Article about the South Vietnamese draft

Item

derivative filename/jpeg

363-07774 to 363-07777.pdf

Digital Object Identifier

363-07774 to 363-07777

Title

Article about the South Vietnamese draft

Description

Original title: "Draft", Article draft about the South Vietnamese effort to draft civilians into their army, for the New York Herald Tribune

AI Usage Disclosure

Draft transcripts were automatically generated via Google Document AI and are currently under review. Please report significant errors to Archives & Special Collections at archives@unl.edu.

Transcript

y Deepe 101 Cong Ly Saigon Draft--1 Sent May 21. Saigon--American advisors have been ordered--for the first time in the war--to watch carefully the recruitment of Vietnamese draftees in the provinces. The problem of recruitment is crucial; General Maxwell D. Taylor, VChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, [XXXX indicating deletion] delved into it during his mid-May visit. While American Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara authorized in March a [deletion: 50] 50,000-man increase for the understrength Vietnamese armed forces, the government is having difficulty filling the quota. During a recent month, the government issued a draft call for 20,000 man--but only [XXXX indicating deletion] 1,500 (repeat 1,500) showed up, according to reliable sources. Training centers lack the necessary number of recruits to train at full capacity. Yet, according to American advisors in the provinces, “The Communists are so popular they’re running out of recruitment forms.” the government [deletion: discus] discovered the armed forces were understrength only recently when they found a number of [deletion: non-existent] unauthorized persons listed on the military payrolls, according to prime minister, General Nguyen Khanh. “Alot of people were drawing pay who were not members of the armed forces,” General Khanh said in an interview with New York Herald-Tribune. “When the government re-checked the payrolls, we found we were understrength. Under (ex-President Ngo Dinh) Diem, every statistic was phony.” While the goateed general would not estimate the number [deletion: of] on the padded payrolls, which are primarily paid indirectly by U.S. funding, some estimates run as high as 50,000 men. If true, the [deletion: in] 50,000-man increase authorized by [deletion: McNamara] McNamara would, in fact, only restore the actual [deletion: fighting armed forces] strength which Washington and the Vietnamese government presumed they had [deletion: in the armed forces] several months ago. (More) Deepe Draft--2 General Khanh said he expects the quota to be filled in June. The order to American advisors stationed in Vietnam’s 43 provinces and 100 districts (provincial subdivisions), was issued in a directive dated May 9 and signed by Brig. Gen. Ben Sternberg, assistant chief of staff, J-1 (personnel). Parts of the [insertion: unclassified] directive, headed “Selective Service System,” reads as follows: “1. Decreasing RVNAF (Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces) strength continues to be the major problem facing the GVN (Government of Viet Nam) and is therefore of primary concern to U.S. advisors. The success of the Pacification Plan and the ultimate winning of the war is tied directly to GVN ability to maintain the fighting units at authorized strength. 2. Conscription is the primary means of securing the manpower resources needed. Many problems are being encountered particularly in issuing draft notices, insuring draftees report for induction and apprehending draft evaders. 3. Your assistance in monitoring GVN conscription efforts and procedures…is essential….” American advisors are also issued a five-point checklist which attempts to expedite and tighten recruiting procedures at the lowest levels. The Vietnamese selective service system operates similar to that in the United States, except [deletion: respe] responsibilities are divided between two ministries--Defense and Interior. At 18, the male individual reports to his nearest administrative office. Two years later, if he is found fit and is not deferred, [insertion: or father does not have funds to buy him out,] he is scheduled to be drafted. (More) Deepe Draft--3 “But the Viet Cong [XXXX indicating deletion] take young men much [deletion: before] below the age of 18 [deletion: years of age],” one American provincial representative groaned. “By the time he’s ready to go into the Army, he’s already taken off with the Viet Cong or has gone into hiding.” The current authorized strength of regular army, navy, marine and airforce units is 200,000. The actual strength, however, is classified, according to General Khanh. Almost all units, however, are known to be operating understrength, some as much as 50 per cent. [XXXX indicating deletion] Paramilitary forces add another 200,000 to the armed forces. The problem of recruitment is not so much a single problem but a visible index of many [XXXX indicating deletion] underlying difficulties, according to military sources. It indicates the successfulness of Communist terror, [deletion: or] intimidation [XXXX indicating deletion] or high-powered persuasion tactics among an uneducated population--and the government’s incapability to either counter them or to offer a meaninful alternative. A corollary to the recruitment problem is that the government is unable to hold or appeal [insertion: completely] to its own armed forces, thus indicating low morale and the Communists’ skill in infiltrating the military organizatio An estimated seven per cent of the armed forces total are communist viet cong agents or sympathizers, according to reliable sources, with the figure running as high as 20 percent in some units. In one known case, [deletion: 100 percent of the unit defected--an elite special] an entire elite unit defected the night before [deletion: their] its graduation [insertion: exercise]. U.S. Army Special Forces [insertion: officers] estimate 15 [deletion: %] percent of the [deletion: lower-] low echelon paramilitary units they train are Viet Cong agents or sympathizers. (More) deepe draft--4 In a special training course teaching Vietnamese soldiers to handle military sentry and scouting dogs, some soldiers are known to have defected after conclusion of the course--taking their $1000 German shepherd dogs with them. Several Vietnamese Air Force pilots, almost all of thom have been trained in either France or the United States, are suspected by American pilots of landing their T-28 fighter planes on red-clay stripes in Viet Cong territory and [deletion: dumping] transferring their 100-bombs into enemy hands. While American military sources in Saigon deny this transfer of ordinance, American officers in [deletion: provin] the field have told correspondents of one specific suspected case. [insertion: Vietnamese defection figures are classified.] [XXXX indicating deletion] Sizeable quantities of U.S. aid goods distributed through the government’s civilian strategic hamlet administration has also slipped into Viet Cong hands, according to reliable sources, (Informatively a USAID official) including chemical fertilizer which the Viet Cong [deletion: can] use in making ammunition. # (Note to Editor: Most of these [deletion: incidents in about] defection [insertion: cases] were picked up from [XXXX indicating deletion] talking to provincial advisors; the [deletion: Saigon] Americans of higher rank may deny them, but I’m sure they’re accurate, since the provincial advisors were talking about instances based on their own experiences in their areas. I’m enclosing the recruitment directive; could you return it to me at your convenience.)

Date

1964, May 21

Subject

Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Draft; Vietnam (Republic). Quân lực; Soldiers

Location

Saigon, South Vietnam

Coordinates

10.8231; 106.6311

Size

20 x 26 cm

Container

B3, F7

Format

dispatches

Collection Number

MS 363

Collection Title

Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers

Creator

Keever, Beverly Deepe

Collector

Keever, Beverly Deepe

Copyright Information

These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.

Publisher

Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries

Language

English