Appendix B

RVNAF ACADEMIES, COLLEGES, AND SCHOOLS ¹

General

Most of the formal training administered by the Central Training Command was conducted through the many and varied military academies, colleges, and schools throughout the Republic of Vietnam. Some of these institutions were relatively new while others had existed before the armed forces of South Vietnam was established, and no less than four of them--the Command and Staff College, the Noncommissioned Officers Academy, and the Engineer and Medical schools--were originally located in North Vietnam. Almost all of the major schools have at one time or another been located at and been a part of the Thu Duc Military School Center. This now-defunct center and forerunner of no less than ten schools was the hub of RVNAF training during the period immediately following the Geneva Accords of 1954. In time, the different schools expanded and most moved to other sites because Thu Duc was too small to contain the budding training base of the new South Vietnamese armed forces. These institutions continued to enlarge their facilities and develop, revise, and update their training curriculums in accordance with the emergence of the new military force. Also, new schools were instituted to broaden the training base and develop a well-rounded and well-balanced force--a military force in which all personnel, regardless of specialty, could receive formal training. A listing of the academies, colleges, and schools together with a brief history of each follows (for locations in 1969, see Appendix C; for enrollment in 1970, see Appendix D).

Vietnamese National Military Academy

The Vietnamese National Military Academy (VNMA) was founded in December 1948 in Hue. Under French operation, the academy was simply a nine-month officer training school designed to produce infantry platoon leaders. In 1950 it moved to Dalat because of better local weather and remained under French opera-

[132]

tion until after the signing of the Geneva Accords in 1954, when the Vietnamese assumed control. In 1955 the American advisory effort began, and the curriculum was extended to one year and in 1956 to two years. In 1959 President Diem first declared the academy to be a full four-year, degree-granting, university-level institution. Expansion planning and construction began, but the program floundered because of the conflicting short-term demand for junior officers and lack of a qualified academic faculty. As a result, the academy graduated three 3-year classes but no 4-year classes and, in 1963, reverted to the production of enlightened platoon leaders with two years of training. The concept was similar to U.S. officer candidate schools throughout 1965. In December 1966, Premier Ky issued a decree which reinstituted a four-year educational requirement, with graduates entitled to receive a Bachelor of Science degree, and changed the academy mission to the following:

The Vietnamese National Military Academy is responsible for training regular army officers for the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam who possess a university level of instruction and a firm military background.

A VNMA applicant had to be a citizen between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two, unmarried, and a high school graduate to be considered for acceptance. Appointment to the academy was based upon the results of a two-day competitive academic examination and a complete physical examination. The more highly qualified students obtained from this competition provided a basis for developing the potential of an "elite" professional corps. Approximately one out of ten applicants were accepted. In 1968, for example, out of more than 2,500 applicants only 270 were accepted in the four-year program. The attrition rate has been minimal since the academy's conversion to a four-year college, averaging from 4 to 5 percent (the approximate average rate for West Point as well as the Philippine and Korean Military academies is 30 percent). At the beginning of 1969, the academy had an enrollment of 900 cadets with plans to expand the enrollment to 1,000 by the end of the year.

By 1970 the physical plant consisted of ten buildings including four cadet dormitories, three academic buildings, an academy headquarters, a cadet mess hall, and a cadet club. Under construction were faculty quarters, a fourth academic building, a library, and a cadet regimental headquarters.

The four-year curriculum was diverse. Besides military subjects and courses in mathematics, physics, history, English, law,

[133]

philosophy, chemistry, engineering, and surveying (50 percent of the academic program was devoted to engineering sciences), the curriculum furnished courses to help solve some of South Vietnam's unique problems. For example, a course in hamlet planning covered everything from where to put the village chief's house to how to drill wells for water; another course conducted in sanitary engineering was designed to improve the sanitation in hamlets and villages.

Subjects were taught by the academy's all-RVNAF military faculty of approximately 100 instructors. Classes were held as seminars with small groups of cadets. All cadets had their own textbooks which was something rare in civilian Vietnamese universities. Although the VNMA curriculum was patterned after the U.S. service academies, the cadets were exposed to more classroom hours than the cadets at West Point; however, both participated in the same amount of athletic activity.

