"Fighting Boats of the United States, by Captain Richards T. Miller, U. S. Navy, in Naval Review 1968. Seemingly from nowhere, skilled masons appeared and began the painstaking reconstruction of the areas once ubiquitous beehive charcoal kilns. It was described as a combined U. S. and Vietnamese naval operation to construct a Coastal Group junk and PCF base at Old Nam Can. . Naval Support Activity Saigon or NSA Saigon was a United States Navy logistics support organization located in Saigon, South Vietnam active from May 1966 to June 1972. What had been conceived and organized as an advisers job, no longer fit the changing nature of growing operational command. In numbers of ships and craft assigned, the River Forces had not appreciably changed since 1955. The Naval War in Vietnam, 1950-1970 - U.S. Naval Institute The Vietnamese Navy was thus handicapped by poor leadership, its inferior status compared to the Army, corruption, the disastrous political situation, inertia, and a well-developed sense of caution among some of its members. With few exceptions, the Coastal Groups (the Junk bases) are located in areas considered undesirable for duty. Joint-service command of the US Dept. The period after World War II saw a number of associated Marine Corps formed in the republics of China, Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand. It is a fair question to ask ourselves why, after such a great and prolonged effort, we had not succeeded in accomplishing more. The LSTs has lieutenants or lieutenant commanders. Such a conception is of course largely romantic. It pointed out, however, the essential futility of a sea quarantine in the absence of an accompanying effort to block inland infiltration routes. [3]:435, Large scale combat deployments began when the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade was deployed in the Da Nang area from March 1965. The June attacks in the Long Tau made it imperative that effective and decisive action be taken against Doan-10. Progressive Management. Here are the Named Campaigns: 1) Vietnam Advisory Campaign - 15 March 1962 - 7 March 1965 2) Vietnam Defense Campaign - 8 March - 24 December 1965 3) Vietnamese Counteroffensive - 25 December 1965 - 30 June 1966 4) Vietnamese Counteroffensive Phase II - 1 July 1966 - 31 May 1967 In the absence of ground forces, the enemy could employ a further application of the strategy of sanctuary, for our boats could pursue" only to the maximum effective range of their installed weapons. By 1960, the date on Vietnam's Campaign Medal, a state of armed conflict existed between the two Vietnams and their allies Monsoon winds and the long fetch over shallow water combined to produce frequent periods of unfavorable sea conditions for small boat operations. There were 39 smaller craft assigned to support the harbor defense operation, which was code-named Stable Door, under CTF 115. The daily average employment of those Sea Force and River Force units available for work at sea (and many were unavailable) was roughly 50 per cent. [2]:59, MACV was disestablished on 29 March 1973 and replaced by the Defense Attach Office (DAO), Saigon. An action plan was devised which called for a two-battalion blocking force to take position inland along Route 1, while one company advanced along the coast from the nearby Deo Ca outpost. I was part of a two-man team that consisted of a LCDR and me. It recommended the development of a mobile patrol force along the Cambodian and Laotian borders. Part of the increase in the number of attacks on shipping could be attributed to the longer range weapons then coming into use. Thanks VetFriends. With relatively few exceptions, our sailors, Amend and Vietnamese, accepted the challenge and perform well in the months following the implementation the plan. Commander, Naval Forces Vietnam - Wikipedia Concurrent with this announcement, Rear Admiral Norvell G. Ward, the first Navy flag officer to be assigned to Vietnam, was ordered to relieve Captain William H. Hardcastle, Jr., U. S. Navy, as Chief, Naval Advisory Group. The group included ATCs, Monitors, and ASPBs. Each service continued to provide its own logistical support. During the first five days of the Sea Float operation, an average of 102 sampans per day was sighted on the Cua Lon. The ships and barges that made up the floating support assets were also to a great extent pulled from our aging mothball fleet. *The appendices are missing from the files as of October 2020. When the Navy became involved in port security (basically an Army responsibility), the incidence of minings at anchor fell off. B. Witham, U. S. Navy, relieved Rear Admiral Ward as CTF 116. Lieutenant Commander Thoai then arranged for a company of Vietnamese troops from the 23rd Division at nearby Tuy Hoa to be lifted into the area by the Vietnamese Navy's Landing Ship, LSM 405. The swampy Rung Sat controls the waterways connecting Saigon with the sea. As Market Time throttled infiltration from the sea, the communists simply shifted their principal supply lines to inland routes, which crossed the borders from supposedly "neutral Cambodia and Laos. An industrious woodcutter and his family can earn a very decent living by Vietnamese standards from their labors in the forests of Nam Can. These in turn were tied in with the U. S. Task Force 115 operations through the various Coastal Surveillance Centers. This leaves a tremendous gap for the