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ItSf^V^^^^^P^H^^^^^^^H^^^I^^^^^^^^^HV AMBUSHX T6 8 6 5 7 6 SPECIAL REPORT J

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UNCLASSIFIEDU . S .RIKForce., racift'c ftlrrct-ce^,

PROJECTContemporaryj'llllllllllllllllMs to rica I'"'lllllllllllllEaluation" "M IHMNCom b,.MM|||Op

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atin n erations1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 REPORT

A M B U S H -X T8 6 5 7 6 29ecember967

HQPACAF Directorate,Tactical Evaluation

C H E C O i v i s i o n Prepared by: MrKennethams

MajorRichard. Durkee"urtd&iftfffl

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LIBRARY ARMEDFORCESSTAttCOLLEGE

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DEPARTMENTOFTHEAIRFORCEHEADQUARTERSPACIFICAIRFORCES

APOSANFRANCISCO 96553REPLYTO ATTNOF: DTEC 2 9December1967SUBJECT: ProjectCHECOReport,"Ambusha tXT686576"( U )

T OEEDISTRIBUTIONPAGE1 .ttachedi saCONFIDENTIALdocument.tshallbetransported,stored,an dsafeguardedi naccordancewithapplicablesecuritydirectives,.etainordestroyi naccordancewithAPR205-1 Donotr e t u r n , ,2 ,hisletterdoesnotcontainclassf'edinformationandmaybede-classifiedi fattachmenti sremovedfromi t , .FORTHECOMMANDERI NCHIEF

mL BURTCT5Hf l f l7 "Cd1 Chief,H E C ODivisionDirectorate,actical Evaluation 1AtchProjCHECOSEARpt,( C )29Dec67

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AMBUSHATX T6865761 .ntroduction

O n1 7October1 9 6 7 ,t w ocompanieso f t h e2 dBattalion,2 8 t hInfantry,weresearchinga na r e ai nt h evicinityoftheL o n gNguyenSecretBaseArea,aheavilyjungledsectorsoutheasto f t h e Michel i nRubberPlantationi nB i n hD u o n gProvince.he1 s tInfantryh a dveryreliableinformationt h a tt h e271stMainForceRegiment,9 t hV CDivision,wasi nt h ea r e a .he271sthadbeenengagedb y Americanforcesi nOperationsE LP A S O ,ATTLEBORO,andJUNCTIONC I T Y ,thadareputationforbeingespeciallyadepta tconduct-i n gdoubleplayambushes,againsta nexposedforcea n dagainstt h ereaction1 /forcesentoutt oa s s i s t .

A t1 0 1 5h o u r so nt h e morningo ft h e1 7 t h ,the271st,frompreplannedandexceptionallyw e l lcamouflagedjunglepositions,savagelyattackedsearchingcolumnso f AandDCompanies,2 d Battalion/28tha tcoordinatesX T686576.T h eattack,whichlastedaboutt w ohours,resultedi n5 7 Americanskilled,6 3 wounded,andt w omissing.h i sclassicalenemyambushemphasizedoneo ft h e mostdifficultproblemsfacingt h eU . S .i ni t swaragainstt h eVietC o n g ,Howd oyoubringsuperiorfirepowert osupportfriendliesi njunglea - ^ e a swhicha r esuddenlyhitfromenemypositionsonlyaf e wmetersaway?

Forty-fiveminuteshadelapsedfromthet i m eairwasrequestedu n t i lt h eaircraftexpendedtheirordnance.twasverydifficultfort h eF A Ct oidentifyfriendlypositionsd u et ot h econfusiono fbattlecommunicationsa n dproblemso fidentifyingsmoke.ehadcommunicationsonlywithArmy

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Commandersi nhelicoptersa n dnotwitht h eground.ftert h ei n i t i a la i r - strikewasbroughti n ,enemyfired i dnotcease,butbecamemoreintenseI nf a c t ,t h ebulkoftheAmericancasualtiescamerightaftertheairstrikewhenartillerywass t i l lcuto f f .irstrikesweremadeaf e whundredmeterssouthoft h econtact,althought h eenemywasstrikingwithclose-rangeweaponss u c ha sClaymoremineshavingarangeo f onlyaf e w m e t e r s ,