In 1969 there were twelve U.S. military personnel in the VNMA advisory detachment. Advisory efforts were geared toward improving the quality of entering cadets, obtaining a better qualified staff and faculty, developing a balanced curriculum, and supporting the VNMA's physical expansion. The U.S. Senior Advisor noted that, although reports and comments about the VNMA graduates have been excellent, "the future of the Academy rests with how well it can keep pace with the changing situation and times. Updating texts, expanding facilities to meet needs, bettering the faculty; these are what are important."

In December 1969, the "West Point" of South Vietnam turned out the first class of ninety-two cadets to graduate from its four-year program. The event set the stage for a crucial test of one of the most ambitious plans of Vietnamization to date. During the colorful pass-in-review graduation ceremony, the long-range importance of the academy graduates was emphasized by the presence of President Thieu and a host of top political and military leaders of the country. In his remarks President Thieu told them "they must be more than military leaders" and urged the graduates to be in the forefront of a nation-building generation.

On graduation these cadets were assigned to the three services as follows: Army 77 cadets, Air Force 10, Navy/Marine Corps 5. During the period 15-20 December 1970, 196 candidates for class number 26 reported to the academy for in-processing examinations. Eight candidates were declared unfit for military service for medical reasons; 250 primary candidates and 119 alternates had been selected for the class. On 24 December, 188 fully qualified candidates were admitted as new cadets and formal training commenced.

[134]

During 1970 a cadet in his second year at the Vietnamese National Military Academy became the first Vietnamese to be accepted for entrance to the U.S. Military Academy, West Point.

National Noncommissioned Officers Academy

The National Noncommissioned Officers Academy had been founded by the French Army in 1951 in Quang Yen Province, North Vietnam, and had been called the Commando School. After the Geneva Accords of 1954, the school reverted to RVNAF control and moved to Khanh Hoa Province in II Corps Tactical Zone where its mission was changed from training commandos to that of conducting basic infantry courses. Because of the lack of space, the school moved again, this time to Nha Trang, and was renamed the Commando and Physical Training Center with the expanded mission of conducting commando, reconnaissance, antiguerrilla, physical training, boxing, judo, and basic infantry courses. In late 1958 the school was again redesignated as the National Noncommissioned Officers Academy and received the new mission of training selected noncommissioned officers in the principles of leadership and command. In 1967 the academy incorporated airmobile training courses into its curriculum, and in 1968, in order to relieve the training pressure on the Infantry School, conducted and graduated four officer candidate classes. This course was discontinued after the fourth class graduated in early 1969. Also in 1969, nine reserve noncommissioned officers courses were conducted at the academy and a tenth class began on 1 December.

During 1970, 16,522 students attended the academy, and significant progress was made in improving facilities and upgrading training. A self-help program provided one 800-man mess hall and 175 eight-man mess tables; at the same time construction continued on fifteen student barracks. With MACV approval, the academy's allocation of M16 rifles was increased from 1,000 to 3,000, the student daily food allowance was enlarged, and the receipt of a favorable contract for civilian supplied foods made available adequate rations. By May the M16 rifles were issued, which brought the total on hand to 3,000, and the fifteen new barracks were completed which increased the capacity from 3,320 men to 4,520. Greater emphasis by advisers resulted in major improvements in the quality of leadership training and day and night practical exercises. Detailed training inspections were conducted by the ARVN staff and U.S. advisers. Inspection reports were forwarded through ARVN channels and follow-up corrective actions taken. U.S. training teams from the 4th Infantry Division and 173d Airborne Brigade

[135]

visited the academy to assist in improving the quality of mine and booby-trap training.

National Defense College

The National Defense College (NDC), one of the newest RVNAF schools, was established by national decree on 22 August 1967. Its dual mission was to educate outstanding and high-ranking military and career government civilians to become better qualified to perform important functions relevant to the national security and to study, plan, and develop national defense policy.