student of the navy in Vietnam for the . In May, Military Assistance Advisory Group Vietnam was absorbed by Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV), and Navy Section MAAG became the Naval Advisory Group, MACV. It was obvious that from an operational standpoint the establishment of a permanent base on the Cua Lon or Bo De Rivers, capable of supporting PCFs, junks, and river assault craft, was highly desirable. The arrival in March of elements of the second River Assault Squadron, RAS 11, permitted the deployment of the first units of RAS 9 to other parts of the Delta. On 1 August 1965, operational responsibility for Market Time passed from the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet to General Westmoreland, and operational control from Commander Task Force 71, who had held this duty as a collateral function, to Commander Task Force 115, which was the new designation of the Commander of the Coastal Surveillance Force. Vietnamese ground commanders, and some of their American advisors, thought that such a base would be virtually indefensible. The men of both navies had adopted the Admiral's daily watchword and admonition to all concerned: "Go faster.". However, on 30 September 1968, when Vice Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., the first naval officer of three-star rank to be assigned to Vietnam, relieved Rear Admiral Kenneth L. Veth as Commander Naval Forces, Vietnam, the personnel strength of the Navy command stood at 38,386. Effective pacification would deny the enemy a strategic haven and source of material and financial support. In October the number of PBRs attached to the task force increased to 220. [10]:400. Dense foliage and thick swamps make detection of soldiers from the air and pursuit on the ground extremely difficult. This requirement was strongly re-emphasized later in the month when General Abrams returned from a visit to the United States. It was reorganized on 15 May 1964 and absorbed MAAG Vietnam to its command when combat unit deployment became too large for advisory group control. In the morning, shortly after 0800, all three ships moved into Vung Ro Bay, preceded by heavy air strikes and naval gunfire support. . Until March 1965. The Naval Advisory Group (NAG) of MACV assumed the responsibilities of the former Naval Section. In part, this name change reflected the fact that the United States now sent aid directly to the Vietnamese rather than to the French. Unquestionably, the Navys ACTOV program was in the van of the general movement to Vietnamize the war. Minimum training requirements for the buildup were estimated to be: (1) Recruit training increased by a factor of four; (2) The Vietnam Navys advanced school capacity tripled; (3) A four-fold increase in offshore training; and (4) English language training expanded by almost thirty times. In February 1966, the first Game Warden sailors reported for duty, and in March the first PBRs arrived. The first permanent United States naval presence in Vietnam was established in August 1950, soon after the outbreak of the Korean War, when the Navy Section of Military Assistance Advisory Group, Indo china, was formed in Saigon with Commander James B. Cannon, U. S. Navy, and seven officers and men. MACV was first implemented to assist the Military Assistance Advisory Group(MAAG) Vietnam, controlling every advisory and assistance effort in Vietnam. The number of people then living under Vietnamese control in the area was estimated to be about 9,000. $9.99; $9.99; Publisher Description. A fourth strike was directed at a nearby area on the beach where crates were stacked and from which small arms fire had been received. Throughout 1963 the duties of the U.S. Army Support Group steadily increased, particularly regarding to combat support activities and logistics. Numerous automatic weapons and mortars were emplaced, though the primary defense of the MATSB was considered to be the mobile firepower provided by the naval craft and the helicopter fire teams that would be supported there. The second task was to wrest the initiative from the enemy in the Rung Sat Special Zone through aggressive military and psychological campaigns in order to secure the vital Long Tau shipping channel to Saigon. 6 APB self-propelled barracks ship, ARL Landing Craft Repair Ship, LCM Landing Craft Mechanized, ATC Armored Troop Carrier, MON Monitor, CCB Command and Control Boat, ASPB Assault Support Patrol Boat, LST Tank Landing Ship. Citation 26 - The Mobile Riverine Force Association - MRFA On 16 April he relinquished his duties as CTF 115 to Captain Clifford L. Stewart, U. S. Navy, the new Commander of the Coastal Surveillance Force. Provision for systematic screening of materials declared excess by all military commands. Operation Search Turn was launched on 2 November 1968 and succeeded in establishing the first of the interdiction barriers, on the Rach Gia Long Xuyen and Ca San Canals in the upper Mekong Delta. The author estimates the sampans travel at about six to eight knots depending on the tide. (5) That ComNavForV be responsible to ComUSMACV for logistic support of all naval forces, including III MAF in I Corps. Individual aspects of the U. S. Navy involvement in the war in Vietnam are discussed in previous Naval Review essays listed below as well as those in this edition. Photograph taken from USS Maddox. Many of the records were used to prepare a monthly Historical