With night as their cloak a covey of predators raced north toward the imaginary border that separated the United States from the rebellious state of Idaho. Perched high upon their armor plated seats, the crewmen flying the attack helicopters scanned the horizon for prey. The weird green glow emanating from sights and instruments before them gave their features an unworldly appearance that matched the sinister profile of their aircraft. To the airborne controller of an E-3A AWACS orbiting two hundred kilometers away, the AH-64s of the 4th Armored Division appeared as little more than computer generated symbols on his screen. To those whom they were hunting, the Apaches would become Death incarnate.

Designed as an antitank weapon, the AH-64 Apache has proven itself to be quite adept at killing just about everything. This airborne merchant of death is found in one of two organizations. When assigned to an attack helicopter battalion the Apache is a sledgehammer. Its operational range of five hundred kilometers provides a division or corps commander the ability to deliver a smashing blow against enemy ground units long before those units can be deployed. Closer in, Apaches of the attack helicopter battalion can create a breach through which the division’s tanks and mech infantry can pour or plug a hole in the division’s own line. All in all this unit is the most flexible weapon a division commander possesses. Scott Dixon’s 4th Armored Division had one of them.

While the AH-64 remains just as capable when employed with the air cavalry, the manner in which it is operated changes. As a member of the air cav team, the Apache is a rapier, used to deliver a killing thrust with speed and precision. Unlike its counterparts in an attack battalion, the air cav Apache is more concerned with doing the sneaking and peeking for the division’s killers. In this role, the forward-looking infrared sights, better known as thermal sights, and a daylight TV sighting system are often more important than the helicopter’s weapons. The same range and speed that allows the attack helicopter unit to penetrate into the enemy’s rear areas to wreak havoc allows the AH-64 equipped air cavalry troop the opportunity to flit about and find out what their foes are up to. On this particular evening Dixon’s two air cav troops were looking for mischief.

In the traditions of the cavalry the air troopers of the 1st of the 9th Cavalry were leading the way north. In the wee hours of November 8th the pilots of Charlie Troop, 1st of the 9th Cav, were working with lighter, more nimble scouts. Flying in excess of 130 knots and never more than fifty feet above the ground, they crossed into Idaho unseen. The National Guard of that state lacked their own early warning network, leaving them dependent upon the spotty coverage radar at commercial airfields provided them. The air troopers knew of this weakness and exploited it.