, , Approved for Release: 2019/04./17 C00758606 vito *I n Oat 11 V 111116, f: .7- ..17" N . RAND APR 1 u ISM Le) /4 V; 714...E. F.,..:.; .43 aATICii *ACTIVITY :::"COMM`ra fl 1Urrt:AL 7.14� ,Itnrr a7 Tim 4I371.1. In.Gt07.7Z Tr,7 .t.Nr_ 'MS 4 MZTZ.L1,:%7NOY. VT1' 1.'aTri,,.*A?:,-2.V C.? r1.7-TACTiWR":"" 649'YTE ACTITC77 ,7i.P177J3.F falAF). COUNTRY : SOUTH VIETNAM -(SVN) NIC REPORT NO : 228/68 ' SUBJECT : Prior Warning of Suspected 3-52 Strike NIC CASE NO : 027/1/68 in KONTUM Province. DATE OF REPORT: 2/3/68' DATE OF INFO : 14-16 January 3.968 NO. OF WGES :2 DATE AND PLACE : 26 February 1968 OW -N) SAIGON, Vietnam REF: None 3.3(h)(2) , t At approximately 1700 hours sometime during the period 14-16 January 1968, Independent Sapper Battalion 406 received warning of an impending 8-52 strike on its base camp located about 3 kilometers south of KON GUN Hamlet (AS 805105), KONTUM Province. The notifiCation was delivered by a messenger from the VC's KONTUM Province Committee. It announced the expected time of the strike and ordered the battalion to move south towards KONTUM City. At 0400 hours the following day, the battalion abandoned its camp leaving, some equipuent behind and departed the area. There was no evidence that such an attack actually took place. (Source believed the warning had been intentional- 34 false in order to move the battalion nearer to its target during the Tet Offensive.) U,S X4V liS'ENEAS.811 (OSA, .1" �-1,43 *SI E;clirtal Registry' No. 19 3' 0 35 I,* �\. ...� ' None A t�e "P '"�`.; ' NOTICE, THIS *ATONAL CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE ,OAIWN At NU ENSE OF THE UNITED STATES WITHIN i:Est, titAhtNti Of THE ESPIONAGE LAWS. TITLE IC S.C. SECTIONS 793 AND 794. N DE FIEVEL147108 OF WHICH in AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON M Tit TRANSNISLI ANY MANNER TIROHIEHTED 8V LAW.. � Abtia Aooroved for Release: 2019/04/17 C00758606 Approved for Release: 2019/04/17 C00758606 NIC REPORT NO : 228/68 Page 2 Series' 117014, Sheet 6638111, Scale 1/50,000, Edition 1. 1. At approximately 1700 hours sometime during the period 14-16 January 1968, Independent Sapper Battalion 406, directly subordinate to the VC's KONTUM Provincial Committee, received warning of an impending B-52 strike on its base camp. At that time, the battalion was located about three kilometers south of the MOntagnard hamlet of KON GUN (AS 805105), KONTUM Province. 2. The notification of the attack was delivered to the battalion commander by a messenger from the KONTUM Provincial Committee (location unknown). It announced the expected time of the air strike on the following day and ordered the battalion to move south towards KONTUM City to a specified location. The journey took one day to complete. (Source had no knowledge of any means by which the VC/NVA obtain- ed information concerning B-52 strikes.) .While many, trenches and foxholes had been prepared in the battalion's base camp areap'they were not considered adequate protection for personnel in the event of a B-52 strike. Members of the battalion had been previously told that if a bomb hit within 10 meters of the trenches and foxholes they were hiding in, they would be killed. At 0400 hours on the following day, Independent Sapper Battalion 406 abandoned its base camp and traveled by foot throughout the day to the new area designated by the KONTUM Provincial Committee. (Exact location unknown.) Members of the battalion had not been ordered to carry all their equipment with them and some cooking utensils and weapons were left behind. Several days later, a few personnel from the battalion returned to the old base camp area to retrieve the equipment which had been left there. There was no evidence that such an attack had actually taken place. Upon returning to the battalion's new base camp, they reported that the area had not yet been bombed. (SOURCE COMMENT: The warning of a B-52 strike had. been false and had been intentionally sent to the battalion in order to have it move nearer to KONTUM City in preparation for its attack there during TET. He based his opinion upon the fact that no one had seen any enemy aircraft flying over their former position during the period immediately prior to the receipt of the warning notification. He was convinced that the KONTUM Province Committee had used this means to move the battalion closer to KONTUM City without having to inform its members of the upcoming attack on the province capital.) CONFIDENTIAL,' KIN ' pproved for Release: 201-9/04/17 C00758606

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PRIOR WARNING OF SUSPECTED B-52 STRIKE IN KONTUM PROVINCE.