The Coastal Surveillance Force (it had moved its headquarters to Cam Ranh Bay in July 1967) employed 1051 officers and men, exclusive of those attached to Seventh Fleet units temporarily assigned to the task force. [2]: 59 As is true for much of the Delta, waterways are vital routes to and from markets, and roads are virtually non-existent. Neither was available. Progressive Management. In April, as the first Game Warden PBRs became operational, patrols were begun in the Rung Sat Special Zone, and in the following month operations were expanded into the Delta. On 15 July the Commander of River Patrol Section 512 reported that heavy seas and high winds were restricting PBR operations almost 50 per cent of the time. All U.S. Army units in South Vietnam, excluding advisory attachments, were assigned to the Army Support Group for administrative and logistical needs. By the fall of 1968, "Vietnamization" of the war (although the term itself was not to be coined until the President-elect's speech on 31 December) had become a matter of the greatest political urgency and it seemed clear that it would remain so, regardless of the outcome of the November elections in the United States. 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. Combined operations in November and December 1968 cleared the important Cho Gao Canal and swept through the Can Tho Crossing corridor and the Dung Island complex in the Bassac River. Navy Awards and Decorations - The Mobile Riverine Force - MRFA Naval Advisor Vietnam | Proceedings - April 1969 Vol. 95/4/794 However, the increasing demands of the war required a distinct operational rather than an advisory headquarters for naval units. The brigade from the 101st Airborne Division was originally planned to replace the 173d Airborne Brigade but, with the need for additional combat forces, both brigades remained in South Vietnam. There were only seven officers and men in Commander Cannons first Navy Section of the Military Advisory Assistance Group, Indochina. LSM 405 then departed for Dai Lanh, returning in the early evening with the company of Special Forces. The military decisions that were taken at this time were not, nor could they be, based solely on our operational experience in the war. Within a short time of its capture by the Viet Cong, Old Nam Can presented a scene of the utmost devastation, and it was literally true that scarcely two stones were left piled one upon the other, save for the brick heaps of the ruined charcoal kilns. Advisors were assigned to the Sea, River, and Junk Forces, to the Naval Shipyard in Saigon, and to the Vietnamese Navy Headquarters. The Vietnamese supply system seemingly could not or would not work, though many studies had demonstrated its theoretical excellence. [3]:435, Large scale combat deployments began when the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade was deployed in the Da Nang area from March 1965. There were then two major operational commandsthe River Forces and the Sea Forces. Vessels in the contiguous zone, extending 12 miles from the coast, suspected as infiltrators were also made subject to search and seizure. DANFS - Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Permitting Policy and Resource Management, The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks: 20 Years Later, "Ex Scientia Tridens": The U.S. of the Army Pamphlet 672-3. Captain Chon had served a previous tour as Commander-in-Chief in the period 1957-1959. Assistance, advice, and expertise in the formulation and implementation of the accelerated turnover program could be expected, within budgetary limitations, from the other Pacific commands and from the Navy in Washington. They were given hot meals, small gifts, and services which ran the gamut from sampan motor repair to the grinding of woodcutters axes on a wheel specially acquired for that purpose in Nha Trang, and shipped to Sea Float by CTF 115. The author estimates the sampans travel at about six to eight knots depending on the tide. Looking at it from the north, across many miles of difficult and enemy controlled terrain, their view was quite naturally a different one from that enjoyed by the Navy, which eyed the proposal from the vantage point of the sea. Wages, U. S. Navy, and in concert with his Vietnamese Navy counterpart, Commander Nguyen Van Tan, he proposed that the RSSZ area of operations be enlarged temporarily to permit sweeps against the enemys "sanctuary in the Nhon Trach. Units from Vietnamese Naval Coastal Group 24 were also ordered to assist, and requests were sent out for a Vietnamese Navy SEAL Team (LDNN) to provide divers for an attempted salvage of the sunken trawler. 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. The mooring of this large complex of Ammi barges in tidal currents, which frequently reached velocities of six to eight knots, proved to be a considerable feat in itself. In this instance, however, the sanctuary lay wholly within the territory of South Vietnam and scarcely 15 miles from the capital- This situation, spawned and tolerated by the fractured and at times intransigent Vietnamese command structure, had existed for a number of years. Until March 1965. The proposal was thoroughly discussed at ComNavForV headquarters. 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. Naval Group An International Group The Naval Advisory Group (NAG) of MACV assumed the responsibilities of the old Naval Section. The Brown Water Navy in Vietnam - Warboats.org *The appendices are missing from the files as of October 2020. In concept, it was planned that a Brown Water Navy Task Fleet would be formed from the heavy, armored riverine assault craft, and the speedy and highly maneuverable PCFs and PBRs. Vice Adm. Elmo Zumwalt, Commander, U.S. The Interdiction Barriers. Naval Advisors and the Vietnam Navy - U.S. Navy Museum Naval Academy, The Sullivan Brothers and the Assignment of Family Members, Historic Former U.S. Navy Bases and Stations, The African American Experience in the U.S. Navy, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. Navy, Contributions of Native Americans to the U.S. Navy, The World Cruise of the Great White Fleet, Navy Underwater Archaeology Return Program, Annual Navy History and Heritage Awards - Main, Research Permits for Sunken & Terrestrial Military Craft, Scanning, Copyright & Citation Information, Obtain Duplications of Records and