Dick Detra 188th AHC

3/5/2005

Pictures of Today's 188th AHC in Iraq

188th flag Conf Room

188th patch today

Spider Flag today Iraq

 

Below are two articles - Black Widow Legacy and 188th Lineage to today

THE BLACK WIDOW LEGACY

By Spider Door Gunner, Dick Detra

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  The lineage goes back to World War II, when the 2026 Quartermaster Truck Company, Aviation, was activated on October 1, 1942 at Lockbourne Army Air Base, Ohio. The company was stationed at New Guinea in the South Pacific up until it was inactivated in Japan on April 15, 1946. On August 1, 1946 the company was converted and redesignated as the 2026 Transportation Corps Truck Company. On November 1, 1966 it was again redesignated as the 188th Aviation Company, Air Mobile Light (AML).

     Under the operational control of the 101st Airborne Division, the 188th Aviation Company (AML) along with the 4th Signal Detachment, 154th Medical Detachment and the 603rd TC Detachment were activated at Fort Campbell, Kentucky on November 1, 1966 and assigned to the 101st Aviation Battalion. The 188th would cross paths with the 101st again in northern I Corps…”THE NAM”  With the arrival of all personnel, along with twenty-three of Bell Helicopter’s new UH-1H and eight UH-1C helicopters, aviation tactics training commenced on December 15, 1966. The 188th trained with the 2nd and 3rd Brigades of the 101st and participated in two field training exercises orientated towards flying tactics being used in Vietnam at that time and trade in their dependable M-14 rifles for Colt’s malfunctioning and poorly manufactured M-16 rifle. During the four months of training in the winter of 1966 the 188th became the first company to put a 1,000 hours on the new H model. On February 23, 1966, when the company received a directive for a Permanent Change of Station (PCS), the eight Charlie model gunships were flown by gun platoon pilot’s to Sharp Army Depot in Lathrope, California. The “H” models used during training were left at Fort Campbell. Twenty-three brand new “H” models were acquired at Sharp Army Depot and along with the eight Charlie model gunships, were disassembled, shrink wrapped in plastic, trucked to the Alameda Air Station and loaded on to the USS Kula Gulf. The company deployed in four groups, two by sea and two by air and was the first Aviation Company to arrive in-country with Bell Helicopter’s new H-model Huey.

     On their arrival to South Vietnam in late April, the 188th Aviation Company (AML) was assigned to the First Aviation Brigade, which commanded all Army Aviation non-divisional units. The 188th replaced the Third Army patch they had worn stateside with the First Aviation Brigade patch. On May 2, 1967 the 188th was assigned to the Black Barons of the 269th Combat Aviation Battalion (CAB) based at Cu Chi. the 269th CAB was under the command of the 12th Combat Aviation Group (CAG), call sign Black Jack, based at Long Binh.

     In June the 188th Aviation Company (AML) was redesignated as the 188th Assault Helicopter Company (AHC) and organized as a standard non-divisional Assault Helicopter Company. They set up shop in the Michelin rubber plantation, at the isolated 3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division ( on August 1, 1967 they became the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division) base camp named Camp Rainier, located forty miles northwest of Saigon in a very hot area of the western III Corps area of operation (AO).      The company area and airfield were directly across the road from the VC controlled rubber processing village of Dau Tieng which was nestled along the shores of the Saigon River, known as the Saigon Corridor, a major VC and NVA infiltration route from Cambodia. Dau Tieng was off limits to all military personnel. While the company waited for their helicopters to arrive on the Kula Gulf to be reassembled, flight personnel were assigned for fourteen days to other aviation units within the 12th CAG. This in-country training period served to thoroughly orient the aviator and crews to the peculiarities of airmobile operations in the Republic of Vietnam. On June 15, 1967 the 188th AHC became operational.

