Prior to his departure, Rear Admiral Veth had recommended to General Abrams and to the Chief of Naval Operations a plan to turn over two River Assault Squadrons (roughly the equivalent of six Vietnamese Navy River Assault Groups) by the end of the fiscal year 1969- Vice Admiral Zumwalt proposed to expand that plan so that virtually all U. S. Navy operational responsibilities in Vietnam with the equipment necessary for meeting them, would be turned over by 30 June 1970. With an initial authorized strength of 216 men (113 Army), MACV was envisaged as a temporary HQ that would be withdrawn once the Viet Cong insurgency was brought under control. The rivers of the Nam Can, being tidal, are heavily salted. What could not be moved in was often manufactured in concealed munitions factories by using scrap and dud rounds which were in plentiful supply. An observation plane reported lights and activity near the stricken ship, and on the adjacent beach. Under the combined leadership of Vice Admiral Zumwalt and Commodore Chon a tremendous momentum had been built up. The situation, in the fall of 1968 was not one for faint hearts. The objective of the raiders was "to stir up the enemy and keep him off-balance," but other dividends were soon realized in terms of enemy equipment destroyed, and in the increased commitments he was forced to make in defense of his well entrenched position in the Nam Can. *The appendices are missing from the files as of October 2020. The fishermen in the Nam Can harvest several varieties of shrimp and small fish. 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. Finally, it was recommended that an extensive river patrol be established, with 120 river patrol craft operating from LSTs anchored off the mouths of the major rivers. On 15 May 1964, the Navy Section became the Naval Advisory Group when the Military Assistance Advisory Group was merged into the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. Some of the unsung heroes of this war are the captains who guided low-powered and frequently age-weakened ships and craft through the treacherous white water of the Cua Viet inlet, and other equally hazardous channels in northern I Corps. It's on the right bc it was developed from slides. The Commander of the task force could say with obvious pride that "Commanders involved in this unique operation felt that they had succeeded in gaining the most difficult of all military advantages in this warsurprise.. Control of the waterways of Vietnam also implies control of a large part of that country's population. An old Vietnamese woodcutter, captured and abused by the Viet Cong, escaped to tell Vietnamese interrogators that his captors had boasted that they would "visit" Sea Float someday. The first turnover of U. S. Navy boats and equipment occurred on schedule on 1 February 1969, when River Assault Division 91 of the Riverine Assault Force was dissolved and VNN River Assault and Interdiction Divisions 70 and 71 were formed. [9]:189, By 29 March, the only American military personnel left in South Vietnam were the U.S. delegates to the Four-Party Joint Military Commission established under the Paris Peace Accords to oversee the ceasefire, themselves in the process of winding up work and departing; the fifty man DAO military contingent; and a 143-man Marine Security Guard. However, no further successes were achieved by the enemy until the mining of the Panamanian freighter Welfare in July 1969. 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. (5) That ComNavForV be responsible to ComUSMACV for logistic support of all naval forces, including III MAF in I Corps. United States. The Junk Force was seriously undermanned, with some Coastal Groups reduced to little more than 50 per cent of authorized strength. MACV occupied its new headquarters early in August 1967. There was a general reluctance within the Sea Forces to maintain active patrols. Islands and territorial waters to the north of that line are Cambodian and, to the south, Vietnamese. Following the closure of MACV and the establishment of the DAO, the MACV Headquarters became the DAO Compound. Inside, according to one staff officer, "the well-waxed corridors had the fluorescent feel of an airport terminal." Shortly before 0600 on 20 February, therefore, both companies were again landed. Whereas 19 attacks on merchant shipping occurred in June prior to the start of the operation, a high for the war, none at all occurred during the remainder of the month, and only two occurred in July. Lieutenant Commander Thoai, apparently to effect the further destruction of the trawler, ordered both units to proceed into the harbor. To carry out the politically necessary task of Vietnamizing the naval war, it was estimated that the Vietnamese Navy would require an additional ten thousand men on top of the seventeen and a half thousand it then had. It was not proposed that "Vietnamization" of the naval war would include the transfer of the large units which made offshore support of the Nam Can operations feasible, if less than desirable for the U. S. Navy. The roaring current provided the best defenses from swimmer attack, and on nearby shore areas an array of electronic sensors was emplaced to provide early warning of enemy movement. 