The 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.

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

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 conducting a Road Runner night security patrol on Highway 1A. PFC Sanders died from wounds received by small arms fire.

     SP/4 E.L. Humbarger, PFC's Harold L. Newcomb, Jr. and William M. Halt 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.

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

21 July 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 the convoy escort for 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 Company were presented awards in a ceremony on Long Binh Post.

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

   The Company 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.

20 October 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 a counterinsurgency 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.

        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.

       The MPs assigned had a special tab (unofficial)n manufactured to denote their new assignment.            

     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 watchtower in the Battalion Tactical Area Of Responsibility. Their mission was to provide security during the recovery of ammunition from a barge sunk during a 4 December ambush on the Dong Nai River.

     Lasting approximately 5 days, the detail ended without incident on or about 11 December.

13 December PFC John Edward Davis age18 of North Platte, Nebraska died as the result of a non-hostile Air-Boat accident in the Tactical Area Of Responsibility.

WANTED If anyone has a photograph of PFC Davis or further details on the incident, please contact the History Project Manager via the Email Link at the top of this page.

18 December The 720th MP Battalion and attached 615th MP Company were awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation for the period of 19 October 1966 to 31 May 1967 under General Order 6492.

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.