Aclosel o o ka tt h evariouselementswhichenteredintot h eactiono f1 7 Octoberhelpspointoutt h eproblemsinvolved.ninvestigationo ft h eambushb ytheU . S .Army,Vietnam,a n dCHECOinterviewswithFACpersonnelinvolved,compriset h ebasicdatafort h i sstudy,alongwithscramblel o g s ,intelligenceestimates,a n dotherd a t a .an yo fthedetailsa r enotavail-a b l ed u et ocasualtieso f keypersonnelinvolved,battleconfusion,a n dd i - versiono f activityt ot h eBattleo f LocN i n h .HENANDOAHI Iw a sthen a m eo ft h eoveralloperationwhichincludedt h e1 7 Octoberambushof2 d Battalion,

II2 8 t hInfantry,2 , FriendlyObjectivesan dTactics

SHENANDOAHI Ihadbeguno n8Octobert osearchoutthe271stRegiment,buttherewasrelativelylightcontactu n t i l1 7October.he1 s tBrigade,1 s tInfantryDivision,employedfourbattalionsi napatterno f searchactivitybasedo nlessonslearnedi npreviousbattles.keyprinciplewast obecomeengagedwitht h esmallestpossibleforce,withsupportingelementsi nreadiness.o element,regardlesso f size,movedunlessi t wasi napositiont ob esupportedb yanotherelement.hepointsquad,i namove-mentt ocontact,precededt h ebodyb ysome2 0 0 meters,andt h e n"cloverleafed"

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Figure

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t ob o t hf l a n k s .hensuret h eareawassecure,i tcalledfort h eremaindero f theelementt o moveforward.henthemainbodyrejoinedthepoint,i twould"cloverleaf"t ot h eflanksalongi t sentirelengthandt h epointwouldmoveoutanother2 0 0 meters.h i swasdoneu n t i lt h eassignedarea

3 /w a scovered.Thesecondprincipleo f operations,learnedfrompreviousbattles,was

t h a tt h einfantryshouldfinda n df i xt h eenemy,t h e nl e tt h eaira n dartilleryk i l lh i m .unit movingt ocontactused marchingf i r e sa n dactivereconbyf i r eovert h ea r e at ob ec o v e r e d .h i sclearedt h e wayf o rt h eadvancingelementa n dallowedforimmediateresponsivefirepowerfort h e groundcommand-eri facontactwasmade.ndefensivepositions,defensiveconcentrationswerefirednightly.lockingf i r e s wereu s e dt of u n n e lt h eenemyi n t okillingz o n e so rrestricth i sfreedomfora c t i o n .ir wasusedt oagreatextenta n dt h e1 s tInfantryDivisionbelievedthatairc a pwasrequiredforoffensiveoperations.

Whencontactwasmade,t h el e a d elementwast ot r yt ogainf i r esuperior-i t yovert h eenemyf o r c e .heelementhadt othrowsmokeimmediatelyandreportt h eazimutha n ddistancefromt h esmoket ot h ee n e m y .fpossible,a50-metergapbetweent h eelementi ncontacta n dt h e enemyforceswast ob emaintainedt oallowforproperemploymento f supportingf i r e s .irandartillerywouldt h e nbeusedi nbothadestructionandblockingr o l e .ftercessationo ft h econtact,t h einfantrywouldsweept h eareao fcontact.

