Luc Luong Dac Biet
The Luc Luong Dac Biet (LLDB) or Special Forces, was formed on 15
March 1963. The LLDB after President Ngo Dinh Diem, in the wake of the
coup the Presidential Liaison Office, was dissolved and its function
assumed by the ARVN. The LLDB was put under the control of the Joint
General Staff and given the mission of raising paramilitary border and
village defense forces with the United States Special Forces (USSF).
External operations were given to the newly formed Liaison Service, also
under the JGS. The Liaison Service, commanded by a Colonel, was
headquartered in Saigon adjacent to the JGS. It was divided into Task
Force 1, 2 and 3, each initially composed of only a small cadre of
commandos. In 1964 the JGS also formed the Technical Service (So Ky
Thuat), a covert unit tasked with longer duration agent operations into
North Vietnam. Commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel, the Technical Service
comprised Group 11 (Doan 11), oriented toward agent operations in Laos
and eastern North Vietnam; Group 68 (Doan 68 Thang Long), another
infiltration unit; and the Coastal Security Service, a maritime commando
group at Da Nang attached to the Technical service with its own
contingent of PT boats for seaborne infiltration. The post Diem LLDB was
restructured for its proper role as a source of counter insurgency
instructors for paramilitary forces. By February 1964, 31 Group had
finished training and was posted to Camp Lam Son south of Nha Trang. In
May the Group became responsible for all LLDB detachments in I and II
Corps. A second reorganization occured in September when 31 Group was
renamed III Group and given responsibility for the Special Operations
Training Center at Camp Lam Son. Now 77 Group, headquartered at Camp
Hung Vuong in Saigon, became 301 Group. In addition, 91 Airborne Ranger
Battalion, a three company fast reaction paratrooper unit, was raised
under LLDB auspices in November. Total LLDB force strength stood at 333
officers, 1270 non commissioned officers and 1270 men. The LLDB command
at Nha Trang was assumed by Brig. Gen. Doan Van Quang in August 1965. By
1965 the LLDB had become almost a mirror image of the USSF. LLDB
Headquarters at Nha Trang ran the nearby Special Forces Training Center
at Camp Dong Ba Thin. LLDB 'C' Teams, designated A through D Company,
were posted to each of South Vietnam's four Military Regions; each 'C'
Team had three 'B' Teams, which controlled operational detachments at
the sub regional level; 'B' Teams ran 10 to 11 'A' Teams. 'A' Teams were
colocated with USSF 'A' Teams at camps concentrated along the South
Vietnamese border, where they focused on training Civilian Irregular
Defense Force (CIDG) personnel. In addition, the LLDB Command directly
controlled the Delta Operations Center with its Delta teams and the four
company 91st Airborne Ranger Battalion, both were used by Project Delta,
a special reconnaissance unit of the US Military Assistance Vietnam
Studies and Observation Group (MACV-SOG), which operated deep in VC/NVA
sanctuaries. On 30 January 1968 the Communists launched their TET
general offensive across South Vietnam. Caught celebrating the lunar New
Year, the Saigon government was initially ill prepared to counter the
VC/NVA attacks. When Nha Trang was hit on the first day the LLDB
Headquarters was protected by 91st Airborne Ranger Battalion, recently
returned from one of its Project Delta assignments. At only 60 percent
strength the Airborne Rangers turned in an excellent performance,
pushing the major Communist elements out of Nha Trang in less than a
day. The battle, however, cost the life of the battalion commander and
wounded the four company commanders. After a four month retraining in
Nha Trang three companies from 91st Airborne Ranger Battalion were
brought together with six Delta teams and renamed 81st Airborne Ranger
Battalion. In early June the new battalion prepared for urban operations
in Saigon after a second surge of Communist attacks pushed government
forces out of the capital's northern suburbs. On 7 June the Airborne
Rangers were shuttled into Saigon and began advancing toward VC held
sectors around the Duc Tin Military School. After a week of bloody
street fighting, much of it at night, the Airborne Rangers pushed the
enemy out of the city. Following the Tet Offensive 81st Airborne Ranger
Battalion was increased to six companies, and continued to be used as
the main reaction force for Project Delta; four companies were normally
assigned Delta missions while two remained in reserve at LLDB
Headquarters.
From the book: SPIES AND COMMANDOS, How America Lost the Secret War
in North Vietnam, (Modern War Studies) by Kenneth J. Comboy and Dale
Andrade.