Helicopters in Irregular Warfare: Algeria, Vietnam, and Afghanistan [Illustrated Edition]
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The preponderance of conflicts fought over the last seventy years have included or been centered on irregular warfare and counter-insurgency. Indeed, the helicopter’s first significant trials in combat took place during the Algerian War 1954-1962, the Vietnam War 1955-1975, and the Soviet-Afghan War 1979-1989. During these wars, French, U.S., and Soviet militaries used significant numbers of helicopters to fight insurgents and guerrillas, and each country lost their respective conflict. As conventional organizations, these militaries used helicopters to seek military dominance, often blind to or in spite of politico-strategic goals like legitimacy. The helicopter’s firepower and mobility tactically decimated insurgents, but the nature of irregular warfare rendered tactical dominance indecisive. Helicopters were indecisive or bad at enabling legitimacy, population control, and isolation, key tenets of successful COIN. Convinced that helicopter enabled military dominance could win, the French, U.S., and Soviet militaries were unable to balance the pursuit of military and politically objectives. Airmobility distracted leaders from focusing on the political aspects of counter-insurgency.
Major Beau G. Rollie
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Helicopters in Irregular Warfare - Major Beau G. Rollie
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HELICOPTERS IN IRREGULAR WARFARE: ALGERIA, VIETNAM, AND AFGHANISTAN
by
BEAU G. ROLLIE, MAJOR, U.S. ARMY
B.S., United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, 2001
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS 4
ABSTRACT 5
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 6
ACRONYMS 7
CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION 8
Warfare Terms Defined 9
Conventional warfare: 9
Irregular warfare: 9
Expeditionary COIN: 9
Literature Review 10
Algeria Sources 10
Vietnam Sources 10
Afghanistan Sources 11
The Problem 11
CHAPTER 2 — FRENCH HELICOPTERS VERSUS THE ALN 13
French and Algerian History 13
French Rotary Wing History Prior to 1955 14
Algeria’s Operational Environment 15
French Rotary Wing Organizational Structure in Algeria 17
French Use of Helicopters in the Utility and Assault Roles 18
French Use of Helicopters in the Reconnaissance and Attack Roles 21
Tactical Case Study: Air Assaults at Dgebels Ergou, el Aloui, and el Azega 22
Conclusions from Algeria 24
CHAPTER 3 — AIRMOBILITY VERSUS THE VIET CONG AND PAVN 26
History of the Twentieth Century Indochina Wars 27
United States Rotary Wing History Prior to Vietnam 28
Vietnam’s Operational Environment 31
United States Rotary Wing Organizational Structure in Vietnam 33
United States Use of Helicopters in the Utility and Assault Roles 37
United States Use of Helicopters in the Reconnaissance and Attack Roles 40
Tactical Case Study: Air Assault at Quang Tri City 44
Conclusions from Vietnam 47
CHAPTER 4 — SOVIET HELICOPTERS VERSUS THE MUJAHIDEEN 51
History of Soviet Involvement in Afghanistan 52
Soviet Rotary Wing History Prior to Afghanistan 53
Afghan Operational Environment 55
Soviet Rotary Wing Aircraft and Frontal Aviation Organization 59
Soviet Use of Helicopters in the Utility and Assault Roles 61
Soviet Use of Helicopters in the Reconnaissance and Attack Roles 63
