275 illustrated pages. This history traces the development of helicopters in the Marine Corps from 1962 to 1973 and is the
second in a series of two volumes which between them cover the story of Marines and helicopters from 1946
to the present. In the period covered by this volume, the Marines at last acquired helicopters fully capable
of carrying out an amphibious vertical assault, and they further elaborated their helicopter doctrines an d
tactics . In the Vietnam war, pilots and machines met and surmounted the test of actual combat . The documentary
basis for this monograph was primarily the official records of the Marine Corps and Navy Department,
but considerable use was made of interviews and correspondence with key individuals involved in all
phases of helicopter development .
The author, Lieutenant Colonel William R. (Bob) Fails, USMC (Ret), received his Bachelor of Art s
degree in English from Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio, and his Master of Business Administration in Financial
Management from The George Washington University, Washington, D .C . His Marine Corps aviation experience
includes tours with fixed-wing fighter and attack squadrons, as a flight instructor, and as a helicopter
pilot and aircraft maintenance officer. He served in Vietnam in 196566 with HMM263 and again in 1970
71 as S4 of MAG16 and facility manager for Marble Mountain Airfield . He came to the History and Museums
Division in 1973 from the 34th MAU in the Mediterranean, in which he had been Executive Officer .
Now retired, Lieutenant Colonel Fails resides and works in Tempe, Arizona.
Comment copies of the manuscript for this volume were sent to many individuals involved with bot h
the conceptual and operational aspects of Marine helicopter development . In association with Lieutenant
Colonel Fails, Dr. Graham A. Cosmas incorporated these comments and edited the manuscript for printing.
Dr. Cosmas received his PhD degree in history from the University of Wisconsin and joined the staff of the
History and Museums Division in December 1973 after teaching at the University of Texas and the University
of Guam.
The History and Museums Division welcomes any comments on the narrative and additional information
or illustrations which might enhance a future edition .