Army Reporter information
for 2 BDE 101 ABN
1 ARVN DIV
For date 690106
2 BDE 101 ABN was a US Army unit
1 ARVN DIV was a Vietnamese Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Operation PHU VANG III
South Vietnam
Location, Hue
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "Infrastructure destroyed Screaming Eagles rout VC" dated 6 Jan 69.
A recently completed operation in the I Corps Tactical Zone near the ancient city of Hue struck a major blow against the shadowy VC infrastructure in the area.
Operating with team-like precision, a combined force composed of elements of the 2d Bde, 101st ABN DIV, the ARVN 1st Division; National Police, and Regional and Popular Forces, mounted the attack.
Intelligence reports warned of a threat to Hue from VC and NVA elements operating near the eastern approaches in the city. The allied forces reacted with plans to pre-empt and to destroy the VC infrastructure, the "Shadow government," which terrorizes and taxes the countryside.
COL John A. Hoefling, commander of the 2d Bde, 101st Abn, was assigned the mission of coordinating the effort. He worked with the Vietnamese leaders including commanders of regular ARVN units, provincial forces and national Police Field Forces to orchestrate the many tasks involved in the operation. The specialized knowledge and capabilities of each organization were fully used. The Regional and Popular Forces operating with the task force were able to sharpen their military proficiency by operating with combat hardened ARVN and U.S. troops.
Planners selected two target areas in the fertile rice-producing area east of Hue. Around these areas they employed "soft cordons" of closely controlled restricted firepower in order to minimize disruption of and casualties to civilians. In this tactic troops do not occupy static, hardened positions, but keep moving to ferret out the shifty, elusive enemy and discover his arms and rice caches. Keeping the enemy off balance is the "name of the game."
Allied forces kicked off Phase I with American soldiers teaming up with a Vietnamese Popular Forces company to sweep through one target area and to link up with ARVN troops on the opposite side of the target area. The other allied forces air-assaulted into the second target area, initiating Phase II with surprise.
Squeezed out of these two target areas, the enemy seeped into the empty area between the target areas. American "eagle flights" of troop-carrying Huey slicks pounced on the exposed and disorganized fragments of the original VC and NVA units.
Following the successful pincer maneuver, enemy resistance wilted. The next job involved a painstaking rooting out of local VC. This was where the specialized skills of ARVN intelligence and interrogation experts were used. Led and secured by Popular Forces who were intimately familiar with the area and its residents, the intelligence operators surfaced the VC infrastructure with little trouble.
The enemy lost 56 men killed while 67 suspects were detained.
But the real damage to the communist cause was the blow suffered by the illegal "shadow government." Operation Phu Vang III bit deeply into the VC infrastructure, bringing to 245 the total number of the infrastructure lost during Phu Vang III and the two earlier operations. These men were enemy political cadre which are not easily replaced.
The success of Phu Van III enables the GVN pacification program to make new strides in the Hue area
Comments: COL Hoefling, John A.; CO 2 BDE 101 ABN; ;
The source for this information was 6901AR.AVN supplied by Les Hines
Additional information is available on CD-ROM.
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Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023