The first class, consisting of fifteen officers (0-5 and 0-6) and six high-ranking civilians, assembled on 6 May 1968; all twenty-one students completed the course and were graduated in April 1969. A second class of sixteen military and eight civilians commenced on 3 May 1969.

The curriculum of the National Defense College consisted of an orientation, ten courses, and seven seminars which fell into three major categories--international affairs, national resources, and national defense strategy--and an individual research program. In addition, the college offered an elective English program and conducted a unique senior seminar. In this weekly senior seminar, key general officers and distinguished career government officials were invited to hear important guest speakers who lectured on significant topics. Following the lecture, the guest speaker met with the regular class in a seminar on subjects related to the lecture. This procedure promoted understanding at the highest governmental level, not only of the vital topics under discussion, but also of the role of the college and how it contributed to the attainment of national goals.

Command and Staff College

The Command and Staff College (C&SC) was organized at Hanoi in 1952 when the French Expeditionary Corps established a "Tactical Instruction Center" with the mission of training mobile group, battalion, and company commanders. In late 1953 the school was transformed into the Military Research Center with a mission of providing wartime officers with accelerated training. After the Geneva Accords, the colleges moved from Hanoi to Saigon, was redesignated the Command and General Staff College, and was assigned the mission of training high-ranking officers for the Vietnamese armed forces. In 1961 the college again moved, this time to Dalat, where it occupied the buildings which had previously

[136]

housed the Vietnamese National Military Academy. During 1962 and 1963, the courses of instruction had been shortened and oriented to stress counterinsurgency techniques. After the relocation to Dalat, the college expanded and battalion staff and battalion command extension (correspondence) courses were added (the battalion command course was transferred to the Infantry School in 1964). In addition, the battalion commander's combined arms course, a sixteen-week mobilization course, was inaugurated at the college in December 1965. A CTC study in early 1967 resulted in a change in the names of the residence courses, a broadened scope of instruction, and the present name for the college.

In 1969, as the senior tactical school in the country, as a joint service institution, and as the only institution (other than the National Defense College) that offered the education and prestige so vital to the developing nation, the Command and Staff College possessed a fivefold training mission:

1. to train selected field grade officers for duty as commanders at regimental and senior sector level or higher and staff officers at division level or higher;

2. to train selected captains and majors for duty as battalion commanders, district chiefs, or staff officers at battalion and regimental level;

3. to provide a limited number of Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps officers of combat arms and technical services with sound knowledge of the armed forces in order to foster a high degree of co-ordination in joint operations;

4. to conduct an extension course for nonresident, active duty officers in grades from first lieutenant to major; and

5. to organize special courses as directed by the joint General Staff (by the JGS directive, an officer must be a graduate of the intermediate course to be eligible for promotion to lieutenant colonel and of the advanced course for eligibility for promotion to colonel).

The curriculum of the college consisted of two separate courses of instruction--a twenty-week advanced course for majors through colonels and a twelve-week intermediate course for captains and majors. The intermediate training was also offered through a correspondence course for first lieutenants through majors. The curriculum was designed to support a joint service college, and the programs of instruction for each course were continually revised and modified to support the requirements of the armed forces and province and district leaders. A certain degree of repetition occurred between the two courses that was both necessary and desirable in providing background fundamentals, information on

[137]

current development, and continuity. Both courses emphasized combined arms training appropriate to the level of the course, and continual reorganization of the programs of instruction permitted good coverage of unconventional warfare, counterinsurgency, sector and territorial security, pacification, political warfare, revolutionary development, and general subjects dealing with national and international problems. The graduation exercise of the Sixth Advanced Command and Staff Course took place on 19 December 1969, at the college auditorium and was presided over by the Chief, Central Training Command; ninety-seven students successfully completed the course and seven failed.

