RVNAF PERFORMANCE DURING THE VC TET OFFENSIVE

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Tet Declassified
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02874983
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: April 27, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 30, 2019
• Publication Date: February 10, 1968

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SECRET
/0 February 1963
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: RVNAF Perforrnanoe During the VC To Offensive
I. Reporting on the performance at morale of GVN military and �.
security forces since the start el the enemy's Tet offensive has been fres...,
mentary. L general. Q ref/eco a mined bag, with GVN forces reacting.�
aggressively and courageously f.n corn� areas. but ineffectively and with
analfeasanee in others. o clearcut geographic patterns are evident0 except
that most reports of ineffective performance come from ItAr Corps. La �
general0 hor,sevor. the reaction of Glik7,1 forces seem� to have varied in
direct relation to the professional competence end performance of their
leaders.
, Z. Leadorehlp at the nztienal. and C3FT,0 Pr...wells apparently has been
effective. General Vien hignse-4 Lao reperciedly been ctcady and dedicated,
and the Commander� of the nrar3ers and Ni,-,:tional Police have effectively led
their forcce In te Saigon fighting. The 1E3 Corpo Commander. General ,
� 1-;lang, reportedly has do:le we, bui7t the E Corps Commander, General tarn
ha7i Leen lalpliciny criticized for an overly Clerensive pec:nre in IS Corps. �
7:he 224 and 23d D17ision Con-Amen,:2ers in E Corps reportedly had their
troops on alert c7.,aringTc nj, Imd restrf;,;ted 'rot loaveo!. thero aro tacit-
entlons, however. that this ale not fully honored iln at least one �
, province (lihanh.
_ 3. At lower /web. the Commander ofthc, 24th Special Cecter
(Kcintroa) repertodly performed very poorlyo drawlng criticism for Mo -
preoccupation rift% biz personal eniTety end for ti'ts er,struction caused by
his heavy reliance on armor. The Province Chief in tla nuyen reportedly
became hysterical and lost coere2, Mr2 the Chief of CI:nag Tri Province
was ineffez:;21ve. The Nion Hoa PrevInce ZIOVV,"03'0 rqr.ortedly
formed oreeltably even eter reect7ing ce-we that tAl End t can
mnr.cle7:cd by the Viet Coz3 6-ainain.r:,,z,:'21 Thzne, the Pro�doce Chief
en.d his Pc>lice ClAc2 ae.d blIztrior:c1 Gc'-�7 ez:fider.cie a in.
seeutity 'before Clio -!;, Tho C C.! C rez.ct5;04 quicklp,
�arA:i eir.izicostvaarr, Tho
1:3;ecivinee Ciblei was Corecol to E:Co ce,,,nral Ll'ho
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occupied hie house. The Quang Nam Chief has been quite effective in organ- '
icing and directing his forces and in attempting to maintain civil morale. No
rd.
specific reporte have been received on other officials at that level.-
� 4. The alert posture of RVNAF elements varied, Vet eeems to have
been generally adequate, cennidering their? nor`rnal ctandards obeerved during
the Tet holtdaye. Major delicienciee were noted in Chan Dee Provinces eihere.._.
defensee CCOM to have been te'early rolaned for Tot. Quark; Ngai forces. en, -
� the other hand, reportedly were not granted Tot /cave. s 4,-;!",e'�
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� 5. The initial reactien of RIVA17 end other eactrity elements to
, .
the Viet Cong ettacNs vee e,enerally desceibed me fair to geed with the notable
cnception of the forcee in Vin Chau Dec, and Ea Dec Provinces. There
woe no organized reeictr.nce to the attaelt in Chau Dec, and rtengere in Vtah
Long were slow in reacting and nnaggreceive Sttervearde. In En Dec.
peovincial authoeitiee ir.itially "retuned to epeeate." Coned:rabic confusion
wee repoztedi the early defame� of Vinh Lenz.,Y. ARIM unite in Xuyen
too relroeted ineffective). In rherg �act reaction 1.70.0 SIOW but came -
� - , the tree7e rallied they dieplavad ence:41ena1 bravery end eeprit..'Outetand�
�
: in defeneive perfornaancee veeee recorded by AnvDa un, In An xtretts Khanh
Loa, Lirah Treng, and LI,ien E:ea. A lade c:^. planning and orgenir.ation v)as �
reported, however, in1,111cre Ilea. .
