The 1st Air Cavalry Division arrived in Vietnam in waves, mainly aboard military transport ships between July and August of 1965. Their mission was to take control of the Central Highlands and coastal plains of II Corps. Upon arrival, the advanced party of 1st Cav soldiers established a new base camp—Camp Radcliff—in the wilderness of the Central Highlands, near the town of An Khe.

With over four hundred aircraft, the division pioneered an entirely new concept in warfare known as airmobile, and airmobile infantry soldiers were known as skytroopers. The airmobile concept was put to the test in November of 1965 when skytroopers of the 1st Air Cavalry, led by Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore, faced off against a much larger North Vietnamese force in the Ia Drang Valley, as depicted in the film We Were Soldiers.