field force vietnam 31 jan 1967.pdf

7/28/2019 field force vietnam 31 jan 1967.pdf

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Code 9: DTIC Classified Users Only. ControllingDoD Organization: Office of the Assistant Chiefof Staff for Force Development, Washington, DC20330. 1 Jun 1967.

28 FEB 1979, DoDD 5200.10; PER OAG D/A ltr 29Apr 1980


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_ . . - w.

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THISDOCUMENTCONTAINSINFORMATIONAFFECTINGTHENATIONALDEFENSEOFTHEUNITEDSTATESWITHINT H EMEANINGOFT H EESPIONAGELAWS.TITLE1 8 ,U.S.C.,SECTIONS7 9 3AND7 9 4 . T H ETRANSMISSIONORTHEREVELATIONOFI T SCONTENTSI NANYMANNERT OA NUNAUTHORIZEDPERSONI SPROHIBITEDB YL A W .

NOTICE:hengovernmentorotherdrawings,specificationsorotherdataa r eusedforanypurposeotherthan1 nconnectionwithadefi-nitelyrelatedgovernmentprocurementoperation,theU . S .Governmenttherebyincursn oresponsibility,noranyobligationwhatsoever;andt h ef a c tthatt h eGovernmentmayhaveformulated,furnished,o rI nanywaysuppliedt h esaiddrawings,specifications,orotherdata1 snott ob eregardedb yImplicationo rotherwisea sI nanymannerlicensingt h eholdero ranyotherpersonorcorporation,orconveyinganyrightso rpermissiont omanufacture,useors e l lanypatentedInventionthatmayi nanywayb erelatedthereto.


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SECRETOFFICEOF

(li'/?Fe{r(o 7 DEPARTMENT OFTHEARMY OFFICEOF THE ADJUTANTGENERAL

WASHINGTON.D.C. 20310

INWLYWmTOA G A M - PM )23M iy67)O R T flprraffn1rrtTtLessonsearned,j UFieldForceVietnamArtillery if L\) , Vr*m-1967SEEDISTRIBUTION OJ L 3 / ^rui 6 . 7 ,1 .orwardedasinclosureisOperationalReport-LessonsLearned,Headquarters,I IField?forceVietnam Artilleryfo rquarterlyperiod

ending3 1January196?/InformationcontainedinthisreportshouldbereviewedandevaluatedbyCDCin accordance withparagraph6canddof\R1-19an dby CONARCinaccordancewithparagraph6canddofAR1-19.Evaluationsandcorrectiveactionsshouldbereportedt oACSFOROTwithin90daysofreceiptof coveringletter.

2 .nformationcontainedinthisreporti sprovidedt oth eCom-mandantsofth eServiceSchoolst oinsureappropriatebenefitsinthefuturefromlessonslearnedduringcurrentoperations,and maybeadapted

S, .fo ruseindevelopingtraining material.

LlJBYORDEROFTH ESECRETARYOFTH EARMY:

1I1Incl

as

^ //6 .JtadJi-~* KENNETHG.W ICKHAMMajorGeneral,U S A

The A djut a ntGeneral

o - DISTRIBUTION:

CommandingGeneral_> (>


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S E C R E TDISTRIBUTION(Cont'd)

US ArmyOrdnance SchoolUS ArmyQuartermaster SchoolUS ArmySecurity AgencySchoolUS ArmyTransportation SchoolUS ArmySignalSchoolUS ArmySpecialWarfareSchoolUS ArmyCivilAffairs School

Copiesfurnished:ResearchAnalysisCorporationSecurityOfficer

LosAlamos Scientific LaboratoryOffice,ChiefofStaff,I X ) AmyD e p u t y Chiefof Staf fn ation alAeronautic!* Space Administration,Office o fD e f e n s eAffaireSo u t h e astAsiaPorcea,O BD(SA)Assistant C h i e fofStaf ffo rI n t e l li g e n c eJoin t Action Control Office

T T i !nw .

2SECRET '


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SECRET j B F F O R C E V DEPARTMENTOFTHEARMY

HEADQUARTERSIIFELDFORCEVIETNAMARTILLERYAPOSANFRANCISCO9626614FEB1967

OPERATIONALREPORT -LESSONS LEARNED QUARTERLYORPERIODENDING3 1 JANUARY136?

(RCSCSFOR-65MU)V PI. ~ v~i..*31U

POROTRO 610011 g r a d e d UNCLASSIF IED Mparattdromclauifitddocument,

SECRETDOWNGRADEDAT EARNTERVALS DECLASSIFIEDFTER 12EARS,DODDIR5200.10 P 9 Uf\ R 9


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FOROFFICIALUSEONLYteotlon -SigaifioantO r g a n i s a t i o nA o t l T l t l e s

( IOO0 ) i dndLia s t rn t i on /Perec t in e l , 1.

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Headquar t e r sndHeadquar t e r sB a t t e r y ,IHoldloreT i e t n a n Artillerytr g an i s edndo10 1-501Bw i t haa u t h o r i s e dn d a s s i gnedt r e n g t hmof1anua r yoo l l o w s *A U T H O R I Z E DS S U M E D

sn a s s a a541598174** T hen d i c a t e dr e r e t r eng t houotoransiente r s o n n e ldur ingarotationale r i od 2 8

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4* P e r s o n n e lManagonant H Q ,If O B C B ? Artillery81e c t i ono n t i n u e dop e r f o m e d n i n i e t r a t l T of u n c t i o n sbrh o headquar t e rndtoo n i t o re r s o n n e l

FOROFFICIALUSEONLY 81*313

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FOROFFICIALUSEONLY action fortheheadquarterbattery.h e5th Battalion (AV)(SP),2dArtillery w as placed u n d e rtheoperationalcommandofthie headquarter.Thi aotionlightly increeaedthe administrative dutieo f th e eotlon.Initialorientation an daasiytanceagiven tothebattalion in theareaofpublication,BbR,award anddecoration,peoialservices a t aactivities.aaualty reportan d efficiencyratingfronMt. ^ .alionare n ow ohcnneledthrough thiseotlon*

5 e tand HecuperatlonProgram .I h o following ou t of country B f c R tripwere taken b y mem-berof thi headquarter t LOCATIQB M O T B B C J A BBangkok 2 4 1 0HongKong 1 2 2T ok y o 1 2 0Taipei 1 0 0 P e n a n g 0 2 0Hawaii 1 2 5Thiieadquarter'BAR program operatewithintheallo-cation giventoIIFFQRCE7.

6 .orale .Themorale ofthe organizationcontinuetob e outstanding.

7wardand Decoration.th eperiod. Th efollowing awardand decorationswerepresentedd u t ? w ; \

BronxStar MedalAir MedalArmyCommendation MedalGoodConduct Medal

31

4

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FOROMCIAtUSEONIYi 8.iscipline.Law sad Order

thefollowing judicialand non-judicialactions waree o n - duotodduring thisreporting period:

Article1 $Sway( t o u r t - H a r t i a lSocialOntrt-liertlalG e n e r a l o u r t - M a r t ie l

9 Safety.T h ebattery sustainedthree vehicle accidentsduring this

p e r i o d ,a l lof which wereminor10 .ivil Affaire.

D u r i n ghiseportingp e r i o dh eStaffC h e m i c a lOfficerc o n t i n u e doe r f o r madditionaldutiesnh e5 . fheunitcivicac-t i o nr ogramo n t i n u e d , i t hadditionalo o dndclothingdiatributedU >h em o o lndr p h a n a g eathenear byh a m l e tofH O s T A ITil D I.f t r t o on t l y ,h e e a d q u a r t e r s ,no n j u n c t i o nw i t ht t a c h e dn i t e eg an e p o n e o r i n go l a * a e enp o k e nf t ig iM shah ea m l e t * Allunitefur*


11/48

S E C R E T publishedin Vietnamdditionally,theCannoneera newspaper pub-lieh ed atFortSill,Oklahoma,publishedseveralarticleconcerningth e activitiesofII FfORCOT Artillery.

1 2 *hangeofQ m g m g A m BrigadierGeneral V0 Grlttenbsrger,Jr.,ho h adb e e ntransferred to the American embassy inSAIGOIfora specialassignment,returnedt o II B O R G E ? Artillery andassuaedooaasnd on 10 Januar/Oolonel George R . Allin,Jr.,h oooaaanded since 7Septeaber1 9 6 6 ,beoaae theDeputyGoosander*

B .S )Opormttons/lhtelligonoe1 .C )eneral .