Political Warfare College

The history of the Political Warfare (POLWAR) College began with the establishment of a Psychological Warfare (PSYWAR) training center at Fort Cay Mai, Saigon, in 1956. Its annual output was 212 individuals in 1961, 884 in 1962, and 940 in 1963. In 1964 the training center moved to Camp Le Van Duyet in III Corps Tactical Zone, but the facilities at the new location were so inadequate that student capacity decreased from 350 to 80. This student output later grew to 150 through self-help projects, but the 1965 output was still below previous years, with only 427 students graduating.

With the advent of the political warfare structure in the armed forces, the training center was redesignated as the Political Warfare School in 1965 and in 1966 moved to its present location in Dalat. About the same time, it was upgraded to a college with the primary mission of providing a two-year college level course to train professional POLWAR officers. Political warfare cadets were recruited and sent to the Infantry School to receive basic training with OCS candidates; upon completion of basic training, they moved to Dalat to begin their POLWAR training. The members of the first class, graduated in May 1969, were assigned to POLWAR battalions and to ARVN regiments and RF companies as POLWAR advisers.

Other missions of the college included giving Branch training for RVNAF officers and organizing and directing POLWAR specialist training as required. The 1968 quotas for the course at the POLWAR College included 379 cadets for the two-year program and 475 students in shorter, three-month courses for POLWAR Branch training.

[138]

Infantry School

Originally called the Thu Duc Reserve Officers School, the Infantry School had been established at Thu Duc in October 1951 along with its sister school in Nam Dinh, North Vietnam. Both schools were originally administered by the French Army, and all instruction took place in French. In 1952, after the closing of the Nam Dinh Reserve Officers School, the Thu Duc school became the only reserve officer producing school in Vietnam. In 1954, after the Geneva Accords, the management of the school changed from the French to the Vietnamese armed forces.

In 1955 the Infantry School was given the job of training cadres and specialists of other branches of the Vietnamese Army in addition to the infantry. Its name was then changed to the Thu Duc Military School Center and comprised the Infantry, Armor, Artillery, Engineer, Signal, Ordnance, Transportation, and Administrative schools. In October 1961 all of these schools, with the exception of Infantry and Armor, moved from the Thu Duc area to provide space for the greatly expanded ARVN Reserve Officers Procurement Program.

After several name changes associated with its changing mission, the Thu Duc Reserve Officers School was officially renamed the Infantry School during July 1964. After that the school expanded until, at the end of 1967, it had a capacity of 3,800 students. Its training program included the officer candidate, company commander, RF officer refresher, and methods of instruction courses. Following the enemy Tet offensive in 1968, all courses were temporarily canceled, except for the two officer candidate cycles.

In June 1968 a dramatic change occurred in the school's curriculum and training program. To meet increased officer requirements as a result of the general mobilization, the capacity was increased to approximately 6,000 students. At the same time, the length of the officer candidate program was decreased from thirty-seven to twenty-four weeks; the first nine weeks consisted of basic and advanced individual training at the Quang Trung Training Center and the rest of the training was conducted at the school.

Since becoming an officer-producing school in 1952, the Infantry School has graduated over 40,900 students as of November 1969 and continued to be the largest source of officers in the Vietnamese armed forces. The importance of its mission and the success of its graduates made the school notable as one of the most important military installations in South Vietnam.

By 1970 the Infantry School was beginning to realize the bene-

[139]

fits of the special construction program to upgrade facilities. Nine classrooms were constructed and furniture was received to accommodate 200 students in each of the nine classrooms. Increased emphasis was placed on instructor training and the methods of instruction course was revised to emphasize practical application as opposed to the lecture system. The first of the new methods of instruction courses at the Infantry School graduated eighty-seven students.

Much headway was also made in new construction, rehabilitation of barracks and messes, development of specialized training areas, and competition among units. A signal training area was constructed for more practical application in communications training. Terrain models, mock-ups, and bleachers were constructed to improve map reading and weapons training. Work was started on a mock-up Viet Cong hamlet, a physical fitness combat proficiency test area, and a platoon defensive area. A unit competition program was implemented encompassing academic scores, barracks and unit area inspections, physical training, marching, and intramural sports.

