July 25, 1964 - The United States intends to go deeper into South Vietnam’s jungles to ferret out Viet Cong guerrillas and is backing its plans with a 50% increase in manpower for its Special Forces.
Washington announced last week that by late summer 1,000 of the tough and resourceful “Green Beret” troops, so called because of their distinctive headgear, would be ranging the war-torn nation.
Presumably, the move is aimed at deep penetration and destruction of the elusive Communist military structure — its secret cell leadership.
Special Forces men lead patrols through the mountains. They train and equip thousands of mountain tribesmen for “civilian irregular defense groups.” They treat peasants for battle wounds and disease and play politics with village officials.
However, they are not without their detractors. A common criticism of the Green Berets is that they operate too far outside the regular military command structure and that their work sometimes overlaps or interferes with that of regular U.S. Army advisers.
The Special Forces in South Vietnam originally served as the fighting arm of the CIA, with which their parent organization, the Combined Studies Group, was closely linked.
Their mission in South Vietnam was similar to that of the World War II Office of Strategic Services, from which the CIA evolved. Special Forces troops in Vietnam, as in other countries where they have been employed, were designed for use as undercover fighters and organizers of local fighting teams behind enemy lines, sometimes cut off from headquarters.
Last year, things changed for the Special Forces. They were taken out of the jurisdiction of the Combined Studies Group and incorporated in the regular U.S. Military Assistance Command.
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