The Vietnam
War
Beach Jumpers Unit ONE, Team TWELVE was
deployed in the Western pacific Area on a continuous basis. Although the Officer
in Charge (OIC), Assistant OIC and an administrative staff were headquartered at
White Beach, Okinawa, the bulk of Beach Jumpers were divided into detachments and
deployed in Vietnam.
First to Deploy for Vietnam service was
Beach Jumpers Unit One Detachment ALPHA made up of initially of 2 Officers (later
only one) and 10 enlisted men. The unit was assigned under the operational control
of the Navy's Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) BRAVO which supported marine Special
Landing Force (SLF) operations. Detachment ALPHA was responsible for employing
psychological operations (PSYOP) which would become one of the Beach
Jumpers' Vietnam missions and later, their unclassified cover
activity. For the Beach Jumpers this meant things such as propaganda
leaflet drops and loudspeaker broadcasts, which Detachment ALPHA conducted during
all major ARG/SLF operations in 1966. Detachment ALPHA operated off of
several naval platforms including the USS Tripoli (LPH 10). Subsequently,
Detachments BRAVO, CHARLIE, DELTA, ECHO, FOXTROT, and GOLF joined
Detachment ALPHA in Vietnam.
Detachment BRAVO initially consisted of one
officer and eight enlisted men (The team would later operate minus the
officer). Their primary task was to assist the carrier strike force in
planning and executing deception efforts. They were assigned the primary mission
of assist and support the operating forces in the conduct of Tactical Cover
and Deception in Naval Warfare. Bravo was under the operational control of
Commander Seventh Fleet. They conducted monitoring, tape preparation and Soviet
Signal Intelligence SIGINT trawler jamming missions from destroyers.
 Detachment CHARLIE consisted of one officer
and five enlisted men. CHARLIE was under the operational control of Commander Task
Force 77 and were assigned on board of of fleet tugs such as the USS Cocopa
(ATF-101) shown in the photo at right. CHARLIE operated under the
cover name "Yankee Station Special Surveillance Unit". Their mission was
to deceive and jam Soviet Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) and Electrical
Intelligence (ELINT) trawlers that were monitoring US Naval operations in the Gulf
of Tonkin. Detachment CHARLIE conducted counter SIGINT trawler activities which
included random wave jamming with noises which even included bagpipe recordings.
Detachment DELTA, formed in June 1966,
consisted of one officer and four enlisted men and was assigned to Commander Naval
Forces Vietnam. DELTA conducted psychological operations in support of Commander
Task Forces 115, 116, and 117 operating in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. They later
were designated as Team THIRTEEN. This detachment deployed to support SEA DRAGON
operations which were cruiser-destroyer patrols carried out against North
Vietnamese coastal sea and land objectives such as shore batteries.
Detachment ECHO, formed in February 1967,
consisted of only one officer. He was tasked with the primary objective of
conducting liaison with Commander task Force 77 and acted as an advisor to the
admiral on the feasibility of using communication deceptions in support of
operations such as GAME WARDEN and MARKET TIME which were then underway on the
rivers, canals and along the coastline of South Vietnam. The Echo Detachment
Officer operated from the flag ship (the admiral's ship).
Detachment FOXTROT consisted of two officers
and ten enlisted men and was under the operational control of the Commander,
Amphibious Ready Group ALFA. Detachment FOXTROT mission was similar to that of
Detachment ALPHA and was formed and deployed to further support Marine Special
Landing Forces. FOXTROT also monitored Special Landing Force (SLF) frequencies for
security breaches and rode River Patrol Boats conducting psychological operation
on the Cua Viet and Hue rivers in northernmost I Corps. FOXTROT
dropped over 260,000 leaflets during Operation "Daring Rebel" which was
a multi-battalion assault on the Hoi An area against the Viet Cong. The leaflets
carried rally themes of Chieu Hoi, population control directives, and pleas
for local population assistance. Aerial broadcasts, which followed the leaflet
drops, carried the same themes and were made by Vietnamese liaison
personnel.
Detachments GOLF, which consisted of only
two enlisted men, was activated in August 1967 and deployed as a support unit for
other Team TWELVE Detachments. Golf operated out of the Naval Station in Subic
Bay, Philippines.
Team THIRTEEN was established in December
1968 from Team TWELVE Detachment DELTA and consisted of one officer and four
enlisted men. Team THIRTEEN conducted psychological operations from River
Patrol Boats on all waterways in country. Additionally they supported both Army
5th Special Forces A and B Teams and Navy SEALS. THIRTEEN also set up the DUFFEL
BAG sensor operation program which was later taken over by the SEA LORDS.
For their efforts, Beach Jumper Unit One Team Thirteen was presented the Navy Unit
Commendation.
CITATION
For exceptionally meritorious service from
1 December 1968 till 30 April 1971 during operations against enemy forces in the
Delta Region of the Republic of Vietnam. Throughout this period, Beach Jumper
Unit ONE, Team THIRTEEN operated with units of the United States Navy, the
United States Army, and the Vietnamese Navy In carrying out
psychological operations and combat missions of a classified nature. By April
1971, the Team had established detachments throughout the IV Corps area,
effectively covering the fifteen provinces of the Mekong Delta with their
diversified psychological operations capabilities, including loudspeaker
broadcast equipment, leaflet drops, civic action projects, and other techniques.
Team THIRTEEN participated In over eighty civic action projects In which
thousands of Vietnamese civilians were assisted In innumerable ways. During
their operations, the Beach Jumpers were subjected to enemy fire on a number of
occasions. In each Instance they distinguished themselves by suppressing the
fire and completing the assigned mission. The outstanding courage,
resourcefulness, perseverance and devotion to duty displayed by the officers and
men of Beach Jumper Unit ONE, Team THIRTEEN In combat psychological operations
against a determined enemy, reflected great credit upon themselves and their
unit and were in keeping with the finest traditions of the United States Naval
Service.
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