CONTACT INFORMATION IN VIETNAM

Drawing on its earlier counter-insurgency experience in Malaya and Confrontation, 1ATF adopted a standard process for recording relevant data about every encounter with the enemy. Each time a 1ATF patrol encountered an enemy force and an exchange of small arms fire ensued, a ‘contact’ was deemed to have occurred. As soon as the contact had finished, the patrol commander was required to report by radio to his higher headquarters. This report recorded the basic facts of the contact: the identity of the unit making contact; the date, time and place of contact; estimated enemy strength; a description of the enemy (including his dress, weapons and battle drills); casualties, weapons and equipment captured; and a short description of the event, including whether the incident was initiated by friendly forces or the enemy.

A full written report, complying with the format laid down in 1ATF's standard operating procedures and based on the initial radio report, details recorded in the commander's notebook at the time and consultation with the NCOs and soldiers who took part in the contact, was prepared on return to the Forward Operating Base at Nui Dat on completion of the operation perhaps three or four weeks later. These written reports recorded additional information such as number of rounds fired by weapon type and an assessment of the types of weapon that had caused the casualties. Sometimes they included a sketch map showing salient features of the contact, often including the locations of individual soldiers relative to each other and the enemy, and a critical evaluation of the commander's performance by more senior platoon and company officers. The written reports were signed by the patrol commander, the platoon commander and the company commander before their inclusion in the battalion commander's formal report to the Task Force commander. Other types of combat incident such as mine incidents, hostile mortar fire or the finding of unoccupied bunker systems or caches, had their own similarly detailed reporting requirements.