By Bob Hall During the Vietnam War, major units such as infantry battalions regularly compiled ‘lessons learned’ documents critically assessing their operations, noting problems that had arisen and suggesting solutions. These ‘lessons’ documents were widely distributed throughout the Army and provide insights into the tactical successes and failures of the campaign. In April 1971, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Scott, CO 3RAR … Read More
May 1969: The switch to pacification
By Bob Hall In July 1968 the Psyops advisor in Phuoc Tuy Province, Major Desmal C. Smith Jr. was nearing the end of his tenure in the job. He was writing his end-of-tour report giving an overall assessment of progress and recommendations for change and improvement. He argued that the achievement of physical security was the key to improving pacification … Read More
33 PAVN Regiment morale and the ‘red rats of Phuoc Tuy’
By Ernie Chamberlain (This article was first published as Ernie Chamberlain Research Note 25/2018) On 10 September 1969, the 199th US Light Infantry Brigade killed a number of VC in an engagement at YT557333 in southern Long Khánh Province – including the second-in-command of the 1st Battalion 33rd PAVN Regiment named Bùi Đức Nhật. They recovered a 33rd Regiment ‘News … Read More
The Battle of Coral (Sở Hội) 13 May 1968 – the 141st NVA Regiment Account
By Ernie Chamberlain The 141st North Vietnamese Regiment History (1997) [1] relates that: On 12 May, we discovered a battalion of Royal Australian troops had deployed to South Sở Hội (six kilometres north of Tân Uyên), and the Regiment was ordered to launch a night attack. The night was dark, and the regimental commander – Doãn Khiết, together with the … Read More
More About Tet ’68 in Baria
A CORDS survey was conducted in Baria on 15 February 1968 and the interviewers sought people’s views about the events in Baria over the Tet holiday.
1ATF and the Collapse of Viet Cong Power in Phuoc Tuy Province
Employing the discipline of operations research, a recent study shows that contrary to this view, 1ATF dominated the enemy within the task force area of operations.