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Located several miles southeast of Long Binh Post and 20 miles northeast of Saigon, along Highway QL15. The camp was first staffed by elements of the 1st Infantry Division and known as Camp Martin Cox (SFC Killed in Action 7 April 1966). It later became the Headquarters of the U.S. Army 9th Infantry Division, 3rd Brigade until they moved their operations south of Saigon into the Mekong Delta region, IV Corps, in July 1968.

In 20 August 1967 the Royal Thailand Vietnam Forces moved their headquarters into the Bearcat Base Camp, and by 1 March 1970 the 25th Infantry Division moved from Tay Ninh & Cu Chi into the Bearcat Base Camp.

1966 Headquarters of the U. S. Army 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division

4 - 8 December During Operations CANARY, DUCK & IOLA The 720th MP Battalion supported elements of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, 5th & 6th Battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment, in support of elements of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade (LIB) and 9th Infantry Divisions move from debarkation at the Port of Vung Tau to their new base camps at long Binh and Bearcat, respectively.

RAF

173rd

199th

9th

Their mission was to provide highway security and escort to elements of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade (LIB) and 9th Infantry Divisions move from debarkation at the Port of Vung Tau to their new base camps at Long Binh and Bearcat, respectively.

1967 Royal Thailand Army Vietnam Forces Queen’s Cobras Arrive

20 August An engineer company of the Royal Thai Army Vietnam Forces (RTAVF) regiment of the Queen’s Cobras arrived at Bearcat from the Newport Army terminal, Saigon, and it began work on at the base camp preparing facilities for the main party.

19 to 23 September The main body of Royal Thai Army Queen's Cobras Regiment arrived at Bearcat from the Newport Army Terminal, Saigon.

28 November The Royal Thai Army Queen's Cobras Regiment, Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) platoon arrived at the base camp from Ton Son Nhut Air Field, Saigon which completed the first regimental deployment.

1968 Royal Thailand Vietnam Forces Black Panthers Arrive

June A Company was tasked with assigning an eleven man detachment to assist the Thai Military Police with combined patrols to enforce discipline, law, and order for 3,000 man Royal Thai Army Vietnam Forces, Black Panther Division that was due to arrive.

The Thai Black Panther Division also contained a Military Police Company of one-hundred and twenty men, thirty of them who are to be assigned to the combined MP patrol operations with A Company.

1 July The deployment of the new expanded Thai Army headquarters began at Bearcat with the arrival of the advance party and was completed on 15 July.

20 July to 15 August Elements of the 3,000 man Royal Thai Army, Black Panther Division arrived in Vietnam and was transported from the Saigon docks to the Bearcat Base Camp under the security of C Company convoy escort units under Operation CONDOR II.

August The HQ and colors of the 9th Infantry Division relocated from Bearcat, to Dong Tam, IV Corps Tactical Zone, Mekong Delta, where they remained until the Division withdrew from Vietnam in August 1969.

6 October A squad of MP’s from A Company relieved the four man C Company Detachment at the at Bearcat Base Camp, 9th Infantry Division Provost Marshals Office. The A Company detachment was responsible for the entire operation and liaison with the Royal Thailand Army Vietnam Force Military Police Company also based at Bearcat.

A combined U.S. and Thai MP Desk was formed and motorized patrols were assigned. Two combined patrols during daylight hours and one during the evening hours. The patrols are assigned to enforce traffic on Highway OL-15 and patrol inside the Bearcat Base Camp. They handle any vehicle crashes, traffic enforcement, transportation of illegal contraband, thefts, etc. The U.S. MP’s were praised by their Thai counterpart, LT Prasit, from Bangkok, Thailand, the MP Duty Officer. “To work with the U.S. Military Police is a great honor.” “Through cooperation and working together we have established a good relationship with the troops.”

Chasing AWOL's SP/4 William H. Anttila, A Company, 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, August 1968 to November 1969.