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. All of these programs hoped to bring about permanent and self-sustaining projects, which would survive the eventual conclusion of the Vietnamization process. Under their combined pressure, K gave way. If more time should become available, the acceleration could be slowed and the training cycles could be lengthened. The MSOs were not themselves permitted to intercept suspect shipping, but used their radar to vector Vietnamese naval units to suspicious contacts. LSM 405 landed a company of Vietnamese Army troops at 1830 to assist with the handling of this material, but an hour later, in spite of heated argument by the American advisors, both companies were embarked in LSM 405, although large quantities of arms and munitions remained on the beach. After the operation they returned to Rach Gia by the same coastal route. The primary mission of Market Time at this period was "to conduct surveillance, gunfire support, visit and search, and other operations as directed along the coast of the Republic of Vietnam in order to assist the Republic of Vietnam in detection and prevention of Communist infiltration from the sea." Initial operations were confined to the Rung Sat Special Zone, where increased Viet Cong attacks on shipping and minesweepers were then being experienced. This undoubtedly irritated those Vietnamese officers who felt their functions were being usurped by the Americans. [2]: 59 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. It was the opinion of the conference that "the best tactic to interdict coastal traffic infiltration would be to assist and inspire the Vietnamese Navy to increase the quality and quantity of its searches., With regard to the second category of infiltration, it was recommended that a conventional patrol be established by U. S. Navy ships and aircraft. A joint organization, it contained an Army, Navy, and Air Force section, each responsible for advising its counterpart in the Vietnamese armed forces and for By the fall of 1968, on the eve of the introduction of the U. S. naval command's Accelerated Turnover (ACTOV) Program, the personnel strength of the Vietnamese Navy was more than 17,500. Similar conditions were experienced when the LSTs especially re-configured for Game Warden arrived in Vietnam, and so gradually the offshore support concept was abandoned in favor of afloat and shore support bases in the rivers themselves. 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. U. S. Navy DEs were withdrawn from the Gulf of Thailand on 26 May 1962, and the MSO patrol was suspended on 1 August. Despite Project Beef-up, 1963 did not bring a dramatic reversal of the situation, and South Vietnam continued to plunge into political chaos, culminating in the overthrow and murder of President Diem in November of that year. In December, an operation called Silver Mace, involving the first open sea transit of heavy riverine assault craft, struck at these barricades and in three days removed them. A sense of frustration and lack of incentive was part of the dry rot that had set in as early as 1956, paralyzing effective action and inducing a curious numbness in the operating forces. 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. The military impact of harassing attacks on Long Tau shipping was virtually nil, but the Viet Cong derived great propaganda value from their efforts. The best evidence seemed to point to the fact that what the Bucklew Report had warned would happen, had happened. [6]:2 Naval Support Activity Danang (NSA Danang), provided logistic support to all American forces in I Corps, where the predominant Marine presence demanded a naval supply establishment. Assistance was provided, however, by the First Australian Task Force and by the Royal Thai Army Volunteers. A rumor, the authenticity of which could not be determined, circulated on Sea Float that "Hanoi Hannah" herself had taken note of the new operation and she had warned that the MATSB would be "at the bottom of Song Cua Lon by 17 July." [4]:327 The military decisions that were taken at this time were not, nor could they be, based solely on our operational experience in the war. Air strikes were called in, and after the third strike the ship was awash in shallow water, resting on her port side. Classification: Collection had a Kyl-Lott review in September 2003. The second aim was to "pacify" certain vital trans-Delta waterways,7 and the third was "to stir up the enemy and keep him off-balance" by Market Time raider incursions into the rivers of the Ca Mau peninsula. The economy of the Nam Can grew dramatically, the population mushroomed, and the pace of the pacification effort was quickened to keep in step. In the light of these events, ComNavForVs Accelerated Turnover Plan (ACTOV) was approved. As a result of recommendations made to the Secretary of Defense during his July 1965 visit to Vietnam, additional Swift boats were ordered, bringing the approved total to 54 from the 36 originally planned. A battalion of either Vietnamese Marines, or the Mobile Strike Force was requested to augment the Rung Sat Commanders ground troops. Shortly before the referendum, Diem informed the U. S. Government that he had decided to ask the French to withdraw the