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    The Brown Water Navy In The Mekong Delta: COIN In The Littorals And Inland Waters
    The Brown Water Navy In The Mekong Delta: COIN In The Littorals And Inland Waters
    The Brown Water Navy In The Mekong Delta: COIN In The Littorals And Inland Waters
    Ebook63 pages30 minutes

    The Brown Water Navy In The Mekong Delta: COIN In The Littorals And Inland Waters

    By Lieutenant Commander Richard Sessoms

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    In 1964 the Viet Cong was firmly entrenched in the Mekong Delta region. Using fear and terror tactics, the insurgency gained control of the population creating a safe haven for the movement to thrive and expand. The United States and the Government of South Vietnam recognized the infiltration problem in the Mekong Delta but their military organizations were either unable or incapable to deal with the problem. The geography of the region made it impossible for a U.S. Army or Marine Corps division to operate effectively and the South Vietnamese Army and Navy lacked the training and equipment to operate successfully. In response to these obstacles, Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, commissioned the U.S. Navy to develop a fighting force capable of operating in the delta and ridding the region of the Viet Cong influence. The Navy used for main Operations: MARKET TIME, GAME WARDEN,-The Mobile Riverine Force, and SEALORDS to achieve these goals. In four short years the Brown Water Sailors experienced marked success with Viet Cong influence minimized and resupply efforts rerouted to the tortuous Ho Chi Minh Trail. However, by the end of 1968 American resolve to fight a war in South Vietnam had deteriorated and the Government needed a way out. President Nixon’s Vietnamization program provided the exit for American forces and in turn mitigated the Brown Water Navy’s successes of the previous four years.
    The Brown Water Navy overcame tremendous obstacles in less than one year to create and deploy a formidable fighting force to the Mekong Delta. In four years aggressive strides against the Viet Cong insurgency were achieved only to be mitigated by the effects of Vietnamization.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNormanby Press
    Release dateAug 15, 2014
    ISBN9781782897828
    The Brown Water Navy In The Mekong Delta: COIN In The Littorals And Inland Waters

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      Book preview

      The Brown Water Navy In The Mekong Delta - Lieutenant Commander Richard Sessoms

      This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 2008 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      The Brown Water Navy in the Mekong Delta: COIN in the Littorals and Inland Waters

      Lieutenant Commander Richard Sessoms, United States Navy

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

      Preface 5

      Executive Summary 6

      Introduction 7

      Insurgency 8

      The Genesis of the Viet Cong 8

      The Mekong River 9

      The Bucklew Report 10

      Operation MARKET TIME 10

      Impact of MARKET TIME 12

      Operation GAME WARDEN 13

      Impact of GAME WARDEN 15

      The Mobile Riverine Force 16

      Impact of the MRF 17

      Operation SEALORDS 18

      Demise of the Brown Water Navy 18

      Conclusion 20

      APPENDIX A 22

      APPENDIX B 29

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 40

      Bibliography 41

      PREFACE

      Soon after I was commissioned, I read LCDR Don Sheppard’s Riverine: A Brown Water Sailor in the Delta 1967. His work and the mission he described captivated me. This was the first time I had been exposed to a surface warfare officer serving outside the Blue Water Navy. His work has inspired me to serve in several unconventional surface warfare billets myself.

      My studies of various counterinsurgencies at USMC CSC lead me to look at the Brown Water Navy in a new light. This paper combines my long time interest in Riverine warfare with my new interest in counterinsurgency operations.

      I would like to thank Dr. Eric Shibuya, my Masters of Military Studies mentor, for his patience and dedication guiding me through the long process of putting this work together. I owe him quite a bit for keeping me on track and reeling me in as I frequently found other things more important

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