Operations an d intelligenceactivities of th e headquar-ters duringthis periodincluded non y of th e aaaeprojscts reported intheprevious Operational Reportas e l l asinitiation ofseveraln e wprojects.he plea forstationing of IIIfGRGaY Artillery units aarevisedin lightof changesla th e troopprogram an dthe taotloalsitua-tione fin e m e nt s ere aadeIn th e headquarters'aerialvisualreoon-naisanoeprogra m ssistance to AR7X in artilleryemploymentcontinuedtoooamend much of the headquarters attention2 S )an for Stationing of Artillery Unite

a uring thisreporting periodthe199th LightInfantryBrigade(Separate)beoaae operational,withitsbasecamp located atLOWBUH.T h e9th Infantry Division established bassoaapsatBEAR CAT,and at D0G T AM intheI ? Corps TaotloalZonemajer Wmane uver unitwasstationed atDAU TIE for the firsttime whe nt h *3d Brigade,4thInfantry Divisiondisplacedto thatlocation from BEARG A T .s addi-tional maneuver unitsarrived,en d n e w artillery unitscame to II IfQRGEVArtillery,thestationing plan ofII fPOBCET Artillery wa&revised.h ecurrent planisatInolosure1 ange capabilitiesof 175mm $munitsdisposed I naooordanoe with thestationing plan areshown atInclosurs2 nitlocations referred toare depicted on th easp atI n o i o s : e2

b uring this reportingpe riod fouradditionalartil-lery Battalionsbeeemeoperational under II flCRCEY artillery(1)Aftercompletingstaging at PH LOI,the 7thBattalion,9thArtillery(7/9th Arty)(tOJnn T)moved toa basecampatBEARC A T , closingsad becoming operationalon13 lovenbern eormore of its firing batteries have b e e n on operational missions outof

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baa*oaap ev ereinoe thatdate*T h e battalion maa a e i a j a e d to the34thArtillery Group.( 2 )llpereonnelof tat1f t Battalion,63* Artillery(l/85dArty)(8" SP)arrived l a oountry I Q T1Boveaber;however,the bat-t a li o n ^equipment did notarrive until1Beoeaber*urin Novembertheperaonnalere located In a etagiag area at LOWBIIB,althougha por-tion ofth e battalion moved to BUI BAT.near BA RIA,on22 Bovanbertoprepare a baaac a m p .hortly after th e equipment vaa unloaded,half ofth e 8"hovltie*swereoonverted to175 putforming a ooapoalte8 " /175 battalion,a battalion,vhloh vaa aneigne*to the54th Artil-lery Group,beoaae operational on12-16 December atthree looatlone,withthe headquartersend on exIring battery at BOX BAT,one firingattery atSAR CA9and one firing battery at XDAB LOC.(5)The advance partyof the2dBattalion,11thAr-

tillery(2/l1th Arty)( 1 5 5 *)arrived b y air on30 Hovember,vhlletheaalnbody arriveda t VUHG T AB byahlp on15 Beccaber.he batta-lion vaa etagedat PHU LOI,beooalngoperational on2 7 Beoeaber underthe23 d Artillery Group*n efiringbattery relocated on that date toGO BAU HA.2 Januaryonefiring battery aovedtoa baaeoaap atBAB TiatG.( 4 )The5th Battalion(AutomaticWeapons)(Self-propelled),2dArtillery(Reinforced)(5/2d Arty),originally programmedfor deploymentin I I C T Z ,van divertedtoII FFORCB? b y COHUSHACV inSEGRKTmessageMACJ)22fDTG1814252 Hov6 6 ,subject:t h AV Bn( S P ) ,2 dArty ( i t e i n f )( U ) .h eunit 1 aadvanceparty,having arriveda tQU1HHONin theIICorpaZone on16 Roveaber,flev toBISHHOA on2 2 November,nitequipmentandperaonnal were diverteda t aea toI I I

CTZ andthe aaln bodyarrived by ship at YUNG TAU on27 Roveaber*Th e54th Artillery Group eponaoredthe5/2dArtyhe battalion be-oaae operationalon27 Beoeaber underth eoperationalcommand ofI IFWttCEV Artillery.aragraph5 belov contalnaa dlaouaalon oftheemploymentoftheprimary veapone of the5/2d Artyo .oncerning tks plan for future etationlng of IIJTORCEVArtillery unite,Iacloeure1 ,the folloving polnta ehould benotedr

( 1 )A plan for atatloning heavy artillerya t B K e iI UC vaa dlaeuaaed in Section I ,paragraph B2h of thepreviousOpera*tlonalReport*ork onapositionat BEB LUC nanbeendelayed becauseofother ooamltments of engineer reaouroea In III CTZ.t la hopedthatthe positiona t BEB LUC vlllbe prepared for occupation in April.Ifa o ,It vlllbe oocupledtemporarily bya battery from another loca-tion untilmore heav y artillery arrives

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SECRET 1(2)Du o to continuingoperations of th e1st InfantryDivision n ear QUALOI fin theextreme northern portion of IIIC T Z ,adeolelon vanmade tostation a h eavy battery atthat looation to extendartillerycoverage.try A , 6/27th Arty(8"/l75um SP)willdisplace toQUA!LOI in February.(3)n order toextend artillerycoverageinto WarZoneC ,Btry B,3/32d Arty (8"/t75o* SP)will aovefron LAIH E inFeb-ruary to SOIDA Special forces Camp,16 kiloaeters northeast of T ATBTBH.H i ecoverage from SUOIDA illstillinclude th e importantMJCH BL H Plantation area.( 4 )T h e planned arrivalofthe 7th Battalion,8th

e t y )( 8 "rtillery (7/8th Arty)(8"SP)in Jun e1967willpermitextension ofh eavy artillery coverageinseveral directions*t isplanned to con-vertthe firing batteries of thisbattalion tothreecomposite 8rt/l75mnbatteries*nconjunction with restationlng of current heavy batteriesn ewooverage willbe provided at H a l f T AB in the eastern portion of IIIC T Z , at MIOTAN,a brigade base camp of th e 9th Infantry Division nearM T WO inIVC T Z ,and atBW LUC*

3 *C )ir Defense Weaponsina GroundSupport Bole*During this reporting period th e5th Battalion (AutomaticWeapons)(Self-propelled),2d Artillery (Reinforced)($/2d Arty) beganoperationsin IIIC T Z .h e battalionis organised imder T QB 44-85?*Upon activation at Port Biles,Texas,the battalion asreinforced b ytheattachmentof Battery D,7let Artillery,an M55 caliber 5 0 machinegu nbattery organised under T OB 44-85T.fter arriving in BVVthe2 4machine gunsquadsof the machine gu n battery wereattachedto the fourfiring batteries o f the5/2d Artyytwosectionseach to Batteries A and

3 and one sectioneach to Batteries Cand D.pon becoming operationaltoperationalcontrolof one firing battery waspassed tothe1st Divi-sion sad one tothe25th Divisionlater allfour batteriesparticipatedin OperationCBDAB FALLS*h usfar the H42twin40am an d K5 5 caliber 5 0 machine gu n aeotlons have be e n employedboth as maneuver elementsandas firs support element e *oth weaponshavebe e n used extensivelyfor convoyesoortand security.hequad*5 0 hasprovedt o b e parti-cularly effectivein providingclose-in defense ofinstallations auchas field C P U ,artillery firesupport bases and forward supplycom-plexes*n numerousoasesthequad50 machine gu n has\been dismountedfrom its2 tontruck mount and hellllftsd into forward areas to pro-vide additionalsupportto frontlineinfantry units*T hemobilityofthe twim 40sm has been exploited b y employing the weapon in missionssuch as road clearing and securing and using Ittosupport mobile men-ewer elements e uch as mechanised infantry and armoredcavalry.ome

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SECREThaven e e dhewe apo nathendirectixsolbyategretlagitatounsattiamlaim g r s a andl a aaaaa lag a ndnterdictingfin in a m j l o j a e a ta o a a l a n s a UXsod o u b ttabiliseafterWM e r t o n eech-n i q u e shavebeanitriiilftn a l y s e d * S e v e r a lM bIWIMirtn o *be i ngo n dn o to d . T h ewmtimlmmh o u l db e o o n eavailablelaUMvery

n e a ruture. A tbispoint,amlontionsarehathe/aftA r t y a m bestbeutilisedatheg r o undu p p o r tsolaby aalateJnlagtatiringbatteriesaa f taroparatioaalcontrolofora t t a oba f totbooftbon j o ra o a o u r o rl< 4* (8) AircraftforArtilleryUnite.

a A a o i a t o doatlaSection9a r ag r aph B3aatSootioaII,Port2,a r a g r a p hBoftboO p e r a t i o n a l e p o r tortboporiodn d i n g 31October966,boa o o dforaircraftca p p o r tartilleryoporatiooolaurgent. Duringhiaperiod,herew o oittlerelieflathioprobleaarea;aaanatteroffacthee q u i r e m e n to o a a tve ngreaterd a eothearrivalofadditionalartilleryunite.b. The54thArtilleryGroupnowba ahreeoperationalb trotte(l/XArty,/35thArtyan d7/9thArty), fiKperlencenVie nanhashownhathree0-1ypoaircraftpergrouph e a d q u a r t e r s arid-no0-1 perartillerybattalionarerequiredoprovideadequatea*;;**!ue^c11-. tula-roupndtabattalionbar enoorganicair-craft* Theonlyobservationaircraftsupportavailableiaaircraftur-nh* irt-r-II?S"(lCWFixedWingConpanieaonaaisalonbaala. Thia g r o a nin*? * .helev, fbrce0-1aircraft e rd^fi'u. ii&Lti '..-. v*i ..rafire .-xdoragroupwiththreehatbiUonaic ou'o, *ba* ArtillaryGrsnp aanine0-1ircraft,u t

reu>ij&*ftiiaorhoseaseetsbecanegreaterwhenthegroup'so.utbtail-A5 on'-/narty)becwaeoperationalwithoutorganicaircraft.a. Inadditionoh ewogroups,w ootherunite( H H B ,thCAJ0/2$tbArtynd5/2dArty)reoperationalwithoutaircrewTheseunitadonetequireobservationaircraft,utcannot erform theirnisalonsproperlynVietnanwithouthelicopterupport e. T he)dArtilleryGrouph a aiveOH-13helicoptera withnaverageavailabilityofhreeperda y* T h i sroupisequiredbytnlsheadquartersournishO n eOH-13daily,namissionbaala,tohe34thArtilleryGroup,eavingonlytw ohelicoptersoperformthemyriadoaraid,ontrol,eoonnalaaance,ourierndogistical

supportunctionsofagroupheadquartersndourbattalions.

