Edward L. Rowny
broken up and scattered throughout ACSFOR, leaving me with only a deputy and
two other assistants. When I called upon the other sections within ACSFOR to do
something for me, they refused saying that they had jobs assigned them which were
of higher priority. The net effect was that most of my work dried up. What I got
done I had to do myself with the help of the three officers who worked for me
directly. It was a serious blow to trying to carry out the tasks assigned me to
further tactical air mobility.
Q ..
So then, for the next two years, you were essentially fighting a losing battle, were
you not?
A ..
Yes. I had to fight a losing battle. It was obvious that the Secretary of the Army
couldn't get the Army staff to help me. Besides, the DCSOPS, General Johnson,
and the chief of staff, General Wheeler, were not favorably disposed toward the
concept of tactical air mobility. The situation only got worse when Harold K.
Johnson became the chief of staff of the Army and General Earle Wheeler moved
up to become the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This occurred in July of
1964.
Q ..
I understand that General Creighton Abrams favored creating a light division. Was
this a light division in the general sense of lighter equipment, or was it in the sense
of an air mobile division?
A ..
What Abrams was promoting was a lighter division in the traditional sense and not
an air mobile division. Army units were becoming heavier and heavier, adding
more tanks, more armored personnel carriers, and more vehicles in general. This
was making the division harder to transport by water and much harder to transport
by air. As a result, there was a concerted drive within the Army-which Abrams
led-to make Army divisions lighter. But this was in a generic sense and not a
move to tactical air mobility.
Q ..
What did the Army division look like in terms of personnel and the number of
vehicles? Can you give me ballpark figures?
A ..
Abrams was trying to cut the standard division down from 13,000 to 10,000 people
and the vehicles from 3,500 to 3,000.
Q ..
And what about the air mobile division? How was its formation coming along?
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