Tactical Case Study: Air Assault at Islam-Dara Canyon 66
Conclusions from Afghanistan 67
CHAPTER 5 — CONCLUSION 69
Algerian War Lessons 69
Vietnam War Lessons 71
Soviet-Afghan War Lessons 72
The Lie of Military Success in Expeditionary COIN 73
Lack of Rotary Wing COIN Doctrine 74
REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 77
APPENDIX A — MAPS OF ALGERIA, SOUTH VIETNAM, AND AFGHANISTAN 78
Algeria 78
South Vietnam 79
Afghanistan 80
APPENDIX B — THE HELICOPTERS 81
Scout/Reconnaissance Helicopters 81
OH-13 Sioux 81
Alouette II 81
OH-6 Cayuse (LOACH) 81
OH-58 Kiowa 82
Attack Helicopters 82
AH-1 Cobra 82
Mi-24 Hind 82
Utility/Assault/Cargo Helicopters 83
UH-19 Chickasaw 83
CH-21 Shawnee (Flying Banana) 83
UH-34 Choctaw 84
CH-37 Mojave 84
UH-1 Iroquois (Huey) 85
HH-3 Sea Knight 85
CH-47 Chinook 86
CH-54 Tarhe (Flying Crane) 86
HH-53 Jolly Green Giant 87
HH-43 Huskie 87
Mi-4 Hound 88
Mi-8 Hip/Mi-9 VZPU 88
Mi-6 Hook 89
APPENDIX — C C2 STRUCTURAL DIAGRAMS 90
United States Army Aviation Support System (attack aviation request) Vietnam 91
Afghanistan Air-Ground Control and Coordination Within the Soviet Front 91
APPENDIX D — INTERVIEWEE BIOGRAPHICAL DATA 93
Brigadier General Stanley F. Cherrie (Ret.) 93
BIBLIOGRAPHY 94
Government Documents 94
Archives 96
Interviews 96
Books 96
Journals and Periodicals 98
Additional Resources 98
ABSTRACT
HELICOPTERS IN IRREGULAR WARFARE: ALGERIA, VIETNAM, AND AFGHANISTAN, by Beau G. Rollie.
The preponderance of conflicts fought over the last seventy years have included or been centered on irregular warfare and counter-insurgency. Indeed, the helicopter’s first significant trials in combat took place during the Algerian War 1954-1962, the Vietnam War 1955-1975, and the Soviet-Afghan War 1979-1989. During these wars, French, U.S., and Soviet militaries used significant numbers of helicopters to fight insurgents and guerrillas, and each country lost their respective conflict. As conventional organizations, these militaries used helicopters to seek military dominance, often blind to or in spite of politico-strategic goals like legitimacy. The helicopter’s firepower and mobility tactically decimated insurgents, but the nature of irregular warfare rendered tactical dominance indecisive. Helicopters were indecisive or bad at enabling legitimacy, population control, and isolation, key tenets of successful COIN. Convinced that helicopter enabled military dominance could win, the French, U.S., and Soviet militaries were unable to balance the pursuit of military and politically objectives. Airmobility distracted leaders from focusing on the political aspects of counter-insurgency.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author is indebted to the Art of War Scholars’ seminar professors, Dr. Joseph Fischer, Dr. Sean Kalic, and Dr. Scott Stephenson, for their hard work, patience, and dedication. The author also thanks Dr. William Kautt and Dr. Lester Grau for their mentorship and assistance with this thesis. Thanks also to the reference librarians and staffs of the Texas Tech Vietnam Archive, the Aviation Center Technical Library, and the Unites States Army Heritage and Education Center for the valuable assistance provided to the author in conducting archival research. Most importantly, the author would like to express extreme gratitude to his loving wife for her patience, support, and understanding during the writing of this thesis.