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f .I FF0RC8V normallyfurnishestwo TH-1hellooptersouch day OBa mleeion basisto II FIORCBV Artillery,t twoheli-copters utbe used to supportf t group headquarters1ththro*artil-lery battalions,an automatic vaapona battalion andtho headquartersof n targetacqulaitlon battalionhlasupportlaobviously inade-quate,and resultsin f t seriousdeterioration ofton oosmmnders*abi-lityto influence th e notion ofthe vldeapreadunite for union theyre reeponaible anveilen inadequate reconnaissance,delay I nsur-ve y operntionaandunevoidable odmlnietrative an d logisticalpcoblene.g .his problem ofadequateaviation supporthenbeencited In ell previous OperationalReportssubmitted b y thishendquar-terniuntiladequa te aircraftare providedfully effective artilleryoperationscannotbe achievedsstatedpreviously,these require-d t re asfollows:

/*

( 1 )force Artillery Headquarters (alsosupportsseparate battalionsand batteries)sour UH-1's,three 0-1 ' s .( 2 )Croup Headquarters:T h r e e 0-1'e,two OH-IJ'aand on e U-6.

( 5 )Artillery Battalion:wo0 - 1 8 an d on e OH-13for eachbattalion.5 *c )isual Aerial Reoonnalssanoe(VR).

a .isualaerialreconnaissance continued tobethobestmethodof gathering intelligence and locating targetsofoppor-tunityin Vietnam*lthoughthepotential effectiveness of V f i was notfully realised dueto a criticalshortage ofaircraft,th eI I FPORCEVArtillery VR Program did obtain highlyimportantresults.b .nderth eII FfORGEVVisual Reconnaissance Program,I I R D R C n V Artillery isassigned VR responsibility of areas within rangeof heavyartillery bu t outside the Tactical Areasof Responsibility (TAOR) of U S units*his assignmentof VR missions gives II H Q R G E VArtillery responsibility forsome13,000square kilometers inIIIC T Z ,oonpare d toen vesmge of1,600 square kilometers fora division*o *n executing the VR program,artillery groups areassigned VR responsibility for speoifio sseasbased on the basscamppositions of their artillery andtheiraircraftassets*roups fur-ther sub-divide their areasdownto battalions.

8

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SECRETd U T ohextantpossible,h aMMITb s e r v e rfliestliam srftd a yaftard a y . tolah a ahebviousd v s n t a g e ofa l l o w i m *thaobs e rve r tobecomeo m p l e t e l y fMillarwithaspecifioarea,aaila

e r a a e e ehiaabilityodotooth a n g e slamovsmsmtpatterae. O h t a c r a r t arebriefada a ddebriefadfoea chnleelom. iraaaanewotherIntelli-g e n c eo u r o c eadioatap o t a a t l a Xn o n yactivityr adaaljaatadfartienlarattention. S p a treportenlaportaatightingsarm and*Intelligenceh a j m e l eadao m p l e t efl a p a r tofall*a**^gfara24-hourp a r i o dito r w a r d e dh r o u g hntelligsnoeh a a n a l sor e a c hXI IKftC&T0 2 A irdally.a. I n f i t o a a a a r , h i ch a n abafIratmo n t h1 vmlehIf f O R C B T Artilleryh adw og r o u s endavanartillarjrbattalion*opera-tional,atotalof616ntelligenceighting*arer a p o r t a d by artlllaryo b s e r v e r san d9 2oft h a a aa a r aa t t a o f c adwithartlllarya aargetsofo p p o r t u n i t y

6. (s) R e o u l r s a c n t sorA d d i t i o n a l o un t a r a o r t a r R a d a rSatt.a. I nSectionI,a r a g r a p h B4ofh ap r a r l o a aO p e r a t i o n a lReport,h aeffectiveuseofa o r t a r ayheV Cndtheimitationo nef-fectivenessofhe N / M P Q - 4 A u eotanar r o wa o t o rofs c a n w a r ecited.Informationw asalecu r n i s h e dnap l a nop r o v i d ed e q u a t eo u n t e x m o r -tarradaro v e r a g eyutilisingthreeaetaata c horitioalocationuch

t ' . nairfield, at''.vpendogisticalo m p l e x e s . Thirty-sevencounter-aoriaradardetachcuntaw a r ee q u i r e dom p l e m e n thisr o gramn d thise q u i r e m e n t aancludedInth a3 A B Y troopr o gram. . .iovemberJic9d uaonactionm p o s i n gaiixiopoeili.4io. leu**,h aD e p a r t m s n tofhe r m ydaletadh a a a

det&uhmentaromht*Troop r o gram T h e ya nbeeinstatednhapro gramonly ifspace*a nbao b t a i n e d by deletingotherr e qu i r e me n t s c.ecentt u d yh a sea nmadaofm o r t a rattacksn baseawpswherefciAli/toPQ-4Aw aaoperational. I natotalof5uch attacksheuiiu itionsw a r elocatedadffectiveu p p r e a e i v e firedeliveredn nstances, lathaother a t t a c k s ithert h aat-t a c kndedbeforehesetw aaproperlyvectored,radecisionw aam a d etofireapreplannedrtilleryo u n t e r m o r t a rr o gr am w h i cho m p l e t e l y saturatedheadaronope,r e v e n t i n gfurthere a r c h . d.haneedortheo u n t e r m o r t a rr a d a rd e t a c h m e n t swhich v e r eormerlynhex < o o p r o gr amstillxists. Itd o s so tp p e a rpro-pertoecommendherade-offofessentialartillerybattalionsoro videhep a c e sorhesee t a c h m e n t s . Ifh au r r e n trev i ew ofhevet*allorcestructureshouldd e v e l o padditionalpaces,highpriorityshouldbe givenoeinstatingheequiredfto u n t e r m o r t a rr a d a rde-tachmentsntoheroopProgram. Aotalof33 e r s o n n e lr ee q u i r e d forthesedetachneulu

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7 .c )ggjgtgsgisJSEL * Siace boooming operationalla H fl almosta yesr a g o ,thisheadquarters h as maintaineda contin uingprogram designed toaaaiatthaArmy of Viatnaa laImproving th aenployment of it artillery.urlagthla raporting pariodseveralproject harebeancompletedlafurtner-aaoe of tale program: (a .n e of tha oresuccess*ulprojects has beencoordi-nating the useof artillery fixe tosupportisolated outposts normallyaaaned by RofioaalJbrce/Popular Force(HF/PF)personnelssistancemaproTlded by thisheadquartersatanumber of outposts during thisreporting period:

( 1 )fficerefrom this headquartersconductedclassesoa observed fixprocedures for42 HF/iF personnelrepre^aitlagvariousoutpoetain LOOT KHAIH during th epariod 4-6 December( 2 )ro 8-12 January representativesof this headquartersprovidedinstructiontoHF/PFpersonneln a m i n g outpostslathree separatesab-sectors of LOK AB Province*( 3 )ventually thisinstruction willbe offeredthroughoutthesub-sectorslaeachof th eprovincesla IIIC f f Z sad willaeaaurably increase the effectivenessofthese outposts*

b .ectionI ,paragraph5b(3)of thelastOperationalReportdiscussedIIFPORCE?Artillery'sassistance prograa la relationtothe Capital Military Diatrict(CUD).h e following additionalassist-ance asprovidedthe GMD during thisperiod:

( 1 )ositionarea survey for mostpermanent AHHfartillerypositions withinthe CM) wascompleted by USsurvey teamsfromthe23d Artillery Group*urveycontrolwas also established a t an al-ternate position fortheoountermortsr radar locatedat fAl SOU HOT.'( 2 )tth e requestofth eSenior Advisor,CMDfsadth eProvost Marshal.TAI301MOTAir Bass,instruction was girmlaobservedfirs proceduresto Air Polios manning the watch towersattheAirBase*( 3 )O nsix separateoccasionsunits of IIH O R C H T