T h eproperplacementandtimelycommitmentofrapidreactionforceswere

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16ctober,mploying ompanywith5me nn d ompanywith3men. T he movew asoeackedyn-call airsupportn dour05-mmn dn e55-mmartilleryatteries,longithightireteamgunshipssequired. Rein-forcementsneadinesstheD Pn dnotherifleompanyearbyouldbeallednfnecessary. Withhesereparations,n dperatingndertheuidelinesmentionedearlier, n d o m pa n ies ,with ompanynhelead,ovedutfheD Pt802ours. Itw as right,u n n yaywiththeemperaturenhemid-80s. T henits,ov ingnolumn,ithquads pacedboutenmeterspart,oo nnteredhemoderate-to-heavyunglevegetationw h e r eomefhereeseachedpmorehan undredeet.

Flyingverheadw ashestBrigadeALO,Maj. PaulMurphy,hoseACs w e r eupportingheperationv e nhoughtw as innreautsideheirnormal TA OR. Alsoverheadw e r eheommandn dontrol helicopterwiththeDivisionommanderaboard,notherarryingherigadeommander , an dnotherwithheattalionperationsfficerboard. All theseeli-coptersadommunicationsithheroundorcen dachn efhesehelicoptersouldetnouchithMajorM u r p h ynis-1 immediatelyn hisrequency.

Atalmostexactlyheimehew oompan iestartedheirsouthwardmarchromheDP ,MajorM u r p h yw asuttingn-100trikesnnnemybunkerreatT84 5 2 8oheouthwestfheDP . Four- l O O sx p e n d e d onhisreae t w e e n805n d8 3 5 . T h e nw o-57sx p e n d e de t w e e n850an d9 03ourstT695567,esshan00metersromheitefhepreviousay'sontract. B e t w e e n9 06n d9 1 4hours,hreemore- l O O s

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droppednapalmandM-82H D so nabunkerareaa t XT695570,followedb ytwoB-57swhichdroppeda t X T 628527o na nenemybasec a m p .hesel a s t twostrikeswerefrom1 0 0 5t o1 0 2 0h o u r s .ndi twasironicthatthesel a s tt w oaircraft weret h ef i n a lo n e scommittedt o preplannedmissionsi nsupporto f SHENAND0AHI I .

I twasalmostpreciselywhent h el a s tB-57hadcompletedi t sstrikea n d MajorMurphywasconductingBDAthatt h ec a l lc a m ei no nh i sradiothatDauntlessw a si ncontacta tX T 686576.ajorMurphywasnotsurewhocalledhimbuth e wasaboutf i v e minutesawayfromt h econtacta r e a ,s oh ei m - mediatelyheadedfori t .hiswasa t1 0 2 0 ,exactlyfiveminutesaftert h ewell-concealedenemyopenedu po nl e a d elementso f A Company.

ACompany,withDCompanyimmediatelybehindi t ,hadmovedfromt h eNDPwithoutincidentu n t i l0956,whenthepointencounteredawell-usednorth-west-southeastt r a i la tX T686576whichappearedt ohavebeenusedwithintheh o u r .resh"HoC h iMinh"s a n d a ltracksl e di neitherdirectionandtherewerenewlyc u tt r e e si nt h evicinity.ensingimmediatecontactwithaV C basecamp,the1 s tPlatoonLeaderrequesteda n dreceivedpermissiont o"cloverleaf"eastandw e s t .heright( e a s t )"cloverleaf"hadmovedabout50-75meterswhentheyheard movementa n dsawsevenV C movingwestwardalongt h et r a i l .heCompanyCommandert o l dthemt ostopcloverleafinga n dsetu pahastyambushacrosst h et r a i l .heremainingelements,monitoringt h i sconversation,pushedtheirflanksecurityoutfurther.usta st h ep a t r o lwaspreparingt h eambush,a nM-60machineguni nawell-camouflagedbunkeropenedu pa t1 5meters,killingo n e mana n d woundingt w oothers,

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f r o mt h el e a dsquado ft h eplatoon.heothersquadmovedt ot h el e f to ftheo n ei ncontacta n dbeganreturningf i r e h i swasa t1 0 1 5hours.

