6th Aviation Platoon (Airlift)
 First Patch of 6th Platoon |
 Second patch of 6th PLatoon |
The 6th Aviation Platoon (Airlift), "Fangs" was activated at Ft Riley, Kansas and arrived in Tan Son Nhut, RVN in September 1964. Initially assigned to the 13th Aviation Battalion, the unit was attached to the 121st Aviation Company for initial train up. After the unit was declared Combat Ready it was assigned the mission of supporting IV Corps HQ and the 5th SFG (ABN). The unit was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation in December of 1964. In early 1965 the 6th Aviation Platoon (Airlift) was moved to the I Corps Tactical Zone where it joined up with its sister unit, the 7th Aviation Platoon (Airlift) when it was assigned to the I Corps Aviation Company (Provisional). After a short but illustrious stint in I Corps the unit was moved south to Tan Son Nhut and then to Bien Hoa. In early 1966 was combined with the 145th Aviation Platoon (Airlift) to form the 2nd Platoon,171st Aviation Company in Nha Trang. The mission was to provide support to 5th SFG (ABN), Detachment B-52, Project Delta and other assets of the 5th SFG (ABN). In July of 1966 the 2/171st was absorbed by the 281st Aviation Company (AML). For a more detailed date by date chronology of the events surrounding the history of the 6th Aviation Platoon (Airlift) see the 281st Chronological History on this website. We have been able to find a copy of the 1964 Unit History for the 6th Aviation Platoon (Airlift), it is presented in Adobe format: 1964 6th Aviation Platoon History. Both files open in a new page
