More detail on this person: United States Army
Aviation Hall of Fame:
COL Frank Leonidas Henry made Air Assault
happen. He converted the promise and theory of Air
Assault into suitable tactics, workable
procedures, trained aviation units, and motivated
aviators.
His work in demonstrating the potential of Air
Assault at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, led to
Lieutenant General (then Brigadier General)
Kinnard transferring him to Fort Benning as a
member of the 11th Air Assault Division Cadre.
Henry was given command of the first Huey Gun
Company formed in the 11th AAD, Company A,
227th Assault Helicopter Battalion. In that role,
he was the lead assault helicopter company
commander of the Air Assault Tests and a
developer of airmobile procedures later
standardized within the test division and used
widely by units in Vietnam. His call sign, "Happy
Tiger", describes perfectly his personality and
warrior spirit.
General Kinnard selected Henry as his aide and
took him to Vietnam when the test division was
redesignated the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile).
Three months later he was assigned as the
Executive Officer of the 2nd Battalion, 7th
Cavalry where his strong leadership was
demonstrated in infantry combat. He returned to
the 1st Cav in Vietnam in 1968-1969,
distinguishing himself as the Assistant Division
Aviation officer and commander, 2d Bn, 8th
Cavalry. The Army wisely took advantage of his
unique expertise by sending him to the Infantry
School from 1969-1972 as a tactics instructor and
Chairman of the Aerial Employment Committee.
When the 1st Cavalry Division was tested in the
TRICAP configuration in 1972-1974 at Fort Hood,
Texas, the Division and III Corps commanders
insisted that the Army make Lieutenant Colonel
Henry available to command the division's assault
helicopter battalion. After the Army War College,
Colonel Henry returned to the troops he loved as
Commander, 3rd Brigade, 101st AD (AASLT).
When his command tour was completed, the
division commander selected him to remain as
Chief of Staff, a position he held until his
untimely death in August 1977.
Colonel Henry was a truly heroic aviation figure
who rose through the ranks, OCS, and Flight
School, and earned a masters degree. He did many
things well, but was a master at troop command
and tactical innovation -- precisely the
attributes needed in his pioneer air assault
assignments.
Colonel Henry was born on 22 February 1933 at
Franklin North Carolina, and died on 12 August
1977 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He was buried
with full military honors in Section 5 of
Arlington National Cemetery.
Burial information: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
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