     On June 24, 1967 at 11:02 pm Viet Cong mortar teams walked one hundred mortar rounds back and forth along the airfield, known as the “WEB”, damaging twenty-nine of the 188th’s thirty-one helicopters. The Viet Cong (VC) mortar crews vectored in on the portable lights being used by maintenance personnel and crew chiefs that were pulling maintenance on the helicopters. Within minutes the company was non-operational. Even though sand bagged revetments had not yet been built, the commander decided to leave the helicopters lined up on the airfield, pull maintenance, refuel and then disperse the aircraft to other locations on the base. Major Bobby Wofford was relieved of duty the next morning by the commander of the 269th CAB, LTC James Merryman, for not obeying his direct orders to disperse the helicopters at night. Over 25 men were wounded during the mortar attack…mostly maintenance personnel and crew chiefs.

     On June 26, 1967 LTC James McWhorter became the new commander and Major Joe Sites became the new Executive Officer (XO) of the 188th AHC. To help build morale, Major Sites held a competition to design an unauthorized pocket patch that would incorporate a new logo with the company name. Assistant gun platoon leader, Captain Floyd G. Wilson won the competition. The 188th became the “Black Widows” and the gun platoon became the “Spiders.” The company shared the same motto as the 269th Combat Aviation

Battalions (Black Barons)…“AIM HIGH”.

     On March 14, 1968, after eight months of supporting the 25th Infantry Division at Camp Rainier/Dau Tieng the 188th had a Permanent Change of Station. Their new home was a tent city called LZ Sally in northern I (pronounced eye) Corps’s Thua Thien Province, located seven miles north of Hue. It was home base to Colonel John Cushman’s 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division Task Force. Their mission was to find and kill all of the retreating NVA forces that had attacked Hue during the Tet ’68 Communist Offensive. The 188th Black Widows worked with the 2nd Brigade day and night from March till July 1, 1968 and in the process earning a lot of gratitude and respect from the grunts they supported.

     On April 28, 1968 during a cordon operation, the 188th flew lead and inserted elements of the 1/501, 1/502 and the 1st ARVN Division’s Black Panther Company into positions surrounding the village of Phouc Yen, located six Kilometers from LZ Sally on a bend in the Song Bo River that was shaped like a stocking. By May 3, 1968 the cordon operation was completed. Friendly losses were 8 US and 2 ARVN killed, 44 US and 12 ARVN wounded. The enemy had lost 429 killed, 107 prisoners of war (the highest prisoner count ever in the Vietnam War), and 117 weapons captured. Also captured were the radios and signal operating instructions of the 8th Battalion, 90th NVA Regiment, which was totally eliminated. During their 13 month existence in the jungles and mountains of Vietnam the 188th had a 30% casualty rate.

     The newly formed 308th Combat Aviation Battalion (Black Adler) (CAB) was formed as a transition battalion that included the 188th AHC (Black Widows), 17th AHC (Kingsmen), 200th ASHC (Pachyderm), and the 272nd ASHC (Varsity). The 308th moved from Bien Hoa to Camp Eagle in March of 1968 to organize Aviation assets coming up from the III Corps AO. These companies would become part of the 101st and were instrumental in making the 101st Airborne Division…Airmobile.

     On July 1, 1968 the 188th was deactivated, reorganized and redesignated as Charlie Company, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Air Cavalry Division. However, the term “Air Cavalry Division” was revoked by a Department of the Army directive issued on August 28, 1968, and there after, the official name was the 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile). C/101 replaced the 1st Aviation Brigade patch worn by the 188th AHC with the “SCREAMING EAGLE” patch of the 101st Airborne Division. The “Spiders” gun platoon became the 3rd platoon of the newly formed all gunship company, D/101…call sign Hawk. C/101 carried on the Black Widow legacy. In the spring of 1969 the C/101 Black Widows moved for the last time from LZ Sally to Phu Bai, located just south of Hue.

