Operation Pincushion
Operation Pincushion | |
---|---|
Part of Green Berets | |
Outcome | Limited success, 12 companies trained |
Operation Pincushion was a covert training program for
Although copied from the CIA's Operation Momentum, the Green Berets' training program ran with limited success, due to cultural influences in the recruits' backgrounds. The adoption of the International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos in July 1962 doomed Operation Pincushion, as it called for withdrawal of all foreign troops from the Kingdom of Laos by October of the same year. Pincushion training ended 14 September 1962 and the Green Beret trainers then withdrew from Laos.
Background
The Kingdom of Laos emerged from the First Indochina War independent of the French, but in a state of chaos. Even as the French pulled out of Laos, the Americans took up their advisory role to the Royal Lao Government through such agencies as the Programs Evaluation Office. Meanwhile, Vietnamese communists and Lao communists were active in Laos, sowing discontent against the government. The government itself was in turmoil, as various Lao military officers and politicians scrambled for positions of power. The American government became convinced that Laos could not be allowed to fall under communist control, lest other countries in Southeast Asia follow suit.[1]
In January 1961,
Operation Pincushion
In southern Laos, the
Training company K-1 graduated after four weeks training and began patrolling in the vicinity of the training base. A second Field Training Team then joined the effort. K-2 company, however, suffered a mass desertion of half its strength, but nevertheless, recruitment and training of new ADC companies continued.[3]
In February 1962, an entire
Even as the Bolovens Plateau training camps expanded, the Green Berets established a second training locale north of there in Phou Kate, near Salavan. Begun in late spring, it was manned by four A Teams training four more ADC companies, K-7, K-9, K-10, and K-11. The arrival of another A Team on 5 June 1962 resulted in Company K-12, which turned out to be problematic. Ignoring the usual practice of recruiting an entire company from the same tribe in the same locality, the trainees of K-12 came from two different ethnic backgrounds, and did not get along.[5]
As if desertions and internal disagreements were not enough, the Green Berets noted that the Lao Theung had difficulty mastering the M1 Garand; they also could not manhandle the 57 mm recoilless rifle from place to place.[6] Even as these shortcomings became evident, a new coalition government was forming in Vientiane; the political climate did not seem favorable for continuing the training program. On 10 July 1962, the La Ta Sin camp was closed down.[6]
End
Also in July 1962, the
See also
- Air America (airline)
- Commando Raiders
- Laotian Civil War
- Military Region 5 Commandos
- Pathet Lao
- Royal Lao Armed Forces
- Royal Lao Army Airborne
- Special Guerrilla Units (SGU)
- SPECOM
- Vietnam War
- Weapons of the Laotian Civil War
Notes
References
- Conboy, Kenneth and James Morrison (1995). Shadow War: The CIA's Secret War in Laos. Paladin Press. ISBN 0-87364-825-0.
- Warner, Roger (1995). Back Fire: The CIA's Secret War in Laos and Its Link to the War in Vietnam. Simon & Schuster, ISBNs 0684802929, 9780684802923.