operation MATADOR information
for 1 BDE 1 CAV
From date 660104 to 660117
1 BDE 1 CAV was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Operation MATADOR
Pleiku Province, South Vietnam
Description: Operation MATADOR was conducted by the U.S. 1st Bde, 1st Cav Div to find and destroy enemy forces in Pleiku and Kontum Provinces. At least one battalion from the 2d Bde reinforced the 1st Bde for this operation which was conducted on the Vietnamese side of the Ton Le San River. This was the first time U.S. troops actually went right to the Cambodian border. Prior to this they had not entered the three mile buffer zone along the border. This operation was conducted in what had recently become the "1st Air Cav standard assault mode". This "mode" called for early morning combat assaults; often several at the same time. Their normal LZ prep included air strikes for 15 to 30 minutes, tube artillery for 10 to 2 minutes, followed by the aerial rocket artillery (ARA) working specific targets for 2 to 5 minutes. The troop transports started the assault escorted by their gunships. Operation MATADOR used company and battalion (minus) sized LZs and always kept tube artillery on their major LZs. This insured the manuevering infantry units were always in the artillery fan. Depending on the weather, the 1st Cav's "mode" was in have the troop transports in the LZ between 0730 and 0800. Most of the time, the infantry doing the assault had been picked up from another LZ. This established a series of company and battalion sized "leap frog" manuevers. During a search and destroy operation, the 1st Cav could work a lot of terrain within a few days.
The source for this information was Rand, Year of the Horse P 215+,
Additional information is available on CD-ROM.
Please send additions or corrections to: Gary Roush Email address: webmaster@vhpa.org
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Date posted on this site:
10/25/2024