212th

Soc Trang was located at the end of the Hau river basin in the Mekong River Delta, IV Corps Tactical Zone. Soc Trang is adjacent to Vinh Long and Can Tho at the north and northwest, adjacent to the East Sea at the south and the west, Tra Vinh to the east, and Bac Lieu to the west.

1965

Sometime in the fall or winter the first handlers and their Sentry Dogs were assigned to the Detachment to provide perimeter security for the Soc Trang Air Base. SP/4 Robert C. Gitchell was one of the first handlers assigned. They slept in tents and the K9’s were kenneled in their original shipping crates. The dogs were fed in a feed kennel made from an old CONEX container.

SP/4 Gitchell would later return on his second tour of Vietnam as a Staff Sergeant with the 212th MP Company and was the Noncommissioned Officer In Charge (NCOIC) of the detachment. He also had the distinction of being at the detachment when it was deactivated in 1970.

1966

1967

1968 Tet New Years Communist Offensive

29 January through 29 February There were thirteen (13) attacks on the Soc Trang Airfield during the period. These attacks were primarily composed of attacks utilizing 75mm recoilless rifle fire. There were two instances of mortar fire during the attacks. Five of the thirteen (13) attacks were accompanied by minor ground type attacks with small arms and automatic weapons fire.

1969

Under the direction of SGT Jerry E. Howell, NCOIC, members of the detachment needed a training area and took it upon themselves to build one with left over ammunition crates so their dogs could maintain their regular training.

1970

1 November The six Sentry Dog Teams working the Soc Trang Detachment in support of the 121st Aviation Battalion, Soc Trang Airfield, were relocated to Long Binh Post concurrent with the Army of The Republic of Vietnam [ARVN], military authorities taking over the Soc Trang Army Airfield under the Vietnamization program.