In 1947 the United States Marine Corps realised that in order to stay relevant, it needed to reinvent the way it conducted amphibious operations. The thought was that the advent of the helicopter would radically change the way the Marine Corps did business, and so in December of 1947 the experimental helicopter squadron HMX-1 was born. Ike's Air Taxi In less than a year HMX helicopters were taking-off from navy aircraft carriers to test the concept of moving large numbers of troops from ship to shore in a small amount of time. With the concept proven, the squadron began to fine-tune tactics and test new helicopters. Only a few years later, the Korean War began and the men of HMX-1 were deployed to Korea to show the rest of the military what they and their helicopters could do. The squadron was tasked with a variety of missions which included evacuating wounded troops as well as rescuing downed airmen and supply missions.
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