Artillery School

The RVNAF Artillery School was an outgrowth of the French Army's Artillery Training Center of Indochina located in Phu Hoa. After the signing of the Geneva Accords, the training center was turned over to the Vietnamese armed forces and was redesignated the RVNAF Artillery School. In October 1955 the school moved to the Thu Duc Military School Center and shared its facilities with the Engineer School; when the Engineer School moved out two years later, the Artillery School took over the entire area. With this additional space, the school was reorganized and the training activities expanded. In July 1961 the school moved again, this time to its present location in Duc My, where it was again reorganized with its own administrative and logistic support.

Throughout its existence, the school has trained artillery officers and noncommissioned officers in the operation and maintenance of all artillery equipment and has also conducted basic and advanced unit training for ARVN artillery battalions as they were activated under the RVNAF Improvement and Modernization programs. A four-week counterbattery course was established at the school, along with two AN/MPQ/4A radar sets and equipment in 1969. Then, the rated capacity of the school was 600 students. During December the student load reached 1,086, severely straining facilities and instructors. The overload was a result of the

[140]

requirement to train additional personnel to fill newly activated units and units scheduled for activation. Under these overcrowded conditions, the amount of practical work done and personal supervision received was greatly reduced, adversely affecting the quality of graduates.

In 1970 several new gun-emplacements with concrete personnel shelters and ammunition bunkers were built in the battalion demonstration area as a self-help project. New programs of instruction were prepared for a survey officer course and a survey instructor course. A copy of the U.S. Artillery Advanced Course was obtained from Fort Sill, edited to delete unusable portions, and given to the director of instruction for upgrading the battalion commander's course. In addition, noticeable improvements in training and supervision of students took place after the commandant directed that classes be inspected daily and written reports submitted.

One of the most significant improvements in training occurred between April and June 1970. Formerly, no attempt was made to coordinate the training of forward observers, fire direction center personnel, and gun crews during live fire exercises. During June, schedules and programs of instruction were completed to allow these classes to be conducted simultaneously. The concept saved ammunition and training time and released support troop gun crews to perform maintenance.

Armor School

The Armor School was first established by the French Army at the Vietnamese Military Academy in Dalat in 1950 and was staffed by French officers and Vietnamese enlisted men. In late 1952 the school was dissolved and its functions taken over by the Thu Duc Reserve Officers School. Then, in February 1955, when the Thu Duc Reserve Officers School became the Thu Duc Military School Center, the armor portion was again established as a separate school. Finally, when the other schools of the training center moved to their new locations in October 1961, the Armor School became an independent entity under the Armor Command and has remained so ever since.

The mission of the school was to train armor personnel in the use and tactics of all armor-type vehicles found in the RVNAF inventory. It also conducted basic and advanced unit training for all newly activated ARVN armor units to ensure that they were combat ready before going into the field as operational forces.

On 13 December 1969, construction of a tank gunnery range

[141]

Signal School

The Signal School had been originally the Communications Training Center of the French Army in Indochina and was located in Gia Dinh. In 1954 it became the ARVN Signal Communications Training Center and consisted of two separate centers--the Signal School in Thu Duc, whose primary goal was training signal officers for the Vietnamese Army and enlisted men of all services in signal equipment repair, and the Signal Training Center in Vung Tau, whose primary mission was training RVNAF enlisted men in the use of all types of communications equipment.

In October 1961 the Thu Duc portion of the school was transferred to and consolidated with the Vung Tau portion in their present location. The consolidated portion was designated the RVNAF Signal School and given the combined mission that had previously been assigned both centers. In August the school's organization expanded to include personnel and equipment for a cryptographic facility for training all RVNAF students in the use of the new cipher equipment.

On 28 February 1970 a large portion of land formerly occupied by U.S. elements of the Vung Tau Sub-area Command was turned over to the Signal School. Located about 1,000 meters from the main compound, the area had room for 1,200 people and was complete with buildings. The complex was used to billet the Language School students preparing for entrance into the Integrated Communications System (ICS) training program. In December members of the first fixed station microwave repair course graduated. The military occupational specialty (MOS) involved was one of the most complex in the ICS program and was awarded only after thirteen months of intensive instruction conducted by the U.S. 369th Signal Battalion.

