THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00826A001300010017-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 23, 2006
• Sequence Number: 17
• Publication Date: October 3, 1966
• Content Type: IM

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM
information as of 1600
3 October 1966
State Department review completed
NSA review completed
ARMY review(s) completed.
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PREPARED FOR THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
FURTHER DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION
CONTAINED HEREIN IS NOT AUTHORIZED
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HIGHLIGHTS
Light sporadic contact with the VC continues in
coastal Binh Dinh Province and in the area just south
of the DMZ. Moscow signs new aid agreement with Hanoi,
promising free and additional credits,. No details have
been given.
'I.. The Military Situation in South Vietnam:
American troops continue to hunt down the remnants of
the 300-man Communist force trapped in Binh Dinh Province
(Para l). Light, sporadic contact with Communist forces
is reported as Operation PRAIRIE continues to search the
area south of the DMZ for elements of the 324B North
Vietnamese Army Division (Para. 2). A Viet Cong prison,
camp was located on 2 October in Phu Yen Province (Para 3).
A Viet Cong motor pool was discovered and destroyed in an
area about 30 miles north of Saigon early on 3 October
(Para. 4). The Viet Cong reportedly are planning to use
tunnels and sewers for demolition attacks against allied
military installations (Para. 6). Because of allied de-
foliation operations, Viet Cong troops in Kontum Province
are forcing local villages to help supply food (Para. 7).
TI, Political Developments in South Vietnam:
President Pa1c of South Korea plans to visit South Vietnam
for one or two days prior to the Manila Conference (Para'. 1).
Sa Dec Province has been re-established in the delta area
south of Saigon, probably as a government concession to the
Hoa Hao religious sect (Para. 2). In the first eight months
of 1966, there was a net gain of only 252 hamlets to govern-
ment control (Para. 3), The second class of revolutionary
development cadre groups graduated from the national train-
ing center on 19 September (Para. 4).
North Vietnamese Military Developments:
There of Ong o significance to report,
'IV.' Ot'h'er Communist Military Developments:
There i.s not .ing of significance t r(iport.
V. Communist Political Developments:
Soviets scan new
aid aE~ent~~~ DR'T TPara. 1)
App
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SOUTH VIETNAM
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I. THE MILITARY SITUATION IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. Helicopter-borne US infantrymen of the
lst Air Cavalry Division continued on 3 October to
hunt down remnants-of a battered Communist force
trapped in a coastal valley in the central prov-
ince of Binh Dinh. The enemy force has reportedly
been broken down into small groups of two or three
men each. Cumulative casualties since this opera-
tion began on 1 October include six Americans
killed and 28 wounded. A total of 228 Communist
troops have been killed, 65 captured, and 229 sus-
pects detained.
2. Light, sporadic contact has been reported
as elements of four US Marine battalions participat-
ing in Operation PRAIRIE continue to seek out North
Vietnamese soldiers in the area immediately south
of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Early on the morn-
ing of 3 October a US Marine command post was
shelled with~..approximately 40 rounds of 82-mm. mor-
tar fire. The attacking Communist force withdrew
when US artillery and air strikes were called upon
to assist the Marines. One American was killed
and 17 wounded, with enemy losses unknown. Else-
where, US Marines encountered a force of undeter-
mined size, killing eleven enemy soldiers.
3. A US reconnaissance platoon, participat-
ing in Operation SEWARD, located a Viet Cong
prison camp on 2 October in PhTu Yen Province,
about 17 miles southwest of Tuy Hoa. The Ameri-
cans had been led to the camp in the thickly
jungled mountains by one of the 11 persons they
freed from a similar Viet Cong prison camp about
a mile away last week. A total of 23 South Viet-
namese prisoners were found in the camp. There
was no evidence of Americans being held there.
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4. US soldiers participating in operation
SIOUX CITY uncovered a Viet Cong motor maintenance
garage hidden in the jungle about 30 miles north-
east of Saigon early on 3 October. Extensive mine-
fields and booby traps protected the garage, but
the Americans met no guerrilla resistance. The
depot was equipped with numerous tools, tires, bat-
teries and 50-gallon drums of fuel and lubricants.
