Word: arvn
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...number of outdated but still reasonably effective weapons. Regular soldiers have seen their equipment steadily improve in quality. The U.S. was slow to supply the best weapons to South Viet Nam's forces. But now all 185 maneuver battalions of the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN) are equipped with U.S.-supplied M-16 assault rifles, a considerable improvement over the obsolete Mls and carbines of the war's early days. The average South Vietnamese soldier, however, still has access to far fewer mortars, artillery, Jeeps, trucks, armored vehicles, helicopters and planes than does...
Still more important is ARVN morale. For many South Vietnamese soldiers, military duty may begin at the age of 18 and end at 40-if they survive that long. Unmarried infantrymen earn a bare dollar a day. Until recently, the military postal system was so poor that soldiers could never count on their letters and remittances reaching home. Caught in a war that promised to be endless, led by officers who often owed their jobs to bribery or political clout, yearning to return to their families and their hamlets, South Viet Nam's soldiers fought either poorly...
...ARVN morale probably reached its nadir in 1965, when the army was losing the equivalent of a battalion a week to the onrushing Communists. From 1965 until last year, most ARVN units were engaged largely in pacification work, while the Americans took over the major combat role. "Naturally," said a U.S. general, "we felt that we could do the job better and faster, and, of course, ARVN worked less and less. Unfortunately, once you imply that a fighting force is second-rate, and treat it that way, it becomes pretty hard to reverse the trend." To G.I.s, South Vietnamese soldiers...
...Sept. 1, the U.S. 9th Infantry Division turned its base at Dong Tarn over to the South Vietnamese Army. During its more than two years of operations, the 9th all but eliminated main-force Viet Cong units, which had previously controlled the area. Now, responsibility rests with the ARVN 7th Division, which is working hard to shuck its former reputation as the "Search and Avoid Division." "Ever since your 9th Division left," Colonel Tran Tien Khang, commander of the division's 11th Regiment, said last week, "we have had to work very hard. Before, every man averaged 20 days...
...DEMILITARIZED ZONE: Far to the North, near the 17th parallel, there is concern as well. By Dec. 15, the 18,500 men of the U.S. 3rd Marine Division will have been withdrawn, leaving the gap to be filled by ARVN's 1st Division. The U.S. Commander in Viet Nam, General Creighton Abrams, calls the 1st the equal of any American division in the country. In line with its slogan, "More sweat in training, less blood in combat," it gives each trooper an extra five weeks of special training, and its combat record is excellent. Though it is twice...