TheM-60machineg u n wasjoinedb yotherenemyfire,includingmachineguns,AK-47s,a n dcarbines.ithinfiveminutes,friendlyartilleryw a scalledi no nt h e enemyposition,whichincludedt h ebunkera n dsnipersi nt r e e s .heCompanyCommandersentt h esecondplatoono nl i n etot h erightwithh i sthirdplatoonofonly1 1mena sareservef o r c e .hent h eCompanyCommandermovedu p withh i st w oplatoonsa n dtemporarilyknockedoutt h eM-60machinegunwithahandgrenade.fewmomentsl a t e r ,h e waswoundedb yaClaymorem i n e .

Almostsimultaneouslywitht h e ACompanycontact,DCompanybeganreceivingsporadicfirefroma l lflanksexceptt h enorthandi t wasapparentthatt h e enemyhadprepareda na m b u s h .i r e wascomingfromt h e ACompanypointa n dfromb o t hs i d e so ft h ec o l u m n .heBattalionC Pwaslocatedt ot h enortho naprominenta n t h i l landmucho ft h eenemyfirewasdirectedtowardt h i spoint,whichgavet h eV Cal i n eo ff i r eintot h e U . S .rankswith-outendangeringtheiro w nf o r c e s .

Heavyartilleryf i r epouredintothejungleareaa n di nsomeinstancesw a sadjusteds ocloselythatfriendlycasualtiesresulted.y1 0 2 3hours,t w olightf i r eteamUH-lBswerealsosupportingthegroundforcewithclose-i nf i r e .

A st h efightingwasgoingo n ,MajorMurphya t1 0 2 0hourshadputi nh i srequestforairstrikes.heBattalionF A C ,1 s tL t .DennisMagnum,wasi n

7IBRARY ARMEDORCESSTAFFOLLEGE

t>(c&-\S*Sd

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ftL achopperwitht h e1 s tBrigadeCommander whennotificationo ft h econtactwasreceived.fterbeingaskedb yt h eCommander,"How'st h ea i r ? "LieutenantM a g n u motifiedM ajo rMurphyn d r d e r e dnmmediateirstrike.

Sincell ther e p l a nne daircraftadeenx p e n d e d ,MajorM u r p h y ' s requestw e n toIIorps ,A S C ,snmmediate. T heystemorgettingaircraftnhecenenhis casewasxplainedyM ajorM u r p h y :

".,.Normallytakesbout5minutesrOminutesoget lightutofBienoaogetpndeeadyogoowork. AndhissallIanellounhat. I'monlyayinghisecausehissheormalrocedureandIonowhatnhisparticularase, hadontactwithheground. "Preciselyho asalkingwithIcan'tecall. Idon'tnowifhereasnythingnherestofIIIorpshatasvailable."...Whateaverereplannedlights. O nurwn ,underurwnontrolnhewholeDivision,eanswaphemackndorthn yimeewant. Ifwedon'thavenythingormmediatese, theDivisionControlCenter, theLO , knowsboutitandifeasn yighters,hemmediatelyallspndays, 'Hey, thedBrigadeastheseighterswithhisrdnance. D oouwanthem?'Buthisidnotappenhisime, so equestednm-mediate."...Whenouequestnmmediateorroopsnontact,hewillellou, O K ,e'vegotomeighterswe'lliverttoou. Butheydidn'tot. TheyassedusnoIIIDASCndACCandhishingwenthroughhemill. Nor-mally,IIAS ChasoallhewholeII orpsreandifheyaveighterslosey, they'llay, 'Hey, sendthemverereorroopsnontact. hissormallyhowtworks.. . . "

MajorMurphyaddedthattherewereapparentlynoaircraftavailablei nt h eaira n dthati ttookabout2 5t o3 0minutesfort h eaircraft( A - 3 7 si nt h i sc a s e )t o gettherefromt h ealertpada tBienH o a .B yt h et i m ethey

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arriveda n d gott h e m briefedan dgotf i n a lcoordinationwitht h e Army,i tt o o kanothert e nminutest oputt h e mt owork."ea d d e d :

