MACV

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6 April The 615th Military Police Company was activated at Fort Hood, Texas.

8 April The 615th MP Company was reactivated with the majority of personnel coming from the newly reformed C Company, of the 720th MP Battalion, along with volunteers from both A and B Companies. CPT Jan S. Monningh was appointed the Commanding Officer.

     Approximately thirty days prior to their scheduled departure the newly formed company began overseas duty processing consisting of medical examinations, shots, equipment inspections and some of the men were eligible for leave. There was no special overseas orientation training given.

1 August The company departed Fort Hood, Texas and traveled by troop train to the Oakland Army Terminal. The men were informed that the transport orders were secret and to keep their window shades down on the train when they arrived in the Oakland area. During their arrival in Oakland they observed anti war protesters lining the tracks protesting their arrival.

     The trip on board the USNS General W. A. Mann was described as very long and boring. Having taken a northern route the first leg of the trip was cold. After they changed to a southern direction the weather became much warmer.

     The men were confined to below deck in the evenings and could only come topside during the daylight hours. There was some low key tension that developed between the company MPs and members of an engineer unit that was traveling with them. The problem was because the MPs had more freedom of movement due to their assignment as ship security. They were responsible for guarding the secure areas on the ship and insuring that all troops remained below decks in the evening.

     Sleeping and living quarters below provided very little privacy, they were hot, close and stuffy. The bunks were stacked 5 to 6 high and there was very little room in between them. The MPs, when not pulling guard duty, would sneak up on deck to sleep at night. Surrounded by the open water the air was cleaner and the view of the moon and thousands of stars were prefered over the six inches of space separating your nose from the bunk above you. Sleeping on the hard steel deck with only a poncho liner wasn’t very comfortable but was much better than staying in the quarters below.

     One of the benefits of the security assignment were the women nurses traveling with the medical unit. The MPs would "bend" the rules and also allow the nurses topside in the evening, which probably was the root cause for the tension with the engineers.

     When they were not working, card games of double deck pinochle were used to pass the time.

     The first port of call was at the U.S. Naval Base, Subic Bay in the Philippine Islands. The stop was less than 24 hours but the men were still grateful to be able to get on dry land to stretch their new sea legs. The MPs were assigned as shore patrol for the brief stop over.

     The next port of call was Cam Rahn Bay in South Vietnam. It is believed that the engineer elements disembarked while there.

716th

MACV

     Within their first week the company was divided up into platoon size detachments. One detachment was assigned to Vung Tau and one to Can Tho.

WANTED  Information on the detachment assignments, contact the History Project Manager via the Email Link above.

     The new Vung Tau Detachment arrived at their destination and found that the MP duties were already being performed by another MP Company, believed to be a detachment of the 560th MP Company. They remained in Vung Tau for approximately 30 days and were reassigned back to the company headquarters at Tent City.

Reflections I was part of the 615th. MP platoon that was assigned to Vung Tau. We left Fort Hood, Texas by train to Oakland and boarded the USS General Mann. The ship was mostly filled with MPs, Medics and Engineers.  We stopped in the Philippines, proceeded to an area off the coast of Viet Nam (Cam Ran Bay?) and then further south to the mouth of the Saigon River where we were put into landing craft traveling up river to Saigon.  We were trucked from downtown Saigon to an area that became known as Tent City. Soon after a platoon was sent to Vung Tau. We flew on a twin engine Caribou and I remember there was a very well known war correspondent on board. I believe her name Dickie Chappell and I recall her sitting next to an officer and making the comment about how young we all looked.
 
      Vung Tau was a very interesting place.  There was a Special Forces group based there as well as Australians, New Zealanders and South Koreans.  It was a typical situation where we controlled the area in the daytime and the night belonged to the VC but I do not recall any major events during the time we spent there. It was standard town patrol and security. Our free time was spent in town or mostly at the beach. SP/4 Richard C. "Dick" Jones, 615th MP Company, 716th MP Battalion, Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Vung Tau and Tent City Saigon, August-December 1965.

QC

     Discipline, Law and Order patrols at Tent City, Saigon and the sourrounding areas. Convoy Escort Duty, escorting daily convoys from the Saigon Docks to Bien Hoa. The escorts consisted of two, two man gun jeeps. For thirty days they escorted convoys carrying new tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers to Bien Hoa.

     Several MPs were also given the assignment as drivers for field grade officers attached to MACV and other headquarters units in the immediate area

September The 615th MP Company Can Tho Detachment was reassigned after being replaced by elements of the 560th MP Company.