Photos, Assistant SECNAV Installations and Environment, Bainbridge Recruit Training Center Scrapbooks, Bethesda National Naval Medical Center Rapid Implementation Team, Immediate Office Files 1946 to the Present, CNO Oceanographer of the Navy Operation Deep Freeze, CNO Organization of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, CNO Organizational Research and Policy Division, CNO Shore and Fleet Organization Branch (SNDL) Records, CNO Undersea and Submarine Warfare Division, Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center, Historical Documentation Team Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Military Sealift Command in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Military Sealift Command Transportation Directorate, USS Constitution and OPSAIL 200 Historical Materials, Vietnam: Chief of Naval Operations Flag Plot Office, Vietnam: Commander Naval Forces Vietnam (COMNAVFORV), Vietnam: Naval Forces Vietnam (NAVFORV) Lessons Learned and End of Tour Reports, Vietnam: Navy Research and Development Unit (NRDUV), Vietnam Operational History Section Subject Files, Yorktown Mine Warfare Engineering Activity. The force levels decided upon in September 1965 were later increased, and thus it may be assumed they were not in themselves sufficient. [3]:45 In May 1965, the Army's 173d Airborne Brigade from Okinawa arrived. River assault craft not only landed and extracted troops, but also provided close and accurate gunfire support, medical evacuation of the wounded, and the supply of ammunition. 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. The Fleet Reserve Association pledged to raise $75,000 to support "Project Pay Dirtan expansion of the animal husbandry program. In many cases the historians in Saigon made detailed listings of the messages and these are filed as appendices to this inventory. This leaves a tremendous gap for the student of the navy in Vietnam for the . What is that "Naval Advisory Group" in Vietnam - U.S. Militaria Forum This ushered in nearly three years of turmoil in the senior Vietnamese Navy leadership. U.S. Navy advisors helped transform the Vietnam Navy from a small collection of landing craft and minesweepers to the world's fifth largest navy - a modern service of 42,000 sailors and 1,500 surface vessels capable of fighting not only on the rivers of Vietnam but also far out to sea. The Junk Force put only an average of 40 per cent of its available boats to sea on any given day. Route 12, which once connected Old Nam Can City with Ca Mau City, has long since fallen into disuse, and has all but vanished in the swampy terrain. In 1970, Zumwalt would become the youngest officer to become Chief of Naval Operations. Naval Logistic Support, Qui Nhon to Phu Quoc, by Captain Herbert T. King, U. S. Navy, in Naval Review 1969. Advisory Team 143, US Naval Advisory Group, Vietnam. The 1st Signal Brigade operated the many elements of the Defense Communications System in South Vietnam. Though we live in what has frequently been termed the "air age" or even the "space age," the fact remains that fully 96 per cent of the immense quantities of material delivered to Vietnam to support the war came in ships. At this time Admiral Ward was both CNAG and CTF 115. It is probably correct to state that few, if any, of those recruited desired to serve in the Junk Force. "The Case for Inshore Warfare, by Commander W. F. Searle, Jr., U. S. Navy, in Naval Review 1966. Admiral Harry D. Felt, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific, established the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, on 8 February 1962, as a subordinate unified command under his control. (6) That ComNavForV administer all naval construction in Vietnam. The 5th Special Forces Group was also established in-country by 1965. The nickname Solid Anchor was given this project on 24 October 1969. NAG - Naval Advisory Group. There were four flag officers either on hand or with orders to Vietnam at the time of Vice Admiral Zumwalts assumption of commandComNavForV, Deputy ComNavForV, Commander U. S. Naval Support Activity, Da Nang, and the Officer in Charge of Construction. It was hoped that this move would increase the morale and the performance of the force. The Vietnamese Navy itself was not formally established until 1954, and our early advisors worked almost exclusively with French counterparts. John George Graf | American Battle Monuments Commission 4 Operational Control is the authority to direct forces assigned. The American boat captain would be the last to leave, and control and ownership of the boat would remain with the U. S. as long as he was aboard. 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. Hundreds of sampans of all sizes, hundreds of thousands of bamboo rafts crossed rapids and cascades to supply the front. * In a third category are the divisional records of particular offices (i.e., Assistant Chief of Staff for Plans, Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations). The Naval Forces Vietnam command had its origins in the Navy Section of the Military Assistance Advisory Group, Indochina, which was established in 1950 to provide supplies and equipment to the French. The Naval Advisory Group continued its advisory role as a subordinate command under COMNAVFORV. In the North, the intense and tragic struggle for Hue made it absolutely essential that water communication by way of the Perfume River remain open. The outbreak of the Korean War had brought with it a change in our assessment of the war in Indochina, and we began to view it in certain respects As an extension of the struggle in Korea. "Doctors and Dentists, Nurses and Corpsmen in Vietnam, by Commander F. O. McClendon, Jr., Medical Service Corps, U. S. Navy, in Naval Review 1970. He practiced and preached the need for his officers to avoid the political involvements which had crippled the Navy for so long. Overview: American leaders established the Military Assistance Advisory Command, Vietnam, in May 1964. The Naval Support Activity, Saigon, which was commissioned when the Headquarters Support Activity was disestablished in May 1966, supported naval operations in II, III, and IV Corps Tactical Zones through its many scattered detachments. In a departure from the planning conference recommendation of the preceding month, the decision was taken to introduce U.S. PCFS (Swifts) for close inshore patrolling.