"...Theightersotoentationandeadyoo to o rkatheimeougetheinallearancendIknownhisparticularasehatIadheseuysl-readyow . Theyawhearea, sawhedifferentoloredsmokehatheroops er eputtingut3 an dawmyw o marks...."MajorMurphyfiredt w osmokerounds,o n et ot h enorthwest( X T683578)of

whereh e wantedt h eordnanceando n et ot h esouthwest( X T 687572).hiswaso nanorthwest-southeastl i n eabout2 0 0 meterssoutho ft h et r o o p s .tt h i sdistance,onlysoftordnancecouldb eused--napalm,CBUs,a n d 20-mm.Accordingt oMajorMurphy,M a j .G e n .JohnH .H a y ,J r . ,CommandingGeneralo ft h e1 s tInfantryDivision,i nt h e Commanda n dC o n t r o lchopper,heardhima s ki ft h i s waswhereh e wantedt h estrikesa n d GeneralHayreplied,"Yeah,that'swhatwewant."

Artilleryirew astoppedor5minutesshe- 3 7seliveredheirsoftrdnanceae wundredmeters"outhfhen g a g em en t . T heA-37slsodroppedour50- p oun dn deight500-poundragmentationombs.

Shortlyfterheirstrike,nemyirencreasednntensity,stillcomingromheroundn dreesmmediatelysurroundinghew oo m pa n iesan dheattalionommandost. Athistage,heattalionituationdeterioratedapidly,san yftsemberse reasualties. T heattalionCommandost,etpnnnthill toheearfhedvancingolumn,as beingardesthit. Ateastourmachineun se reiringromheast,fourromhewest,n dixoenromheouth,ncludingn e . 5 0aliber

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model.hemachinegunswerefiringl o w(6-12inches)grazingf i r ei n5 0 - 3 0 0roundb u r s t s .P Gtyperocketsa n dClaymoremineswerebeingfiredi nvolleys,threet of i v ea tat i m e .

AttheBattalionCommandPostimmediatelyaftert h eairstrike,L t .C o l .TerryD .Allen,J r . ,bleedingprofuselyfromaheadwound,yelledt othoseu n i tl e a d e r swithinearshott op u l lbacko na3 6 0 azimutha n dt h e nh ecalledf o rartilleryf i r e .f e w minuteslater,h e wasseenbyaCompanyPlatoonSergeant,who wasmovingt ot h er e a r .itht h e helpo f t h esergeant,ColonelAllenbeganremovingt h eradiofromthebacko fawoundedradiomani nordert oc a l li nmoreartilleryf i r e .momentaftertheybeganremovingt h er a d i o ,ashortbursto f machinegunf i r ef r o mt h eeastgrazedthecolonel'shelmetandknockedhimd o w n .olonelAllencalmlyt o l dt h eplatoonsergeantt oforgett h eartilleryandgeth i speople"theh e l louto f t h e r e " .Withinminutesaftert h esergeantl e f t ,aClaymoreo rrocketdetonatedn omoret h a n2 0 meterswesto f t h eC Plocation.mmediatelyafter,abursto f1 /machinegunfirerakedt h ea r e a ,killingt h ecolonel.

F r o m1 1 3 0t o1 1 4 5 ,artillerysupportwasprovidedthebadly-shatteredAmericantroops,whowereo na n"everymanforhimself"basist ogetbackt os a f e t y .hel i n eo f withdrawalr a nthrought h eBattalionC Pareawheret h efirewasheaviesta n df e w madei t withoutbeingkilledor wounded.y1 1 4 5 , t w oF - 4 C s werestriking,butagainseveralhundredmetersbelowt h eareao f

5 /immediatecontact.Theproblemo f employingairi ns u c hasituationwasexplainedbyMajor

