Vietnam
Squadron 1 82′ Patrol Boats
CGRONONE consisted of 26 82’ Patrol Boats operating with Operation Market Time from 30 July 1965. The WPBs were designed to operate offshore in heavy weather. The Navy Swift was not. Since the WPB remained on station in weather that forced the Swift home, TF 115 decided the boats would shift patrol areas seasonally, the …
LORAN
In Spring 1965, air strikes over North Vietnam intensified, but monsoon conditions severely limited the navigation ability of the aircraft. The Air Force needed a reliable source of pin-point navigation in Vietnam. On 15 January 1966, CAPT Thomas Sargent, USCG, reported to MACTHAI with orders to procure land to construct a LORAN system in Southeast …
Squadron 3 White Ones
CGRONTHREE consisted of High Endurance Cutters operating as command and control vessels for the Market Time patrol boats from May 1967. They provided targeting information and logistics when needed. Near the DMZ, cutters marked the 17th Parallel and kept vessels from straying into North Vietnamese waters. They also performed NGFS missions, especially in the Song …
The Jolly Green Giants and the DSF
The Air Force was charged with combat search and rescue operations in Vietnam. The 37th Aerospace and Recovery Squadron flew the missions from Da Nang airbase using HH-3 Jolly Green Giants. The 31st ARS flew long-range mission using HU-16 seaplanes flying out of Clark AFB. From 1968 to 1973, Coast Guard pilots participated in a …
Misc Other Duties as Assigned
Aids to Navigation In 1966, the tender Planetree responded to a MACV request to set buoys. Accustomed to working in U.S. waters, the crew founds themselves setting buoys from an LCM in eight-foot seas using such navigational aids as “VC tree”, “grassy knoll”, “prominent rock”, and others. MACV requested a full-time tender be assigned in …
Statistics
82′ Patrol Boats Assigned to Squadron One 27 May 1965-15 August 1970 DIVISION 11 TURNOVER USCGC Point Banks (WPB 82327) 26 May 1970 USCGC Point Clear (WPB 82315) 15 September 1969 USCGC Point Comfort (WPB 82317) 17 November 1969 USCGC Point Garnet (WPB 82310) 16 May 1969 USCGC Point Glover (WPB 82307) 14 February 1970 …
The Last Man Out
The last Coastguardsman left Vietnam on 5 May 1973. Coastguardsmen continued to fly with the Jolly Green Giants out of Thailand until 14 July 1973. LORSTAs Satahip and Lampang held on until 3 October 1975. Their names are lost to history unless someone can fill me in on them