Expeditionary Force by March 1956, explaining that he considered the continued presence of French troops in the south to be "one of the principal Communist assets.. The old Navy section of MAAG became the Naval Advisory Group, Vietnam, and by the end of 1964 there were 235 naval . Washington: GPO, 1986. It was proposed that these patrols extend upriver for a distance of 25 miles, the range thought practical for appropriate logistic support and for the objective of controlling the river mouths. Vice Admiral Zumwalt and the New Strategy. The same night the Vietnamese PC 04 with 15 LDNN and the U. S. SEAL Advisor, Lieutenant Franklin W. Anderson, aboard, arrived to join the growing forces at Vung Ro. Group. There was, in addition, opposition within the Joint General Staff of the Vietnamese Armed Forces for any aggrandizement of the Vietnamese Navy, which has always been the political inferior of the ARVN. The proposal was thoroughly discussed at ComNavForV headquarters. By the first week of the month, 28 U. S. Navy ships were participating, under the operational control of CTF 71 in the USS Canberra (CAG-2). The proposal to establish a permanent base in the Nam Can met with little enthusiasm in IV Corps Headquarters. In October 1968, U. S. Navy Swift boats began regular raids into the rivers of the Nam Can, threatening the enemy's "sovereignty" in an area he had come to call his own. These units got underway each morning from Sea Float and returned each night. At this time a message was received, its origin unclear, which postponed the scheduled landing. The roofs of huts were strengthened for defense against mortar attack, and the sides were heavily sand-bagged to afford protection from small arms fire. 8 A large shipment was considered to be 15-20 sampan lots. However, the increasing demands of the war required a distinct operational rather than an advisory headquarters for naval units. The most significant Navy pacification effort, however, grew out of the Market Time raider incursions into the Cua Lon and Bo De Rivers in the Ca Mau peninsula. 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. I really hope some other people can find this service and get in touch with people like I did. An industrious woodcutter and his family can earn a very decent living by Vietnamese standards from their labors in the forests of Nam Can. The situation inside South Vietnam was becoming critical, and a rapid buildup of our military strength seemed imperative to keep the Government from going under. With the arrival of the second APB, the USS Colleton (APB-36), in early May, plans were made to move all these units of the Mobile Riverine Base to Dong Tam. The latter unit formed the naval component of the joint Army-Navy Mobile Riverine Force. Hundreds of sampans of all sizes, hundreds of thousands of bamboo rafts crossed rapids and cascades to supply the front. The Vietnamese Navy had grown to a force of 6,200 officers and men who operated 50 patrol ships and minecraft, and 208 amphibious and riverine craft. His long-time associate and premier, Ngo Dinh Diem, announced on 7 July 1955 that a referendum would be held in October to permit the people to choose between Bao Dai and himself. "[8]:270, The air-conditioned structure of two-story prefabricated buildings, a little more than a third the size of its Washington namesake, included twelve acres of enclosed office space. Development of plans for several standard shelters constructed from concrete block, some of which would use ferro-cement dome roofs. The Navy helicopter gunships, Seawolves, would provide support for Sea Lords in much the same way that they were supporting Game Warden and Mobile Riverine Force operations. A small U.S. military headquarters was needed to continue the military assistance program for the southern Republic of Vietnam Military Forces and supervise the technical assistance still required to complete the goals of Vietnamization. Finally, the Report indicated that U. S. Navy forces might have to ' be deployed in the Delta rivers to stop Communist infiltration, thus anticipating later Game Warden operations. In May 1962 it moved to 137 Pasteur Street (.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}104658.25N 1064135.94E / 10.7828472N 106.6933167E / 10.7828472; 106.6933167 (pre-1967 MACV, Saigon)) in central Saigon. In 1964, VNN Coastal patrols searched 211,121 junks and 880,335 people. On 26 October 1955, Diem proclaimed the Republic of Vietnam with himself as President. NAVAL ADVISORY GROUP VIETNAM Air Force Units Army Units Coast Guard Units Marine Corps Units Navy Units Become a VetFriends Member Site Map Search Veterans & Personnel Photos, Humor, Stories & More Military Records & Resources Reunions, Parades, & Events Online Catalog About VetFriends My Profile MetLife Veteran Insurance Discounts Contact Us Though broad strips on either side of the Long Tau had been defoliated and cleared, attacks on merchant ships proceeding to and from Saigon began to increase significantly in the first half of 1969- By the end of June, 51 such attacks had occurred, compared to 44 in all of 1968. Forces initially at the disposal of the Clearwater task force commander included TF 116 PBRs, helicopter gunships, attack aircraft, artillery, and ground