ACRONYMS
AAC—Advanced air commands. French Aviation C2, similar to a U.S. battalion or squadron
ALN—Armée de Libération Nationale, the military arm of FLN
ARVN—Army of the Republic of Vietnam
C2—Command and control
CAS—Close Air Support
COIN—Counter-insurgency
DIH—Détachments d’Intervention Hélicoptèr. French army aviation unit equivalent to a U.S. aviation company
DRA——Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
FLN—Fronte de Libération Nationale, the political group associated with the Algerian nationalist independence movement
GALAT —Groupement d’Aviation Légère de l’Armée de Terre. Scalable French army aviation unit equivalent to a U.S. aviation brigade
GATAC—Groupment Aèrien Tactique. French Air Force unit, equivalent to an U.S. air wing
LCOSF—Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces
LZ—Landing zone
PAVN—People’s Army of Vietnam
PDPA—People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan
RF/PF—Regional Forces and Popular Forces
TTP—Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures
VC—Viet Cong
VVS—Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily or Soviet Air Forces
CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION
Hannibal had elephants and therefore he had an elephant strategy even in the Alps.{1} — Brian M. Jenkins
In order to analyze the helicopter’s use in irregular warfare it is useful to look at past conflicts to gain perspective. The French in Algeria, the United States (U.S.) in Vietnam, and the Soviets in Afghanistan are the most relevant case studies with respect to rotary wing employment against irregular forces in the 20th century, due to the relative length of these conflicts and the number of helicopters committed. The organization, equipping, and training of conventional airmobile forces represented large expenditures by the countries involved, and this thesis seeks to evaluate the overall effectiveness of helicopters and airmobility in expeditionary counter-insurgency (COIN) and irregular warfare.
Organization and equipment drive tactics, and in the presence of ill-defined or unattainable strategic goals, tactics tend to drive operations and strategy{2}. France, America, and the Soviet Union joined their respective conflicts with large conventional forces that prized firepower and mobility. To make use of the helicopter’s firepower and mobility, each country quickly committed large helicopter-supported airmobile forces that served as central elements to their respective counter-insurgent strategies. As each conflict progressed, rotary wing aircraft became more crucial to operations because of the tactical success they enabled. Thus the presence of helicopters began to drive operations and by default, strategy. In each war, governmental legitimacy was a stated strategic goal, yet the preponderance of operations focused on military objectives that contributed little to legitimacy{3}. Doctrine and organization pre-programmed conventionally organized helicopter-equipped armies to seek decisive military victory, often at the expense of their political goals.
From 1958 to 1959, General Maurice Challe used French helicopters and mobile reserves in the difficult terrain of Algeria to deal a series of significant military defeats to the ALN.{4} From 1964 to 1968, General William C. Westmoreland applied helicopters in the jungles of Vietnam where they achieved a series of lopsided tactical victories designed to attrite VC and PAVN forces.{5} From 1986 to 1987, General-Major Viktor P. Dubynin used Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces (LCOSF) airmobile units in a series of successful assaults that enabled temporarily relief of the beleaguered garrison at Khost, Afghanistan{6}. Generals Challe, Westmoreland, and Dubynin each committed their airmobile forces in large military operations designed to achieve decisive victory. In each case, the outcome signified only temporary tactical success, because the land taken was not held. Conversely, each success was indecisive at the operational and strategic levels because military victory did nothing to challenge enemy political control of the respective populations.{7}
The French, American, and Soviet armies focused their airmobile efforts towards the pursuit of decisive military victory, often in lieu of effective political strategy. This approach created a strategy of tactics, where helicopter enabled tactical success tilted the operational and strategic approaches away from political objectives. Instead of pursuing nebulous political goals like legitimacy, the conventional armies of France, America, and the Soviet Union sought comfort in military objectives like attrition and destruction of enemy forces. By most accounts, the helicopters employed enabled tactical dominance, and by allowing domination, airmobility distracted leaders from focusing on the political aspects of expeditionary COIN. Tactical dominance also enabled the perception that decisive military victory was possible against irregular enemies in limited war. This perception proved faulty in all three conflicts due to the nature of irregular war and expeditionary COIN. To understand the conclusions of this thesis, working definitions for conventional warfare, irregular warfare, and expeditionary COIN are required.
Warfare Terms Defined
Conventional warfare:
Conventional or regular
warfare is a form of warfare between states that employs direct military operations to defeat an adversary’s armed forces, destroy an adversary’s war-making capacity, or seize territory in order to compel a change in an adversary’s government or policies.{8}
Irregular warfare:
Irregular warfare: is a violent struggle among state and non-state actors for legitimacy and influence over