laos border, the crew was rescued and the helicopter was destroyed.^[3]: 149 On 18 April the squadron supported Operation Lam Son 115 an ARVN attack in the A Sầu Valley.^[3]: 149 From 27 April to 25 May the squadron supported Operation Quyet Thang 202 another ARVN attack on the VC stronghold at Đỗ Xá.^[3]: 152 On 28 April a squadron UH-34 got caught in the rotor wash of another helicopter and crashed into a canal at Quảng Ngãi, the crew escaped but the helicopter was a total loss.^[3]: 154 On 30 April a squadron UH-34 was shot down while evacuating an ARVN patrol 42 miles (68 km) west of Danang with no losses.^{[3]: 154–5} On 13 June a squadron UH-34 on a resupply mission from Khe Sanh to Tiger Tooth Mountain (Dong Voi Mẹp) (16°46′05″N 106°42′47″E / 16.768°N 106.713°E / 16.768; 106.713) was caught in downdrafts and crashed, all crewmen were rescued but the helicopter was destroyed.^[3]: 156 On 16 June the squadron ceased operations and began preparing its UH-34Ds for handover to the RVNAF with the handover taking place on 19 June and the helicopters were used to form the 217th Helicopter Squadron.^[6] By the end of June the squadron had been flown back to Okinawa and their role had been assumed by HMM-162.^[3]

Quảng Nam Province.^[3]: 159 On 21 September the squadron flew to Nha Trang to escape Typhoon Tilda, returning on 23 September.^{[3]: 159–60} During this deployment the squadron had conducted approximately 6,600 sorties for a total of slightly over 4,400 flight hours, losing two UH-34Ds.^[3]

emergency medical evacuations. When flight operations resumed on 10 November the crews concentrated on rescuing Vietnamese civilians from the inundated coastal plains. Between 17:00 and 19:00 on their first day of flood relief operations, HMM-365 rescued 144 flood victims. Many of the rescues were accomplished by hoisting individuals from precarious positions in trees or on rooftops while being subjected to sporadic VC harassing fire.^[4]: 85 At the end of a 72-hour time period the squadron had successfully rescued over 1,500 flood victims.^[3]: 162 Squadron members were modifying three helicopters to carry a new weapons system. The TK-1, an externally mounted combination of M60 machine guns and 2.75-inch (70 mm) rocket launchers, that was first used in support of a Tiger Flight mission conducted just south of the Song Thu Bon, about 17 miles (27 km) from Da Nang. Two armed UH-34Ds expended 90 rockets and 500 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition on enemy positions during pre-landing strikes. The squadron executed similar operations the following day.^{[3]: 163–4} The squadron remained at Da Nang until 17 February 1965.^[7]

9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade landed at Red Beach on 8 March 1965.^[8]: 15 With the introduction of Marine combat units into South Vietnam, MAG-16 was deployed to Da Nang Air Base and Shufly operations were subsumed within the operations of MAG-16.^[8]