joint operation MASHER/DOUBLE EAGLE I information
for 1 CAV DIV

From date 660125 to 660306


1 CAV DIV was a US Army unit
Operation MASHER
South Vietnam
Description: This was the first large unit joint operation to span Corps boundaries. In all the Americans and the ARVNs committed the equivalent of three divisions hoping to do battle with the Gold Star or Sao Vang Division which consisted of the 18th and 95th NVA Regts, the 2d VC Main Force Regt, the 38th Independent Bn and about 11 separate enemy companies. It involved these commands: The ARVN I and II Corps, MACV, Field Force Vietnam (primarily the 1st Air Cav), the Seventh Fleet, the USMC Task Force Delta, the Special Forces, and the US Air Force. Each of the four major commands had their own name for their part of the operation as follows: the Army (primarily the 1st Air Cav) operation MASHER which became operation WHITE WING when Washington complained about the name, the Marines operation DOUBLE EAGLE I, the ARVN I Corps operation LIEN KET-22, and the ARVN II Corps operation THANG PHUONG II. This joint operation's area included the southeastern part of Quang Ngai Province near the sea and the northeastern part of Binh Dinh Province. A line drawn between Duc Pho and the Ba To Special Forces camp would divide the OA near its center. Nearly half of Binh Dinh Province's 500,000 people were under varying degrees of enemy domination. This was an important "rice bowl" region. All the operations concluded on different dates but by 6 March 1966 everything was finished. The operations claimed a total of 2,389 known enemy casualties.

The source for this information was Rand, USMC 66 P. 19-25


Additional information is available on CD-ROM.

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Date posted on this site: 05/13/2023