The site was on the edge of'the Viet Cong "War
Zone D" where the guerrillas are known to use cap-
tured trucks and private cars to haul supplies
along camouflaged jungle trails.
5. Two battalions of the US 1st Infantry Di-
vision and two battalions of South Vietnamese Army
troops began search-and-destroy Operation LITTLE
ROCK on 2 October in an area of Binh Duong Province
about 22 miles north of Saigon. Only light con-
tact with enemy forces has been reported.
Viet Cong Terrorists Plan to Use Tunnels and Sewers
6. Communist tunneling specialists are re-
ported planning to construct tunnel systems leading
to several allied military installations including
Tan Son Nhut Air Base, the 7th Air Force Headquarters,
and the South Vietnamese Joint General Staff. It
has been previously noted that Viet Cong terrorist
organizations in Saigon have planned to use either
tunnels and/or sewer systems for demolition attacks.
Underground explosions, comments MACV, would cause
more damage to some types of buildings than ones
above ground, and also injure fewer civilians.
Viet Cong Food Shortages
7. Damage to crops by allied defoliation
chemicals was reponsible for a 40-percent decrease
in subsistence for Viet?Cong troops over that of
1965, it was disclosed at a Viet Cong meeting in
Kontum Province on 25 September. To make up this
shortage and meet battlefield needs, the Viet Cong
plan to force the people living in Viet Cong - con-
trolled areas to support Viet Cong troops directly,
with each village required to feed approximately 50
men for a three-month period beginning on 1 November.
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II. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. According to the US Embassy in Seoul, Presi-
dent Pak of South Korea plans to visit South Vietnam
for one or two days just prior to the seven nation
conference in Manila.
New Province Formed in the Delta
2. Sa Dec Province was re-established in the
delta area effective 24 September, according to a
government decree recently published in the Vietnamese
press. The new province consists of four predominantly
Hoa Hao districts which were formerly a part of western
Vinh Long Province. The province chief and other local
officials have not yet been named, but will most likely
be Hoa Hao. The US Embassy has commented that the re-
establishment of Sa Dec Province, which had existed
with a slightly different territorial base prior to
1957, is another gesture by the Ky government to the
Hoa Hao, who have been pushing for this and other
territorial changes in the western delta area.
Pacification Deveements
3. One of the most realistic yardsticks of
revolutionary development progress is how many of the
country's 13,000 to 16,000 rural hamlets are controlled
by the GVN. At the end of August, the cumulative to-
tal secured by the government was 4,155. Only 262 of
those hamlets were added during the first eight
months of 1966, despite the emphasis on the over-all
pacification effort since February. However, 55 per-
cent of the approximately 16 million total population
and 11.5 percent of the land are considered to be
government controlled. The net gain or loss of GVN
controlled hamlets by month for 1966 follows:
January
25
May
156
February
30
June
42
March
-9
July
34
April
-93
August
67
3 October 1966
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4. The second class of cadres trained since
February specifically for revolutionary development
graduated from the Vung Tau national training
center on 19 September. About half of the 5,128
graduates were organized into 44 complete 59-man
groups. The rest were given specialized training
in civil affairs, new life hamlet development, and
census-grievance work for incorporation as 19-man
units with existing 40-man Peoples Action Teams
(PATS). There are now nearly 32,000 actually de-
ployed in the provinces as the pacification cadre.
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III. NORTH VIETNAMESE MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS
1. There is nothing of significance to report.
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IV. OTHER COMMUNIST MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS
1. There is nothing of significance to report.
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V. COMMUNIST POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. Moscow press sources report that DRV politburo
member Le Thanh Nghi signed a new economic agreement
with the Soviet Union on 3 October. The agreement
provides "fresh, gratuituous assistance" to North
Vietnam as well as additional credits, according to
a TASS announcement. At the signing ceremonies,
Deputy Premier Novikov pledged support for Vietnam's
position on the settlement of the war and said that
the continuing- Soviet assistance will take into
account the needs of the war in Vietnam.
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