Engineer School

The Engineer School began as a training center near Haiphong, North Vietnam. Here the French maintained an engineer center with the responsibility of instructing and training Vietnamese engineer soldiers. In 1951, in order to train Vietnamese engineer officers, the center was moved to and became part of the

[142]

Thu Duc Reserve Officers School. Three years later the school was turned over to the Vietnamese, and the Engineer Training Center moved to Bien Hoa. In September 1955 it moved back to Thu Duc and was designated as the Engineer School; here the entire family of courses in military engineering, from basic training to generalized education, was developed and presented.

Because of the need for expanded facilities and more adequate training areas, the school moved to Vung Tau in October 1957. In its new site, more sophisticated courses were developed, including specialized operator courses for all types of engineer equipment. The student capacity at Vung Tau was 400 officers and men.

In August 1961 the school closed and moved to its present location at Phu Cuong in Binh Duong Province. Classes resumed in January 1962, and since then the school has trained officers, officer candidates, noncommissioned officers, and enlisted personnel of the RVNAF Corps of Engineers in the techniques, procedures, and methods of military engineering. The training mission was based on the concept of making and development of combat engineers through courses on engineer equipment operation, first and second echelon maintenance, and engineer management.

Because of the post-1965 buildup, the 1,000-student capacity of Phu Cuong became inadequate and the Engineer School developed a five-year plan to increase its capacity to 3,000. The Central Training Command's Upgrading Plan considered relocating the Engineer School, but Central Training Command decided to keep the school at the present location and expand the facilities over a five-year period.

Military Police School

The Military Police School was organized as a training center in Da Nang in 1957, the same year that the ARVN Military Police Corps was established. Its goal was conducting basic military police training courses at a rate of five 12-week courses every two years. Each class consisted of approximately 250 individuals, and graduates were initially assigned only to I Corps Tactical Zone; later, assignments were made to units throughout the country. In April 1962 the center moved to its present site at Vung Tau and was renamed the RVNAF Military Police School.

In January 1965 the school's organization was expanded to include personnel and equipment for a criminal investigation laboratory which was responsible for scientific analysis of evidence submitted by field units and for the training of criminal investi-

[143]

gators. The laboratory did not become operational until much later, however.

The school received an approved expansion plan for the 1967-69 period which permitted training of 500 students at a time. This Plan included the training of Military Police Corps junior officers, noncommissioned officers, and criminal investigators. The school also conducted the basic combat training course for all recruits assigned to the Military Police Corps.

On 28 February 1970, an 18,000-square-meter tract was transferred to the Military Police School by U.S. Elements of the Vung Tau Sub-area Command. The land adjacent to the school was used for riot control training, an enlarged motor pool, recreation facilities, and a hardstand helicopter pad.

Administrative Schools

In October 1955 the Vietnamese armed forces established the Military Administration School at the Thu Duc Military School Center with the mission of providing specialized training in quartermaster, finance and administration, and personnel administration subjects. In 1958 as the program expanded and student capacities were raised, it became necessary to reorganize the school into two separate branches-the Finance and Administration Branch and the Quartermaster Branch. The arrangement proved satisfactory until 1962 when it was decided, as a result of a lack of space and the rapid expansion of the different branches, to divide the institution into three separate schools. The Adjutant General's School was established in March 1962 and the Quartermaster School and Administration and Finance School in July 1962; all three were located in Saigon where they trained specialists in their respective fields.

Transportation School

The Transportation School dates from 1954 when a highway transport officers basic course was organized and conducted at the Thu Duc Reserve Officers Training Center. Officers were transferred into this course upon completion of their infantry training. In February 1955 the Highway Transport School was officially activated as part of the Thu Duc Center and two months later was made a separate school under the supervision of the newly established Transportation Command. The school's mission of training drivers, organizational mechanics, and noncommissioned officers made an expansion of facilities necessary, and in January

[144]

1957 the school was temporarily split. The regional driver and second echelon mechanic courses moved to the Quang Trung Training Center and the rest of the school remained at Thu Duc. Finally, in September 1958, the school was consolidated back into one location--the Quang Trung Training Center area--fourteen kilometers northwest of Saigon. The school's mission remained essentially the same as when it was established in 1955, but it now had an increased training capacity of 700 students. During 1969 the school advisory detachment was increased from one to three persons.