Murphy,whenaskedi ftherew a safeelingo fimpatienceo nt h e groundwith1 0

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t h eairsupport. 6 /

"...Thereslways eelingfmpatience. Asoonassomebodygetshotatheywantairightow ,utheyalsonderstandhathissn'talwayshease. Ifhereisothingightpverhead,ouan'tot. Anotherthing,itakes minimumofenminutesogethingscoordinatedwithheground."Sure, theygetutherendhomp, o nefheiroldiersgetsiredat; theywouldoveoaveirighthere,butifouhaveireadyoputn, theguymakes dive,'Holdhemoff. Holdhemoffuntil angetmyroopsoutfhere. S otakeshem whileogetheroopsout. Thisshenheymakeontact; thisswhatusual-lyoldsiroffifeavehemavailableightow ."ItusuallyakesboutSo0minutesogetroopsoutofhereanougho hereeanputurairn. Inthisase, Idon'teelhatifweaditanyooner,ecouldaveseditn yooner...."

At1 2 2 0hours,t h e1 s tBrigadeCommanderlandedh i schoppera tt h e NDPanddirectedthatt h eBattalionS-3assumecommandoft h ebattalion;t h e nafewmomentslater,h e assumedcommandhimself.hortlyafter,theAssistantDivisionCommandert o o kcommando ft h ebrigade.urvivorscomingi nt otheNDPindicatedthereweres t i l lwoundedbacka tt h epointo fcontact.neo ft h e woundedradioedforassistance,a n dt h e ADCi nachopperdirectedthath epopagrenade,whichh e d i d .hent h e generalpassedo na nazimuthfromt h e N D P ,givingfirstaidt i p sa n dinstructionso nsettingu padefensiveIJ perimeter.

M a j .DonaldW .Holleder,t h eBrigadeS-3,hadbeeni nt h eNDPabout2 0minuteswhenh eorganizedafour-manteamt og oaftert h e wounded.e wasrunningabout5 0metersaheado ft h eteamthrought a l lgrassa n dknee-deep

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waterwhenh ereachedad r a w .hots,probablycomingfromatreei nt h ed r a w ,mortallywoundedMajorHolleder.hiswasaround1 2 3 0hours,when,

8 /fora l lpracticalpurposes,t h e majorcontacth a d ended.

From1 1 1 0hours,whent h efirstairstrikewasmade,u n t i l1 7 2 0hoursi nt h eevening,therewascontinuousairoverhead,strikinggenerallysoutho ft h econtactareawhichwasbelievedt ob et h e V C"pull-outr o u t e " .a j .R .J .Olsen,anothero ft h e1 s tBrigadeFACs,indicatedt h econfusiona st ofriendlypositions,whenh e saidtherewass o m edoubta st ot h eforwardlocationo ffriendlytroops,eventhoughtheirmarkwasvisible.eadded," T h eclosestfriendlies s a wduringt h eengagementwereabout7 0 0 meterst ot h enorthandslightlyt ot h e westo f whereourstrikesweregoingi n . "W ek e p tourairsufficientlysoutho ft h eareat oinsurethatnoneo ft h e

1/friendlieswouldb eendangered.The1 s tBrigadeF A C sweren e wt ot h eoperationa r e a ,havingmovedover

t osupportSHENANDOAHI Ifromtheiru s u a lT A 0 R .heyhaddonen ovisualr e c o no ft h eareabeforet h eoperationa n d evenduringi t .ccordingt o M a j

1 0 /R .J .Olsen,therewasn otimeforvisualr e c o n .es a i d :

"...Wewereepteryusyustputtingnirstrikes.Inheirstouraysofheperation,everagedabout0irstrikes ay. ThiseepsheACprettybusyuringislightimewhichverages, fromhuoo VinhtheACase)veroherean dack, abouttw on d halfhoursermission. W ewouldprobablygetfromhreeoourlightsoputntonarea, usuallyinupportof particularbattalionhatasnamp."...However, thermyoeseployH-IZsndhashem deployedoutoheBattalionsorheirwnsendoV Rnadvanceofheirroops. Asheymoveut, they

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haveheelicoptersutheadwithheperationsofficer,sually,rn eofhetaffofficers,ndtheywilleookingownnheungle. TheyusuallyflytotoweraltitudesndmuchowerpeedshantheACanlyndaremuchbetterquippedoprovideaetailedR ."

