615th

17 March The following 615th MP Company Personnel were promoted under Headquarters, 720th MP Battalion, Special Orders #47. SP/5 John W. Domitrovite to Staff Sergeant E-6, and SP/4 James K. Miller to Specialist Fifth Class E-5.

April The 615th MP Company acquired additional duties of convoy escort operations for convoys between Saigon and Tan An; Bien Hoa and Saigon; Long Binh Post and Xuan Loc,, for the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment at their Blackhorse base camp.

11th

It also assumed responsibility for the POW escort operations within Corps Zones III and IV and the physical security of the Long Binh Post vehicle and pedestrian gates, physical security of all POW medical facilities on Long Binh Post and the 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon.

Concurrently they also assumed responsibility for Operation SHOTGUN to provide escort for the incoming and departing troops moving between the 90th Replacement Battalion at Long Binh Post and the Bien Hoa Air Base.

16 April The 3rd Platoon, 615th Military Police Company was released from attachment to the 92nd MP Battalion and returned to the 615th MP Company, 720th MP Battalion. The 3rd Platoon moved from Pershing Field Compound, Tan Son Nhut Air Base to Long Binh Post.

20 April The companies 3rd Platoon, still stationed at Pershing Field near Saigon a detachment assigned to the 92nd MP Battalion, was detached and relocated with the rest of the company on Long Binh Post. This reassignment provided the 615th with the much needed staffing to handle its present commitments with the 720th MP Battalion.

May The Company started their transition from the canvas tents and wooden floors to the new Adams Huts (aluminum buildings).

12 May PFC William Leroy Sanders, age 19 of Denver, Colorado was killed in action at "Gasoline Alley #1" during a Viet Cong ambush while patrolling Highway 1A. PFC Sanders died from wounds received by small arms fire, several other MP's were wounded but survived.

8 July Members of the 615th along with A and B Company of the 720th, supported the 9th Infantry Division, 1st Australian Task Force, and the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment during Operation PADDINGTON.

9th

11th

5th RAR

The joint operations were conducted in the area of Nui Dat and Sem Moc, seventy-five miles east of Saigon.

11 July Five MPs of the 615th MP Company were transported to Bear Cat. At 0700 hours (7:00 AM), the MPs were to accompany 53 POW’s on a flight (aircraft mission #21) from Bear Cat to Can Tho.

19 July The 720th MP Battalion assigned one Officer and fifteen Enlisted Men from the 615th MP Company to support the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment during Operation EMPORIA. The detachment performed traffic and convoy control, defile control, traffic accident investigation, control of indigenous personnel, Prisoner of War guards, Medical Civic Action Program security (Med-Cap's) perimeter security, and cordon and search operations.

21 July Casualties Operation EMPORIA Elements of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR) escorted by 10 MP's from the 615th MP Company, 720th MP Battalion, were ambushed by two battalions of the 275th Viet Cong Main Force Regiment, 5th NVA Division along Inter Provisional Route QL20 in Long Kahn Province while providing convoy escort during Operation EMPORIA.

The convoy was pinned down in the open roadway for approximately two hours and received heavy small arms, automatic weapons, and anti armor weapons fire. The attack was finally broken when supporting elements of the 11th ACR arrived to assist the embattled convoy.

28 July Members of the 615th MP Company, 720th MP Battalion, were presented awards in a ceremony on Long Binh Post. Several of the awards were for their actions in Operation Emporia.

August CPT Arnold "Arnie" Daxe, Jr., Commanding Officer, initiates a contest to name the 615th MP Company. The selection process results in the name "Bloodhounds" and the necessary paperwork is sent through channels and approved.

The 615th provided manpower for combined MP and Can Sat patrols in the Tan An area.

The 615th also provided one NCO and seven Enlisted Men for Discipline Law and Order patrols of the 173rd Airborne Brigade area at the Bien Hoa Air Base while the 173rd was in the process of transferring personnel to another operational area.