security troops. January 28, 1969 (38 years old) Distinguished Flying Cross, Operational loss, Vietnam, 559th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Fixed Wing, USNA 22nd Company. Until 1964 the Viet Cong were not equipped with standardized weapons and fought with a large variety of French, Russian, Chinese, and captured American arms. In response, ComNavForV designated Captain Gerald W. Smith, U. S. Navy, as Commander Task Force Clearwater. In October, ComUSMACV directed that a program be developed for an accelerated turnover of U. S. equipment, while the war continued, in order to make the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces (RVNAF) as self-sufficient as possible. B. Witham, U. S. Navy, relieved Rear Admiral Ward as CTF 116. This was a factor of no small importance in an area affected by monsoon winds and seas. MAJ, USAF. In March 1962 Headquarters, U.S. Army, Pacific, removed the "provisional" designation from the U.S. Army Support Group, Vietnam, attached it to U.S. Army, Ryukyu Islands, for administrative and logistical support, and made its commanding officer the deputy Army component commander under MACV. Many of these vessels, of course, have been, and are being, transferred from our inventory to that of the Vietnamese Navy through the ACTOV program. Tests were completed on a 36-foot river patrol craft (RPC), and 34 of them were ordered. At Geneva, France pledged to remove its Expeditionary Force from all of Vietnam when and if requested to do so by "the Government of Vietnam. The nominal Chief of State in the South at that time was the Emperor Bao Dai, then in exile on the French Riviera. When the operation ended on 18 May 1955, at the expiration of the 300-day regroupment period, more than 310,000 people, 8,000 vehicles, and 69,000 tons of cargo had been carried to the South by the U. S. Navy. Conversely, the Vietnamese sailors, seeing that the boats and the responsibility for operating them were soon going to be theirs, would be expected to redouble their efforts to prepare themselves. "The Case for Inshore Warfare, by Commander W. F. Searle, Jr., U. S. Navy, in Naval Review 1966. It is probably correct to state that few, if any, of those recruited desired to serve in the Junk Force. Fish from the rivers and seas are an important staple in the Vietnamese diet. Over the years the finest officers and men our Navy could muster were sent to live, to work, and some, eventually, to die alongside their Vietnamese counterparts. When the III Marine Amphibious Force moved to Da Nang on 6 May 1965, its commanding general, Major General William R. Collins, was designated MACV's naval component commander. In the early months of 1969, pressure was increasingly applied on the enemy in the Nam Can. By Commander R. L. Schreadley, U. S. Navy, CNO Naval History - Midshipmen and Cadets, CNO Naval History - Professional Historian. [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. These recommendations were approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and on 1 April 1966 in ceremonies at Saigon, Rear Admiral Ward established Naval Forces, Vietnam and became the first Commander. Now fully operational, the Riverine Assault Force began a long series of actions with the 9th Infantry Division embarked. The decision had been made in Washington that Vietnamization was vital to continued home support of the war. Late in September 1965, representatives of CNO, CinCPac, CinCPacFlt, ComUSMACV, and CNAG met in Saigon to review the progress of Market Time operations to that date. Harkins had the task of advising the South Vietnamese government on security, organization, and employment of their military and paramilitary forces. two-volume history of the u.s. Navy in Vietnam the second volume ends with the year 1965. As was proven time and time again in Brown Water Nan operations in Vietnam, cooperation with trained and aggressive ground forces was the real key to success. "U. S. Merchant Shipping and Vietnam, by Lane C. Kendall in Naval Review 1968. Finally, at 1100, on the third attempt, the Special Forces company was put ashore. His forces were divided into three area commands; North, Central, and South Vietnam. The code name Market Time was assigned to the operation on 24 March. Drawn carefully on a map, the Rung Sat Special Zone looks curiously like a human brain, its convolutions etched by numberless rivers and streams. It pointed out, however, the essential futility of a sea quarantine in the absence of an accompanying effort to block inland infiltration routes. [10]:400. The author estimates the sampans travel at about six to eight knots depending on the tide. After Market Time broke the sea end of this chain, the logistics flow reversed itself and the local Viet Cong were supplied with necessary munitions infiltrated from the north. The training programs at logistic support bases would, of necessity, be much longer and would proceed at a much slower pace. PCF PRU RAC RAG . The people came from all over the Delta to harvest the wood and fish of the area. The nickname Solid Anchor was given this project on 24 October 1969. In microcosm this was the sanctuary tactic employed by the enemy along the national borders with Cambodia, Laos, and North Vietnam. Lieutenant Bowers promptly notified the Second Coastal Zone Senior Advisor, Lieutenant Commander Harvey P. Rodgers, U. S. Navy, in Nha Trang. There was a need for "an accelerated progress in improving Vietnamese capabilities in order that U. S. forces could, in fact, be withdrawn in significant numbers. