jinx

Dave Wilton dave at WILTON.NET
Thu Aug 8 16:56:06 UTC 2002


> "Horse Marines" in the early 1900s would
> be as unlikely as "airborne cavalry" nowadays.

The point is well taken and I'm sure that "Horse Marines" was intended to be
silly, but there is in fact "air cavalry" in the US Army nowadays. They use
helicopters instead of horses.

In the first half of the 20th century, many "cavalry" units traded in their
horses for tanks. In the 1960s, some traded in their tanks for helicopters.
They retained the designation of "cavalry" for historical/morale purposes,
plus they performed the same basic functions on the battlefield as horse
cavalry (retronym alert) did: reconnaissance, screening, quick-response
reserves. European armies did the same thing. Read any good history of WWII
and you will run across "hussars" regiments that had tanks instead of
horses.

I don't believe "air cavalry" is currently an official designation (at least
I've never run across it in official documents), but it is commonly found in
unofficial sources, especially about the Vietnam era (e.g., "Apocalypse
Now"). It may have been an official term in the 60s/70s. "Air cavalry" can
be found in the OED.

You can split hairs and say that "airborne" refers to parachute troops and
isn't the same thing. But the biggest air cavalry unit in the US Army today
is the "101st Airborne Division (Airmobile)." That division no longer jumps
out of airplanes.



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