Americal Military Police Article

A very special Thanks To Les Hines My Friend and Americal Division Veterans Association National Historian, who has devoted his life to the History of the Americal Division

"MP" to most soldiers rings the bell of road guard, traffic cop and DR giver-outer. This impression is far from the truth in the daily activities of combat military policemen of the Americal Division's 198th Infantry Brigade who patrol Viet Cong infested rivers and roadways north and south of here.
Whether patrolling the rivers in 16-foot Boston Whalers or cruising the highways in gun-jeeps, the 198th MP's are combat geared for action and have fought their way through numerous enemy engagements.
The major missions of the 40-man MP force are patrolling two major river complexes (An Tan and Tra Bong) and Highway One from Tam Ky to Binh Son. "We stop the flow of U.S. materials and black market goods going to the VC," said Spec.4 Jerry D. Lear. Lear, who has been patrolling the network of waterways north and south of Chu Lai for six months, said that combat MP's have a more challenging role. "Here there's a job to do. Back in the States we were a lot of spit and polish, but over here we're in combat," Lear said. A young MP, Lear has not issued a single DR since he's been in Vietnam. Instead he sports a steel helmet that has a large dent in it a dent that came from an enemy AK-47 round during a firefight on the Tra Bong River. To patrol the miles of wandering rivers north and south of here the
combat policemen use 16-foot Boston Whalers outfitted with 80 and 85 horsepower motors and M-60 machine guns. Dubbed the "River Rats," the 198th MPs man an outpost on each of the two rivers and patrol the water 24 hours a day. During the hours of darkness the "River Rates" set up floating ambushes to catch unwary Viet Cong sampans.
"We use two boats on a patrol," Lear said. "The first boat stops the sampans and junks while the second boat lags a short distance behind for security. Our boats are the fastest ones on the river."
A Vietnamese National Policeman from district-headquarters accompanies the roving water patrols and checks identification car and picks up Vietnamese draft dodgers. "Security is the most important thing during the river patrols," said Pfc. Kenneth C. Irvin. Irvin, who rides machine-gunner in the security boat during patrolling, said, "It's a lot of different situations -- the Vietnamese, the soldiers, and even the VC. You have to be aware and alert at all times.

The Army Reporter 12 October 1968

file-68AMMAG2.rvn
Americal Division Magazine - Fall, 1968

Cover shows an officer with his RTO standing on a rice paddy dike as a helicopter flies off. A cloudy blue sky reflects from the rice paddy. In the distance is a mountain. In the distance is a Cobra gunship circling the insertion area.

Page 21

From Spit and Polish To A Dented Helmet............
Photo - MP seen through portal in bunker next to field phone. Americal MP identification clearly shown on the mans shoulder. photo credit - Eilers.

PAGE 21 THE COMBAT MP
Just after nightfall in the quiet, inland waters of Truong Giang, a wooden boat silently glides through the reflected moonlight. A Vietnamese with a long, bamboo pole eyes the lush undergrowth warily. Beneath his catch of fish are hidden three 122mm rockets. Suddenly, from that same undergrowth, a machinegun growls and tracers blaze across the craft's bow. A military police-man comes aboard.
A gray, crowded minibus on its way from Quang Ngai to Tam Ky bounces merrily along Highway One. Its dozen passengers include children, pregnant women, chickens, roosters, and a man with a green canvas totebag
Just past the village of Chau Tu the bus veers sharply to the right and stops on the shoulder. A shout is heard and the passengers reluctantly emerge, poultry and all. The man hastily stuffs the bag behind a seat and follows
the others out. A National Police MP inspection team is waiting.
The incidents described are but two of the countless situations in which a military policeman of the 198th Inf. Bde. may find himself. He is a new kind of soldier a combat M. P.

Page 22 photos - MP "River Rats" skim across the water during a searching operation along a southern I Corps waterway. PFC Lloyd E. Richmond, assisted by a Vietnamese National Policeman, checks the identification of a fisherman during the water patrol. Photo credits - Eilers

