T. MOORE wrote on 2009-11-25 20:10:21.0
Comments: VERTICAL ENVELOPMENT WAS CONCEIVED AT THE MARINE CORPS BASE IN QUANTICO,VA, WHILE FINDING A SOLUTION TO DEVELOP THE TECHNIQUE OF CONDUCTING AMPHIBIOUS OPERATIONS IN THE ATOMIC AGE. WITH THE FORE-THOUGHT OF LT.GEN.ROY S.GEIGER, AND GEN.ALEXANDER A.VANDEGRIFT ON 1,DEC.,1947, MARINE HELICOPTER SQUADRON ONE,(HMX-1) WAS COMMISSIONED AT MCAS QUANTICO,VIRGINIA, COLONEL EDWARD C.DYER IN COMMAND. WITH TWO SIKORSKY HO3S-1 HELICOPTERS, HMX-1 DEVELOPED TECHNIQUE AND TACTICS, LIAISON,RECONNAISSANCE,EVACUATION OF WOUNDED,RESCUE OF DOWNED FLYERS,OBSERVATION,GUN SPOTTING,MESSINGER SERVICE,RESUPPLYING SMALL UNITS,AMPHIFIOUS OPERATIONS, ETC.,ETC. IN NOV.1948 THEY DEVELOPED (PHIB-31), THE WORLD'S FIRST MANUAL, ENTILTED "AMPHIBIOUS OPERATIONS --EMPLOYMENT OF HELICOPTERS". ON 25,JUNE,1950 WHEN EIGHT DIVISIONS OF NKPA TROOPS CROSSED THE 38TH. PARALLEL IN KOREA, AND THE USA WAS AT WAR. THE US MARINES WERE ORDERED TO ACTIVATE A REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM, AND THE 1ST.PROVISIONAL MARINE BRIGADE WAS ACTIVATED YNDER THE COMMAND OF BRIGADIER GENERAL EDWARD A.CRAIG, AND WAS BUILT AROUND THE 5TH.MARINE REGIMENT, AND THE 33RD.MARINE AIR GROUP(MAG-33),OF THE 1ST. MARINE AIR WING. 6,534 OFFICERS AND MEN PREPARED TO GO TO KOREA. ON 7,JULY,1950, HMX-1 WAS ORDERED TO SEND 8 OFFICERS, AND 30 ENLISTED MEN TO THE 1ST. PROVISIONAL BRIGADE FOR ASSIGNMENT TO MARINE OBSERVATION SQUADRON 6(VMO-6)OF MAG-33. THESE HMX-1 MARINES WOULD FLY AND MAINTAIN FOUR HO3S-1 HELICOPTERS, AND WOULD BE THE FIRST HELICOPTER UNIT ORGANIZED FOR COMBAT. ON 14,JULY,1950 HMX-1, UNDER VMO-6, COMMANDED BY MAJOR VINCENT J.GOTTSCHALK, EMBARKED ON THE USS BADOENG STRAIT(CVE-116) BOUND FOR KOREA. THE US MARINES WERE ON THEIR WAY TO WAR FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH HELICOPTERS. THEY LANDED AT PUSAN, KOREA ON 2,AUG.,1950, AND GENERAL CRAIG MADE A RECONNAISSANCE OF THE AREA IN AN HO3S-1. A NEW AREA OF COMMAND AND CONTROL ON THE BATTLEFIELD. THE NIGHT OF 8,AUG.,1950 FOUND CAPTAIN VICTOR A ARMSTRONG FLYING THE "FIRST" NIGHT MEDEVACE, BY LIFTING A WOUNDED REGIMENTAL SURGEON TO SAFETY. VMO-6 WAS AT THE 15,SEPT.1950 ASSAULT AT INCHON. ON THE 16TH.,CAPTAIN ARMSTRONG LANDED HIS HO3S-1 AT THE NEWLY CAPTURED KIMPO AIRFIELD, WITH GENERAL LEMUEL C.SHEPHERD JR., AND COLONEL VICTOR H. KRULAK AS HIS PASSENGERS. AFTER SEOUL WAS LIBERATED ON 12,OCT.1950 THE US MARINES WERE BACKLOADED ON SHIPS AT INCHON, TO BE MOVED TO THE EAST COAST OF KOREA. THE MARINES LANDED WONSAN IN NOV.1950, AND BECAME SO EXTENDED THAT THEY HAD UNITS AT HAGARU, SOME 50 MILES FROM MAJOR GENERAL OLIVER P. SMITH, THE 1ST.DIVISION COMMANDER'S CP AT HUNGNAM, AS PER US ARMY X CORPS ORDERS, WHICH BROUGHT STAFF PROBLEMS. THE MAIN SUPPLY ROUTE TO THE CHOSIN RESERVOIR HAD