Posted on 11/14/2002 5:38:15 AM PST by SAMWolf
It was born out of necessity. I was the first CO of RIVER SECTION 531 out of My Tho, VN. We arrived in country in the March/April 1966 timeframe, and had to train with the Swift Boats and USCG WPBs because the first PBRs had not yet arrived in country. (Think about this - the first time the original PBR sailors saw a PBR is when they went into combat. But that's another story)
The Navy sent us to VN with no jungle uniforms. The first RIVSEC COs spent a good deal of time scrounging around Saigon trying to get jungle uniforms, boots, and hats. I got the first uniform issue for the members of my Section from the USAF and jungle boots from the Army. But I could never find 60 of the same type of hat. When we arrived in My Tho in late May 1966, several of my boat crews started wearing black berets that they had purchased in town. I had the boat captains take me to the shop, where I was able to buy 60 berets, one for everyone in the Section. I thought I had solved a problem. But I had really just traded one problem for another.
My immediate boss, LCDR Jim Toole, Commander River Division 53, said he thought it was a good idea, but he had little hope that his boss, Captain Kronander, CTF 116, would support the idea. He was right. Captain Kronander said that there was nothing in Uniform Regs about black berets. But, Captain Kronander was relieved shortly thereafter by Captain Burt Witham as CTF 116, and I took up the black beret issue with him. Captain Witham's initial reaction was predictable, not only no, but hell no.
As other River Sections came up the Mekong, enroute to their bases, they stopped in My Tho for fuel, provisions, and intelligence. They also saw my boat crews wearing black berets. By the time they left My Tho, their crews were also wearing black berets.
To make a long story short, by the time Captain Witham made his first tour of the PBR bases in the Mekong Delta, everywhere he went the boat crews were wearing black berets.
I'm sure that all the other River Section CO's and Boat Captains made their case for black berets to Captain Witham too. The end result was that he sent out a message in 1967 stating that PBR sailors could wear the black beret - but with a long list of restrictions that most folks ignored. One restriction was that it could not be worn in Saigon. However, when the boat crews went to Saigon on convoy duty, they left My Tho wearing their green jungle uniform ball cap. As soon as they were out of sight - out came the black berets and off went the ball caps.
Regards, Fred McDavitt RIVER SECTION 531, 1966-67 "Boats of Glass, Ball of Brass, Black Berets Forever!" (The RS 531 toast)
The great strategic and economic importance of South Vietnam's extensive inland waterways made it clear from the beginning of the war that the Navy would be in the front rank of the allied forces. Laced by 3,000 nautical miles of rivers, canals, and smaller streams, the fertile Mekong Delta south of Saigon, where the largest segment of South Vietnam population lived, constituted the country's rice bowl. Northward along the coast to the DMZ, sizable rivers stretched inland past vital population centers such as the old imperial capital of Hue. Throughout the country the road and rail system was rudimentary while the waterways provided ready access to the most important resources. The side that controlled the rivers and canals controlled the heart of South Vietnam. U.S. naval leaders were determined that allied forces would command these waterways when they established the River Patrol Force (Task Force 116) on 18 December 1965. From then until March 1966, the Navy procured river patrol boats (PBR) in the United States, prepared the crews at the Coronado, California, and Mare Island, California, training centers, and deployed the units to Southeast Asia for Operation Game Warden. On 15 March 1966 the River Patrol Force was also designated River Patrol Squadron 5 for administrative and supply purposes. By 31 August 1968, the force consisted of five river divisions, each controlling two 10-boat sections that operated from combat bases along the major rivers or from ships positioned in the rivers. The Navy reconditioned each of the ships so they could serve as floating base facilities for a PBR section and a helicopter detachment.
River Patrol Force Dispositions
River Division 51 Can Tho/Binh Thuy
River Division 52 Sa Dec (later Vinh Long)
River Division 53 My Tho
River Division 54 Nha Be River
Division 55 Danang
Support Ships -- 1966
Belle Grove (LSD 2)
Comstock (LSD 19)
Floyd County (LST 762)
Jennings County (LST 846)
Tortuga (LSD 26)
1967-1968
Garrett County (LST 786)
Harnett County (LST 821)
Hunterdon County (LST 838)
Jennings County (LST 846)
The PBR, the ubiquitous workhorse of the River Patrol Force, was manned by a crew of four bluejackets, equipped with a Pathfinder surface radar and two radios, and commonly armed with two twin- mounted .50-caliber machine guns forward, M-60 machine guns (or a grenade launcher) port and starboard amidship, and a .50-caliber aft. The initial version of the boat, the Mark I, performed well in river patrol operations but was plagued with continual fouling of its water-jet engines by weeds and other detritus. In addition, when Vietnamese sampans came alongside for inspection they often damaged the fragile fiberglass hull of the PBRs. New Mark IIs, first deployed to the delta in December 1966, brought improved Jacuzzi jet pumps, which reduced fouling and increased speed from 25 to 29 knots, and more durable aluminum gunwales. Task Force 116 also employed the experimental patrol air cushion vehicle (PACV), three of which operated in the Mekong Delta during 1966 and 1967 as PACV Division 107. During 1968, the PACVs deployed to the Danang area as Coastal Division 17. Although able to move with great speed over shallow, marshy areas, such as in the Plain of Reeds, the PACVs proved to be too noisy and too mechanically sophisticated for riverine war in South Vietnam. After the Tet emergency, the craft were shipped back to the United States for reevaluation.
Boonie Rat
MACV SOCOM, PhuBai/Hue '65-'66
ex-bubblehead
Mostly PCF. Remember the Green Fleet? Monitors? Remember "Numbah One" and Snoopy after the Red Baron ?
Brown water Navy.
Nam Vet
Of course among my nicknames were:
Buku nammah ten Navy
Buku Buttahfly (The Vet liked lots of different flowers)
Even Buku nummah ONE many times (believe it or not)
You've got me thinking a lot now.
Nam Vet
Great read about great warriors and honorable men, as for me I was gator navy.
Sere Doc
Nam Vet
C Co. 69th Bn 34th Gp 20th Engr Bde.
I was right across the road from those guys.
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