Low Level Hell (Hardcover)

"The Outcasts" had three words emblazoned on their unit patch, and they described perfectly the environment in which these men lived and fought: "Low Level Hell". They were an aero-scout platoon with the mission of flying heavily-armed Hughes OH-6A helicopters at treetop level in Vietnam, to find the enemy and destroy him. The young fliers devastated the enemy, earning the highest combat effectiveness rating in the division, but they also took most of the aviation casualties. Hugh Mills arrived in Vietnam in 1969 and commanded this elite aero-scout unit for one year.;This is his story. Operating from the Cambodian border to the "Iron Triangle" northwest of Saigon, the Outcasts tracked enemy troops from the air and searched the jungle for their base areas. They teamed with Cobra Attack helicopters to form "hunter-killer" teams to pursue the NVA and the Viet Cong. They directed B-52 strikes, escorted medevac helicopters, supported riverine forces, and extracted downed airmen. These young pilots (ages 19-22) invented "the book" as they went along, and in so doing, wrote a new chapter in the history of aerial warfare.