TO BE STRENGTHENED, AND AN AIRSTRIP AT HAGARU WAS TO BE CONSTRUCTED. THE HELICOPTERS OF VMO-6 PROVIDED THE ONLY MEANS OF CONTACT BETWEEN THESE ISOLATED GROUPS. THE 1ST. MARINE DIVISION MADE THEIR BREAKOUT ATTACK FROM YUDAM-NI TO HUNGNAM AT THE FIRST OF DEC.1950. VMO-6 BROUGHT IN MEDICAL SUPPLIES, AND FLEW OUT MEDEVACS. THE US MARINES WERE BACKLOADED FROM HUNGNAM(10-24,DEC.1950) AND TAKEN BACK TO PUSAN. VMO-6 FLEW 1,544 FLIGHTS, 1,625 FLIGHT HOURS. 1951 SAW VMO-6 CONTINUNING TO SUPPORT THE 1ST. MARINE DIVISION. THE MARINES KNEW THEY NEEDED TRANSPORT HELICOPTERS CAPABLE OF CARRING 5 OR 6 COMBAT MARINES DURING AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULTS. MARINE TRANSPORT HELICOPTER SQUADRON 161(HMR-161) WAS COMMISSIONED 15, JAN.1951 AT MCAS EL TORO,CA, UNDER THE COMMAND OF LTC.GEORGE W.HERRING. WITH 43 OFFICERS, AND 244 MEN, AND 15 SIKORSKY HRS-1 HELICOPTERS, HMR-161 SAILED FOR KOREA ON 15,AUG.,1951. THE HRS-1 WAS A TRANSPORT HELICOPTER CAPEABLE OF CARRING 5 OR 6 COMBAT MARINES. HMR-161 ARRIVED AT PUSAN,KOREA ON 2,SEPT.,1951. THE 1ST. MARINE DIVISION ATTACKED IN THE PUNCHBOWL AREA IN EASTERN KOREA. HMR-161 MOVED TO THE FRONT AT FIELD X-83, NEAR CHONDO-NI, WITH VMO-6.HMR-161 WAS THEN FLYING IN OPERATION WINDMILL, MOVING 800 POUND LOADS, AND RETURNING WITH WOUNDED MARINES. IN 28 FLIGHTS. HMR-161 MOVED 18,848 POUNDS OF CARGO, AND MEDEVACED 74 CASUALTIES. ON 20,SEPT.,1951 HMR-161 FLEW OPERATION SUMMIT IN HEAVY FOG, AND GOT THE MARINES AND SUPPLIES TO THE OBJECTIVE, HILL-884. ON 27,SEPT.,1951 HMR-161 CONDUCTED THE "FIRST" NIGHT TROOP LIFT OF COMBAT MARINES IN OPERATION BLACKBIRD. THEY LIFTED 200 MARINES OF E COMPANY, 2ND.BATTALION, 1ST. MARINES TO PUNCHBOWL WITH NO MOONLIGHT, IN MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN, IN TWO HOURS AND TEN MINUTES. HMR-161 IN OPERATION BUMBLEBEE(11,OCT.,1951)WITH 12 HELICOPTERS LIFTED THE 3RD. BATTALION, 7TH. MARINES, AND EQUIPMENT, IN 156 FLIGHTS,MARINE TROOPS LIFTED 958, AVERAGE WEIGHT PER MAN, 240 POUNDS, TOTAL WEIGHT LIFTED 229,920 POUNDS, ONER-ALL FLIGHT TIME 5.5 HOURS, TOTAL FLIGHT TIME 65.9 HOURS. HMR-161 WERE IN 1ST. MARINE DIVISION OPERATIONS,BUSHBEATER,RABBIT-HUNT,SWITCH,FAREWELL, AND MULETRAIN, AND GREW TACTICALLY THROUGH 1952. ON 23,FEB.,1953 HMR-161 FLEW FOUR STRAIGHT DAYS IN OPERATION HAYLIFT II.HMR-161 PROVIDED TACTICAL AND LOGISTICAL SUPPORT TO THE 1ST. MARINE DIVISION UNTIL THE ARMISTICE ON 27,JULY,1953. HMR-161 IN KOREA, FLEW 18,607 FLIGHTS, 16,538 FLIGHT HOURS, LIFTED 60,046 PEOPLE, TRANSPORTED 7,554,336 POUNDS OF CARGO, AND EVACUATED 2,748 CASUALTIES. VMO-6 FLEW OUT 7,067 CASUALTIES DURING THE WAR.-----------------
Keywords: SIKORSKY-HO3S-1-----SIKORSKY-HRS-1-------
HMX-1-----HMR-161-----VMO-6-----
KOREAN WAR--1950-1953-----
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