1969

January The primary allied units stationed at Bearcat in 1969 were elements of the Royal Thailand Army Vietnam Forces, 173rd Airborne Division, and a varied collection of assorted helicopter transport and assault units, artillery, armor, transportation and communications elements.

9 January Operation, CONDOR III The second increment of 5,704 man Royal Thai Army Black Panther Division was deployed to Bearcat and completed the move on 25 February.

One of the communications elements, the Royal Australian Army 104th Signal Squadron, manned a small detachment of signalmen. The Australian enlisted personnel in the detachment shared the same billets with the A Company MP Detachment.

It Seems We Had A Lot In Common

RAF

25 February A Company completed the movement of the remaining elements of the Royal Thai Army, Black Panther Division from the Newport Army Terminal docks to their new base camp at Bearcat started on 9 January.

20 June The members of the A Company Bearcat Detachment were put to the task having to provided security for the Commanding General of Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV), General Craighton W. Abrams.

General Abrams arrived at the Bearcat base camp and personally presented awards, mostly Purple Heart medals, to allied troops stationed at the base.

Most of the awards were presented to members of the Royal Thailand Army Volunteer Forces headquartered at the base camp.

July The Bearcat Base Camp was a favorite target for enemy harassment and occurred on almost a daily routine. It was almost a forgone conclusion that the alert status at any time was always yellow or red. Most of the incoming enemy fire was in the form of mortars and rockets with the occasional ground probes of the perimeter defenses by the local Viet Cong.

15 July With the constant incoming enemy harassment fire, overhead protection during the frequent attacks was paramount. During the week the bunker situated just outside the MP Detachment barracks was torn down and replaced.

After the civilian Vietnamese contractors finished the structural work their crew of mostly women with their children who accompanied them to work, filled the hundreds of sand bags needed.

21 July At 0130 hours (1:30AM), an enemy probe of the base camp perimeter by 10 Viet Cong was answered by the response of a DC3 C47 “Spooky” gunship that raked the area just outside the berm with mini-gun fire. The incident lasted for approximately 45 minutes. Two dead VC were recovered when it was over.

12 August The third increment of the Royal Thai Volunteer Force Black Panther Division completed deployment to Bearcat to replace the first increment, which returned to Thailand. The replacement brigade assumed the designation of 1st Brigade. It is unknown if the 720th MP Battalion participated as convoy escorts in this movement.

1 October CPT Arthur L. Huckabay, A Company, was assigned as Provost Marshal at the Bearcat Detachment.

1970 25th Infantry Division Arrive from Cu Chi

23 March CPT Rafael Cortes-Dapena was assigned to the Bearcat Detachment, A Company, as Deputy Provost Marshal.

11 May CPT Rafael Cortes-Dapena was reassigned from his position of Deputy Provost Marshal at the Bearcat Detachment.

27 July 1LT Joseph L.J. Brillion, A Company, was assigned as the Bearcat Deputy Provost Marshal.

November Due to the increasing problem of communist insurgency in Thailand the Thai Government announced it would start withdrawing its Volunteer Forces, the majority based at Bearcat, from Vietnam.

1971 Major Realignment oF Drug Violation Enforcement

26 May The responsibility for drug violations reverted from CID to the road MP’s, including processing all evidence and reports. One additional clerk had to be added to the A Company Bearcat PMO to handle the additional workload.

4 July Crackdown Black Marketing Activities The Battalion was required to position one MP at the entrance and exit to the post exchange facilities at Bearcat to insure that only authorized personnel used the exchange and that customers did not abuse their rations privileges.

19 August 1LT William A. D’Andrea was assigned as the Provost Marshal at Bearcat.

22 August Discipline, law and order patrol and convoy escort activities were curtailed at the detachment due to the assignment of forty Battalion enlisted men and one officer in support of the Drug Abuse Treatment/Holding Center (DAHC) on Long Binh Post.

1972 Royal Thailand Volunteer Forces Depart Under Vietnamization

April Under the Vietnamization program the Royal Tahi Forces Headquarters detachment returned to Tahiland, all that remained at Bearcat was a token force.