Utility Tactical Transportation   3 Oct 1962 thru 15 Aug 1964   68th Armed Helicopter Company   16 Aug 1964 thru 1 March 1965   197th Armed Helicopter Company   1 March 1965 thru 1 Sept 1966   334th Armed Helicopter Company   1 Sept 1966 thru ...   334th Aerial Weapons Company ... 1 July 1971 tranferred to 12th  Avn Group Detachments 571st Trans Det (Hel Maint), 320th Sig Det (RL), 774th Med Det

The UTT, 68^th Armed Helicopter Company, 197^th Armed Helicopter Company, 334^th Armed Helicopter, and the 334 Aerial Weapons Company are all the same unit. The best way for me to explain it is to quote 1/Lt. Luther D Young, Playboy 17, in the beginning of the tape we sell, Songs of the UTT, Luthur says: " Songs of the UTT, 68^th and 197^th Aviation Companies, they are really the same. For no matter what name you give a company, the sprit of the officers and men are what gives it entity. This sprit never changed.". The Company changed names 5 times in Vietnam but still remained the same.
 
 

We have continued the traditions of the past. Our motto: "We Lead The Way" has been upheld. Pioneering the way in new uses for the helicopter gunship, our unit developed the "Firefly" system of nightly harassment and interdiction, and because of its successful employment, "Charlie" finds it much more difficult to move at night. New techniques in the way firepower is used. We were the first armed helicopter company in Vietnam to employ the devastating AH-1G Cobra in daily operations. "Charlie" has become mortally familiar with this new, sleek, high-speed helicopter.

Collectively, we are the Sabres; individually others know us as the Gangbusters, Dragons, Playboys, and Raiders.

Our Raiders and Gangbusters fly the UH-1D. They know their weapons systems well, and they employ them even better. On the 25th of June, 1967, one of our Gangbusters, Warrant Officer Bruce Leach, made an amazing rescue of a trapped Special Forces Reconnaissance Team that had wandered into a Viet Cong base camp. On two separate occasions he hovered his aircraft above the trees while the trapped men were picked-up on slings. During this time the aircraft was the victim of deadly ground fire that ruptured the fuel cells. Nevertheless, Warrant Officer Leach rescued the Special Forces Reconnaissance Team, while our Raiders celebrated the fourth Of July (1967) by killing fifteen Viet Cong and destroying 65 sampans and 25 structures.

Working almost exclusively at night our Dragons and Raiders employ the highly effective "Firefly" system, which consists of three aircraft working as a team, and at different altitudes. The high ship has a .50 caliber machine gun and is the control ship. The middle ship contains the spotlight which is used to search for the Viet Cong. The low ship contains miniguns to destroy the enemy. The "Firefly" has proven itself to be most effective. In addition to hampering the enemy's movement at night, this system finds him in his hiding places and forces him into contact. The "Firefly" has achieved outstanding success in perimeter defense, as well as night river patrolling. Its inherent ability to apply visual reconnaissance and overwhelming firepower simultaneously has resulted in deadly effectiveness.

Our Playboys fly the new AH1G "Cobra" helicopter. On 22 October 1967, the Cobra flew its first combat mission. On that day two Cobras from our Playboy Platoon were flown by Major Donald Becker and Warrant Officer Welch from Bien Hoa to Nui Dat in support of the Australian Task Force. Since that time the entire platoon has been conducting an extensive training program to develop the new combat tactics to be used with the swift Cobra. Before long we were employing the Cobra with its intended effectiveness. On 15 November 1967, Captain Rubin led his flight of Cobra gunships in support of a battalion operation east of Can Giouc. Three Viet Cong were killed in the LZ pre-strike by our Playboys. On 18 November 1967, Warrant Officer John Ulsh led a Playboy fire team which killed four enemy in support of US Navy Operations in the Rung Sat Special Zone.

Our heritage is deep in the history of the Vietnam conflict. Our traditions have been firmly established for the Sabres of the future to uphold as we have done. The missions we have performed in the past have now become standards of excellence. The initiation of the "Firefly" and the Cobra aircraft into the Army Aviation Tactical Structure is only the beginning, for in the missions to come we shall always "LEAD THE WAY"