,
6. ARVNIe perfeemance, at'.*:er Vete enemy attactke tICZ'a redo'
."- palled and the eitlee were cectezed, ceetne gene.relly to have lachedaggreeciVe.;.`':'.�:-.1.
2.10(3a. anly a feed Provincee (L,:nang Kam, C. �4ge4, and D:r...h Tuoag)havef,,.-- `�`.4
- there been indications veacenately aggecesive teeecuit and a determination .
to maintain preecure crk t%3 enemy. re (.7...tezve aalinN ute reacted �
�-.
010. i73.7 to attache en artelet tte-ne nerve Co pree:nco capital, and their tactic*i�,
tended to rnazimiee prorerty damage.' or excessive destracese
4.1-on wan reported in n,Z.S.Cela EneUdIZZ4S L707-ttt:::10 Vida 1-10;aj. and Mats
. Dee. In 27 Corpn, ARVN forceet) wore gezeenliy do ccribed te raeeive,
. . aggreecivo, end preecetried aeith do:cacive reihee than off,ennive
-�� _ operation*, except in tNeee area() Netter() U.S. treepe were beeugletilmir)
aesiet in clearing the provincial eapitale. In thee� inciancee. the preeeneS)
� of U.S. fercee evae docceihed ne "cReeteiffylne," in tt'..2 irepaet on ARVN.
ARvp../ ih Deviolen (collocated a beicaeb cf the U.S. 9th Mvinicn
.�
Tho). however. Lee hadft trcrpe 07.13 on c,?eratione daring the pact few ela.lreN:'''
� 7. Tho Tatz.vri been fee? renesto el ere- relefeetiente. " Elemente,-.�
the AtIVN4!,!..;th Regiment kiJo Theee melt Nero pievel the Viet Cong;
� e� troops in Ar.VN uni.comm 0...1.14 cf thee ve.11'4. ilzed ez a Vie OR civilian
, compeer:1. and t the rarti.1 of 0-let unit.
We havo ioVeie:; eles,'�ene c;: c",,efecOseae
reezite /et Civieice J;F:210,1100 C2 of tree:L..1e 2.:.-evozt 1:-?eovence,,,, hoeleeor�
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the nature of the oituation in Hue precludes confidence that the absence of
reporting ohould be conetrued as native confirmation. Various GVN offtciala
havo mentioned defectiono by indldual officers ascigned to headquarter� and
,
cupport units in the Saigon area� but details on identificatione and circusa- ..,
stances are lacking. In two instaIDICC3o troop� on leave for Tot were reported
returnin3 to their unite; in one cape (Co Cone they wore formed into a
visions./ reaction company. En .e.:..a Dec PrevInco, however the Viet Cong
reportedly occupied a number of outposts (precu.rnably RF and PF) in rural 1.,1
areae, and Liberation Front liege yore reported fiving over them. Also-
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in that province. RD cadres reportedly "Melted aW a 17 o " In Chan Doc. some
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military officials reportedly doffed their uniforms when the Viet Cong ! i
entered the city, but put them back on afteo the enemy was driven off. There ,
is almoet no information availoblo on the etatuo of RVINAF element at the
district, village, and hamlet Ir.vel, whore Co.o Viet Cons have been active
in several provinces, nor on ths cta3 e2 2.;;TNAIT clemcnte on leave in rural
ocean during Tet. Those elements vdould seen), to be vulnerable to Local VC
propaganda claims of success.
� 3. There are few reports indleati.os of current avrIATT combat ,
effectiveness. In Ouang 'Fri, concern he t:ecn ezpressed about dwindling . �
annunitien, gasoline, and other supplieoz.lnd the absence el' resupply trove-. �
mente from the beleaguered lot Division headquarters in Hue. Reports 011 �
casualties in individual snits have been trarc,. rn.��two instances AR-VD) units
r
are reported at conziderably reduced otrcostb; one battalion reinforcing �
Vinh Long reportedly had only CO rncn tio anotHer hatto.11on in Chau .Doo -
reportedly had only ZOO men pcesent for .647:-.Iy of an Co signod strength of 600.
It can be assumed th.at many uzits ore considerably hcow strength becalm)
of the epparontly viidepread ellectction of ccmmunication� and tranfperta-
tien facitille� vhicb probably Las delayed t1:43 return of troops fr.one Tet-: ��.
...Roovo. Moreover, the poyeholegical izoot.; of the lEet Cong offeneve mew
add to Coo normally big% AW0,7, and desertion rate� aSeeciatod with. ?et.
