First in Manila, first in Tokyo, first in Pyongyang, first to receive the Presidential Unit Citation in Vietnam, and now, first in Cambodia. It was a new first for the FIRST TEAM in its fifth year in Vietnam.
          The 1st Air Cavalry's commitment to the defense of freedom in Southeast Asia began in August of 1965. The departure of the 1st Infantry Division this  year made the Cav the senior American division in the war.
          In its five years, the FIRST TEAM has operated in the highlands and sandy coastal plains of I Corps, II Corps, and in III Corps from Saigon to Cambodia. The division's tactics have changed to meet the new conditions, from brigade size combat assaults in Operation Pershing, to house-to-house fighting in Hue, to the small unit tactics that characterize jungle warfare in northern III Corps, to the combined-armor-infantry sweep into the Fishhook.
          Even so, no matter what the terrain, the division's basic mission has remained the same, to help the Republic of Vietnam in its struggle to preserve its independence and defeat Communist imperialism. No matter what the tactics, the division's basic tool has remained its airmobility, the ability to make lightning-quick moves of men and equipment wherever they're needed to engage and crush the enemy.
          But there's another essential ingredient in the Cav's formula for success, an ingredient without which all the helicopters, artillery and weapons would be worthless. That ingredient is you, the individual SKYTROOPER.
          Your bravery, spirit and proficiency, your willingness to undertake the most difficult tasks, have given the division victory after victory, often against seemingly impossible odds. You are the reason the division has repeatedly been termed by military experts and the press as the best in Vietnam.
          This issue highlights the parts played by some of the key members of the FIRST TEAM. The artillerymen, the medics, maintenance men, and logisticians. All these provide critical support to the infantry and share their hardships. And, in addition, the story of the Cav's thrust into Cambodia is told here.
          All are integral facets in the mosaic that makes the 1st Air Cavalry Division unique and have kept it the FIRST TEAM from the Ia Drang to the Fishhook.