Operation Game Warden

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Operation Game Warden

USS Harnett County (AGP-821) part of Task Force 116
DateDecember 18, 1965 – March 1973
Location
Mekong Delta, South Vietnam
Result

American/South Vietnamese operational success

  • South Vietnam's extensive inland waterways secured
  • Viet Cong redirected their watercraft to smaller rivers and canals[1]
Belligerents
 United States
 South Vietnam		 Viet Cong
Commanders and leaders
United States William Westmoreland
United States David L. McDonald
Casualties and losses
United States 100 to 200 killed U.S claimed:
1,400+ killed, wounded or captured
2,000 watercraft destroyed, damaged or captured

Operation Game Warden was a joint operation conducted by the

South Vietnamese Navy in order to deny Viet Cong access to resources in the Mekong River Delta. Game Warden and its counterpart Operation Market Time are considered to be two of the most successful U.S. Naval actions during the Vietnam War
.

Geography and area of operations

Aerial view of the Mekong River Delta

The Mekong Delta extends south and west from the city of

Seven Mountains region on the Cambodian border. The VC utilized approximately 1,400 miles (2,300 km) of natural waterways in the Delta, complemented by an additional 2,400 miles (3,900 km) of man-made canals.[4]

Development

40 mm grenade
launcher clearly visible

In response to the deficiencies of the

landing ship docks (LSDs), and helicopters. At its height in October 1968, Task Force 116 had a total of 2,032 personnel, 250 PBRs, 7 MSBs, and 31 other assorted craft.[9] The Navy established a training facility specifically for river patrol personnel in Coronado, California called the Amphibious Training Center. However, the training soon moved to the Naval Inshore Operations Training Center on Mare Island after the Navy recognized the similarities between the sloughs of the Sacramento River and those of the Mekong River Delta.[10]

Objectives

The principal objective of Operation Game Warden focused sought to interdict the Viet Cong infiltration of South Vietnam in the Mekong Delta. The Navy officially expounded upon this objective in February 1966 when it stated that Task Force 116's mission was to crack down on the transportation of VC troops and supplies on the ample inland waterways, eliminate enemy lines of communication, enforce night time curfews, and defend the main shipping channels to Saigon open with constant patrolling and minesweeping in the Long Tau River.[11]

Operations

USS Garrett County anchored in the Mekong River Delta

The U.S. Navy officially created Operation Game Warden in December 1965, however actual patrols did not officially begin until February of the next year. When the operation took effect the Navy divided Task Force 116 into two separate task groups and assigned them to specific regions within the Delta. Task Group 116.1, a force of 80 PBRs, patrolled the heart of the Mekong Delta and operated out of river's edge bases in Mỹ Tho, Vĩnh Long, Cần Thơ, Sa Đéc, and Long Xuyên. Task Group 116.2, was roughly half the size and guarded the Rung Sat Special Zone using base areas in Nhà Bè and Cat Lo.[12]

Task Force 116 focused on instituting a curfew on all waterways for the first months of action, hence devoting much of its time to searching Vietnamese

column formation about 400–600 yards apart, a distance close enough to cover one another but far enough away to increase the effectiveness of their radars while also minimizing the threat of an effective riverside ambush. Similar to most patrolling missions, the PBRs would approach suspicious watercraft from an angle that maximized the number of weapons the boat could bear on the potential target. Searches were carried out as close to midstream as possible in order to minimize the PBRs vulnerability to surprise attacks from the riverbanks. Once the nighttime curfew was in effect, encounters occurring at night were more likely than not hostile.[18] Task Force 116 developed numerous effective tactics throughout Operation Game Warden including the silent or drifting patrol, which called for the PBRs to speed into their patrol zone upstream, cut the engines, and allow the current to carry them through their assigned sections of river in hopes of catching the enemy off guard.[19] Unlike other units, much of Task Force 116's development came from trial and error since it had no predecessor to draw intelligence or tactics from. For example, LSTs were primarily positioned in the South China Sea near the river mouths, however this proved impractical because the choppy sea in those locations was too rough for the small PBRs. Therefore, to accommodate the patrol boats the LST's were moved further up river, eventually as far as the Bassac-Mekong crossover (less than 20 nautical miles from the Cambodian border).[10]

Comparable to land fighting, as the fighting intensified in areas and decreased in others U.S. base areas often shifted location. Operation Game Warden's headquarters moved from Saigon to

Co Chien River and Task Group 116.5 was assigned the Rung Sat area.[10]

Tet Offensive

The performance of Game Warden units during the

South Vietnamese Regional Forces and Popular Forces. Though at the time of the Tet celebrations over half of the South Vietnamese forces were on leave with only skeleton crews remaining in their stead. The MRF and other Game Warden troops played a vital role in supporting the diminished Vietnamese forces across the Delta transforming a certain defeat into a tactical victory.[21]

Aftermath

A HA(L)-3 Seawolf escorting PBRs in the Delta

The Navy discontinued Operations Game Warden, Market Time, and Clearwater in March 1973.[22] The efficiency of Game Warden is largely hard to determine, although the operation successfully accomplished most of its main objectives. Viet Cong defectors, referred to as "Hồi Chánh Viên", recurrently confirmed that Task Force 116's patrols greatly hindered movement in and around the Mekong Delta. One Hồi Chánh Viên stated that PBR patrols restricted the movement of supplies so much that troops in the Delta often went multiple days without food. Another Hồi Chánh Viên described a two-week period in which the VC were completely unable to transport their units across a river due to frequent PBR patrols.[23] According to Admiral S. A. Swartztrauber, an average month of Game Warden operations would account for:

  • 65,000 to 70,000 patrol hours by PBRs
  • 1,500 hours of flight missions by Seawolves
  • 80 engagements by PBRs
  • 75 minesweeping patrols
  • 60 missions by
    Navy SEALs
  • 20 LST gunfire support missions
  • 125 enemy structures destroyed
  • 80 enemy watercraft destroyed[23]

Game Warden forces lost 200 Sailors in the boats from its inception to its discontinuation, however Task Force 116's kill ratio (approximately 40 enemy KIA to every 1 American KIA) was one of the highest of U.S. forces during the Vietnam War.[24] Two sailors of Task Force 116 were awarded the Medal of Honor: Petty Officer First Class James Williams and Seaman David George Ouettet. Nevertheless, the VC did not cease operations in the Mekong Delta but instead began focusing on disrupting traffic on the rivers and ultimately redirected their sampans and other watercraft to smaller rivers and canals to avoid combat with the more powerful PBRs.[1]

Units involved

See also

Notes

  1. ^
    OCLC 32970270
    .
  2. OCLC 11494209
    .
  3. OCLC 317495523
    .
  4. ^ Carhart, 78–80.
  5. OCLC 909538785
    .
  6. OCLC 9730994
    .
  7. OCLC 17299589
    .
  8. ^ Summers, 296.
  9. OCLC 23902015
    .
  10. ^ a b c Cutler, 160.
  11. ^ Sherwood, 96.
  12. ^ Cutler, 159.
  13. ^ Sherwood, 89.
  14. ^ Cutler, 165.
  15. ^ Cutler, 169.
  16. ^ Cutler, 181.
  17. ^ Schreadley, 101.
  18. ^ Cutler, 164.
  19. ^ Schreadley, 102.
  20. ^ Cutler, 163.
  21. ^ Sherwood, 275–276.
  22. ^ Summers, 57–58.
  23. ^ a b Cutler, 205.
  24. ^ Cutler, 205–206.
  25. ^ a b c "Operation Game Warden". World History Project.

Bibliography

Further reading

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