     From May 1967 through February 1972 (when the 101st AD stood down) the Black Widows from the 188th AHC and C/101 lost 41 men KIA and over 130 WIA during combat operations in all four Corps Areas of Operation in Vietnam. They also flew numerous Black Ops with Special Forces Teams (B-56, CCN and SOG) over the fence into Cambodia (B-36, Code name Rapid Fire V), Laos (Code name Prairie Fire) the DMZ and North Vietnam. They participated in over forty-five major operations. Places like…the Iron Triangle, Katum, Duc Hoa, the Horseshoe, Phu Hiep, Nui Ba Den (the Black Virgin Mountain), Tet ’68, Ap Cho, Cu Chi City, Fire Support Base (FSB) Burt, Rapid Fire V, Soui Da, Minh Thanh, the Fishook and Parrots Beak, War Zone “C” and “D”, Song Be, FSB Bastogne, FSB Veghel, FSB Stud, the A Shau Valley, Hamburger Hill, FSB Ripcord and the ARVN invasion of Laos during Operation Lam Son 719.

     The Black Widows and Spiders were better known to the grunts and Green Beret’s they supported on the ground by their call signs. It didn’t take long before the air crews earned the respect of the grunts and Green Beret’s they supported…saving their lives numerous times during insertions and extractions…most of which were under fire!. The Special Forces Team’s made a point of asking for the ”Black Widows” and “Spiders” specifically for upcoming missions over the fence into Indian Country as… “THE SPIDER PEOPLE”

     In 1974 the 101st Airborne Division went from Airmobile to Air Assault. In October 1981, Charlie Company, 101st Aviation Battalion was reflagged as Alpha Company, 158th Aviation Battalion.

     On November1, 1987, the 101st Aviation Battalion was redesignated as the 4th Battalion 101st Aviation Regiment and on October 16, 1987 the 158th Aviation Battalion was redesignated as 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment.

     On July 21, 1989 the 6th Battalion, 101st Aviation Battalion was formed utilizing one UH-60 Assault Helicopter Company from each of the 4th (C Company) and 5th (A Company Black Widows) Battalions, 101st Aviation Regiment. On December 19, 1989 under permanent orders 179-1, the 6th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment was redesignated as the 9th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment.

     The “Black Widows” of Alpha Company, 9th Battalion (Eagle Strike), 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), returned home in February 2004, after a one year tour of duty as proud combat veterans from the unforgiving deserts of Iraq during Operation “Iraqi Freedom.” Black Widow black hawk helicopters were the first to cross the Iraqi border in March 2003, when the war began. Their motto: MATE AND KILL.

     After their return to Fort Campbell Alpha Company was re-flagged as Alpha Company, 4th Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. Commander, Captain Jason Blevins, chose to continue the Black Widow legacy by choosing “SPIDERS” as their new logo and call sign. The legacy of the 188th Assault Helicopter’s gun platoon will live on with A/4/3. The new A/4/3 pocket patch will include reference to the establishment of the 188th Assault Helicopter Company in 1966. Their “Screaming Eagle” shoulder patch replaced with the 3rd Infantry Division patch.

     On May 1, 2004 eight Vietnam era veterans from the 188th Assault Helicopter Company made the trip to Fort Campbell, Kentucky for the Alpha Company Awards/Colors ceremony and were the guests of honor. When the awards were given out, family members had the honor of pinning the medal on their soldier. Following the awards ceremony an outstanding home made video was shown of Alpha’s tour in Iraq.

     Frank Linster, Geoff Handel, Ted Alley, Richard Cadreau, Gary Phillips, Bob Moon, Mike Willie and Dick Detra, all 188th and C/101 vets, presented the framed commemorative flag (with the names of the 41 Black Widows who were killed in Vietnam…silk-screened onto the flag) and a framed presentation letter to the A/9/101 Black Widows. The 188th flag is on display in the operations building at Saber Airfield, Fort Campbell, Kentucky and later will be displayed in the Don F. Pratt Museum on post. This was a very special historic event for those who served in the 188th.The colors had finally come full circle…back to where it all began in 1966.