Artillery ware deployedlath eCMDtosupportground operationssadthe defenseof ke y installations.o *h is headquarters h asconsistently urged ACT! unitstoavailthemselvesof USartillery support*n e ofths mostsffsctive

10CONFIDENTIAL


18/48

S E C R E T )w stsm osoofa chu p p o r tc c u r r e d henalightAa o d l u abatteryd e p l o y e du r i n gthep e r i o d3P a o a a t o r -2J anuar y to-All1 A M 8 1afeemofIDla tdT OU fr o v i d i n g oeearityforarleea rv+e t i n go p e r a t i o n

do P a ra g r a p h3o(3)(d)ofhelaste p o r te e o r l b e dheWIa s s i g n m e n tofioffiortoM D tom etemArtilleryidvioortils u cht i m eo oap srmmnsa tositiono u l doauthorised, D u r i n gthisim - portingp e r i o d ,hloh e a d q u a r t e r so n t i n u e dop r o v i d ea aofficerlaalee m p e c i t yuntil0Decemberhen ap e r m a n e n tpooitloaa aetherised a d f i l l ed b yt o u r .o. Ihlah e s d o u a r t e r sooatlaaootolao o r poroUAHiq u e s t ntotoH k lr o g r a m . A mnx a m p l e ,u r i n g thine r i o dfIrew o odellTerednheumberoftargetsh o w nathee q u e s tofM )id R u n gS o tapodal oneBS S Z ) t

D E C W I E BA H T t t B T C M D4?3R 3 S Z980961f. jn levvialtooR V HDivisionnd o r p sho ad quar t o r a war* . i i.j.^iri.Ttindtaffofficersofthloho ad quar t o r aoe ep t t tafceni .i f ? - . , t s > L : e - i f .ofR V Hartillery,r ob l em sn c o u n t e r e dan do' -:- - : L x' A 2i 2 J nterdictionHfcl)rog ram

i i u d yofCactivitynh er e a sh e r eheavyr t 11- ..Utiunolo n f i r m e dh effectivenessofh eUfclt i 'Utrya stationednanewarea,nanalysis as, Uiculavlyrolluse,ewortifications9a d i o it -s"isuale c o n n a i s s a n c eightings' < de inpositionorac o m p a r a t i v e l yhort., ,ticHar a s s m e n tndnterdictionr o gr am,C ,t*r w -capabilityofthew e a p o n se e r e&oed ,ndn-

: : * c i ustutsideofmar t su ma n g e .i ai.titionor o v i d i n gv i d e n c eofheffeetive-ii . J W Ji*Tr o g r a m ,hesetudieso r eu s e dorother

i.i i -cibrc-toslyusefuln l a n n i n g forhed e p l o y m e n ti n - r yunits. Fo rm m e d i a t eacticaluss,h enuffi-^availableondicateconsidsrableV Cactivityn n eva r e a ,itiller.-;ase m p o r a r i l y displacedopositionsh e r eheseew a r e a sou ' a.et t a c k e dw i t h H f c lires1 1

1;;; J, .rr..^., f :. 1^.'*. . \J 4 , ' . . ' X* !. .if.r .-tifc,, '* * activilw /i.uhi.icreaa^S .* ' n e s cf a - p u r p vu . f c e . I k j f ofn c w w ? ji'tcient*;' ' < A |

S E C R E T


19/48

S E C R E T o oring this reportingperiod,UMsystem o f planingth e major portion o f tho daily I Program ontooareasof greateet VC ifactivity MMcontinued.Whiletbio method dooo n otplace finOBollareasof possible fC activity,it dooo exploitthofall v elum of avail-oolo intelligence b y placing sore firoo on areasin which it io ooot

probablo tho VC will b o operating*d .While itioofton difficultto accurately aooooothototalcasualtieeinflicted b y Ifiring,thora io littledoubt of itooveralleffectiveness.risoners of War andpersonnelvoluntarily re-turningto gOY ernnentcontrol(Chieu Hoi'a)frequently citeunexpectedartillery fire andairotrikoaao what they fear oootT h e followingtwoinstance! of eaaualtleo inflicted b y Halfirooindicate h ow devas-tating euchfiresnayb o s

( 1 )On7 January 1 9 6 7 ,CapitalMilitary District(CMD)requested thatII FPORCEV Arty include a partofth o PIMBAPFLBPlantation,vicinity XS6 3 6 9 ,in ou r Harassing sadInterdiction Pro-gran for that night.ine suspectareas(bunkers,base camp,tunnelentrances)were selectedand eighteen rounds of175* were fired b yBtry A,2d E n ,3 2 * Arty.VC who wascaptured250900H Jan 67 vici-nity XS 720046 revealedthat60 nonbsrsof hisoonpany (4th C o , 6thBn ,163 legt) were J c i l l s d on 7 Jon 67vicinity XS630908 b y artillsryfire.(2 )On 26 January 1 9 6 7 ,tho3d Bn,34th Artycon-ducted an AI progran vicinity XS3 4 4 7 *n3 February 1967,an A H V a *elementa t MilGTUOHG reportedthat a woundedVCPW led AHVI elenenteto the bodies of 30 VC vicinityXS343476.h e PW stated thatthe VCwere at a nest ing in a hu t o n 26 January 1967 when artillery fell onthen.

9 .C)Programs toIncrease the Accuracy of Artillery.II FPORCEV Artillsry programsto increase tho accuracyof artillerydiscussed in Section I , paragraph B7 of tho previousOperational Reportcontinued duringthis period.heseprogranacon-tinuedto beconcernedprimarily with meteorology,survey andcali-bration.m .r t l l f r o r y y m J U s t i o ffotoorolog (Mgfro).

Acomparative metro analysis among thebasscamps mtC t J C H I , TAT KUH,0 0 BAU H A and BAU TIBTG wasconducted during thisper-iodto determine th e n e ed for metrostations at allthese locations.Data provided bythestationsatCO CHI and TAY NHHproved t o b e in -conpstiblsfhowever,data provided atGO BAU H A and BAU TIKVG werecompatible.herefore,it w as decidedto maintainstationsat T AT

12

ii

S E C R E T


20/48

CONFOBiflAlimm ilturns n d G e i .

. .Calibration of Artillery HgDuringthis reporting parted1 9 6 of 426 OBand 24 of136 ARVI artilleryp i e c e s noc a l i b r a t e d .The inoreased toss* of o o n - bat operations hasc r e a t e d Aneed for ore frequentonllbratlonof artil-lery p l a c e s ,

o .D u r i n gthisr e p o r t i n g p e r i o do n s i d e r a b l eartherp r o - gressh a sboona i d o intheprogram ofe x t e n d i n gartilleryo n t r o lAh e C o r p sr e a . S h ea ptnolosn r o3llustratesh eurvey o o n t r o lo w establishedinX I fZ . ftir*-ordcro n t r o le ebowestablishedatB B A B C A T ,D A IK " ,a dL O W JH A D by the6 thE a g rO ot o p o )D o r p s ) , third

sa df o u r t hactcontrolh a sbeenestablishedaF H O CT O TS e c t o rbyAus t r a l i a nUnliF a r o e (1T T )atVW W,A H A , O A D sa d99CABE s a dedditiurveyo n t r o lpointsS C P )a r eboonestrlshsdatn-temediat* U ?*tv~anheselocationsnt h eo a r s eofth er av e r s e s lburth-ord


21/48

CONFIDENTIAL e a r n positionama.he majorsurreyproblem areasremaina lackofo t ntrolpoints bothfor position areason operationssndtargetsrsncontrol.bstacletosatisfying theserequlremsntse re theinadequacyof foodstortingcontrol,lookof good ground observation,freque nt di e -plsoensnts,sndth e necessityofutilisinglazgeforcestoprovidese-curity fo rsurve yoperations*

b .n sUSARVe n g i n e e r h aspropossda tostb e nodeofth efeasibility of u si n g thephotogrnanstrioproossstoprovide the necee-ssry basic control.nessence,this proosssinvolvesusing recentre-oonnaisssnes photography,oonparingitto the ve r y accurate aspphoto-graphy of thesane area,andselecting points u ni o n ars identifiableboth on th e reconnaissancephotossn do n th e groundfor whichcoordi-natescan b e furnishedh e engineersbelisvsth e y canfurnish th ecoordinatestothesepointstoapproxinatsly fourth-order accuracy,an d n otlessthan fifth-order accuracytis evidentthatif a largedensity of suchpointscan be made available in a plann ed are a ofopera-tionsthatthartillerysurveyproblencanbe greatly reduced.si n gselectedpoints n e arpositionareas,th eposition areasurve y canb eoom-pletedbya aborttraverseth e ridentifiablepointscan b s used forregistration points.

