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(More customer reviews)RIVER PATROL INSIGNIA OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY (VIETNAM) 1966-1972
SCOTT KRASKA & STEPHEN KIRBY
R. JAMES BENDER PUBLISHING, 2009
HARDCOVER, $59.95, 168 PAGES, MAPS, PHOTOGRAPHSOn December 16, 1965, River Patrol Force (Task Force 116) was organized by the U.S. Navy to direct naval forces engaged in Operation GAME WARDEN, which was designed to deny the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong use of the 3,000 nautical miles of rivers, canals, and smaller streams in South Vietnam, including the Mekong Delta and other inland waterways. Consisting of a number of river divisions, each controlling two 10-boat sections, Task Force 116 employed several aircraft and small boats. The River Patrol Force operated from LSTs (Landing Ships, Tank) that had been designed to provide floating base facilities. The Patrol began as a fleet of 28-foot fiberglass River Patrol Boats (PBRs), each manned by a crew of four, equipped with radars and radios and armed with a twin-mount 50-caliber machine gun forward, a 30-caliber machine gun aft and a rapid-fire 40-mm grenade launcher. These fiberglass boats were later replaced by aluminum boats with a speed of up to 29 knots. The Task Force also used experimental patrol air-cushioned vehicles in the Mekong Delta and the Da Nang area. Although able to move at great speeds over shallow marshy areas, these air-cushioned vehicles proved too noisy and too mechanically sophisticated for the riverine war in Vietnam. Another key element in the Task Force was air support, initially provided by U.S. Army helicopters. On April 1, 1967, the U.S. Navy activated Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron 3 (The Seawolves) at Vung Tau to provide aerial fire support, observation, and medical evacuation. U.S. Navy SEAL (Sea, Air, Land) teams also operated withy the River Patrol Force to conduct night-and-day ambushes, hit-and-run raids, reconnaissance patrols, salvage dives, and special intelligence operations. The minesweepers of Mine Division 112 were also used to prevent Viet Cong mining of the shipping channels. The VAL-4 Black Ponies was the last of the units to be formed for Task Force 116. Light Attack Squadron 4 (VAL-4) came into being on 3 January 1969 when the squadron was commissioned at Naval Air Station North Island across the bay from San Diego, California. Flying Rockwell OV-10A "Broncos", the U.S. Navy borrowed from the U.S. Marine Corps. The U.S. Navy established two detachments in March, 1969 at Binh Thuy and Vung Tau. Both detachments began flying combat sorties in April, 1969. The Black Ponies were mainly responsible for supporting Task Force 116 in the Mekong Delta. Being able to carry more ordnance farther and faster than the UH-1 helicopters of the U.S. Navy's HAL-3, it soon became the favorite of the ground troops. RIVER PATROL INSIGNIA OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY (VIETNAM) 1966-1972 is an exhaustive work that does an excellant job of describing and illustrating the relatively unknown U.S. Navy's Task Force 116 of the Vietnam War. The authors also have included photographs of lighters used by members of this unit while they were in Vietnam which further enhances the book. This book will become the standard work on this subject and should be on the shelf of any serious military historian of the Vietnam War.Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard
Orlando, Florida
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