Qui Nhon was located in Binh Dinh Province, II Corps Tactical Zone, along the coastline on the Qui Nhon and Lang Mai Bays of the South China Sea. The major highways of QL-1 (north-south), 441 & 440 (local Qui Nhon), and QL-19 (east-west) were critical for the ground transport of civil and military personnel and materials for the buildup of U.S. combat arms commands that were off loading at the port.

      The exact date the Qui Nhon area detachments were first deployed remains unknown.

     Based on the operational deployment schedule of the other 88th MP Company (K9), MACV detachments, it seems reasonable it would have been in late 1965 or early 1966 after the company was reflagged as the 212th MP Company (Sentry Dog), 89th MP Group, MACV.

     Several of the first 88th MP Company (K9) handlers have described their detachment location as Qui Nhon, but their cantonment was not in the limits of the city proper. The physical location of their cantonment may have been located in one of several bases being established outside the city.

     In 1965 the cluster of logistical units in and around Qui Nhon were fragmented and under the umbrella of the 1st Logistical Command. They consisted of 58th Field Depot, 169th Ordnance Battalion and elements of the 8th Transportation Group. The base was just starting its accelerated growth.

     Some of the U.S. military and allied combat arms, combat support and service units stationed in and around Qui Nhon and at the airfield were; 140th Transportation Detachment (Helicopter Maintenance), 117th Aviation Company (Assault Helicopter), 18th Aviation Company, U.S. Army Special Forces, MACV Advisory staff, elements of the U.S. Marine Corps Special Landing Force, elements of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division and 101st Airborne Division, Republic of South Korea (ROK) Marine's, U.S. Navy Support elements, Republic of South Vietnam Air Force and Army units, 70th and 84th Engineer Battalions, 937th Engineer Group, 597th Truck Company (Medium & S&T), 5th Ordnance Battalion later reflagged as 5th Maintenance Battalion, C Company, 504th MP Battalion, and others yet identified.

     By 1966 the Qui Nhon area logistics needs became critical enough for the 1st Logistical Command to establish the Qui Nhon Support Command and decide that it would serve as one of its major logistics bases. The new coordination of the existing units and upgrades to the existing warehouse facilities, shallow draft port system, ammunition supply depot, Petroleum-Oil-Lubricant pipeline & tank farm, airfield, and expansion of the new support facilities began.

     The 184th Ordnance Battalion established a second Ammunition Supply Depot in Phu Tai Valley south west of Qui Nhon.

     According to the 18th MP Brigade Operations Report-Lessons Learned 20 May-31 October 1966, by 31 October the company staffed 13 detachments, the Qui Nhon Detachment consisted of six handler teams providing security at the Qui Nhon Support Command Depot and Ammunition Supply Depot.

Personal Reflections “I was transferred to the 212th in November or December 1966 as the 1st Platoon Leader and had detachments in Qui Nhon, An Khe, Pleiku, and Nha Trang. Then was later transferred to Pershing Compound as the unit XO.”   1LT (COL Ret.) Arnold L. Seligman, 212th MP Company.

     The next date the Qui Nhon Detachment appears is on an 18th MP Brigade Operations Report-Lessons Learned, 1 February-30 April 1967. At that time it’s designated as “Detachment B" and its status was being reviewed.

    The Qui Nhon ammunition depot was one of two operated by the 184th Ordnance Battalion, the other was located in Phu Tai Valley. The Qui Nhon depot was phased out on 20 June.

     Constructed in early 1966 subordinate to the HQ, U.S. Support Command and staffed by the 504th Renovation Detachment the Phu Tai Valley ammunition storage depot was situated four miles south west of Qui Nhon. The cantonment was situated in a less than secure location surrounded by high hills on three sides and was subject to numerous enemy indirect rocket, recoilless-rifle, mortar fire, and repeated sapper ground attacks. As a result it suffered more enemy attacks than any of the other ammunition depots during the war.

     In the 18th MP Brigade, Operations Report-Lessons Learned 1 May-31 July 1967, on 31 July the brigade initiated plans under the 16th MP Group to construct a new USARV Stockade to handle the overflow from Long Binh Post. It cites as one of the reasons for its location as the comparative safety and available Vietnamese labor available to be found in a storage and depot area of “this size.”

     The Qui Nhon Detachment “B” (APO 96238) also appears on the 18th MP Brigade lists of the 212th Company’s eleven detachments actively being staffed, but no mention was made as to the number of handler teams and location of its duty station(s).

      In addition, a new ARVN POW camp was constructed at Phu Tai to handle the overflow of captured enemy troops from the Pleiku camp. During the quarter over 343 POW’s were evacuated during the quarter.

Personal Reflections   “I don’t know when the detachment in Phu Tai was established, but I do know it was in the 212th prior to and when I was there from May 1967 to mid March 1968 with the kennels being in the ammo dump and the personal being billeted at a base camp two miles north of the dump.