o h etestofthis concept will be nadein February1967*econnaissancephotography of a plann edarea of operation hasbeen obtained,controlpointsselected,an dth ee ngine ershave furnishedphotograanstrioallycomputedcoordinatesofthesepoints.rior totheactualoperation,f i e^c u r a c y of sons o itoese pointswillbe verifiedb y conventionalsurve y methods,sn dregistrations sndtransfers illbefired*fMissepreliminary testsprove successful,the e ntire conceptillbefullytested ona majoroperation1 1 .C)afeguarding aircraft from FriandlyArtilleryfirms .

aectionX ,paragraph9d of t*e previous OperationalReport presentsd a discussion ofa propossdIIIfQBGE? regulationeon-e s r n l n gtheprotection of aircraftf rom friendly artillery fires sproposed regulation v anpublishedon18 lovsmber 1966 aaIIJ10BCETRegulation389-2,subjsctisf sgu e rdin g Aircraftfrom Artillery Piree",aoopy of whichis attached atInolosurs4 asically,th eregulationserves to replacetheoldair oorridor system with a n e twork o f Artil-l er y Waning ControlCenters(AVCC)which broadcastadvisories o nar-tillery firesto aircraft upon requesthsngs1to thisregulationwas published in Decsnber sn dclarifiescertain rssponsibilitissofth eAVCC 9ooopy of th schangeis also atInolosurs 4*

C O N H D E h m A l


22/48

CONFIDENTIALh. Following anan nounoonsntbytheFederalAviationAgencyI n earlyJanuarythatthere wouldb e a large volumeof aircraftflying daily Ina naircorridor b e tw e e n a controlto n e rlocated in XAHLOGan d th e BIEH H OAan d TAN SON HHUTAir Bases,thiaheadquartere con-

ducted a etudyto determine w h e t h e radditionalneaauree w e r e n e e e e a a r ytoprotecttheae aircraftfron friendly artillery*a a re e ultof th estudy,' t h efollowing propoaalawerepublish edo n 30 January aaChange2toIIyS WCH tRegulation 385-2, (Inoloeure 4>(1)h e B I B t f H OA air corridor will b e extendedeast-wardto u d i s t a n tofte n nauticalalle a *rtillery u n i t efiring intothia corridor willclear with BOW? I A ISensitive A r e a AVCGwhichinturnwillcoordinate with Air TrafficControlatBX H OA Air Base.(2 )dditionalairoorridorawith a width offournautical ailee will b eestablished betweenX L 7 A N I OCan d th eend of th eBIER H OA airo n idor and betweenthe en dofth e BIEHHOAair corridorand th e boundary of*heCapitalMilitary District.llartillery fireain theae oorridora which reach analtitudeof 7?000 feet or higher muetb e reported to TarisControlat ?A V SONNHUT.ariaControllachargedwith furthero o o i d i , * ; t.ontoi i i s u r * t \ propernotificationiabroadcast.

1 2 .c)' g ' K l l i n eof Artillery Weapons*T h afollowingchartdepiotatheaverage daily deadlineratesfor th e variousartillery weaponsof II FFORCEV Artillery duringthiareporting period:W E A P O N N O V E M B E R DEcaoai J AN UAR Y M 1 0 7175BUP) # loji 7 *M10?O^amP ) 18 ^ % *M1108P ) 1 9 5 * # #H114A155* ) .- % 10 *a.h*deadline tteforthe 1 1 1 0 7ia considered tobewithin tolerable limitsuring Decemberseveralweaponswere dead-linedfor shortperiodsdu e ton umeroustraversing and elevating finaldrivefairjKea*b .h*nigh u r i a d l i K eratefortheM109 howitser inthemonth of Hovev^r isattributed to onebattery whichreturned to O P C ' Q NII19BCBY Artilleryd t e s raA day attachmenttoa major maneuver unit.

ifCONFIDENTIAL


23/48

CONFIDENTIALDuring those 51 da;ys the battery t i red over 12,000 rounda, .wed over;oo milea and displaced 16 times i l l the l a s t 17 daya or i ta attaehllent.

e. The daily deadline ra te tor the M110 duri.Dg thia re -porting period remained a t about 1 .1 weapons per d q . DuriDg BoYeabern l"FFRCEV Artil lery had eight weapons vhile in Deoeaber and January 6ixteen veapona were eansidered. The higher ra te in Novellber ia thereforeattributable to a lover density.d. The I I FFORCEV Art i l lery 's f i r s t 155ma towed battal ion became operational on 27 Deceaber. Therefore the deadline rate

~ o r the M114A1. for that JaOnth represents only a tour d ~ period. Theh 1 4 : ~ deadline ra te far January vas caused by spindle and spindle plugfai lures, recoil seals 8.IId fir ing jaeka. These veapooa were issued tothis ~ t t a l i o n directly trom depot a t te r an extended period ot storage.I t is possible that this storage led to the high deadline ra te . Repairparts the M114A1 ware rapidly obtained, boveve:t:, and the deadlineproblem an the weapon proved to be only a temporai'y one.

i3. (c ) Communieationa.

,,

e. . The I I HURCEV Artillery CoiiiiDUDioationa Section continued i ta mission of supplying units with required VHP, :!M aDd lM coJRUDioationa. VHF coutinues to be the moat important oollllUJlioaticma l iwtbetween th is and subordinate units aa well aa to ARVH headquarters locatedin I I I CTZ. This ooarie of c:>mmunication baa proven to be the 110st depend&.ble Hht l l i n ~ . t L ~ : ccmmnal:::;il. ion 1:; required. All C(ilDYillini.:lition ie util izedfor the t r a n s : n i s ~ i o n of IDOst clasr:Jitied inforaation betveen this headquarters and the 23d and 54th Artil lery Groups. PM communication i s u a ~ pr i -

~ ~ & r i l y aa back-up since VHF haa proven to be highly re l iable .b. Communications security and eoonom;y of oola'Uil!eationsresouroea were stressed during th i s period. To economize on oounieat ions resources, elec tr ica l transmieaiona were held to the il!SWWI during the period and brevity ot uaeftgea wae stressed.o . Direct maintenanoe support for the AB/GRC-46 radioequiJDtWlt i.mproTed conaidel.'ably during t b ~ , a reporting period. The deadl ine ra te had been averagiDg betveen 305' end 3 ~ vaekl7. Reomtly th iadeadline rate haa Bhovn a gradual iaprovelleDt. .A.s this reportinc period

closes, the deadline rate i s approxia&tely 1 ~ , ~ . ~ ~ . . c e s e n t i . D g the lowestdeadline ra te achieved at this head.qu&rtera 1n the past eight .ontha.d. During this report!.DB period, approxiMtely thr&ethoumand doO\liHnts (SECRE'l', CONJ'IDEBTIAL, JOR OPPICIAL USE ORY and

16

CONFIDENTIAL


24/48

CQNFttNTIAlu OAS S IF I H> )wereprocessedby this hnadquartare 1MessageCenter.h i srepree e ntcan increase of2%ove r th en u mb e r o f meeeageeprocesseddur-ing th eprecedingthree month period.h e i n c r e aseis attributed prima-rilytoth e addition of ecveral n ow mittoHF1DRCKV Artillery and toth oincreasedtonpoofcombatoperation Section XI,Part1-Obeervation/Lceeons Learned.

MeteorologicalSuppliesItemiupplyof apareparti an dexpendables for meteorologicalsections,Discuoalonih eapplysituation in th earea ofartillery meteorologl-oalequipmentia n ow very goodinth eZUCorpsareaoweverit h aerequiredth ee upplyayaten fron 60to9 0 daystocatch u ptothen e e d o f theInoreaaing nu m b er of neteorological aeotiona deployed in theCorpaZonenth ointerim perioda alightahortage of bothelectronicrepairpertand expendableswaaexperiencedtemssuchaadriven o-tore,ecaanerpart,aolaynaand drivebeltsw er e noatdifficult to ob-tain.Obeorvatlonteteorologicalsectionsd e p l o y i n g toRVHshouldInsurethatth e section 1 eauthorisedstockageof aparepartsiacompletebefore de-parting OOVUS.he authoriiadatockage ia normallysufficienttocarryth e section through the60-90 dayperiodrequired b y th esupplysystemtooat oh u p t o the section's ne eds.

F M FrequencieeItemivailability of F M fteque ncieewithin Hie IIICorpaTacticalZone.Discussion ;lmostall H ifreque nciesareIssuedonasharedbasiswithinth eIII Corpa TacticalZone.h isisd u e totheshortsgeof FM freque nciesavailabletoth e USinthiszone.smany aasevenor eightu n i t s ' some-timesshareth e same frequencyresultingin a greatdealofinterference.By thorough coordinationitia often possibletoreducetheproblem bytradingassignedfreque ncieswith units operating outsidetransmittingrange.ocaaionally unite canreduceinterference b y u si n g alternatefrequencies.noaaeaw h e r esharing of freque nciescannot beavoided,atriotradiodisciplineisessential.Leeaon Learnedty tradingassigned frequenciesan dusing assignedalter-natefrequenoieo,th esnarl wg ofFM-frequenciesb y severalunitecan beminimised.noaaea w her eanaring offreque nciescannotb eavoided,in-terferenoecan b e heldwithin acceptablelimitsb y practicingstrictradio discipline.