Ordnance School

The Ordnance School was first established in 1952 as the Materiel Training Center at Thu Duc. Its mission, like other branch-type schools, was to train ordnance personnel in their specialty. In 1957 it was redesignated as the Ordnance School and retained its primary training mission. In 1961 the school was separated from the Thu Duc Center and moved to Saigon where it conducted sixty-eight different courses in ordnance specialties to satisfy the growing RVNAF demands.

Medical School

A small medical school had been established in 1951 at Hanoi to give the Vietnamese medical battalion under French command its first formal medical training capability. The objective of this school was to train regular medical officers, pharmacists, and dentists. The school moved to Saigon in 1954 and, in 1956, was combined with the Medical Training Center whose mission consisted of training enlisted medics and NCO medical specialists. The combined institution was officially redesignated the Military Medical School in 1961. Shortly thereafter, planning was instituted to construct a modern facility which would enable the school to meet the growing medical requirements of the South Vietnamese armed forces. This facility, constructed in the Phu Tho area of Saigon, was completed and operational in April 1964 and conducted thirty-five different courses in varying medical specialties.

The enlarged Medical School conducted all battalion surgeon assistant, medical supply, and enlisted formal technical training, with the exception of basic medical training of aidmen for Regional and Popular Forces units. It did not provide training for physicians or dentists. By 1970, 3,517 students had received training.

The teaching methods used at the school were didactic and

[145]

graduates lacked practical experience. Improvement in teaching techniques, including additional use of training aids and group discussion, was urged and plans were submitted to expand the capacity of the school from 1,000 students to 3,000, to include additional billeting and classroom facilities. It was also proposed to establish an RVNAF teaching hospital on the grounds where selected graduates would receive advanced training in a controlled teaching environment under surgical, laboratory, X-ray, operating room, and nursing specialists. However, as of 1972 many serious deficiencies still remained.

Military Intelligence School

The RVNAF Military Intelligence School was established in 1955 at historic Fort Cay Mai in the Saigon-Gia Dinh area with the mission of training the intelligence platoons and squads of the South Vietnamese Army. In 1962 its mission was enlarged to include training intelligence units of the Regional Forces, but this task was withdrawn in October 1967. In 1968 the school instituted an aerial intelligence interpreter's course and graduated its first class in September. The following April the combined intelligence course seminars were begun, attended by ARVN intelligence personnel and their U.S. counterparts; later in July, interrogation of prisoners of war and order of battle courses were also instituted. These courses had previously been conducted offshore in Okinawa. The normal programed input to the combined intelligence course was 30 students per class (15 Vietnamese and 15 American). The program's objective was to give all subsector (district) S-2 personnel a short, specialized intelligence course and this objective was achieved with the completion of the final class in December. A total of 534 officers attended the four-day courses and received instruction designed to enhance the exchange of intelligence information on a daily basis.

Logistics Management School

The RVNAF Logistics Management School was started in 1959 but was not officially dedicated until March 1960. The mission of the school was twofold:

[146]

1. to provide high-level logistics instruction for the Vietnamese armed forces.

2. to research, study, and develop logistics organization and doctrine for the Vietnamese armed forces.

The school offered three levels of instruction, each designed to cover a specific portion of the over-all logistics system in the Vietnamese armed forces. The logistics management course concentrated on preparing selected officers for staff duties. The logistics staff officers course prepared officers to work at the intermediate level and the supply officers course prepared officers to work at unit level. During 1969 two new programs of instruction were added: The PRAISE (Program Review and Analysis Improvement Systems Evaluation) course and the U.S. Advisor Orientation course. Also, the school's capacity grew from 125 to 175 students.