Page 22 continued
The "Brave and Bold" MPs have three primary functions: river patrol, highway patrol, and detention of captured enemy soldiers and suspected enemy sympathizers. But in the words of brigade provost marshal, MAJ Gordon Moody "You get a little bit of everything, tactical operations, police work, and civic affairs."
The waterborne military police men patrol the An Tan and Tra Bong River complexes in 16 foot Boston whalers outfitted with 80 and 85 horsepower motors and M 60 machineguns. SP4 Jerry D. Lear, who has been patrolling the network of waterways north and south of Chu Lai for six months commented on the challenging role played by the combat MP. "Here there's a job to do. Back in the States we were a lot of spit and polish, but over here we're in combat, " Lear said. A young MP, Lear has not issued a single DR since he has been in Vietnam. Instead he sports a steel helmet that has a large dent in it adent that came from an enemy AK 47 round during a firefight on the Tra Bong River. Dubbed the "River Rats," the 198th MPs man an outpost on each of the two rivers they patrol. It is a 24 hour job. At night, the "River Rats" set up floating ambushes to catch unwary Viet Cong sampans. No one is supposed to be on the rivers after dark, but often there are local fishermen trying to improve upon the day's catch. The MPs must be careful to separate friend from foe. "we use two boats on a patrol," Lear said. "The first boat stops the sampans and junks while the second boat lags a short distance behind for security. Our boats are the fastest on the river. A Vietnamese national policeman from district headquarters accompanies the roving water patrols and checks identification cards and picks up draft dodgers." "Security is the most important thing during river patrols," says PFC Kenneth C. Irvin, who is a machinegunner in the security boat during patrolling. "It's a challenge to be a combat MP. You've got to deal with a lot of different situations, the Vietnamese, the soldiers, and even the VC. You have to be alert at all times." On road patrolling missions, the 198th MPs use quarter ton gunjeeps with specially mounted M 60 machineguns. They patrol 32 miles of Highway One from Bridge 444 near Quang Ngai in the south to Tam Ky in the north, and all the towns, villages, and hamlets, with the exception of An Tan, in between. "They are the eyes and ears of the Brigade," says MAJ Moody. "The men get to know the people in the area and learn who's missing, who has just arrived, who is scared, and of what!" The patrols on the highway are so situated that they can get anywhere within a reasonable response time. Whether it's a serious traffic accident, lost soldiers land mine, or spotcheck, a gunjeep will be close at hand. Checkpoints are set up in conjunction with the National Police to stop everything from a five ton truck to a small motor scooter. The results of a recent check revealed 3,000 sticks of marijuana, hundreds of C rations, cartons of American cigarettes, and cans of cooking oil. The roadside checkpoints have stopped most of the north south flow of contraband and illegal goods along the 198th's portion of Highway One.

Page 23
photos- Gunjeeps are used by 198th Inf. Bde. MPs to patrol Highway One and enforce checkpoint security. SP4 Jack J. Anders mans the M-60 machine gun, while PFC Ronald E. Arvai drives to a roadside spot check point, where he searches a Lambretta for contraband and illegal shipments by local civilians. Photo credits by Eilers.

The third major function of the brigade MPs is control of the 198th detention facility. The large cage, in which personnel picked up mainly by combat units are detained, is manned around the clock. The detainees are fed and clothed there, and then examined by Military Intelligence.
Intelligence classifies the detainees as a prisoner of war (POW), civil defendant (CD), or innocent civilian (IC). The POWs then are trans ported to the division detention facility for further interrogation, while the CDs are turned over to the Na tional Police and the ICs are set free. Other duties of the 198th MPs carry them to the fire bases, far from brigade headquarters. This may involve a routine nighttime check of the neighboring villages or special tactical missions. They may act as a blocking force for the infantry during a sweep or swoop down in helicopters from a resources control investigation. Such raids into remote areas often have uncovered illegal drugs and contraband, as well as stragglers and AWOLs. The new look in being a military policeman in the 198th Inf. Bde. is definitely the look of combat. From skimming across the Tra Bong River to intercept a VC sampan, to bursting through an enemy ambush, the 198th combat MPs are adding a new dimension to the Military Police Corps..

THE ARMY REPORTER is published weekly under the supervision of the Information Office. United States Army Vietnam and is an authorized Army publication. The command newspaper has a circulation of 85,000 and is printed by the Pacific Stars and Stripes Tokyo, Japan.
Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Department of the Army. This newspaper utilizes the facilities of the ARMED FORCES NEWS BUREAU and ARMY NEWS FEATURES. Contributions are welcome and may be sent to: THE ARMY REPORTER, USARV-IO, APO 96375 or telephone Long Binh
4204/4411.

12Oct68-198th's combat MPs have no time for DRs
CHU LAI, (AMERICAL)

Photo 1 - A VIETNAMESE National Policeman assists Pfc. Lloyd E. Richmond in checking the identification of a Vietnamese.