     During his speech to the troops LTC Jones, the 9th Battalion Commander said “That the Black Widow Legacy and lineage would stay at Fort Campbell where it belongs.” Upon inactivation of the 9th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment on May 19, 2004 the Black Widows have returned to the “Wings of the Eagle” Battalion as Charlie Company, 4th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, whose lineage goes back to the 101st Aviation Battalion that the 188th was originally assigned to at Fort Campbell back in November 1966. The Black Widows of the 188th AHC were redesignated as Charlie Company and reassigned to the 101st Aviation Battalion at LZ Sally on July 1, 1968. Her sister companies then were: Alpha Company “Comancheros”, Bravo Company “Kingsmen”, and Delta Company “Hawk.” With this assignment the 4th Aviation Battalion will bring together the same companies that served together from July 1, 1968 through February 1972 in Vietnam’s mountainous northern I (pronounced eye) Corps’s Thua Thien Province, home of the A Shau Valley.

      The legacy continues…two fold with the newly redesignated C/4/101 “Black Widows” staying at Fort Campbell and the newly re-flagged A/4/3 “SPIDERS” , made up of the Iraqi War Black Widow veterans who deployed to Iraq on January 21, 2005.

     Through the years the Black Widows have continued their outstanding service with dedicated support to operations including Snow Eagle 1981 (Fort Drum, NY), Bright Star 1983 (Egypt), JTF-B/TF Southern Eagle (Honduras), Solis Shield 1989 (Camp Lejune, NC), Desert Shield and Desert Storm (Saudi Arabia), Buccaneer 7 (Jamaica), Task Force Wildcat (Kentucky), Ocean Venture 1992 (Puerto Rico), Operations Restore Hope and Uphold Democracy (Haiti) and numerous rotations to the Joint Readiness Training Center (Fort Chaffee, AR and Fort Polk, Louisiana) and the National Training Center (Fort Irwin, Ca.), and most recently Operation Iraqi Freedom.

     Through it all the Black Widows have continued to uphold the highest standards of the United States Army. They continue to stand ready for their next “Rendezvous with Destiny.”       

     

 

BLACK WIDOW LINEAGE

ARMY AVIATION

 

1. 188th Aviation Company (Air Mobile Light), 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky-Dau Tieng, South Vietnam 11/66-5/67

2. 188th Assault Helicopter Company, 269th Combat Aviation Battalion (Black Barons), 1st Aviation Brigade, (Camp Rainier) Dau Tieng, South Vietnam 5/67-3/68 Motto: “AIM HIGH”

3. 188th Assault Helicopter Company, 308th Combat Aviation Battalion (Black Adler), 1st Aviation Brigade, LZ Sally, South Vietnam 3/68-7/68

4. Spiders gun platoon, Motto: “GUNS UP” 11/66-7/68, infused as the 3rd flight platoon of Delta Company (all gunships), 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Air Cav Division, call sign: “Hawk”

5. Charlie Company, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Air Cav Division, LZ Sally, South Vietnam 7/68-9/68

6. Charlie Company, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile), Phu Bai, South Vietnam from 4/68-2/72

7. Charlie Company, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile), Fort Campbell, Kentucky 2/72-3/76

8. Charlie Company, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky 3/76-1081

9. Alpha Company, 158th Aviation Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) 10/81-10/87

10. Alpha Company, 5th Aviation Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) 10/87-7/89

11. Alpha Company, 6th Aviation Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) 7/89-12/89

12. Alpha Company, 9th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Motto: “Mate and Kill” 12/89-5/04 (Iraq)

13. Charlie Company, 4th Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)

5/04-present

14. Alpha Company, 4th Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, “Spiders” 5/04-present (Iraq) A/9/101 reflagged as A/4/3 after return from Iraq