Military Advisory Command "MAC V"

[Anonymous Vet]

[David Ickowski]

War said:

I was with MACV in "68"&"69". In CHO-LON.

[Maryann Libbey SSGT Libbeyu]

To All MACV Advisors - God Bless You. You are all very special men who served our Country. I'd like to know more about My Father was an MACV Advisor (KIA 10/12/67) Long An, Vietnam and I admire all of you. Thank you. If you can help me get any information on this day & this branch of the service please contact me at [e-mail]. Thank you
Maryann Libbey, Prooud Daughter of Ssgt. Malcolm Pierce Libbey

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www.virtualwall.org/dl/LibbeyMP01c.jpg [/img]

[timelegend]

Dennis Michael Sheppard
292nd Finance Section
MACV
IV Corps
Vinh Long Airfield
12/69-12/70

Served with MACV at Vinh Long Airfield in IV Corps.

[Donald L Bocik]

I served at a Sub Sector of Vinh Long Advisory Team # 52.
I was stationed at Tam Binh south of Vinh Long. I was there July 65 thru August 66. I was the RTO. My team mates were Captain Bamberg, Lt. Knight, Sgt Hampton, and a medic by the last name of Ritter.

Donb125Sbcglobal.net

[Anonymous Vet]

Units_Served1 = MACV Advisory Team 89 1967-1969
Veterans_Last_Name = Menke
Veterans_First_Name = Thomas
Home_State_and_Zip = NY 14586
Reply_Email = [e-mail]

[Anonymous Vet]

My name is Scott Cameron and I served with MACV Advisory Team 60, attached to the 9th ARVN Div., 16th Reg. from 28Aug68 to 11Feb69, when I was wounded coming into a hot LZ on a slick. An AK round came up through the floor and hit me in the spine and stopped in my left lung. My AO was out of Sadec, RVN, in the devils Triangle. Sadec-Vinh Long_Can Tho. Looking for anyone who was there. I was wounded at 2:03 PM on 11 Feb 69. Spent 2 years in the hospital now and 46 surgeries later. Still walking and grinning, but it looks like the Hep C is gonna get me. Take care my friends and would like to hear from anyone who was there. My chopper pilot was killed, and I was the only one in the meat wagon when he expired. I want to know his name. It'll give me some peace with my PTSD. We were medivaced to the 29th Evac Hospital in Vinh Long. Anyone who was a corpman on the intensive care ward there I'd like to talk to. I was there from 11Feb69 to 5Apr69. Hope to hear from anyone. [e-mail]

[Anonymous Vet]

Units_Served1 = MACV
Vietnam - 1967
Veterans_Last_Name = Libbey
Veterans_First_Name = Malcolm
Home_State_and_Zip = 19145
Reply_Email = [e-mail]

[Anonymous Vet]

During the Vietnam war and in its legacy, perhaps no group of men has created more interest or exhibited more heroism than the Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airmen of the Studies and Observation Group. Operating in secrecy and far away from the support of the vast military machine, they were the eyes, ears and the tip of the sword.

MACV-SOG was the joint service high command unconventional-warfare task force engaged in highly classified clandestine operations throughout Southeast Asia. It was given the title "Studies & Observation Group" as a cover. The joint staff was allegedly performing an analysis of the lessons learned to that point in the Vietnam War, but it was actually a special operations group with distinct command decision authority.

In 1958 the South Vietnamese government created a secret special service directly under their president, which was re-designated the Vietnamese Special Forces Command in 1963. Special operations were conducted by this branch. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) supported and financed the operations. In April 1964 the government of South Vietnam created the Special Exploitation Service to take over these operations, whereupon MACV-SOG was established to assume the CIA's job of assisting, advising and supporting the new organization in the conduct of highly classified sabotage and psychological and special operations in North and South Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and southern China. MACV-SOG and the Special Exploitation Service (SES) were activated simultaneously. In September 1967 the South Vietnamese renamed the SES the Strategic Technical Directorate. With the draw down in U.S. personnel and operations, MACV-SOG was deactivated on 30 April 1972 and the Strategic Technical Directorate Assistance Team 158 was activated 1 May 1972 to take its place. This team was subsequently deactivated on 12 March 1973, and no other U.S. headquarters took its place.

Originally headquartered in Cholon, it moved to Saigon in '1966. However, its air assets (Air Studies Group) were based at Nha Trang and its navy assets (Maritime Studies Group) were based at DaNang with its original Forward Operations Base (FOB 1). The Ground Studies Group launch sites were initially located at Hue-Phu Bai, Khe Sanh, Kham Duc and near Kontum. The MACV-SOG training center and airborne operations group were at Long Thanh. A Psychological Studies Group was located in Saigon with antenna stations at Hue and Tay Ninh.

MACV-SOG was assigned about 2,000 Americans, mostly U.S. Special Forces, and over 8,009 highly trained indigenous troops. It had its own air force (90th Special Operations Wing) comprised of a squadron of U.S. Air Force UH-IF "Green Hornet" helicopters, a squadron of U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft, a covert C-123 aircraft squadron piloted and manned by Nationalist Chinese, as well as the South Vietnamese 219th "Kingbees" H-34 helicopter squadron. The U.S. Navy resources included SEAL's, Vietnamese Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT) and fast patrol boats. Ground forces included army military intelligence, psychological operations and some 76 ground RT mobile-launch teams, later MACV-SOG reorganized its ground strike elements into three field commands; Command and Control South, Central and North (CCS, CCC and CCN).

MACV-SOG had five primary responsibilities and the capability to undertake additional special missions as required. Primary responsibilities included: (1) Cross-border operations regularly conducted to disrupt the VC, Khmer Rouge, Pathet Lao and NVA in their own territories; (2) Keeping track of all imprisoned and missing Americans and conducting raids to assist and free them as part of the Escape and Evasion (E & E) mission for all captured U.S. personnel and downed airmen; (3) Training and dispatching agents into North Vietnam to run resistance movement operations; (4) "Black" psychological operations, such as establishing false (notional} NVA broadcasting stations inside North Vietnam; (4) "Gray" psychological operations as typified by the Hue- Phu Bai propaganda transmitter. MACV-SOG was also entrusted with specific tasks such as kidnapping, assassination, insertion of rigged mortar rounds into the enemy ammunition supply system (which were set to explode and destroy their crews upon use) and retrieval of sensitive documents and equipment if lost or captured through enemy action. MACV-SOG was often able to use the intelligence it gathered for its own internal purposes as well as for high command special activities.

Command and Control North (CCN) was formed by MACV-SOG in late 1967 as an expansion of its Da Nang Forward Operations Base (FOB) which included launch sites established as early as 1964 at Hue-Phu Bai, Khe Sanh and Kham Duc, CCN, always the largest of the three MACV-SOG field commands, was commanded by a lieutenant colonel. It was assigned conduct of classified special unconventional warfare missions into Laos and North Vietnam.

CCN was organized along the lines of CCC and was composed of Spike recon teams (RT), Hatchet forces and lettered SLAM companies. Missions into North Vietnam were initiated as early 1 February 1964 under OPLAN 34A. Operations into Laos commenced in September 1965 as part of Operation SHINING BRASS, renamed PRAIRIE FIRE in 1968. By this time MACV-SOG had at its disposal two battalions of American-led Nung tribesmen as reaction forces capable of performing large combat missions.

CCN often operated in conjunction with CIA trained Meo tribesmen of Gen. Vang Pao. In 1971 the Laotian operations were given the code name PHU DUNG, and in March of that year MACV-SOG created Task Force I Advisory Element to replace its three field commands. This task force was located at DaNang.

[david s ickowski]