Summary of naval activities in Vietnam. The old city was declared a free fire zone and became in effect a dumping ground for bombs and other air ordnance that could not be conveniently expended elsewhere in the Delta. The addition of 17 more craft in October brought the force very close to its authorized allowance of 182 boats. At about this same time, a personal friend and confidant of Diem, Lieutenant Commander Le Quang My, was appointed to the important post of Naval Deputy to the Vietnamese Armed Forces General Staff. General Vo Nguyen Giap, Peoples War, Peoples Army. MAJ, USAF. Minesweeping and Interdiction Division 93, Historical Information on the Vietnamese Navy. On November 15, 1969, he was a crew member of a Grumman Mohawk Aircraft (OV-1C) on a visual reconnaissance mission, when his aircraft was hit by hostile ground fire and crashed 20 miles southeast of Tra Vinh, Vinh Binh Province, South Vietnam. The concept of sequential turnover was the keystone of the Navys ACTOV plan, and it called for a gradual phasing in of Vietnamese personnel in all U. S. craft and facilities to be turned over. Attempts were made to coordinate their operations with TF 116 and TF 117 units with widely varying success depending upon the areas and personalities concerned. By 1954, the strength of the French Navy engaged in the Indochina War stood at more than 10,000 men, and the tiny Vietnamese Navy mustered an additional 1,500 officers and men. Finally, at 1100, on the third attempt, the Special Forces company was put ashore. Prior to the establishment of Market Time operations, the Nam Can provided a terminus for many Communist arms shipments arriving from the sea. [9]:18, The DAO was established as a subsidiary command of MACV and remained under the command of commander of MACV until the deactivation of MACV on 27 March 1973. Initial operations were confined to the Rung Sat Special Zone, where increased Viet Cong attacks on shipping and minesweepers were then being experienced. Hard intelligence had repeatedly confirmed that the bulk of enemy war material for the III and IV Corps areas entered Cambodia from the sea, in Communist Chinese and Eastern Bloc ships, primarily through the port of Sihanoukville. In the meantime, TF 116, Game Warden, had been established (on 18 December 1965) with an assigned mission "to assist the Government of South Vietnam in denying the enemy the use of the major rivers of the Delta and the Rung Sat Special Zone. Rear Admiral Ward was assigned additional duty as CTF 116. French Union forces suffered more than 172,000 casualties, including 45,000 dead and 48,000 missing. He could have been a SEAL or Riverine, some something in between. "Application of Doctrine; Victory at Van Tuong Village, by Brigadier General O. F. Peatross, U. S. Marine Corps, in Naval Review 1967. With the deployment of U. S. Navy combat units to Vietnam in the spring of 1965, the Naval Advisory Group additionally took on operational responsibilities. At 08:00 on 15 February, USAF General John W. Vogt Jr., as USSAG/7AF commander, took over from MACV control of American air operations. Naval Advisory Group Vietnam - Navy Veterans The Commander-in-Chief of the Vietnamese Navy in the last years of the Diem regime was Captain Ho Tan Quyen. Ships were loaned to CFF 115 by the Seventh Fleet. "Doctors and Dentists, Nurses and Corpsmen in Vietnam, by Commander F. O. McClendon, Jr., Medical Service Corps, U. S. Navy, in Naval Review 1970. - Veteran J. Reuter. The causes of the under-manning in the Junk Force centered upon poor pay and living conditions, widespread desertion, and to an extent, the pay list manipulations referred to above. By the middle of June, Task Force 117 had received all 68 of its programmed converted LCMs. Advisory Team 143, Naval Advisory Group Vietnam - Navy Unit Directory Efforts at population and resources control should concentrate, they argued, in areas where the population was heavier and the resources greater than they were in the uninviting barrens of the Nam Can. 3 Operational Command is the authority to assign missions or forces. The feeble political position of the Vietnamese Navy in the General Staff organization made it almost totally subservient to Army control, and to commanders who were often ignorant of how to exploit Navy capabilities. The savage communist assault on the cities of South Vietnam during the great Tet Offensive of 1968 called forth the finest in performance from both the U. S. and the Vietnamese Navies, and at the same time it underscored the prevailing strategic weakness of the overall interdiction effort to that time. The new designation went into effect on 1 March 1964. The consequences of this bitter infighting for the operational effectiveness of the Vietnamese Navy, in this period, may well be imagined. With little modification, these early recommendations shaped the broad direction of our naval program in Vietnam for the next fourteen years. During the year, the U.S. buildup continued, especially in aviation, communications, intelligence, special warfare and logistic units, reaching a total of 17,068 men, of which 10,916 were Army. [8]:26870, On 2 July 1966 construction started on a new purpose-built facility. The leadership of our Navy for many years to come will be drawn largely from the ranks of those whose courage and sense of responsibility were fire-hardened on the rivers of Vietnam. The Special Forces company