spartans_in_darkness

~() 1. 4. (c) Teli Sf:e~f:T;;eeMINT;;X 1 1. 4. (d)
and military \garrisons, and mortar and rocket
attacks.r" DIRNSA'sauthorization for Phu Bai
included the proviso that allSECRET and TOP
SECRET material holdings be kept to the
absolute minimumvto facilitate destruction in
case of evacuation or.withdrawal.Y" In-fact, this
fear of a communist assault wouldcontinue.into
1965, when, as part of'Westmoreland's request
for marine units \ to protect U.S. air bases, a
marine unit, the\3rd Battalion, 4th Marines,
arrived on 14 April to guard.the site and its adjacent
auxiliary airfield.I""
(8//8n By late summer 1962, construction of
the facility and its antenna field-had begun. The
ASAdetachment at Danang had started its move
over to Phu Bai, as had.the marines at Pleiku. By
February 1963, the construction was completed,
and the personnel from. the two sites had completed
their transfer. The communications lines
to Saigon were installed. Intercept operations
began on 3 February 1963;
NRV.At the same time
'---
---'France, finally pulled
up its stakes and left for good:
fC'
,~ ~~-'I
IBy the time th
~nformed the Amencans they were
leaving in September 1962, the U.S. already had
expanded its collection effort to compensate for
the former's mission, parceling out targets to sites
inl
~he Philippines, and South Vietnam.
.•..
(8//81) Ultimately, PhuBai would become the
largest station in South Vietnam. By the end of
1963, some 200 personnelwould be stationed
there. In 1968, almost 1,100 soldiers served there.
Phu Bai's ideal location for collection led the ASA
to reassi n interce t missions. a ainst DRV
'---_..... communications conducted from army
sites in Asia as far away as\ the Philippines,
I
Iwithin a year of
Phu Bai's start-up, the Naval Security Group
would establish its only site in South Vietnam
(USN-27J), whose primary mission was to collect
North Vietnamese naval communications in support
of DESOTO and OPLAN 34A missions in the
region.
(8/181) Au Revoir aul~
The Departure ofthe Frencn;J~962
(Sl/SI) By mid-1962, all of the major
American cryptologic players either had set up
sites in country or had established technical and
liaison groups with MACV, as in the case of the
............
••
"'FOP SESRE"'FIJSeMIIHftX1
j
EO 1.4. (c)
Page 153 EO 1. 4. (d)