Army Social Training School

The Army Social Training School in Saigon was established unofficially in October 1952 and provided basic and advanced technical training in social welfare to Women of the Armed Forces Corps (WAFC) officers and noncommissioned officers whose actual or anticipated assignment was as a social service assistant in the RVNAF Social Service Department. In addition, the school provided technical refresher training for civilian kindergarten teachers administered by the Social Service Department and gave other appropriate technical training as directed by the joint General Staff.

Armed Forces Language School

The Vietnamese Armed Forces Language School opened in Saigon in June 1956 with the mission of teaching English to Vietnamese who were programed to attend offshore schooling in the United States. Its capacity at that time was about 1,000 students. In July 1967 the school doubled its input by increasing facilities and operating on a two-shift basis. The school's mission was then expanded to include training of Vietnamese translators for requirements within the country. During the Tet offensive of 1968, 70 percent of the school's facilities were destroyed; however, new facilities were obtained and the training continued almost without interruption. As the Vietnamese armed forces grew and the requirement for offshore schooling increased, the school enlarged its facilities until, by the end 1968, it had a capacity of 5,000 students.

[148]

Offshore trainees who graduated from the school had an excellent (rated "70 percent") language capability and attended U.S. schools without the previously required three-month TDY period of English schooling in CONUS.

An additional facility for the school was established at Vung Tau by renovating the Kiet Compound building to make possible a capacity of 660 students. The facility was completed on 5 December, and the first class began three days later. Four hundred and sixty-four ARVN Signal Corps students entered the class to learn English in preparation for further training in the ICS program.

During 1970 the school established a MACV Test Control Office to centralize control, security, and administration of English language comprehension and aptitude tests. Before organizing this office, the English Comprehension Level (ECL) test was often compromised, and there was approximately a thirty-point drop in a student's EGL score between the final test administered in Vietnam and the entry test administered at the Defense Language Institute, English Language School, Lackland Air Force Base. The Test Control Office eliminated test irregularities, forcing students to achieve the ECL score required for graduation legitimately.

Annex 1 (Dong Khanh) of the language school was transferred to the Adjutant General's School on 16 January 1970, and the capacity of the annex was increased from 420 to 1,000 students. Annex 2 (Tan Son Nhut) commenced training on 19 January 1970 for VNAF airmen with a capacity of 1,080 students.

Band School

The RVNAF Band School was founded in Saigon in February 1959, owing mainly to the efforts of the incumbent bandmaster. Originally, it was known as the Army Band Center and shortly after establishment developed a training program of basic and intermediate courses. In 1961 it was renamed the RVNAF Music School and moved to Thu Duc where it continued to train musicians for the twenty RVNAF bands. In December, at the request of the Senior Advisor, the English translation of the Vietnamese school was changed to "RVNAF Band School."

Junior Military Academy

The first junior military school was established in Vung Tau in 1915 under the French and was later relocated to Gia Dinh and My Tho. Similar schools had also been established in Mong Cay,

[148]

Hue, Hanoi, Ban Me Thuot, Song Mao, and Thu Dau Mot, all supported by the French. The RVNAF Junior Military Academy was activated in 1956 at Vung Tau bringing together at a single location the several junior military schools once located in Central and South Vietnam. Since 1956 the junior Military Academy has been supported and administered by the government of Vietnam. By the end of 1969 the Central Training Command provided the instructors and facilities, and the Ministry of Education established the curriculum and the program instruction.

The mission of the school was to provide secondary education and military training to the sons of the Vietnamese military, Regional and Popular Forces, and police and village administration personnel who had served or had given their lives in the war.

The academic year began on 15 September and ended on 30 June. The courses taught included an elementary school course, a junior high school and a senior high school course, and military basic training. Ages of the students ranged from twelve through eighteen.

[149]

Notes

1 The material in this appendix, was taken from HQ, MACV, Command History, 1969, II, VI-81-VI-92, and Command History, 1970, II, VII-51-VII-55.(back to top)

page created 8 August 2002

Return to Table of Contents

Return to CMH Online