Tan An a hub city situated at the junctions of Highway QL-4, The Peoples Road, and the Bao Dinh Ha and Vam Co Tay Rivers in IV Corps Tactical Zone, Mekong Delta, southwest of the capital city of Saigon.

Region

City

The Navy established an advanced tactical support base at this site on South Vietnam’s Vam Co Tay River for a short time during the war. Initially, naval leaders planned to support anti-infiltration river patrols on the river northwest of Saigon from a repair, berthing, and messing barge stationed at Tan An. However when the vessel was deployed to another location down river, the shore facilities proved inadequate to support the river patrol boat (PBR) unit based there. As a result, in March 1969 the naval force reestablished its base of operations on Mobile Support Base II, which consisted on connected pontoons moored in the river.

The 3rd Brigade, (Go Devil) 9th Infantry Division, located its headquarters at Tan An in 1967. The headquarters base camp was divided between Tan An Army Airfield and Tan An South. Tan An South was the 3rd Brigade headquarters southeast of Highway QL-4 (The Peoples Road).

9th

Tan An Army Airfield was a short distance west of the village of Tan An and Highway QL-4. The airfield was constructed early in 1967 to support 3rd Brigade participation in operation Enterprise. Company C - 15th Engineer Battalion and Company D - 86th Engineer Battalion, transformed a straight stretch of Communal Route 223 into an asphalt, 2,500x50-foot, fixed-wing runway. The displaced road was rerouted south of the airfield.

1967	Detachment staffed by the 615th MP Company, 720th MP Battalion

17 April A Company, 720th MP Battalion assumed the mission of providing convoy escort and traffic control for daily resupply convoys from Saigon to Tan An. A total of 9 Enlisted men and 3 gun jeeps with mounted M60 machine guns were assigned for the daily runs.

August The 615th MP Company, subordinate to the 720th MP Battalion, was assigned to provide manpower for combined MP and Vietnamese National Police [Can Sat] patrols in the Tan An area, to support operations of the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division.

720th

9th

1968	Operations changed from 615th of the 720th to 188th of the 92nd MP Battalion

30 January BG Karl W. Gustafson, Provost Marshal General, LTC Lewis, 18th MP Brigade, and LTC Francis E. “Frank” Payne, 89th MP Group, escorted by LTC Robert Reinke, the 720th MP Battalion Commanding Officer, presented a briefing on MP operations at the detachment during the tour by BG Gustafson.

31 January 1045 hours At 10:45 AM, SGT Braswell, NCOIC (Noncommissioned Officer In Charge) Tan An Detachment, 615th MP Company, was notified that PFC Paul Chasten was admitted to the 9th Medical Hospital for illness and was expected to stay for 2-3 days.

1 April 188th MP Company operations, under the 92nd Military Police Battalion, began moving to the Mekong Delta area and included Phu Lam, Tan An, My Tho, Cai Lai, Vinh Long, Can Tho and Soc Trang.

92nd

The 188th MP Company Detachment was attached to the MACV 86th Advisory Team, cleared mines every morning on Highway QL-4 (Peoples Road) with the 9th Infantry Division Engineers to keep the road open to Saigon. They worked combined police patrols with the Quan Canh's and the Con Sat's.

30 June Highway QL-4 crossed the Vam Co River at Ben Luc. The Ben Luc Bridge was a favorite target of the Communists and was partially destroyed when enemy sappers dropped a 150' span of the bridge into the river.

1969

If you worked as an MP at the Tan An detachment in 1969, please contact the History Project Manager via the Email Link at the top of this page.

1970	92nd MP Battalion departs, operations revert back to 720th MP Battalion

January CPT Robert E. Connor, 188th MP Company, 92nd MP Battalion, replaces CPT Ray W. Lattimore as the My Tho, Dong Tam, and Tan An Detachment's commander and MACV Team 75's MP advisor to the 7th ARVN Infantry Division.

5 February The 188th Military Police Company was reassigned subordinate to the command of the 720th Military Police Battalion when its parent unit the 92nd Military Police Battalion was the first MP Headquarters to be deactivated and withdrawn from Vietnam.

August CPT Robert E. Connor the Detachment commander and MACV Team 75's MP advisor is transferred to the 720th MP Battalion as the A Company Commanding Officer.

September B Company of the 720th MP Battalion assumed responsibility for the discipline, law and order missions in IV Corps from the 188th MP Company. The 188th was scheduled for reassignment to DaNang in II Corps Tactical Zone so to avoid the logistical problem associated with the move B Company who had just completed their infantry assignment from Operation STABILIZE in the Tactical Area of Responsibility was redesignated as the 188th and sent to DaNang.

The Battalion became tactically responsible for the manning and logistical support of all military police and provost marshal office detachments throughout the III and IV Corps Tactical Zone's.

1 April B Company relocated the Dong Tam Provost Marshal Office to Tan An. The move and realignment enabled the MP’s to be more responsive to traffic accidents and incidents and to provide greater area coverage.

At Tan An the MP duties were V-100 Convoy Escorts, highway patrol of QL4 “The Peoples Road,” and town patrol in Tan An. They also performed Joint ARVN-Vietnamese National Police [Can Sat], checkpoint duties, and Tan An Provost Marshal Office duty.

Tan An was a collection of old sheds, barracks and bunkers located at the old Tan An Airfield. The Army Of The Republic Of Vietnam [ARVN] were responsible for the airfield perimeter security but the MP’s of the detachment posted their own guard within the MP compound. Electrical power was provided by gas or diesel generator. They hauled water into the compound by water buffalo trailer from a fresh water well on the airfield.

There was no mess hall available, they would be transported by truck into the Military Assistance Command Vietnam [MACV] Headquarters in Tan An for food or else they ate C-Rations.

MACV

19 June The Provost Marshals Office [PMO] and MP Desk at Tan An was closed and the personnel and vehicle assets were deployed to the Can Tho Detachment to augment the current strength in preparation for an upcoming campaign against narcotics and marijuana. The operational area of the 716th MP Battalion was expanded to compensate for the loss of the Tan An PMO.

716th

10 October The Tan An Provost Marshal Office [PMO],and MP Desk, previously deactivated on 19 June, was reestablished based on a directive from Headquarters, United States Army Republic of Vietnam [USARV] which decreased the area of operation of the 716th Military Police Battalion. Personnel and equipment required to establish this PMO were taken from the existing resources of B Company.