     Later in 1968 the 981st [MP Company (Sentry Dog), 16th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade] took over detachment “B” in Phu Tai as well as facilities at the Camp Lane Army Airfield in An Son, An Son Valley about seven miles west of Qui Nhon.”   SP/4 William Proctor, 212th MP Company (Sentry Dog) & 981st MP Company (Sentry Dog), May 1967-January 1968.

Personal Reflections  "Super heroes are popular culture now. In 1967 I was teamed up with a real one, my K9 partner Jose' (157X). His eyesight, sense of smell and hearing were far superior to mine and he was braver than anyone I’d ever known.

     It was my duty to guard my charge from the Viet Cong lurking beyond the perimeter wire. My dog's duty was to do that and to protect me as well. These things he did with unfailing fidelity.

     Our first night on duty we were issued M16’s. We’d never been familiarized with these weapons and never had so much as ever held one before. We asked how to operate them and were told.” You’ll figure it out”. We then went out to the ammo dump, muzzled and loaded our dogs on the 3/4-ton and relieved the guards who had been posted on the first shift.

      I’ve written an account of several incidents while walking the ten post's in the ammo dump in Phu Tai titled “Another Night at the Zoo”. These are events that happened there during my tour. Working in that ammo dump was like being locked up inside a zoo at night."  SP/4 William Proctor, 212th MP Company (Sentry Dog) & 981st MP Company (Sentry Dog), May 1967-January 1968.

     "I was chatting with some tower guards there and they said they had some excitement the previous night. They heard a rat squealing in the bunker below and went down to have a look. They were met by a King Cobra that rose in the entry, and they shot it. The next day I went over to D Company, 58 infantry’s [Rifle Security Company attached to 93rd MP Battalion, 16th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade] barracks and saw pictures of the snake. A guy was standing on the back of 3/4-ton holding the snakes tail shoulder high. The head of the snake was on the ground and away from the truck. It was over 7-foot long."

     "As we were walking the post one night Jose’ jumped back pulling me with him. I’d never seen him do that before. I shined my flashlight on the ground and ahead of me was a Bamboo Viper prepared to strike. I emptied a magazine on it and actually hit it three times.

     The nearest tower guard swung his M60 around and charged it. I hollered not to shoot- I just shot a snake!

     In the morning I returned with it and had a photograph taken."

     "In the middle of the post was a short road that lead to a perimeter guard tower. As I started down that road Jose' started crawling on his belly and whimpering. I’d never seen him do that before.

     In training they told us that if we couldn't see what our dog did, to look between his ears and down his nose like a gun sight. Holy crap! Just outside the perimeter was a large black cat (Black Leopard) as tall as my dog and about a third longer.

     Like Jose', I remained very still. The cat jumped on top of a boulder and sat a while surveying the area. Eventually it jumped down and strode into the forest on the mountainside. When I thought it was safe I went to the guard tower. I called up and asked if I should shoot the cat? The guy told me that if I do, make sure I kill it. I then told him that we weren’t instructed on the M16 and he told me- after he woke up his partner and told him- “guess what, we’re going to lose this one”!

     "One night PFC Mack Childs and Billy Rapp decided to set up an ambush to shoot the cat. They placed a pile of C Ration hamburgers in the road on post number nine. They then situated themselves atop an ammo berm on the inside of the post facing out to the backlit perimeter. It was a textbook ambush. After a while one of their dogs started to whimper and the cat appeared cautiously approaching the bait. When they chambered their rounds the cat was off like a flash."

     "One night I spotted an Asian Brown Bear standing about 20-yards beyond the concertina wire. It just stood there and was there as I completed walking that post several times, then it was gone. I was surprised because Jose’ wasn’t bothered by it. I’d never seen one before. It was about 5’ tall. It’s head and shoulders were black and the lower body was brown. An inverted white chevron separated the top and bottom colors.

     "It was the one we least liked to walk. It was a rutted road through an area that wasn’t defoliated. One night after dropping off Denny Jensen at the beginning of that post we started to proceed slowly in the truck to the next post. Earl Stout hollered to stop. His dog was going nuts and alerting over the side of the truck.

     Our Commander Of Relief (COR) CPL Conway got out and shined his light on an 11-foot long Boa Constrictor that just started coming out of the brush. He emptied his 45 into the snake. If we’d missed that, Jensen’s very aggressive dog Bosco would have tangled with it.

     There were other nasty’s living in the area of Post-10. The least of them were a never-ending assault of mosquito's that ignored the awful repellent we slathered on."

     "In September the monkeys must have been having a class reunion on the wooded mountainside east of the ammo dump. Their continuous chatter was annoying and it would continue through the night. This lasted for a little more than a week. And just as quickly as they came-they were gone."

Editors Note: The monkey's cited were probably Rhesus Macaque that are common to and inhabit the more mountainous regions of Vietnam, and gather in large troops for mating. Several troops will join together for approximate 7 to 10 days and then divide and move on after the mating.

     "One day, out at the kennel compound in the ammo dump, a very small white scorpion stung Steve Sibbald. Steve’s leg had swollen to about twice its size and was quite painful. He was taken to the nearest dispensary and treated ."