2 � 9. We have virtually no .cepoote spoccaly describing
�
morale as othor than fair to good. -Otho o indicators -- loch of aggrearive-,
rices, indiscipline in the corca o2 leetin3 oc.d pilfering ottegeot that unorale�:,..,��:-.40,
hoz been shaken to cOme mtteut. Morxevcr:r, corno off.icercohave 0:v?rcerset �
concern at the inch of U. r.3. sanitaoy oup000tinCe.7:4tZt71 areao, and ethers �
.a.,17e1 repeated rove provalcIt szaong tho cv1ropuloce. alleging U.S.
7 coreitsion in various ros.rAl ut to vicit vfer.,,ame.f.;CI MnrittCe ilg1114111nz
Solo= have ooproored CAosaticraceon the U. rule, aneGing,..�
Et i3 rorV) Coe AP:1- 67 autenaane riflee th the. Viet Cox o are
Thie conceozt 117,n been ocoord ccre ht other ravriAti-!.
cic.,.,mente, not oo well-or...o3-7,:opel as the '..loo,f,00s,o, rr.roo Y 07,7CSO Orj,17:�!, e.ppro%
-hie over their relan�-fely1e firet
' ncOdor,,,cooty urrIto aroac u;it.7o Cao �razryil:r ci 7,, rcattl
The Viettoe.000so. Lalotioo La-Jo Lleo ralontzc', concord', V=11-
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zpparently plentiful oupply of B-40 and B-41 rocket launchers in the hands of
Viet C0n3. units in Saigon; they have ateo been used extenoively in other areao
and may have adversely impreened �then EZVNAF element�.
10. Popular reactionc to AII.VN performance have been mixed. In
two instances (Quang Tri and nbanh. Men), the. populace reportedly has indi-
cated gratitude or appreciation for ATIVN'e perferi.nance. In moot areaa.
the people are reported to be confueed, frightened, traditionally passive or
non-committal while in other areas (Quang Tri, 1?han Thiet, Long Rhanh,
Vinh Dinh, Vinh Long. Da Nuyen, and Chau Dec) the popular reaction has
boon generally unfavorable to RVNAF. A rnintU70 of thoec reaction� has
been reported in the 17aigon ia Dinh ann. Criticism of the RVNAF
ranges from complaints about the lack of cecnrity to bittern030 at the
allegedly wanton destruction ef property. En.nev-eral areas (Vinh Long.
Be Xuyen, and Saigon) looting, and pilfering by ARVN and police elements
has been charged.
I L. In sum, it ie difficult to generalize, with confidence from the
fragmentary inforrnatien avai:able. It deco appear that most ARM unite --
and National Police and ether nanarailitarl,7 0/en...lento -- reacted reasonably
well to the initial attachs. ."2-theenriently there ecerne gen.enaily to have
been a lack 02 aggreoeiveness ord esor.ae bneakdowne in discipline have been
reported. It Deccan likeLy that morale and nonfidenco have been shaken to
come degree, but mernle deco not appenn to have cella/nod. It would aiao
seem Moly that most units are at knot temporarily well below normal
ctnength. Decanne of the disruption of? cornmunications, RI/1\1AF tmito may
not be well-infonmed of the etuation. _and tinao eacceptiblo to the same
rrnnons that ecem to be upsetting the civil pepulace. Thein vulnerability -
to Viet Cong pnopnganda to thne nice preenly greaten than usual. On
balance", ammo Ail.VN elementn cnczicl enen..1 to be En-prepared for sustained
on renewed preoeure without a respite e2 covens:A tiecle0 �bile many unite
can ctill be enpectecl to rorgorrnwailaxle give geoa account of themeelves.
someo thoeo n ioolated areee and 0:7enc..ting wi.theut close U.S. stIpport
might dieintegrate. We wonIC ernont cid L)F ectnente to be generally'
more eazky thaz iUVT0partl:nloT.717 Clone in relatIveky tce7.ated traZai areae't
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10 Feb 68
� ,`
Mr. IC T. Johnson
Attached is our contribution to the assess-
ment of RVI\IAF effectiveness. It is based on
our field reporting, as requested. /t has not
- been fully coordinated within the Agency,
because of the late production time. We
would hope to be able to review your draft,
If your product is to be construed as jointly
� agreed.
GEORGE W. ALLEN
Vietnamese Affairs Staff
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