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Secretary was further quoted as saying that "our orientation seems to have been more on operations than on assisting the South Vietnamese to acquire the means to defend themselves. While this may not have been intended as criticism of the past conduct of the war, it was unmistakable direction as to where future priorities were to be placed. A second attempt was made several hours later, moderate opposition was again experienced, and the ships once more withdrew. There was always the danger that one of his attacks might succeed in sinking a large ship in the deep water channel, thereby disrupting the flow of supplies to Saigon. [9], A multi-service organization was required to plan for the application of U.S. air and naval power into North or South Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos, should this be required and ordered. The facilities at Cua Viet were almost constantly subject to enemy artillery and rocket attack, and the pressures and rigors of life at this exposed forward base were extreme. During my time with the Naval Advisory Group Vietnam I was assigned to Vietnamese Navy Units at Saigon, Moc Hoa, Cal Lanh and Dong Tam. Why had not the Bucklew Reports recommendations concerning a mobile patrol force along the Cambodian border been implemented? 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. Over all hung the specter of the French defeat, "in the streets of Paris rather than on the battlefields of Indochina.. Second, there was (and to a degree there continues to be) a profound reluctance on the part of Vietnamese ground force commanders to commit their troops to the aggressive river bank patrols essential to the effectiveness and safety of naval operations on narrow and restricted waterways. Engines were backed just before beaching and the landing was aborted. It recommended the development of a mobile patrol force along the Cambodian and Laotian borders. Compensation would be paid by the Government of South Vietnam if they proved to be foreign ships. "Building the Advanced Base at Da Nang, by Captain K. P. Huff, U. S. Naval Reserve, in Naval Review 1968. The former had six River Assault Groups (RAGs) which were patterned after the old French Division Naval DAssaut, but with two significant differences. Significantly, this marked the formal recognition of the Naval Advisory Group's new role as an operational as well as an advisory command. If the Vietnamese Navy were to continue effective operations in the area after the withdrawal of the U. S. Navy, some sort of an operational and support base would be required. [11]:52 The DAO was activated on 28 January 1973 with United States Army Major General John E. Murray, formerly MACV director of logistics, as the Defense Attach and United States Air Force Brigadier General Ralph J. Maglione, formerly the MACV J-1 (Director for Manpower and Personnel), as deputy Defense Attach. "Jackstay: New Dimensions in Amphibious Warfare, by Lieutenant Commander Robert E. Mumford, Jr., U. S. Navy, in Naval Review 1968. These trawlers were believed to originate in North Vietnam and Communist China. Late in February 1962, similar operations began in the Gulf of Thailand, between Phu Quoc Island and the Ca Mau Peninsula, with U. S. Navy destroyer escorts participating. Original plans called for four APBs, two ARLs, two LSTs, and two River Assault Squadrons (RAS) each consisting of 34 converted LCM-6 craft (26 ATCs, 5 Monitors, 2 CCBs, 1 Refueler), and 16 ASPBs which would be newly constructed.6. As in the past, we will honour those who served in the RCN, the Royal Canadian Air Force, and the Canadian Merchant Navy during the Second World War's Battle of the Atlantic, as well as the Korean War. Thanks VetFriends. Join now and never hit a limit. 3 Operational Command is the authority to assign missions or forces. 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. MACV was first implemented to assist the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) Vietnam, controlling every advisory and assistance effort in Vietnam. Eventually a plan was approved which called for a complex of nine Ammis (later increased to 13), including a helicopter landing platform. Furthermore, ground commanders generally tended to discount the economic and strategic importance of the Nam Can. These were given the nicknames Friendship and Platypus. Allied sweeps along the Long Tau in this period were also occasionally uncovering 107 mm. His command and control decisions were shaped by the following principles: (1) U. S. Navy operations in Vietnam would be coordinated with Vietnamese Operations, allowing integrated operations to be instituted as soon as practicable; (2) facilities required for U. S. naval operations would be located with Vietnamese naval installations so that support operations could be integrated, and later turnover of the facilities more practically achieved.
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