Operation Steel Pike 1 Helicopter B-Roll - USMC H-34 UH-1 Spain 1964 National Archives Airailimages

Operation Steel Pike 1 in October and November 1964 involved 28,000 Marines of the Second Marine Division. Steel Pike was said to be the largest peacetime amphibious landing exercise in history. Steel Pike was conducted in Spain in collaboration with Spanish military forces. This B-Roll film footage shows activity aboard the USS Okinawa, and includes scenes of Navy and Marine Corps Sikorsky H-34 helicopters and Marine UH-1s. The operation used the tactics of vertical envelopment, with some Marines going ashore from landing craft as helicopters deposited other troops behind designated enemy lines. Thanks for watching the Airailimages Channel. Hit the Subscribe button if you have not already done so. We appreciate it.