Overview of The Tay Ninh ~ Cu Chi Convoy
~ 720th Military Police Battalion Reunion Association ~ Vietnam History Project ~
This Page Last Updated    24 April 2008
25th ID

     The convoy carried critical supplies from Long Binh Post to the Chu Chi and Tay Ninh base camps of the 25th Infantry Division, III Corps Tactical Zone, just miles east of the Cambodian border.
18th Bde.
720th
 
     The 48th Transportation Group (Long Binh Post) supplied the majority of the general cargo and transport vehicles while the 64th Quartermaster Battalion (Long Binh Post) provided the tanker vehicles that carried the petroleum, oil, and lubricants (POL). Eventually the 1st Logistical Command would also set up its headquarters on Long Binh Post.
64th
1st
 

     The vehicles would begin to form at the marshaling area on Long Binh Post in the darkness of the early morning where the MP Escorts would meet and receive their assignments to specific march units.

     From 1967 through 1970 (until the Vietnamization process began in earnest) a normal convoy might have as few as fifty vehicles and as many as three-hundred.
 
     Prior to the 6 July 1968 completion of the new Phu Cong Bridge located 15 miles north of Saigon, the large convoy had to pass through the heavy traffic in the heart of the city causing nightmares for the 716th MP Battalion who were responsible for traffic control within the city.
 
     Armored Gun Trucks with M60 Machine guns and Quad 50 caliber machine guns were utilized by the Transportation units as added security against ambush. As the Battalion convoy responsibilities increased Armored Personnel Carriers (APC) and V100 Armored Commando Cars were obtained to improve its mission capability.
 
     On a good day the daily convoy run would take approximately 12 hours, depending greatly on weather, road conditions, traffic and enemy activity in the area. The average speed, depending on weather conditions, was approximately 30 miles per hour.

     The round trip from Long Binh Post to Tay Ninh City and the home base camp of the 25th Infantry Division, would encompass a total of 180 miles over some of the best and worst roadway conditions in Vietnam.

      Similar to the wagon train concept of the old west where there was safety in numbers, along the route additional march units would link up with or be dropped off at the various U.S. Military installations passed along the way.

      Many of these smaller US military installations would later become separate convoy escort destinations for the MP's of the 720th.

      The route would pass through or by Di An, Phu Loi, Chu Chi, Phu Cuong, Trang Bang, Go Dau Ha and Dau Tieng.
 
Checkpoints and Landmarks Along The Convoy Route
 
 
     As the convoy neared Cu Chi gun jeeps of the 25th MP Company, 25 Infantry Division would join in as additional route security and handle traffic control points along the way.
 
     A pre-designated serial of trucks assigned to resupply Cu Chi would split from the main convoy and enter the Cu Chi Base Camp as the remainder of the convoy would continue on to the Tay Ninh Base Camp.
 
     Once the trucks reached the safety of Tay Ninh Base Camp the MP's would break away and form up at the 25th MP Company or the 720th MP Battalion Tay Ninh Detachment. While the supply trucks were being unloaded the MP's would care for any maintenance and fuel for their escort vehicles, resupply their ammunition if needed, eat at the mess hall or cat nap, preparing for their trip back to Long Binh.

     If enemy activity in the area of Chu Chi or elsewhere along the route halted the convoys return they would "RON" (remain overnight), spend the night at Tay Ninh or the Cu Chi Detachment until roadway conditions improved.

     During these overnights, it wasn't unusual for the returning convoy to pass the new convoy heading for Tay Ninh on the roadway the next day.
 

     Ask any Vietnam Veteran that worked at or visited the Tay Ninh area what the most stunning land feature was and he will tell you "Nui Bau Dinh," the Black Virgin Mountain. It almost seemed to be a freak of nature, out of place, the majestic peak rising up towards the sky in this otherwise flat expanse of land.

     The Tay Ninh Convoy was the largest and longest continuous daily convoy run during the entire war. During the period of Vietnamization of the war the numbers of vehicles began to drop as U.S. Military and allied units in the Tay Ninh area were deactivated and replaced by Army Of The Republic Of Vietnam (ARVN) units.

     Without this crucial daily supply run the security and safety of Tay Ninh City, Chu Chi, and the surrounding country side would be in immediate jeopardy.
 
     Although there were occasions on which the convoy would be postponed, they were very rare and based only on “serious” enemy activity along the route. And, serious enemy activity along the rout was almost a certainty with the proximity of Tay Ninh and Cu Chi being so close to the North Vietnamese Army sanctuaries across the nearby Cambodian border.
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