Because of the duality of missions, for historical continuity both were incorporated on this page.
By air, Tay Ninh City was approximately 55 miles northwest of Saigon. The primary roadway servicing the city was QL-22, and by road the drive covered approximately 186 miles (round trip) over some of the best and worst roadway conditions in South Vietnam from Long Binh Post, south west through Saigon, then northwest to Cu Chi and finally Tay Ninh City.
On a good day, the daily convoy run would take approximately twelve hours, depending greatly on weather, road conditions, traffic and enemy activity in the area. The average speed was approximately thirty miles per hour.
The dominant land feature in the area was the Nui Ba Den (Black Virgin) Mountain northeast of the city.
The convoy not only serviced the Tay Ninh and Cu Chi headquarters base camps, but also at times escorted break off serials of supply vehicles to villages along the way in Di An, Phu Loi, Phu Cuong, Trang Bang, Go Dau Ha and Dau Tieng.
It would quickly become the largest daily convoy operation in South Vietnam during the war.
For additional monthly and daily details, visit the Battalion Timeline for your tour.
1966 Only weeks after the Battalion arrived in South Vietnam, due to a shortage of transportation unit truck drivers to handle providing logistical support for all the major combat operations in the area, its A, B and C Companies were often tasked to provide MP drivers for some of the trucks that carried munitions from the depot at Binh Hoa and the 3rd Ordnance Ammunition Supply Depot on Long Binh Post to Allied units in War Zone C, D and the Tay Ninh Cu Chi areas.
When the Battalion declared itself mission ready, Brigade assigned it to the Tay Ninh convoy escort mission. A, B, and C Companies rotated the responsibility.
The Headquarters of the 25th Infantry Division (Tropic Lightning) was located at the Tay Ninh Base Camp with support elements located at the Cu Chi Base Camp, and several scattered remote fire support bases.
Because it was a regular daily convoy run and unable to change its route, the enemy always took advantage of its slow speed. At times the convoys were so long that until notified by radio, many times the MP escorts were unaware of enemy sniper and small arms attacks against the the many serials of trucks.
There were on occasion direct Long Binh Post to Cu Chi and back convoys, the majority of deliveries came from march units that broke off of the larger Tay Ninh Convoy.
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.
if you served at this detachment or on the convoy escorts and would like to contribute any information, personal stories, documents, media articles, photographs, or can provide information on any events not listed in the Battalion Timeline, please take a moment to contact the History Project Manager at the Email Link provided on this page. Your contributions are important to the recording of the Battalion history and always welcomed here.
This Timeline has been reduced to a summary. All specific significant dated events and corresponding photographs of this detachment-convoy Timeline have been incorporated into the Battalion Timeline pages. To assist in locating the detachment-convoy events, each entree on the Battalion Timeline pages is proceeded by the event designation Cu Chi-Tay Ninh Convoy or the Cu Chi or Tay Ninh Detachment. To review your tour of this dual mission in the Battalion Timeline, use the Main Index link above.