173rd

1 September CPT Arnold "Arnie" Daxe, Jr. assumed command of the 615th MP Company from CPT Alfred A. Alexander.

20 October Operation STABILIZE The 720th MP Battalion was given a tactical area of responsibility one mile south of Long Binh Post under Operation STABILIZE. This was the first time in the history of the United States Armed Forces and the U. S. Army Military Police Corps that an MP unit was assigned an infantry mission. The twenty two square mile area encompassed four principal villages. Its purpose as the name implied, was to stabilize the area, thus increasing the security of United States Army Republic of Vietnam (USARV) Headquarters and Long Binh Post. In addition to such familiar tasks as village and highway patrol, the operation required the men of the 720th to perform duties in their secondary Military Occupational Specialty (MOS), in which they are required to fight as infantrymen.

5th SF

In preparation for the reconnaissance, ambush and combat patrols they were to conduct, the entire 615th MP Company and 40 men from the three organic companies (A,B, & C) of the 720th MP Battalion attended refresher classes on recon and ambush patrol methods and techniques taught by instructors from the 5th Special Forces Group. Click on patch Icon to right to enlarge >

615th Tab

The 615th MP Company was assigned an Area of Operations in support of the 720th MP Battalion, Operation STABILIZE, to conduct ambush and recon patrols east of the Battalion TAOR, click on map icon >

Members of the 615th MP Company serving as site security, bulldozed the Finger of Land in the TAOR of all vegetative cover and left only a narrow dirt roadway along half of the top that connected with Highway QL15.

The exact dates of the clearing operation (sometime in the fall of 1967) are unknown. Sketchy information identifies the Engineer unit as elements of the newly arrived 20th Engineer Brigade, headquartered at Long Binh Post, August of 1967. If you can identify the dates and verify the Engineer unit(s) assigned to the clearing operation, please contact the History Project Manager via the Email Link at the top of this page.

29 October Celebrating their safe homecoming and first night stateside, pending discharge, MP’s from the 720th MP Battalion, unidentified (Henry F. “Skip” Kneuer A Co.?), SP/4 Allan Portnoy 615th MP Company, Bunny Carol, SP/4 Neal Crofford B Company, unidentified MP, enjoyed themselves at the San Francisco Playboy Club. The celebration continued on to another night club until dawn.

18 November A 615th MP Company ambush team suffered two wounded during an exchange of hand grenades between their patrol and a Viet Cong force of unknown size while in a night ambush position in an area just south of the Finger of Land.

28 November ? At 0538 Hours (5:38 AM), Smaller Skulls [radio call sign] notified Bttalion TOC that a vehicle accident occurred at Thu Duc intersection on Highway 1A. Two US Army vehicles were involved. Some injuries, no further information at this time. Long Binh Post Provost Marshals office notified.

26 November A 615th MP Company ambush team suffered one wounded during an exchange of hand grenades between their patrol and a Viet Cong force of unknown size while in a night ambush position in an area just south of the Finger of Land.

December The Company discipline, law, and order patrols in Bien Hoa were reassigned to the area of Long Binh Post.

6 December Several members of the company including, PFC Steven C. Jones and others yet to be identified, were detailed to augment a B Company Ambush & Recon team in site security at the old French Fort in the Battalion Tactical Area Of Responsibility (TAOR) during the recovery of ammunition from a barge sunk during the 4 December river ambush. The detail lasted approximately 5 days ending on or about 11 December without further incident.

13 December PFC John Edward Davis, age,18 of North Platte, Nebraska, died as the result of a non-hostile Air-Boat accident while on river patrol in the Tactical Area Of Responsibility.

WANTED A photograph of PFC Davis, please contact the History Project Manager via the Email Link above.

18 December Meritorious Unit Commendation The 720th MP Battalion and attached 615th MP Company are awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation under General Order 6492.

Date Unknown Bien Hoa Patrols responded to "Moon Tahs" south of Bien Hoa in response to a call of a dead GI on the highway. When they arrived they discovered it was a local Vietnamese official that had been assassinated by the Viet Cong. They assisted at the scene until National Police arrived and removed the body.

WANTED Information concerning the circumstances on this incident, please contact the History Project Manager via the Email Link above.

24-25 December Reflections of how the MPs of the 615th spent their Christmas Eve and Day.

Short Timers Christmas Anxiety SP/4 Louis F. Conte, 615th MP Company, 720th MP Battalion, January 1967 to December 1967.