---

Nam 1963

---

The Beginning

The 187^th Transport Airplane Company was formed on 11 February 1963 and picked up its first Caribou from Dehavilland of Canada on 1 March 1963. The unit participated in the development of the airmobile concept and took part in virtually all of the Army's air assault tests, such as Swift Strike, Desert Strike II, Hawk Star II, and Air Assault II. Shortly after Air Assault II, the TO&E and numerical designation of the 187^th Aviation Company was changed and a new unit, the 134^th Aviation Company (Air Mobile-Fixed Wing) was formed.

Unit Patch 134^th Aviation Company (AM-FW)

The call sign for the unit was Rough Riders. A different numerical designation and slight change in equipment could not dispel the pride, esprit de corps, and we try harder attitude that had existed in the old 187^th Aviation Company. The unit accepted its next mission of preparing for movement to Vietnam. After many hours of planning and preparation, the 134^th departed Fort Benning in mid-December 1965 and flew 10,000 miles via the Pacific route to Vietnam, coming into Vung Tau on the tail of a Typhoon, then on to its final destination in the Delta region.