During the 1960's when the Army's Air Mobility concept was born, tested, and proven in combat, George Beatty played key roles in each of the phases.
In 1962 he was assigned to the Army's Tactical Mobility Requirements Board ("Howze Board") where he was instrumental in the writing of the plan for the accomplishment of the Board's mission. He supervised the running and recording of the field tests of all aspects of the Board's interest. Upon completion of the Board report, he and Colonel (later Lieutenant General) John Norton went to Washington to brief the Board's findings and recommendations to the Secretary of Defense and other interested Federal Agencies.
He was assigned to the 11th Air Assault Division (AAD) in January 1963 as Commanding Officer, 1st Brigade and commanded that Brigade through all of the testing and field exercises. He briefly commanded the 11th Aviation Group in 1965 during which time a composite Aviation Company was formed and sent to the Dominican Republic to support the XVIII Corps.
When the 11th AAD was redesignated as the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), Beatty was assigned as Chief of Staff where he coordinated the planning and loading out of the division. In Vietnam, he served as Chief of Staff, and then Brigade Commander of the 1st Brigade. During this eventful year he saw the air assault concept, which he had helped pioneer, proven under fire and accepted by the U.S. Army.
From 1968 to 1970, he commanded the Army Flight Training Center at Hunter Army Airfield at Fort Stewart, Georgia where several hundred rotary wing pilots were graduated every two weeks. Training of South Vietnamese students was initiated during this period, and their unfamiliarity with the English language required the introduction of special innovative teaching techniques to enable those students to succeed.
Throughout his career, General Beatty was involved in many pioneering developments in the concepts, training, organization, tactics, and equipment that have been incorporated into Army Aviation as we know it today.