Howze Board

rdf:langString Howze Board

rdf:langString The Howze Board was the informal name given to the Tactical Mobility Requirements Board created at the direct request of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to review and test new concepts integrating helicopters as close air support into the United States Army. Helicopters had been used during the Korean War to ferry wounded and supplies. Some U.S. combat officers recognized the possibility of using armed helicopters to carry heavy ordnance. But other organizations and branches strenuously objected to allowing the Army to deliver ordnance via aircraft. The Army Staff in the Pentagon responded slowly to a study from the Army Aircraft Requirements Review Board chaired by Lieutenant general Gordon B. Rogers that suggested adopting helicopters for use in a combat role. McNamara bypassed Secretary of the Army Elvis Jacob Stahr Jr., in what many considered a slap in the face, to conduct a review "in an atmosphere divorced from traditional viewpoints and past policies." McNamara directed Lieutenant general Hamilton H. Howze, the Army's first director of aviation, to conduct a review of the tactical possibilities suggested by the Rogers study. The Board prescribed an airmobility doctrine integrating helicopters into combat. The proposed changes in Army doctrine were the equivalent to those made by the United States Cavalry when they got off their horses and adopted use of armor.