The lst Squadron 10th Cavalry Under Construction The Beginning By Scott Moffat & Capt. Mac A Troop In early 1966, the 4th Infantry Division was advised that they would be deployed in the support of The Republic of South Vietnam.  At this time the division started the preparations and training necessary for this mission.  The division was located at Fort Lewis, Washington near Tacoma, Washington.  This was an ideal place for training the Division because of the thick rain forests of the Northwest. The lst Squadron 10th Cavalry was assigned to support the division as reconnaissance and as a quick reaction force supporting infantry and other units.   The Squadron was split up in such a way that each brigade had at least one troop attached during the deployment and initial operations of 4th Infantry Division forces. The months leading to deployment were filled with training and equipment preparations. The division was not fully staffed and this included the 1/10th Cavalry. Several thousand recruits were assigned to the 4th ID for basic training and advanced individual training for most.  Many new soldiers were also assigned during the few months prior to deployment and it was necessary to have many field training exercises to bring the units up to combat preparedness. The last training exercises were concluded around June of 1966 and at that time the highest priority was to ensure that our equipment was combat-ready. Many vehicles were updated or retrofitted. This included adding two M-60 machineguns with shields to most Armored Personnel Carriers (APC). These additional weapons required adding Scout observers and more new personnel were received into the units. All weapons were test fired prior to packing; the tanks were sent to Yakima for Annual tank gunnery and main gun firing and the APC weapons were tested in Fort Lewis.  Once all the testing was completed, the primary mission became to clean, protect, prepare and pack our vehicles for shipment via Merchant Marine vessels from Tacoma to Vietnam.   Preparation of our equipment was only part of preparations.  Soldiers of that era were still wearing traditional uniforms and we had orders that no white undergarments were to go to Vietnam. We had to dye all of our clothing to olive drab.  It did not take very long that we exhausted every store within miles of Fort Lewis of green dye. There were a lot of ugly colored bluish and purplish tee shirts and shorts that made that trip. Once our equipment was ready for shipment, we moved them to the docks of Tacoma where they were loaded on merchant vessels for the trip to Vietnam. Some few soldiers were assigned to accompany the equipment to the Republic of Vietnam. Except for lead elements of the division, most troops went on a two week leave prior to the deployment of forces. This had proved to be a stressful time for the troops; seems that at the same time the division was going on leave in large quantities, there was an airline strike and many a soldier had a heck of a time getting home. Upon returning from leave, all preparations were to pack and load troops for transport.  All billets had to be cleaned and secured prior to departing.  Personal weapons had to be cleaned and prepared for departure. It was a day to behold when the division had its final parade in front of the general staff and only days later would be sitting in the parade area with all our combat and personal equipment waiting for our turn to load the buses heading for the ships.  There were the typical military snafus; hurry up and wait was the order of the day; uncertainty was upon everyone’s mind as we sat there on the parade field waiting to load up. FTA was the saying of the day. A Troop sat there almost the entire day waiting for our turn to take the trip to the ships. Our barracks, beds and mess hall had been turned in to the Post Engineers. Late in the afternoon we were advised that we would not be leaving that day.  It seems the boiler on the vessel we were going on blew up and we had to wait for repairs. So, back in the billets we went, duty rosters quickly made up and with little else to do for the Troop, leave in Tacoma and Seattle was the order of the day. The Platoon Leaders in A Troop drew all the sports gear the Special Services had and tournaments of all kinds. THUS ENDS THE FIRST CHAPTER A Troop was attached to the lst Brigade and in a little less than two weeks our turn to load up on the ship had come.  It was now mid-September.  An amazing experience it was – most of the troops were housed in the cargo area of the ship with Cargo in the middle and troops on the outside of the cargo bay. There we were, 3,500 Dog Faced GI’s stuck on a liberty ship designed for 2,500 and destined for Southeast Asia – crowded would be an understatement. To our amazement, we learned that this same vessel had transported 4th Infantry Division Troops during the Second World War. We were on the USNS Gordon, a liberty ship built in 1939! Troops pulled duty once every four days and had P.T. every four days. This left the other two days dealing with the boredom, and of course, many a G I was seasick.  Especially while hitting the outskirts of a typhoon off Japan. The brigades had different destinations. A Troop headed to Cahm Rahn Bay where we landed on the beach in landing craft and waded ashore. Naturally the Army Band was playing while we loaded up on buses for the trip to the airport where American Red Cross Ladies (better known as donut dollies) were there to greet us. We then loaded up in US Air Force C-130’s for the flight to Tuy Hoa on the coast of the South China Sea.  This was a flight that no one sat down. We stood up the entire flight. We were packed in so tight that no one could ever fall over. There was no base camp; advanced troops had positioned our conex containers to mark out each unit’s area. The 101st Airborne was kind enough to secure the area prior to our arrival. Our equipment had already arrived several weeks prior to our arrival. We did have that delay of the boiler incident, and the merchant marines had unloaded our vehicles.  Unfortunately they had run aground on a sand bar with one of our tanks aboard the landing craft.  As we were told, they decided to drive the tank onto the sand bar, relocate the landing craft and then drive the tank back onto the landing craft. The reality was, when we arrived we could see the cupola of the tank sticking out of the South China Sea. This problem would result in the first casualty of Alpha Troop. We lost a sergeant in our attempts to retrieve this tank. The currents of the ocean in this area were very swift and this trooper drowned. We were only several days in country. We were advised during this set up time that the Brigade Commander was seriously considering leaving our tanks and APC’s in base camp and making the Cavalry another infantry unit.  He felt, as it seems, that he thought the terrain would be a problem for our vehicles.  It is said that he had changed his mind when the Troop lined up on the shoreline facing the South China Sea and test fired all of our weapons in unison. When he had realized the enormous fire power, as the story goes, he decided to deploy the unit as designed.  (A plan I think our CO developed.) Our Troop had as much firepower as an entire Infantry Battalion. Our Executive Officer and the advanced party had “procured” enough generator power that we were fed hot meals the second day in country. We were the only unit in the Brigade to have “Hots”.  The Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, General Creighton Abrams, visited the Brigade and asked to eat lunch with A Troop. General Abrams spent two hours climbing on Tanks and APC’s and talking with the Troopers. It was quite an honor to have him visit.   fter several weeks of setting up base camp, unpacking our equipment and getting acclimatized, we moved out of base camp.  As we crossed over a bridge we spotted several APC’s that had been hit with B-40 rockets.  The reality of war became very apparent and A Troop had started combat operations in the Republic of South Vietnam. A Troop would work this Area of Operation for several months. A Troop’s mission was route security of Highway One from Tuy Hoa to Tuy An (about 15 miles) and Highway Six B from Tuy An to Dong Tre. At one point elements of A Troop were attached to a Korean Regiment for an Operation. This was the first joint US-Korean Operation of the conflict and was covered by the major news service. Eventually the Brigade (minus), as the Corps reaction force, was deployed to Kontum to reinforce the 4th Infantry Division.  A Troop remained in Thu Hoa with an Infantry Battalion and its support units for several weeks. The Infantry Battalion departed for Kontum Leaving A Troop as the only US Unit in Tuy Hoa. A Troop then was ordered to rejoin the 1st Squadron 10th US Cavalry at the Cateka Tea Plantation just south of Dragon Mountain in Kontum Province. That marked a reunion of Squadron Headquarters, A Troop, B Troop and D Troop. C Troop remained with the 3rd Brigade and became a part of the 25th Infantry Division. The South Korean Tiger Division, also assigned to the Tuy Hoa Area assumed our mission in Tuy Hoa and THUS WE CLOSED THE SECOND CHAPTER.