Soc Trang Detachment & Convoy Time Line
~ 720th Military Police Battalion Reunion Association ~ Vietnam History Project ~
This Page Last Updated    20 February 2013
Soc Trang was located at the end of the Hau river basin in the Mekong River Delta in IV Corps Tactical Zone, The city is adjacent to Vinh Long and Can Tho at the north and northwest, adjacent to the East Sea at the south and the west, Tra Vinh to the east, and Bac Lieu to the west. The primary allied unit conducting combat operations in the area was the 9th Infantry Division.
Region
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18th Bde.
720th
9th ID
 
1967
 
        A platoon of Sentry Dog Handlers of the 212th MP Company, 720th MP Battalion provided security at the Soc Trang Airfield.
 
1967 Miscellaneous Photographs
 
 
1968   The 188th MP Company moves operations to the Mekong Delta
 
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
 
1968 Miscellaneous Photographs
 
 
1969
 
December The 188th MP Company provides discipline, law and order patrols and a combined police desk for the City of Soc Trang.
 
1969 Miscellaneous Photographs
 188th MP motorized patrol at the Soc Trang Airfleid.
 
1970   The Resdeignation of the 188th MP Company and B Company
 
5 February The 188th MP Company who manned a detachment conducting the discipline, law and order assignment in Soc Trang was reassigned to the command of the 720th MP Battalion when its parent unit the 92nd MP Battalion was the first MP Headquarters to be deactivated and withdrawn from Vietnam.
 
September B Company of the 720th MP Battalion assumed responsibility for the discipline, law and order mission in Soc Trang from the 188th MP Company. The 188th was scheduled for reassignment to Da Nang in II Corps so to avoid the logistical problem associated with the move, half of the staff B Company who had just completed their 3 year assignment from Operation STABILIZE in the Tactical Area of Responsibility, was redesignated as the 188th MP Company and sent to Da Nang with half of the 188th MP Company staff.
 
1 December The B Company, 720th MP Battalion, Soc Trang Detachment was closed. Personnel and equipment were relocated to the B Company Can Tho Provost Marshal Office. Military Police support for Soc Trang was provided on an on call basis.
 
Between December 1970 and April 1971 the V100 Armored Commando Car crews were the only MPs around Soc Trang. We would go down and stay a week and then come back to Can Tho for a week. I spent many nights on several different posts overlooking a bridge under construction. We would pop flares every 15 minutes and shoot at anything that moved, just to stay awake. Courtesy of SP/4 John M. Dalton, B Company,720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, July 1970 to July 1971.
 
1970 Miscellaneous Photographs
 
 
1971   Soc Trang Detachment Closed
 
10 April The B Company, 720th MP Battalion Detachment at Soc Trang that had been closed and reassigned to Can Tho on 1 December 1970 was reopened. Since the 1 December 1970 closing the military police assistance for Soc Trang was handled from the B Company Can Tho Detachment on as as needed basis.
 
        Due to a major highway reconstruction program in the area by U.S. Army Engineers it was determined that temporary MP support was required on a daily basis. Four MP’s and 1 vehicle were quartered with the Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) Advisory Team 71.
 
 
        The MP mission supervised by SSG Jackson, was to investigate traffic accidents and incidents in the Soc Trang area and submit their reports to the Can Tho Provost Marshal Office where final disposition was made.
 
29 July The small B Company detachment at Soc Trang was closed and the personnel and equipment were redeployed to the Can Tho Detachment in connection with the stand down activities within that area of IV Corps. Military Police discipline, law and order support to Soc Trang was again provided on an on-call basis.
 
1971 Miscellaneous Photographs
 
 
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