17

CONFIDENTIAL


25/48

SECRETSe c t i o nn9a a r t ReocmmaniUt lone

A (A ) f c T - 8nstallationKita Installationkitso rh eK Y 8crabbierdev i o edes i gnedo r u sew i t hh eA N A R C - 1 2ad i o h a r en o teens s u s dothisrsubord ina t eartilleryun i t e R e qu i s i t i o n avebeenubn i t t edandva l i da t ed bu tt h e r ea r enonstallationkiten - c o u n t r y T h eu aeofh eK M would g r e a t l y i n c r e a s eth epeedw i t h whicht a r g e t i n g d a t aoou ldberoceaaeds i n c en f o r m a t i o nupo andi n c l u d in gS B C R B Fou lderansm i t t eduti-lisingIM oommunlce t i ona

>o

Thatthe installation kite for theCf-8scraabler device be aade avail-able to unite in Vietnam aa a natterof priorityB S )o u n t e mortar Radar SetaI n SectionI ,paragraph 6 ,the n e e dfor3 7c ou n t e mortar radardetaohaentawasexplainedh esedetachments werepreviously approvedand included inthe U 8 A B R T Troop Programbut have recentlybeen deletedbecauseofthe troopceiling imposed onmilitarypersonnelin SVIt o t a lof333personnelare required for these detaehaenta

RBCOmEgDATIOH iThatif thecurrentreview of the overallforcestructureshoulddevelopadditionalspecss,a high priority shouldbe given to reinstating therequired3 7oountermortar radar detachmentsinto th etroop program

C S )ircraftforArtllliuy Units*In SectionI paragraph 4 thecriticaln e e d for additionalaircraft for II IfCRCaT Artillery was cited.he fullpotential of theartillery in IIICTZ will not be realised untiladequateaircraftsupportisprovided

That,aaa matter of high priority,allreasonableefforts be made toprovide II n R C S Y Artillery withaircrafton the following basis:( 1 )force Artillery Headquarterasour UH-11 a ,three

0-1'e.

1 8

SECRET


26/48

SECRETu S-6. (2)x 0 1 9H e adqu arters!h r e e0 -1 a ,twoO B - 1 3 ' sid

(3)rtil l ery Bettal ioniMO0 - 1 ' aa n do n e C H-1}.D.U)c h o o l i n g o f l o w l y -Commission e d Offloors.

I n S ection II,Faxt2 fPar ag r aph A o fth el a s tOperation!R e p o r titwa sr e o o a n e n d e dthat a l ln e w l y - c o m m i s s i o n e dofficer,w i t ht h ee xception ofO C S graduates,atte n dab asic fiel dartil l eryco ur s epr io rtoassignme n ttofie l da r t i l l e r yu ni t s *h isrecomme n dation l areiteratedan dlaconsideredso r e Importanti n v i e w o f n e w f i e l dartil-l e r y tech n iqu e eb e i n g d e v i s e dinVietnam.naddition t oae h ool ing inartil l ery procedu recoamon t oconve n tional warfare,itlaimportantthattech n iqu e ep e c u l i a rtoc o u n t e r g u e r r i l l a warfareb e taught.

T h a tprocedu re su n i q u e to o rh a b i t u a l l y practicedinV i e t n a m b e stressedinth eA r t i l l e r yOfficers B a s i c Co ur s e,aparticularth em e t h o dofe mpl oyme n to fth e64OO milfiri**chertan dallatte n dantF D C / ' * 3pn-ced ur eeshou l db e pre e e n te daatheu s u alsitu ationin g u n n e r ycourses.K.U)5 5 c m H o w i t z e r f i r i n g Pdftatalg.

I n V i e t n a m a64OOm ilcapab il ity mu stb e m a i n t a i n e db y th ea r t i l l e r ya talltimes.u etot h ew e i g h tofth e1 5 3 m mt o w e dho w i t zer ,prob l emsh a r e sometimesb e e n e x p e r i e n c e dinm e e t i n g time l ysu pportre -q ui r em ent s o at1 3 5 a mt o w edu n i t eh a v e d e v i s e da firing pedestal w h i c hpernits s a p i ds h i f t i n gofth ep i e c e i na n y direction an dh e n c e m ak ens a n i e rth e t a sko f d e l l Y e x i i r f ? tisWK-fire.firing rudestpidewl ww a sdepicted in t h e J a n u a r y1967issu e of A r t i l l e r yT r e n d s .h e u s eof th ef i r i n gpedestal h a sincreasedth eoveralleffective n e ssofthe1 5 5 m m t o w e du n i t ss i g ni fi ca nt l y .H E O O M W a P A T I O I :T h a t at ypef i r i n gped es t a lforth e1 5 5 m mh o w i t z e rbed e v i s e dan dissu e dt o all155mmh o w i t z e r b attal ions b e f o r ed e p l o y m e n tfr o m C 0 M StoRVN.u n i t *s h o u l db e p e r m i t t e ds u f f i c i e n ttime totraina d e q u a t e l yo n u s i n gt h e device.

?U)a i n t e n a n c eofDistance M e a s u r i n g E q u i p m e n tMC - 8 .T h ee l ectronicdistance M e a s u r i n gEq ui pm ent(DME)R: - 8 isau thorised fo rissu ee n th e b a 9 i sof si x instru me n tsp e r h e a d q u a r te r s

19

SECRET


27/48

U N C L A S S I F I E D and h eadquarters battery ofth e division artillericeandUMtargetacquisition battalion(TAB).n ly al n l a u a operatormaintenanceisauthorisedfox thmln st rua uats.nstruments with seriousdeflclen-olesmustb etaanM1Bfor repair to directsupportmaintenance facui-ties.t hu b oon foundthatIn-country dlxoet supportand dopotsain-tonanoo f a o U i t l o a do n ot have thocapabilitytorepair th o moraaoriouafalluroa thataayoccur l a thin equipment.h oalternative 1Bth o paathaa b oon evacuation o u t o fcountry to Okinawa or CORDS,bu tth o loottlaeiBtolTad h aa ariod from threeto elevennontha u n t i lth o equip-aentisreturned.t h aa alsob e e n foundthatthetelluroBster,aaiailar t y po o f electronic D MBissued to a T A B u n i t1Bl i e u o f four MC-8's,appearstobo aorerugged an d l e s sprone to serious failuresIn o r d e rtosolvethisproblem the following stepsshould betaken:

1 h e directsupport an d depotaalntenance facilities incountryshould b eexpandedto includethe capability fo r repairofelectronic2MB interse oftrainedpersonnel,adequate repair parts tad testequip-Bent*2 .floatshouldbeestablishedthatw o u l d permitiSBsdiate ex-change of defectiveinstruments*n th e interim,a rapidmethodofevaouatiun should b o established directly tothefactory or maintenancefacility in OQMUSthath aa th ecapabilityto repairthoseinstruaentain a timely Banner3 onsiderationshould b o g i v e nto replacemento f th o MC-8 withthetelluroBeter ama temporary solution.G.V)l e e d for Heliotrope.

T h e h eliotrope isa airrordeviceu s e d by topographic e n g i n e e rcompanies witha third-orderaccuracy capabilityto observeangular Mea-surementsover l o n g distances b y reflecting brilliantflashes ofsun-light from a distantstation.h ecommonexperienceof artillery fourth-ordersurvey units inI IICTZ to date h asbeentoBake observationsinexcess of fiftee n kiloaetera,thelimitof th eopticalpower oftheirorganicangle-measuring T 2 Theodolitesw h e nsightingn aa distantsta-tion aarked b y a tripod-supportedcolored panel.rtillerysurvey unitsare n otauthorisedth e h eliotropeI ntheir TOB.owever,field expe-dientheliotropeshave b e e n fabricated from 9*7inch shaving airrorswith greateffectiveness.nglo Bssaureaentahave b e e n aadeover dis-tances u p toseventy k U o a s t e r sby this Beans.

2 0

U N C L A S S I F I E D


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*3 O N H O E N T l A l

T h o h eliotrop!should b o an it ofissue toartillerysurve y unitslaVi et na mon thobullof thro*instrumentspe rsurvey section.H.u)u r v s o r i n s T Towers*Ina groatportionof I I I CTZth o terrainla flat an d linos ofsighte reinterruptedb y densetropical vegetation.eitherfourth-orderartillerysurve y units n o rth othird-ordertopographicrtf~t compan y are authorisedthoT ow e r ErectionSet,Topographic,a survey-ing tower one h u n dr e dthree foothi g h w h ic h would oonsidorsbly e n hancetheircapability to extendsurve y controlin d elt a an d plainterrain.

