VIETNAM STUDIES U742.087 959.704´1342 75-619336 First Printing For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price $3.10 (paper cover) Stock Number 008-020-00556-8 FIELD ARTILLERY, 1954-1973 by Major General David Ewing Ott DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1975 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Ott, David Ewing Field artillery, 1954-73. (Vietnam studies) Includes index. Supt. of Docs.: D 101.74:F45/954-73 1. Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975. 2. United States. Army. Field artillery-History. I. Title. II. Series. Civic Action 188 VI. VIETNAMIZATION, NOVEMBER 1969-FEBRUARY 1973 190 CONTENTS Field Artillery Assistance Programs 190 Operations Into Cambodia 205 Chapter Page Toward Vietnamese Self-Sufficiency 215 FOREWORD ii 1972 Enemy Offensive 220 PREFACE v Problems During Phase-Down of U.S. Forces 225 I. THE VIETNAM ENVIRONMENT 3 VII. AN OVERVIEW 231 Geography 3 Work to be Done 231 The Enemy 7 The Field Artilleryman’s Performance 236 Political-Military Considerations 18 II. THE ADVISORY EFFORT, 1950-1965 21 CHARTS Background- Military Assistance Advisory Group,Vietnam, Organized 21 No. Page The Field Artillery Adviser 22 1. Characteristic Sapper Organization 16 The Adviser's Challenge 24 2. Field Artillery Task Organization, January 1968 170 The Adviser Learns, Too 31 3. Field Artillery Task Organization, July 1969 171 III. IN ORDER TO WIN 38 The Impact of Vietnam on Field Artillery Organizations 39 MAPS Fire Support Coordination 47 No. Page Field Artillery Weapons 49 1. Administrative Divisions, South Vietnam 2 Field Artillery Mobility 51 2. Vietnam Topographic Regions 4 The Fire Base 55 3. Enemy Activity, 1954-1965 36 Base Camp Defense 73 4. Ia Drang Valley 88 Riverine Artillery 75 5. Area of Operations: MASHER/WHITE WING 99 IV. THE BUILDUP (1965-1967) 81 6. Landing Zone BIRD 109 The Buildup Begins and Early Actions Around Saigon 81 7. Operation JUNCTION CITY, 22 February-14 May 1967 114 New Arrivals 86 8. Battle of Suoi Cut, FSB BURT 119 The Pleiku (Ia Drang) Campaign 87 9. Fire Support Base CUDGEL 126 The Buildup and Major Combat Operations During 1966 96 10. The Tet Offensive, 1968 139 The Buildup and Major Combat Operations During 1967 110 11. The Battle of Hue: Enemy Attack, 30-31 January 1968 140 Overview: 1965 to Pre-Tet 1968 129 12. The Battle of Hue: Friendly Situation, 24-25 February 1968 141 V. THE HOT WAR (1968-OCTOBER 1969) 137 13. III Corps Tactical Zone 144 Tet 1968 137 14. North Quang Tri Province 149 Khe Sanh 148 15. Khe Sanh Valley 150 A Shau 157 16. I Corps Tactical Zone 158 Actions at Fire Bases and Lessons Learned 161 17. Fire Support Base MAURY I 162 Peak Strength and Beginning of Redeployment 167 18. Fire Support Base Pike-VI 164 Artillery Organizations 168 19. FSB CROOK: Enemy Situation, Friendly Fires, 6-7 June 1969 183 Safety 173 20. Enemy Base Areas 208 Target Acquisition 179 21. III ARVN Corps Operations 210 Artillery Raids 184 22. 1st Cavalry Division Operations, May-June 1970 211 Harassing and Interdiction Fires 187 M102 Firing High Angle 103 DIAGRAMS Battery A, 2d Battalion, 320th Field Artillery, in Position on Operation WHEELER 123 No. Page Aerial Field Artillery Cobra in Flight 131 1. M101 105-mm. Artillery Field Positions 63 Aerial Field Artillery Cobra and Light Observation Helicopter 132 2. M102 105-mm. Emplacement 64 Major General David E. Ott Demonstrates FADAC 135 3. Semipermanent 105-mm. Self-Propelled Howitzer Emplacement 65 1st Battalion, 8th Field Artillery, Fire Direction Center 176 4. Towed 155-mm. Howitzer Emplacement 66 FADAC Computer 177 5. Self-Propelled 155-mm. Howitzer Emplacement 67 Ammunition Resupply by CH-54 187 6. Heavy (8-inch or 175-mm.) Artillery Emplacement 68 Formal Fire Direction Center Class for ARVN Field Artillerymen 203 7. Battery A, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 320th Field Artillery, Fire Base 121 ARVN 155-mm. Howitzer Static Position 206 8. Artillery Box 152 ARVN 1034 Field Artillery Battalion in Training 207 ILLUSTRATIONS Illustrations on front and back covers of softback edition are the work of Specialist 6 Jim ARVN Outpost 26 Gardner. ARVN Gun Section 28 155-mm. Howitzer in Tuy An District Headquarters 33 Early Movement of Artillery by Air 34 CH-47 with M102 Howitzer 51 CH-54 Lifting 155-mm. Howitzer 52 Fire Support Base J.J. CARROLL 53 Star Formation 54 Building Parapets 56 1st Battalion, 40th Field Artillery, in Position Along Demilitarized Zone 57 Typical Towed 155-mm. Position 57 Battery C, 2d Battalion, 138th Field Artillery, on Hill 88 58 Battery D, 3d Battalion, 13th Field Artillery, at Fire Support Base STUART 59 155-mm. Howitzer Position Using Speedjack and Collimator 60 6,400-Mil Chart 62 Artillery Hill at Pleiku 69 AN/MPQ-4 Countermortar Radar 71 TPS-25 Ground Surveillance Radar 72 30-Inch