commander reported that he couldnt hold the beachhead overnight and that with "very little arms and ammunition remaining, it was not worthwhile to land again. The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment was alerted for assignment to Southeast Asia on 11 March 1966. Daily coastal surveillance flights by SP-2 aircraft, operating from Tan Son Nhut, had begun shortly after the conference of 3 March 1965. Operating initially with five APAs, two AKAs, two LSDs, two APDs, and four LSTs, his task force grew in the first three months of the operation to more than 100 Navy and MSTS ships and craft. The Junk Force was seriously undermanned, with some Coastal Groups reduced to little more than 50 per cent of authorized strength. The area commands were in turn divided into river, coastal, and sea forces. Though the number of Vietnamese Navy ships available for coastal patrol increased to 28 during the year, detection remained low. Sealords: the Riverine Interdiction Campaign a Thesis in History - Tdl The training programs at logistic support bases would, of necessity, be much longer and would proceed at a much slower pace. At first, the Annex was composed of two PCFs, and LSIL, and the Vietnamese hospital ship. The Indochina War lasted seven years, seven months, and two days, more than twice as long as the Korean War. Access: Open but with some access limitations. The childrens desks were fashioned from ammunition boxes, as were the floors of the classrooms. With the elapse of five months, all the three same brigades remained in the new division, but the brigade at Chu Lai was now named the 3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, after a responsibility swap that had occurred in August. [8]:270. The NAVFORV and Naval Advisory Group records fall into several main series. In the newly settled hamlets of Tran Hung Dao One and Tran Hung Dao Two, lying along the north bank of the Cua Lon, between Sea Float and the Cai Nhap, small stores appeared and a restaurant opened its doors for business. Naval Advisory Group Vietnam United States Marine Corps Strength Group Type HQ/Command Elements Years 1966 - 1973 Report To Major Commands Reporting Units 147th Marine Brigade (RVN) USMC Advisory Unit USMC Advisory Team Rung Sat Special Zone (RSSZ) Members Who Served in Naval Advisory Group Vietnam Service Plaque Full Service History Also attending were representatives from the Vietnamese Army's 23rd Division, the Vietnamese Special Forces, the Vietnamese Navy, and the U. S. Navy. RPG-62 Vietnamese crews had only been at the base since June 1969 when they arrived with 10 PBRs that had been turned over from USN River Division 554 as part of the U.S. Navy's Accelerated Turnover to the Vietnamese (ACTOV) program. New fishtraps were hammered into the river beds and wired into place. Advisory Team 143, US Naval Advisory Group, Vietnam. On 16 August 1954, the first U. S. Navy transport to be assigned to Operation Passage to Freedom loaded refugees in Haiphong. Join now and never hit a limit. For this reason, the MAAG was retained as a separate headquarters. Permission to conduct these operations was granted. Why had not the Bucklew Reports recommendations concerning a mobile patrol force along the Cambodian border been implemented? Edit: not mirrored, onset of Vietnam when UDT teams became SEALs. By drawing upon the lessons learned in the deployment of the Advance Tactical Support Bases (ATSBs) in the Giant Slingshot operation, such a base, using an array of Ammi pontoon barges, was considered both feasible and defensible. In spite of changes in the turnover plans, which required the recruiting and training of nearly 10,000 additional Vietnamese Navymen and the transfer of a proportionately larger number of craft, five-sixths of all operational craft would be turned over by June 1970, and the rest by December of that year. After Dien Bien Phu there was simply no French stomach left to continue the struggle, and, on 20 July 1954, a cease-fire agreement was signed at Geneva. In the early months of 1969, pressure was increasingly applied on the enemy in the Nam Can. This had been largely accomplished with river patrols, drastic defoliation, mine sweeping, and by hunting the enemy on land. The rivers of the Nam Can, being tidal, are heavily salted. In January 1964, a team of eight naval officers, headed by Captain Phillip H. Bucklew, met in Saigon to study the infiltration problem. A cyclone fence, topped with barbed wire and with watch towers at intervals, provided close-in protection. They had been . [3]:37, MACV was reorganized on 15 May 1964, and absorbed MAAG Vietnam within it, when combat unit deployment became too large for advisory group control. Rear Admiral Lorenzo S. Sabin, U. S. Navy, Commander Amphibious Group Western Pacific, was assigned responsibility for aiding the exodus from the North. No opposing fire was experienced and after extensively shooting up the area, the ships withdrew. Vietnam: Naval Advisory Group Vietnam: Naval Forces Vietnam (NAVFORV) Lessons Learned and End of Tour Reports Vietnam: Navy Research and Development Unit (NRDUV) Vietnam Operational. In April, Operation Silver Mace II was launched with combined U. S. Navy, U. S. Air Force, Vietnamese Army, Navy, and Marine Corps units. By the summer of 1966, nearly 50 per cent of the senior officers of the Navy were either out of the country or assigned to non-Navy duties in the country.