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Summary 1971

American troop strength continued to decline from 280,000 to 159,000 by year's end. (Source:  The Vietnam War Almanac, edited by John Bowman)  In March and April, the main part of the 1^st Cavalry Division departed Vietnam for Ft. Hood, Texas.  They left behind the 3^rd Brigade (Separate) of the 1^st Cavalry Division (Airmobile).  The 2/5^th Cav was one of four battalions of the 3^rd Brigade, which was headquartered at Bien Hoa. The other infantry battalions of the "Garry Owen Brigade" were the 1/7^th Cav, 2/8^th Cav, and the 1/12^th Cav. (Source: Vietnam Order of Battle.  Stanton)   Interestingly, each of the battalions was known officially as an Infantry battalion, as in 2^nd Infantry Battalion, 5^th Cavalry, probably to differentiate them from the units serving at Ft. Hood which became tank battalions.  (Sources:  Various S3 Journals and Adolf Carlson)  The main mission of the 3^rd Brigade ( as with other US units) was to provide an aggressive defense of the large American logistics and air bases at Bien Hoa, Long Binh, and Saigon.  The area patrolled by American units was called the "Rocket Belt."  

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Updated July 29, 2006