My First Assignment in Vietnam
My First Assignment in Vietnam HHC 169th Engineer Battalion Long Binh Vietnam
By CPT Kent Whitman, USA Retired
Edited by LtCol Geoff Corson, USMC Retired
When I arrived in Vietnam in January of 1970, I was assigned to the 169th Engineer Battalion Construction headquartered on the Long Binh compound. I was assigned as the Commander of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC). The line companies (A, B, C, and D) were all deployed out along QL20 (road designation) with the mission of building a new two-lane paved road from the intersection of QL1 north to the MRIII — MRII (Military Region) border.
In the first few days of January 1970, upon first arriving coming from my last assignment in cold Germany and very cold New England where I was on leave before deploying to Vietnam, I had trouble adjusting to the heat of Vietnam. It would get up to about 100 degrees F’ each day which made me sleepy. After a couple of weeks my body became used to the heat and I could perform without taking a nap every few hours.
Early on in my deployment I was on a scavenge mission for some supplies we needed. Fortunate I was able to make a trade for a flight helmet in exchange for some white paint. I carried that helmet with me during the remainder of my tour in Vietnam.
Most units residing on the Long Binh compound that had combat troops were giving the mission on a rotating basis to conduct search and destroy operations outside the perimeter of the compound to make sure the VC were not present or preparing to attack the compound like they did during Tet of 1968. When it was the 169ths turn the Battalion S3 (Operations Officer) assigned the mission to me using HHC clerks, maintenance personnel and cooks as the patrol troops. The S3 and I were good friends and both Rangers, so he trusted me to accomplish the mission without problems.
First, I went to the different staff sections to get names of the troops they would provide for the mission. I selected some of the maintenance, communication, and mess hall troops in coordination with my First Sergeant and section leaders. I wanted and needed reliable people for the job. The First Sergeant and I assembled the team and conducted some basic training in patrol operations including formations and weapon safety. I covered the individual uniform and equipment requirements. I established who would carry the PRC25 radio we used to keep in contact with the Battalion Headquarters, selected a big rugged soldier to carry the M60 Machinegun, and the M79 Grenade Launcher, and a senior enlisted member to act as the Platoon Sergeant during the mission. All others would carry their assigned M16 Rifle. This was not an easy task as they had never operated as a team together or ever been trained to accomplish such a mission. However, they all were eager to get out of their daily functions and perform on a “combat patrol.” We made sure they understood this was a serious mission and that no fooling around would be allowed. We would be locked and loaded in case we got into a firefight. None of them had ever done such an operation, although all Engineer troops are required to operate as Infantry when the need arises.
On the morning of the day we were to execute the mission, with the First Sergeant’s help we assembled the team and conducted an inspection to insure they were in the proper uniform and ready to go with clean weapons, ammunition and water. Early that morning we began the patrol in a spread-out formation about 100 meters outside of the Long Binh perimeter wire. After traveling at a slow pace for a few hundred meters, we discovered what appeared to be a weapons cache in a tunnel. We secured the site with a perimeter of security and I called into the Battalion Headquarters on the radio requesting a bulldozer to investigate the site by digging it up. The S3 approved the request and the dozer was dispatched out to where we were on a flatbed truck. While we were waiting for the dozer to arrive, I went around to each man to check on how they were doing and informing them what was about to happen. The dozer operator unloaded it on the paved road near where we were. I sent some men out to the road to escorted it into the site.
As the dozer operator was digging out the site of the tunnel, I was standing on the side of the trench watching the operator and what the dozer blade was uncovering. I then saw the back end of a large black 155 mm Howitzer shell under the blade of the dozer. I immediately yelled at the operator to stop and had the operator set the breaks on the dozer and get off the dozer moving back away from it.
I called into Battalion HQ with a sitrep (situation report) of what we found and requested Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) support since we were not carrying any explosives to get rid of the shell. We continued to secure the site waiting for the EOD personnel to arrive. When they did arrive, after inspecting it, they told me it was a live 155 mm Howitzer shell and to carefully move the dozer back away from the site, which I had the operator do. I also had the Platoon Sergeant widen the security perimeter moving the men further away from the trench. The EOD personnel prepared explosives to sympathetically detonate the shell. With fire in the hole being yelled three times they set off the explosion destroying the shell. I asked the EOD personnel to stand by while I had the dozer operator further dig up the tunnel. We found no weapons or ammunition but did find evidence that it was an old cache site.
We continued our patrol with no other incident. After a long day outside the perimeter we made out way back to the 169th compound. I conducted a short debriefing making sure all weapons and ammunition were accounted for and secure before releasing the men. The soldiers were all very proud of their performance, as was I. For days after I heard them talking about the “combat patrol” they went on.
Much of my duties as Commander of HHC was to make sure the vehicles were well maintained and that we had sufficient parts in stock to keep them in a high state of readiness. I was also responsible for operating a great mess hall providing outstanding service to the Officers and men in the company. Maintenance of the facilities was another one of my responsibilities. That included keeping the wooden structures in good repair and making sure the air conditioners were operating. Some of my men were deployed with the line companies up on the road being constructed. When it came time for payday, I had to travel in my Jeep up the road being constructed by the line companies to distribute pay to my men. At the same time, I always spent time to talk with them to ensure they were being well cared for by the companies they worked for. As I recall some of them were communications personnel supporting the radio networks and some were surveyors. I also spoke with the Officers and NCO’s they worked for to make sure they were performing their respective duties in a professional manner and maintaining good military discipline. I never had any major issues with any of the men working for the line companies. They were happy to see me on payday.
Another major operation while serving as Commander of HHC was when the Battalion was tasked with clearing and removing the improvised minefields that had been deployed around the perimeter of the Long Binh compound back during the VC/NVA Tet Offensive in 1968. The mines were mostly improvised made from artillery shells wired to be command detonated when the enemy attacked the perimeter. They had been installed helter-skelter in tangle-foot barbed wire out to about 100 meters outside of the major strings of concertina wire that was just in front of the perimeter bunkers. None of them had been recorded on minefield recording maps.
Most of the items used as mines were placed on top of the ground, not dug in like a normal minefield would be. Most of them were set up to be command detonated from the bunkers. Most of them were deteriorated to the point of being unrecoverable and dangerous to touch. The operations plan was to set small charges of C4 (plastic explosive) primed with det cord close to the improvised mines. The det cord would all be tied together as a ring main with non-electric blasting caps and fuse lighter cord to ignite the det cord. This method would sympathetically detonate the improvised mines.
Five of us Engineer Captains were given large areas to set up with the explosive ring mains. When we all had our respective areas ready to detonate, the Captains all went out to their area to ignite their fuses with a plastic fuse igniter. The other 4 Captains were successful, but my igniter failed to work. I had to work my way back to the bunker through the tangle foot wire to get a cigarette lighter and go back into the minefield to light the fuse then hurry back to the bunker. I got back into the bunker just as the ring mains began to go off destroying all the improvised mines.
Behind where we were working inside the perimeter was the Long Binh Ammo dump. As a result of our demolition explosions, and flying rocks and debris landing in the compound, personnel in the compound thought they were under attack and set off the major compound alarm system alerting everyone in the compound to an impending attack. We immediately called into the compound headquarters telling them it was no attack, that it was our explosions destroying the minefields. That entire operation was a “blast.”
After this assignment I was assigned as the Commander of the 544th Construction Support Company which was deployed on a small mountain named Nui Soc Lu. That story is in the next chapter.