T h oTower rection S ot 9Topographic should boissuedtoartillerysurve ysections of divisionartillery an d targetacquisitionbattalion h e ad -quarter batteriesa n d to th otopographice ngine ercompany onthebasisof throetowerspe rsection.

I .C )imitations ofthe K42rwin40T ho terrain inIIIGTZ andthetechniquesof mane uver employedin Vietnamcreateau n i q u e l ylimiting e nvironmentfor th e utilization ofth e M42.ecauseof th o heavyjungle canopy andundergrowthinma n y partsofinCTZ 9n oto nl y th o movementbu tth efiringcapability ofth e H42isseriouslyimpaired.incetho r o u n demployed1 - . p t J r . ld c t s i w t l i f c i tcannot b o firedthrough foliagedoss totho gu n without extremeczewsafetyhazard,an d cannot h av e substantialeffect on an y targetscree n edbyfoliage.h enclearfields offireareavailable,supportedtacticalcommanders aresometimesreluctanttoallowtheM42tofire becauseth*convergentschemesof maneuver habituallypracticedin Vietnam,couple!with the flattrajectory an dlo ng rangeo f th oM42,willoftenplacefriendly troopsinth ofield offire.

HBCOtMEBDiTIOgiThat a 40amro u n d bedeveloped fort u a 4 4 2 ' h i o hiscapable ofpenetratingdense foliage*n t h o absenceof developmentof such a round,seriousconsiderationmustbo giventothe limitationsofthe M42priortofur-ther deployment of th e weapon in Vietnam*

nCONFIDENTIAL

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1 1FFORCEVKegt f S -Z DEPARTMENT OF THE A R M Y Headquarters,IFieldForceVietnamAPOSanFrancisco 96266

C H A N G E 0J a n u a r yJ& fREGULATIONN U M B E R385-2

SAFETYSAFEGUARDINGAIRCRAFTR O M R ULLKRYFlftESRegulationNumber85-2.hisheadquarter,ated8November9o,ischangedasollows:*5 . PROCEDURES:

a. Artillery.(5 ) (Added) TofurtherprotectaircraftinheB 1 E N H O An dTANS O NN H U T areasromriendlyartilleryfire,heollowingaircorridorsherebyestablished:Leg:

(a)oordinates: TheareaboundedbyXT880150.XT880110, YT100150, YT100110, YT200167,ndYT200093.(b )estriction: D O N G N A ISensitiveAreaW C C willcoordinateallartilleryfirewithineg oftheaircorridorwithAirTrafficControl, BIENH O AAirBase. Artilleryunitsdesiringofirento,through,routofleg tanymaximumordinatewillfirstobtainclear-anceoireromhe O N GN A ISensitiveArea W C C .

Leg2 : (a )oordinates: TheareaboundedbyYT200167,YT200093, YT460167,ndYT460093.(b )estriction: Artilleryfiresnotestricted

ineg oftheaircorridorwhenthemaximumordinateoftherajectory

2 C G NO ..^iLfZaSrid4B W H *S" ' fxt


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C h?,e g o3tfV2,IT O R C E V A FOa nFranziceo 06?f/>,td0a nftCont)18below*evenhoismH7000)ent, A Martilleryredr H o , *h t o i#;h .oru tteg! , w#S maximumordinatefevenh em nan*!?#W > G )v.t.lorabovewithinhecorridorwillbeeportedtoa isControlIANS O N N H U ' IAirB a s t *yheastestmeansavailableprioroir;nej . s ing.*.eprescribedo r m a ? ,rara6k, below.

3f

Leg * : (a ) Coordinates: TVre*,boundedn.h eo u f h w e i n ibyhe M Dboundaryandonthenorthwest, nor'.hi'a!. avJ -ovlheas'ainejoiningXTr f7C4S, YT108109, YT27?09 ar YT'V? :'C '2'l. R e striction: Same aseg

F O RTHECOMMANDER:

OFFICIAL. JAMESH DYSONColonel, C S ChieffSraif

Colonel, A G C AdjutantGeneralDISTRIBUTION:6 COMUSMACV15CG, 7thAirorce10 G ,USARV15 G ,FFORCEV25CG, 1stn fDiv25 G , 9thInfDiv25 G , 25thInfDiv35 G , 1stAvnBde15CG, 173dAbnBde6 Crhdr, 1ATF25 O ,rdBde,thInfDiv25 O , 12thAvnG p 15 CO,3dArtyG p

1


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> .SA,VCorps/ CO,


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UFFORCEVReg385-2C-l

4*1 EPARTMENTOFTHEARMY&&/cPTCt**p' eadquarters,IFieldForceVietnamAPOSanFrancisco 96266

CHANGEREGULATIONNUMBER385-2 9December 966

SAFETYSAFEGUARDINGAIRCRAFTFROMARTILLERYFIRESRegulationNumber385-2,hisheadquarters,ated 8November1966,ischangedasollows:

5. PROCEDURESa. Artillery.

(4 ) (Added) FiresoriginatinginanAWCCareaofrespon-sibilitywhichpasshroughormpactnanotherAWCCareaofresponsi-bilitywill'bebroadcastbyallArtilleryWarningControlCentersconcerned.ItisheresponsibilityoftheAWCCnwhoseareahefiresoriginateoprovideadvisoriesothoseArtilleryWarningControlCentersaffectedsothattheymayincludehenformationintheiradvisoriesoaircraft. Artil-leryinformationwillbepassedinaccordancewiththeformatshownnpara5a(1),bove.

6. RESPONSIBILITIES:j. (Deleted)

Inclosure ,IFFORCEVReg385-2Change): ExtendthewesternboundaryoftheXUANLOCAWCCareaofresponsibilityfurtherwesttoainebetweenYT3209andYS3276.

31


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3*ChangeRegNo385-2,Q, FFORCEV,POSanFrancisco 96266,

(Cont)FORTHECOMMANDER:

OFFICIAL: AMESH.YSONColonel,SChiefofStaff

Colonel,AGCAdjutantGeneral

DISTRIBUTION:6-COMUSMACV15CG,thAirForce10-CG,SARV15-CG,FFORCEV25N-CG, lstlnfDiv2 5CG,5thInfDiv35-CG, 1stAvnBde15CG, 173dAbnBde6-Cmdr, 1ATF25CO,rdBde,thInfDiv2 5CO, 12thAvnGp15CO, 23dArtyGp15CO, 54thArtyGp15CO, 11thACR25DSA,ICorps5-SA,VCorps2-CO, 53dSigBn10-CO,15thAirCommandoWing5CO, 125thAirTrafficCompany

HFFORCEV1 Ck > 2-Engr2G2 2-Sig6-G3 2-Surg2-G4 4-AvnDet(Prov)2-G5 30-Arty3-A(


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^ F O R C E V RegN o385-2DEPARTMENTO FT H E R M Y HeadquartersI IFieldForceVietnamA P O SanFrancisco 96266

R E G U L A T I O N 8November9 6 6 NUMBER385-2SAFETY

SAFEGUARDING AIRCRAFTFROMARTILLERYFIRES

1.EFERENCE:a.ecretmessage,QUSMACV,3604,40859ZFeb66,subject: SafeguardingAircraftfromHeavyArtilleryFiresU). b.nclassifiedmessage,QUSMACV,3921,20638ZOct66,subject: SafeguardingAircraftfromArtilleryFire.

2 .URPOSE: ThisdirectiveestablishesprocedurestobeollowedbyelementsofthiscommandtominimizethehazardtoaircraftfromfriendlyartilleryinIIICorpsTacticalZone.

3.ENERAL:a.heobjectiveoftheproceduresprescribedhereinistoprovideaviatorswithimmediate,ccurateinformationconcerningallartilleryfiringwhichmightendangeraircraft.b.orpurposesofthisdirective,heterm"Artillery"ncludesmortars.c.heprocedures,requenciesandcallsignsprescribedbythisdirectiveareunclassified.

*ThisegulationsupersedesIFFORCEVReg385-2, 23July66.

