Office of the Historian

23. Letter From the Deputy Chief for Training of the Military Assistance Advisory Group in Vietnam (Myers) to the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam (Ty)1

Saigon, July 14, 1958.

Dear General Ty: I have recently been informed that you intend to reorganize the Commando Training School at Nha Trang. I have been advised that this progress has the following important points:

a.
Reorganization would provide training for full TO&E companies, as opposed to individuals.
b.
Each class is to cover a period of twelve weeks.
c.
The first class would begin training 11 August 1958.
d.
Repetition of this class would continue until one such company per regiment had been trained.
e.
Each TO&E company completing the class would then return to its parent unit, remain intact and conduct all Commando Training within its respective regiment.

I recommend that you consider abandoning the execution of this plan for the following reasons:

a.
The schedule set up in your memorandum2 for attendance at the Commando School would conflict with division maneuvers for the 1st and 2nd Field Divisions and the 13th Light Division.
b.
Training a composite TO&E company would affect the operational status of a regiment since it would mean the removal of the best officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers from duty with their parent units. As you know, some regiments are very low in effective strength now.
c.
An NCO Academy is planned for activation at Nha Trang this year. Implementation of the Commando Training would result in de-emphasizing the establishment of the NCO Academy.

During World War II and even as late as the Korean conflict the American Army experimented with special commando-type units. We disbanded these forces in each case, for we found that they would accomplish nothing that a well-trained infantry unit could not also accomplish—and with greater skill.3

Sincerely yours,

Samuel L. Myers
Maj Gen USA
  1. Source: Department of State, Durbrow Files: Lot 68 D 404, Vietnam. Secret. Attached to a memorandum for the files by Colonel Richard H. Comstock, Army Attaché in Vietnam, not printed, but see footnote 5, Document 140.↩
  2. Not further identified.↩
  3. In a letter to Ty dated November 10, 1958, Myers reiterated MAAG’s objections to Commando Unit Training at Nha Trang, emphasizing particularly the strain on ARVN instructor resources and on capacity at the NCO School. This letter is another attachment to the memorandum cited in footnote 1 above.↩