Xenon Searchlight 74 CH-47 Emplacing Airmobile Firing Platform 76 Riverine Field Artillery Battalion Command Post 77 Riverine Battery Position 78 Riverine Platoon Moored to Canal Bank 79 Riverine Gun Section in Traveling Configuration 80 105-mm. Battery Firing Fron Hasty Position 82 Aerial Rocket Artillery UH-1B with XM3 Weapons System 85 Field Force Artillery 97 175-mm. Gun 98 CH-54 Emplacing a 155-mm. Howitzer 102 CHAPTER I The Vietnam Environment The environment of Southeast Asia, and more specifically of Vietnam, posed particular problems that plagued all military activities. The U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG), Vietnam, began the publication of a series of "lessons learned" reports in March 1962. Lessons Learned Number 31, on artillery organization and employment, appeared in September 1963. Observations made in this report were prophetic. Artillery must be organized and employed in counterinsurgency to meet new requirements, for "there are no well defined battle areas." Indeed, the report of the American advisers continued, "The entire republic of Vietnam can be considered an area of operations." (Map 1) Moreover, the terrain in Vietnam was such that it became a major concern along with the tactics and techniques of the enemy. The artillery, especially, must adapt to the physical environment because, the report concluded, even "if time to displace were available the road net or terrain would frequently prohibit displacement." These early observations foreshadowed some of the fundamental problems that American forces would encounter in succeeding years. The Vietnam environment - the human challenge as well as the elemental implications - determined the character of the conflict in terms of geography, the enemy, and the government of Vietnam. Geography The coastline of Vietnam, which extends for more than 1,200 miles, forms an S-curve that reaches from the southern border of China to the tip of the Indochina peninsula. The length of the coastline almost equals that of the Pacific coast of the continental United States. The total land area of Vietnam, some 127,000 square miles, is approximately the same as that of New Mexico. To the north, the country widens irregularly to a maximum of 300 miles; to the south, it reaches a maximum width of 130 miles. Vietnam may be divided into five distinct geographic regions: (1) the Northern Mountains, (2) the Northern Plains, (3) the [3] page created 13 March 2003 Return to CMH Online The Northern Mountains region encompasses about 40,000 square miles of rugged terrain in what is part of the Annamite Mountains. The peaks are higher in the north, northwest, and west, where they range from 4,000 feet to about 8,000 feet. The southernmost spur of the Annamite Mountains, over 750 miles long, originates in Laos and stretches southeastward to the VietnameseLaotian border and thereafter generally parallels the coast. To the east, the slopes fall off steeply to the narrow coastal plains; to the west, the Annamite spur slopes more gradually to the valley of the Mekong in Laos and Cambodia. The Northern Plains region includes the Red River Delta and the narrow coastal lowlands of North Vietnam. The area is well cultivated and densely populated. The delta proper, about 5,700 square miles, is indented by the many small mouths of the Red River. Levees, some up to 35 feet high, are built along the major river and stream networks and divide the land into a series of saucer-shaped basins. Most of the land is not over 10 feet above sea level, and much of it is 3 feet or less. Hence, the whole area is subject to frequent flooding. The Central Highlands region is the 18,600-square-mile region of central South Vietnam. The northernmost portion of the highlands is adjacent to the Northern Mountains region and is largely a continuation of the Annamite Mountains. The ranges are rugged, with elevations near 7,000 feet. Farther south the region is dominated by gently rolling volcanic plateaus with elevations between 2,600 and 5,000 feet. The Coastal Lowlands region is the narrow belt of plains extending from the Mekong Delta to the Northern Plains region. The region, enclosed on the landward side by the Central Highlands, is never more than 40 miles wide. The entire coastal strip is segmented by mountain spurs that extend to the sea. The region is in varying degrees of cultivation and is interspersed throughout with sand dunes. The Southern Plains region takes in the intermediate lowlands and the fertile Mekong Delta. The intermediate lowlands constitute the transitional zone between the Central Highlands and the delta proper. Basically an undulating plain interrupted occasionally by Map 2 marshland, this transitional zone slopes southward. Elevations range from 300 feet in the northern sector to sea level near the delta.