LST Squadron 9 Supported the 9th Infantry

Activated 1 Feb. 1966 for service in Vietnam and sent there Dec. 1966 - Jan 1967. The Division served in III and IV CTZ, and its 2nd Brigade was the Army Component of the Mobile Riverine Force. Division Headquarters was at Bear Cat Dec. 1966 - Jul.1968 and Dong Tam Aug. 1968 - Aug. 1969. The 9th Infantry Division began withdrawing in the summer of 1969, Leaving its 3rd Brigade behind as a separate unit ( Under Command of the 25th Infantry Division) Until Oct. 1970.

Web page for the 9th Infantry Division

The Brown Water Navy in

Vietnam

by

Robert H. Stoner, GMCM (SW)(Ret)

This operation took amphibious, combined-arms war into the Mekong River Delta, up the rivers and into the canals of South Vietnam.

The naval war in South Vietnam during the years 1964 to 1975 was very dynamic. For the Americans aiding the South Vietnamese, the effort was several folds: (1) build and equip a capable Vietnamese Navy; (2) teach the new VNN how to fight; (3) how to keep itself supplied; and (4) how to keep itself operational.

At the same time, the United States Navy found itself embroiled in a war that was fought at first, off the coastal waters of South Vietnam, and then in the river deltas, smaller waterways and canals of the country. To combat North Vietnamese infiltration of men and supplies by sea, three Task Forces were formed: TF-115 called Operation MARKET TIME; TF-116 called Operation GAME WARDEN; and TF-117 called the MOBILE RIVERINE FORCE (a joint amphibious Army-Navy riverine operation).

MOBILE RIVERINE FORCE

South Vietnam was divided into four Corps areas: I Corps was in the North, II Corps was the central highlands, III was the area around the capital city of Saigon, and IV Corps extended from the Mekong River Delta to the tip of the Ca Mau Peninsula. The delta was a major population and food center, but there were no large parcels of land where a big military installation could be constructed without dislocating large numbers of people. Also, numerous rivers, streams and canals crisscrossed the delta and restricted ground movement. American planners pondered how they could find a way to overcome the mobility problem.

In March 1966 a joint committee of Army and Navy personnel drew up tentative plans for the establishment of a Mekong Delta Mobile Afloat Force (MDMAF). On 1 September 1966, the first administrative unit of the new MDMAF was commissioned at Coronado, California. Shortly after this, the unit received the designation Task Force 117 (TF-117), and was named the MOBILE RIVERINE FORCE (MRF).

The purpose of the MRF was to support an infantry brigade and an artillery battalion using modified landing craft, support ships, and specially designed assault boats. The strike unit would be a self-contained amphibious assault force with all support elements except aircraft [added later]. Because the Marines were heavily engaged in I Corps, a brigade from the Army’s 9^th Infantry Division was chosen as the infantry component of the MRF.

The Navy’s component of TF-117 was a wide variety of ships and boats. The first unit, River Assault Flotilla One (RivFlotONE) was composed of River Assault Squadron 9 (RAS 9) and RAS 11. Each of the RAS was broken into two River Assault Divisions: Divisions 91 and 92; Divisions 111 and 112. The Divisions were distributed among two APBs (self-propelled barracks ships), an APL (non-self-propelled barracks ship) with two YTB (fleet tugs), an ARL (landing craft repair ship), and an LST (tank landing ship). Each RAS had a total of 26 ATCs (armored troop carriers), five Monitors, two CCBs (command and control boats), one Refueled ATC, and 16 ASPBs (assault support patrol boats) and an EOD (explosive ordnance detachment) team.

In 1967, Task Group 117.3 was composed of USS BENEWAH (APB-35), USS COLLETON (APB-36), APL-26 with USS KALISPELL (YTB-784) and USS WINNEMUCCA (YTB-785) attached, USS ASKARI (ARL-30) [later USS SPHINX (ARL-24)] , and a supporting LST (an LST-1156 class from Amphibious Ready Group BRAVO), plus other support and salvage craft as assigned. The MRF was based at the Army-Navy base at Dong Tam on the My Tho River branch of the Mekong River Delta.