3J


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yuRegN o385-2,H Q I IF F O R C E VA P O SanFrancisco 96266,S Nor66C o n t )

4.O N C E P T ; ThisdirectiveestablishesArtilleryW a r n i n gControlCentersA W C C )whichaircraftmaycontactforcurrentinformationregard-ingartilleryfires. T h eA W C C arelocatedatfrequentlyvisitedplacesintheI I ICorpsTacticalZ o n einC T Z )a n d maintaind a t o onartle.firingofUS ,R V N ,n dF W M A F units. ArtilleryunitswillnotifytheappropriateA W C C ofanyfiresaffectingmatagency'sareaofresponsi-bilityusingproceduresprescribedbythisdirective.5.R O C E D U R E S :

a. Artillery.(1 )Artilleryinformationwillbereportedt o theappro-priateA W C C asoonaspracticable. ArtilleryW a r n i n gControlCenters

establishedbymajorubordinateunitswillserveasourcesofUS ,R V N , a n dF W M A Fartilleryinformationforpecificareasofresponsibility(Inclosure)and/orareasofoperationsA O ) . ArtilleryunitswillreportallartilleryfiringstotheappropriateA W C C inthefollowingformat:" C O R S A I R O N T R O L Artilleryfiringfromvicinity(nearestt o w n )o n azimuth(azimuthoffireindegrees)maximumordinatefeet. Ranget o nearestmile).,

T h eaboveinformationwillnotbepassedinthecleartot h eWC C inexcessoffifteenminutespriortoactualfiring.(2 )hisprocedurewillpermittheagenciestorouteair-craft,h e n necessary,roundartilleryfiresoccurringinsidetheagency'sareaofresponsibility. W h e napilotdeclaresa n emergencyflightcondi-tion(i.e. " M e d Evac", " M a y D a y " ,tc.)a n d requestsuspensionoffires,t h eW C C willdirectsuspensionofthosefiresinterferingwiththeflight.(3)obetterprovidepromptartilleryfiringadvisoriesa n drelieveadiotrafficcongestionattheprimaryA W C C ,ommanders,iftheydesire,mayestablishA W C Cubcenterswithint h eareaofrespon-sibilityoft h eprimaryA W C C . T h eubcenterswillbroadcastadvisories

utilizingt h ecalligna n d frequencyusedbytheprimaryA W C C . S u b - centerswillbefurtherdentifiedbythelocationinwhichtheyarestablished,

(?)Sva>. & ****.


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H R e gN o385-2,Q I IF O R C E V P O S a nFrancisco 96266,8N o v6 6C o n t )(i.e.quareLobster,O A UH A ) ,

b. Aviation.(1 )h eArtilleryW a r n i n gControlCentersA W C C )areestablishedforuseby aircrafttoobtaininformationofartilleryfiringsint h eI IC T Z affectingtheirflightplans. Aircraftoperatinginth e vicinityofa n y oneoft h eW C C willcontactito n t h edesignatedunclass-ifiedfrequencyforcurrentartilleryinformationinaccordancew i t h t h eformath o w n inparagraph5a(l),bove.(2 )h eaviatornteringa n A W C C areaofresponsibilitywillrequestinformationofartilleryfiringa n d makek n o w nhisinten-tiont o operateint h evicinityofapecificA W C C . U p o nreceivingt h e

pilot'sequest,h eWC C will,fnecessary,outethepilota r o u n d a n y artilleryfiresaffectinghislight. S h o u l dthepilotdeclarea nemer-gencyflightcondition,her o u n dtationwill,nrequest,a k eactiont ouspendthosefiresinterferingwiththeflight.(3 )apitalCenterwillbeprovidedwithA W C C callignsa n d frequencies,n daviatorsmaycontactt h a tagencyforuchinforma-tion,fnecessary.

6 . R E S P O N S I B I L I T I E S : a.h estUS InfantryDivisionwillestablishArtilleryW a r n -

ingControlCentersatFH UL O I ,H U O C V I N H ,n dL A IK H E . T h e A W C C willestablishcommunicationswithUS a n dF W M A Fartillerya n d willcoordinatewithA R V N artilleryinordertoprovideasmuchartil-leryfiringinformationaspossiblewithintheirareasofresponsibility.T h eareasofresponsibility,requencies,n dcallignsforth estUS I n f a n t r yDivision1 sW C C areetforthinInclosure.b.h edBrigade,t h USInfantryDivision,willestablisha n ArtilleryW a r n i n gControlCenteratB E A R A T . T h eWC C willstab-lishcommunicationswithUS a n dW M A Fartillerya n d willcoordinatew i t h A R V N artilleryinordert o provideasmuchartilleryfiringinforma-tionaspossiblewithinitsareaofresponsibility. T h eareaofresponsi-bility,requency,n dcallignfort h eBrigade'sW C C isetforthinInclosure.

r


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# RegN o385-2.Q I IF F O R C E V P O S a nFrancisco 9 62 S 6 ,8O T 6C o n t )g. Eachcommanderassigneda n A O forapecificoperationwilldesignatea n agencyorelementofhiscommandtoreceiveeportsofartilleryfiringsintheA O a n d providenotificationt o pilotsutilizingtheappropriatefrequencya n d callsignofhisprimaryareaofartillery

warningresponsibility.h . Incomingunitsassigneda A O R orA O willestablishanA W C C assoonaspracticabletoprovidepertinentinformationaspre-scribedbythisregulation. NewA W C C ,llchangesincallsignsand/orfrequencies,n d a n y otherimportantinformationpertinenttoA W C C willbeforwardedtothisheadquarters,T T N : FSCE,ythemostex-peditiousmeans. FSCE,hisheadquarters,willforwardchangesto2 th A vn G pwhichwillpublisha n d forwardN O T A M StoallaviationunitsinI I IC T Z aswellasthoseagencieswhichhavean e e d tok n o w "asdeter-minedbytheAviationOfficer,IFFORCEV.i. Subordinatecommanderswillthoroughlybrieftheirpilotso nt h eprovisionsetforthinthisdirectiveinordertominimizethehazardtoaircraftfromfriendlyartilleryfires.j i fT n rnirmnirn n li nesTAtTtnrOin n liiiiin i|lgs n lilnforAirForceAircraftwillbeq u i p p e d i l l)TI HFm P o and d i t i o n toM orwillcoordinatewjfbh n l i tlnControlPartyatsuchiiiiInI l l s\\nsiiil1hi i lnhlhywarningsareavailabletoUSAFair-&k . A n agencyorelementofeachmajorunitheadquarterswill

reporttotheControla n d ReportingCenterC R C ) ( P A R I SO N T R O L )allpreplanned8 "a n d175mmfiresofartilleryunitsphysicallylocatedintheir A O R sorAOs. I IF F O R C E VArtillerywillreportthoseheavyartillerywarningsconnectedwithH &Iprogramscheduledbythisheadquarters. T h ereportwillincludetheeffectivetimes,ocationsoffiringunits,argetlocations,n d maximumordinates. Allagencieswillusethe:250,0 0 0UT M gridasatandardformatw h e n forwardingheavyartilleryfirechedulestoA R I S C O N T R O L . Sampleformatforreportingheavyartilleryfiresfollows:57


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ffegN o385-2,Q I IF F O R C E VA P O S a nFrancisco 96266,8N o v6C o n t )"a . Effective6 0 0to7 0 0Local

b.romXT 170 0toXT1800c.aximumordinate15,000Feet"F S C E thisheadquarters,willreceivefromubordinateunitsn d trans-mitheavyartillerywarningreportsforalltargetsofa nimmediatenaturew h e n directcommunicationsbetweentheunita n dP A R I S C O N T R O Ldoesnotexistoraretemporarilyinoperative. Immediatewarningsarethosewhichresultfromtheappearanceofunexpectedtargets,n d ,such,cannotbeplannedinadvance. Warningsofthisnaturemaynotberans-mittedint h eclearmoret h a n5minutesprioro firing.

FO RH E O M M A N D E R : j O F F I C I A L :A M E S H .Y S O NColonel,S ChiefofStaff

VERNONR.I D E R Colonel,G C A d j u t a n tGeneral1nclasD I S T R I B U T I O N :

6 O M U S M A C V 15 G ,t h AirForce10 G , U S A R V 15 G ,F F O R C E V 2 5 G , 1stI n fD iv 2 5 G , 2 5 t h I n fD iv IS


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** RegN o385-2,Q UF F O R C E VA P O S a nFrancisco 96266,8N o v6 6C o n t )35 G , 1stA vnB d e 15 G , 173d A bnB d e 6 Cmdr, 1ATF2 5 O ,rdBde,t h I n fDiv2 5 O , 12 thA vn G p 15 O ,3d ArtyG p 15 O ,4 t h ArtyG p 15 O , llthACR2 5 S A ,ICorps5 S A ,VCorps2 O ,3d SigB n 10CO, 31 5Air o m m a n d oW ing 5 O , 125 t h AirTraffic o m p a n y

I IF F O R C E V 1 G S 2 2 6 G32 G4 2 G53 G 2 Engr2Sig2 S u r g 4 vnDet(Prov)30 Arty

37


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A T O B C - H 14Feb67)studS U B J E C T S OperationalBeportorQuarterlyPeriodE n d i n g1anuar/1 9 6 7 tBtportaControly m b o lSFQH-65SiQ IIFieldbreeV i e t n a m ,R )a nFrancisco6 2 6 6 7APR18"T O i AssistantChiefofStafforForce e v e l o p m e n t ,eptofheAmy,W a s h i n g t o n ,.C .03101 T heOperationalisport-Lessons e a r n e dorBeriodAiding31anuar/9 6 7ubmittedb/UFieldForceVie t na mArtilleryscomprehensive,wellprepareda n dcontainsvaluableessons;anyofw h i c hareapplicablehroughoutheheater2, Thisheadquartershashoroughlyeviewedubjecteportn d concurswithheo m m e n t sn dr e c o m m e n d a t i o n scontainedherein.F O BH EO M & N D H R s

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field force vietnam 31 jan 1967.pdf

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