MajorOlsensaidthati nasituationl i k et h eambusha tX T686576,t h eF A Cdidnotalwayshavedirectcommunicationwitht h eground.lthoughDauntless3 0( t h eairoperationsofficerforthe2/28th)wasairbornei nt h eL O H ,t h eF A CdidnothaveextensivecommunicationswithhimbecauseDanger7 9(DeputyDivisionCommander)wasdirectingeverythingwithwhichh eh a ddirectcommunicationso nt h e ground.ajorOlsenaddedthatDanger 7 9wastellingt h eF A C s wheret h estrikesshouldg o , wheret h efriendlieswere,a n d givingadviceo ntheartilleryfirecoordinationl i n e , which,accordingH/t oOlsen" i sa l lwen e e dt ok n o w "t oputi nt h estrikes.

Danger 7 9saidthato ns e v e r a loccasions,strikesweregoingi njustwhereh e wantedt h e m ,accordingt oMajorOlsenandMajorMurphy.esaidthestrikeswereeffectivea n d werekillingpeopleo nt h e ground.heBrigadeCommander,C o l .Newman,latertoldMajorMurphy," Y o u g u y sdido n eo ft h e1 2 /finestjobsI ' v eeverseen."

Onceairstartedgoingi na t1 1 1 0hours,therew a sacontinuousserieso f strikes,witht h eonlyl a gbeingt h et i m erequiredforeachindividualflightt ogetoriented.lthoughcontacthadslackenedsomewhataftert h ei n i t i a lt w ohours,airstrikesandartilleryprovidedcoverforaReconPlatoonCCompany,a n dBCompany,whicha t1 4 0 0hours,wereorderedt omarcht h es a m eroutet ot h econtacts i t e .heyarriveda tt h epointo f contacta t

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arrived. TheBriaadeCommandera n dt h eAssistantDivisionCommander,how1 6 /e v e r ,indicatedt h e y werepleasedwitht h eperformanceofa i r .

Anotherinterestingaspectwast h eapparentduplicationandoverlapo fc o n t r o loverthegroundactivity.heAssistantDivisionCommander,t h e1 s tBrigadeCommander,a n dt h eBattalionOperationsOfficer,werea l la i r -bornei nhelicoptersduringt h e movemento ft h etwocompaniessouthward,a n da l lh a dcontactwitht h eground.heseairbornecommandpersonnelwererelayingdirectivest ot h eF A C ,whoalsowasgettinginstructionsfromapersono nt h e ground.heF A Cstatedthath ed i dnotknowfromwhomh e wasgettingh i sinstructions.

Athirdinterestingpointwasthatt h e2 dBattalionmovedintoa nareawherecontactwitht h eV Chadbeenmadet h epreviousdaya n dhostileactivitycouldbeexpected.twasfort h i sreasont h eDivisionCommandera n dt h eBrigadeCommanderwereoverheadi nt h econtrolhelicopters.e t ,t h eonlyUSAFF A Ci nt h ea r e a wasbusyduringt h efirstt w ohoursofthefriendlymovementputtingi nt h eeightpreplannedmissionso nsuspectedbasecampsa n dbunkerss e v e r a lmilesa w a y .hent h eambushw a ssprung,h e wasexpend-i n gh i sl a s tpreplannedfighterstrikeelsewherea n dh a dt ofl ybackt ot h econtacta r e a .nfortunately,thereweren oairbornestrikeplanesi ntheareat h a tcouldb ediverted,a n dt h ealertflighta tBienHoahadt ob escrambled.h i su s eofpreplannedstrikesindicatesl a c ko fplanninga n dcoordinationbetweent h edivisionstaffandALOa st otherequirementsforF A C sa n dtacticalairpoweri nsupporto f theoperation.

