U.S. Navy advisors helped transform the Vietnam Navy from a small collection of landing craft and minesweepers to the world's fifth largest navy - a modern service of 42,000 sailors and 1,500 surface vessels capable of fighting not only on the rivers of Vietnam but also far out to sea. At peak strength in 1968, the American naval advisory group consisted of 534 men.
Naval Advisory Group 1967- 1968 Siagon Vietnam
I arrived in Siagon Vietnam on 14 July 1967 Assigned to Comus MACV (NAG) until 1 July 1968
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Naval Advisory Team 42, CSC Qui Nhon 1970-71
I arrived in Saigon, RVN in November, 69 and reported to MACV, was outfitted and assigned to NAVADVGRP and sent to the Navy BEQ, the Annapolis Hotel. I reported-in and started the check-in procedure. Two or three days later I was assigned to Vietnamese River Patrol Group 51 which was based at Cat Lai. We patrolled the Dong Nghi River and the Rung Sat Special Zone. A couple of months later RPG-51 was split and half of the unit was transferred to Phu Cuong on the upper Saigon River and joined the American Riv. Div. 593 (The Iron Butterfly). A few months later Riv. Div. 593 was pulled out and all of RPG-52 came to Phu Cuong and RPG-51 went back to Cat Lai. Myself and two other advisors volunteered to transfer from RPG-51 to RPG-52 and familiarize RPG-52 personnel with the upper Saigon River Area. The RPG-52 base at Phu Cuong was a few miles east of the US Army's 25th Infantry's base at Cu Chi and we were all over the Cu Chi base and years after we had returned to CONUS we saw on the national news that it was discovered that the VC and NVA had dug underground tunnels under the base at Cu Chi and operated in the area where we patrolled on the Upper Saigon River. How about that?
I went to RVN as a member of the Naval Support Activity in April 20, 1970 and was stationed at Ben Luc, working on patrol river boats, November 1970, I was transferred to Dong Tam and was assigned to the naval advisory group, training the vietamese to take over the war.I had worked with them in Ben Luc and picked up a lot on the language.