Photo 2 - 198th INFANTRY Brigade military police prepare to board and check a fishing junk during a water patrol.

Photo 3 - A GUN JEEP moves along Highway One to a checkpoint south of Chu Lai in the Americal Division area. Pfc. Ronald E. Arvai drives while Spec. 4 Jack J. Anders mans the M-60 machine gun.

Photo 4 - THE SECURITY boat covers the lead boat during a 198th Infantry Brigade patrol. On alert is Pfc. Ivan D Hyde. The "River Rats" work in pairs when patrolling.

"MP" to most soldiers rings the bell of road guard, traffic cop and DR giver-outer. This impression is far from the truth in the daily activities of combat miliary policemen of the Americal Division's 198th Infantry Brigade who patrol Viet Cong infested rivers and roadways north and south of here. Whether patrolling the rivers in 16-foot Boston Whalers or cruising the highways in gun-jeeps, the 198th MP's are combat geared for action and have fought their way through numerous enemy engagements.
Stop the flow The major missions of the 40-man MP force are patrolling two major river complexes (An Tan and Tra Bong) and Highway One from Tam Ky to Binh Son. "We stop the flow of U.S. materials and black market goods going to the VC," said Spec. 4 Jerry D. Lear. Lear, who has been patrolling the network of waterways north and south of Chu Lai for six months, said that combat MPs have a more challenging role. "Here there's a job to do. Back in the States we were a lot of spit and polish, but over here we're in combat," Lear said.
A young MP, Lear has not issued a single DR since he's been in Vietnam. Instead he sports a steel helmet that has a large dent in it - a dent that came from an enemy AK-47 round during a firefight on the Tra Bong River.
To patrol the miles of wandering rivers north and south of here the combat policemen use 16-foot Boston Whalers outfitted with 80 and 85 horsepower motors and M-60 machine guns. Dubbed the "River Rats," the 198th MPs man an outpost on each of the two rivers and patrol the water 24 hours a day. During the hours of darkness the "River Rates" set up floating ambushes to catch unwary Viet Cong sampans. "We use two boats on a patrol," Lear said. "The first boat stops the sampans and junks while the second boat lags a short distance behind for security. Our boats are the fastest ones on the river."
A Vietnamese National Policeman from district headquarters accompanies the roving water patrols and checks identification cards and picks up Vietnamese draft dodgers.
Security first
"Security is the most important thing during the river patrols," said Pfc. Kenneth C. Irvin. Irvin, who rides machine-gunner in the security boat during patrolling, said, "It's a lot of different situations - the Vietnamese, the soldiers, and even the VC. You have to be aware and alert at all times.

17Mar69-Put bite on Charlie
River rat call it quits
CHU LAI - "That's it," the MP said as the boat glided slowly into the beach. "Yeah, our last trip," agreed the infantryman, reaching back to turn off the powerful outboard motor. The River Rats had finished work.
At both River North (the Truong Giang) and the River South (the Song Tra Bong), the mouths of large rivers near here, the patrols of the Americal Division's 198th Light Infantry Bde. MP platoon recently beached their boats for the last time. The MPs and their infantryman boat drivers were getting out of the river patrol business.
The River Rats began checking the rivers in September 1967, when the brigade arrived in Vietnam. Now the job has been turned over to U.S. Marines.
"The river patrols were designed to deny the enemy access to inland waterways and prevent him from transporting weapons, supplies and men," explained Sfc. Robert A. Wiles, operations sergeant.
The patrols of two boats each operated 24 hours a day in all types of weather, stopping sampans, checking the Vietnamese aboard for proper identification and searching for contraband. On a typical day, the stopped and searched 41 boats and checked out more than 180 people. In one three-month period, they confiscated more than 3,000 pounds of rice, 1,000 pounds of salt, ponchos, poncho liners, cartons of C-rations, cigarettes and $1,380 MPC that would have gotten to the Viet Cong or onto the black market.
Riding along with the MPs and infantrymen were Vietnamese National Police and Popular Force members.
It has been a dangerous job but the patrols carried a lot of fire power. Each 16-foot "Boston Whaler" had a mounted M-60 machinegun, an M-79 grenade launcher, two M-72 anti-tank weapons, hand grenades and the crewman's individual M-16 rifles. They also had support from Army artillery and 81mm mortars from Navy Swift boats.

BACK