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SomeoftheotherDivisionF A C sinterviewedcommentedaboutthefactthatt h efighterswereexpendingu pt o1 , 0 0 0metersawayfromt h econtactareawheretheycouldhavelittleeffectuponthel i n eo f marchwhereenemyfirewasbeingreceivedfromadistanceoft e nmetersi ns o m ec a s e s .l-thought h eAirborneBrigadeCommandera n d AssistantDivisionCommandera p -provedtrikesi nt h i sarea,theBattalionCommandero nt h e groundappar-entlyh a dn oparti nt h i sdecision.uet ot h e duplicationofc o n t r o lovergroundforcesbyt h e groundforcesairbornecommandelement,t h eF A Cneverwasi ndirectcontactwitht h ecommandero nt h e ground.e was,therefore,unablet oeffectt h eclosecoordinationnecessaryt oinsurethatstrikeswereplacedexactlywheretheyweren e e d e d .od o h i sjobeffectively,t h eF A C musth a v edirectcontactwitht h e groundforcest oeffecttimelyordnancedeliverycorrections.

Therea r e ,undoubtedly,explanationsfortheseapparentproblemareaswhichshouldb efurtherresearched.dentificationo ftroopsunderthickjungleconditionswasaproblem,especiallywhenthefriendlyforceswereunderambusha t t a c k .twasalmostimpossiblet oseethroughthedensefoliage.Theinevitableconfusionofbattlealso musthavehadsomeinfluenceu p o ndecisionsandactions.

Theperformanceofair waspraised,however,byt h eBrigadeCommander,a n d MajorMurphyw a stoldthata l lt h eF A C sinvolvedwouldb erecommendedfort h eBronzeS t a r .

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UNCLASSIFIED FOOTNOTES

1 .C )xtract,MACV,C I C V ,Intelligenceo nCT-9VCD i v ,U n d a t e d ;Extract,MACV,C I C V ,Intelligenceo n271stVCR e g t , Oct67,D o c . .

2 .C )otes,Intervieww/LtC o lQuigley,USARV,CmdHistorian,andM a jJohnA .Cash,OCMH,1 5No v6 7 ,Docf2 .Hereafterc i t e d :InterviewwithMajorC a s h . )

3 .b i d .4 .U )t r ,H q1 s tI n f Divt oCINC,USARPAC,s u b j :arrativeAccount,Deathso f LT CTerryB .AllenJr.,066606andM a jD o n a l d W . Holleder,073723,2 5 Oct6 7 ,D o c ,3 .5 .U )LOStrikeLogs,1 s tI n f D i v ,1 7 Oct6 7 ,D o c .4 .6 .C )nterview,M a jP a u lMurphy,A L O ,1 s tB d e ,a n d1 s t LtDennisMagnum,F A C ,PhucVinh,R V N ,3 1Oct6 7 ,D o c .5 .(Hereafterc i t e d :nterview

w^hMajorMurphy.)7 .U )LOStrikeLogs,1 s tI n fD i v ,1 7Oct6 7 ,D o c .4 .8 .U )arrativeAccount,1 s tInfDiv,Deatho f MajDonaldW .Holleder,1 7 t hMilitaryHistoryD e t ,2 5Oct6 7 ,D o c .6 .9 .C )nterview,MajR .J .Olsen,F A C2 5 t hInfD i v ,L a iK h e ,R V N ,

3 1Oct67,D o c .7 .1 0 .b i d ,1 1 .b i d . 1 2 .C )nterviewwithMajorMurphy,1 3 .arrativeAccounto f Contact,1 s tI n fD i v .1 4 .b i d .1 5 .C )nterviewwithMajorC a s h .1 6 .C )nterviewwithMajorMurphy,

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UNCLASSIF IED GLOSSARY

ALOirLiaisonOfficerDASCirectAirSupportCenterD i vivisionF A CorwardAirControllerI n fnfantryNDPightDefensivePositionTACCacticalAirControlCenterTAORacticalAreao f OperationalResponsibility

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