Battle of Kontum - NLF Viet Cong Flag - TET OFFENSIVE 1968 - Vietnam War - F.106 For Sale

Kontum - Vietnam War - 1968 - Tet Offensive - Command and Control Central

Kontum was a significant location for U.S. Special Forces during the Vietnam War, serving as a major command and control center. The Central Highlands, where Kontum is situated, were crucial for strategic military operations due to their geographic location and proximity to the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

• Location: Kontum is in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, close to the borders with Laos and Cambodia. This made it an essential point for interdicting enemy supply lines along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and for launching operations into the tri-border area.
• Proximity to NVA Infiltration Routes: The area was a key infiltration route for the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) moving troops and supplies from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam.

• Operational Base: Kontum housed a major operational base for U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets), particularly the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne). The base supported numerous outposts and launch sites for operations throughout the Central Highlands.
• Command and Control Facility: The base included sophisticated command and control facilities to coordinate operations across the region, including surveillance, reconnaissance, and direct action missions.

• Surveillance and Reconnaissance: U.S. Special Forces conducted extensive surveillance and reconnaissance missions to monitor NVA movements and activities. This included the use of long-range reconnaissance patrols (LRRPs) and indigenous Montagnard units trained by the Green Berets.
• Cross-Border Operations: Kontum served as a launching point for cross-border operations into Laos and Cambodia. These operations aimed to disrupt the Ho Chi Minh Trail and other NVA logistical networks.
• Support to Montagnard Forces: The U.S. Special Forces in Kontum worked closely with the Montagnard tribesmen, providing training, equipment, and support. The Montagnards were crucial allies in the fight against the NVA and Viet Cong due to their local knowledge and combat skills.
• Civilian Irregular Defense Groups (CIDG): Kontum was a center for the CIDG program, which involved recruiting, training, and leading irregular forces composed mainly of Montagnards to conduct counterinsurgency operations.

• Communications: The command and control facilities at Kontum were equipped with advanced communication systems to coordinate with various Special Forces detachments and higher command structures.
• Air Support: Kontum had access to significant air support, including helicopters for insertion and extraction of teams, close air support missions, and resupply operations. This was crucial for the mobility and effectiveness of Special Forces operations in the difficult terrain of the Central Highlands.

• Enemy Attacks: Due to its strategic importance, Kontum was frequently targeted by NVA and VC forces. This included attacks on the base itself and on the outlying Special Forces camps and outposts.
• Battle of Kontum (1972): While primarily known for the 1968 Tet Offensive engagements, Kontum also saw significant action in 1972 during the North Vietnamese Easter Offensive. The city and its surrounding areas were the site of intense battles as ARVN forces, supported by U.S. airpower, defended against a major NVA assault.

Kontum's role as a command and control center for U.S. Special Forces was a key aspect of the broader American military strategy in Vietnam. The efforts to interdict enemy supply lines, gather intelligence, and support local allied forces were integral to the U.S. mission in the Central Highlands. The work of the Special Forces in Kontum, particularly their collaboration with the Montagnard people, remains a significant chapter in the history of the Vietnam War.

30th of January 1968 – First Night of the Tet Offensive

Whether by accident or design, the first wave of attacks began shortly after midnight on 30 January as all five provincial capitals in II Corps and Da Nang, in I Corps, were attacked.

Nha Trang, headquarters of the U.S. I Field Force (FFI), was the first to be hit, followed shortly by Ban Mê Thuột, Kon Tum, Hội An, Tuy Hòa, Da Nang, Qui Nhơn, and Pleiku.

During all of these operations, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese followed a similar pattern: mortar or rocket attacks were closely followed by massed ground assaults conducted by battalion-strength elements of the Viet Cong, sometimes supported by North Vietnamese regulars.

These forces would join with local cadres who served as guides to lead the regulars to the most senior South Vietnamese headquarters and the radio station.

The operations, however, were not well coordinated at the local level.

By daylight, almost all communist forces had been driven from their objectives.

General Phillip B. Davidson, the new MACV chief of intelligence, notified Westmoreland that "This is going to happen in the rest of the country tonight and tomorrow morning."

All U.S. forces were placed on maximum alert and similar orders were issued to all ARVN units. The allies, however, still responded without any real sense of urgency. Orders cancelling leaves either came too late or were disregarded.

NLF - National Liberation Front

The Việt Cộng, also known as the NationalLiberation Front (NLF), was a communist political organization with its ownarmy – the People's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam (PLAF) – in SouthVietnam and Cambodia that fought the United States and South Vietnamesegovernments, eventually emerging on the winning side

It had both guerrilla and regular army units,as well as a network of cadres who organized peasants in the territory itcontrolled. Many soldiers were recruited in South Vietnam, but others wereattached to the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), the regular North Vietnamesearmy.

During the war, communists and anti-waractivists insisted the Việt Cộng was an insurgency indigenous to the South,while the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments portrayed the group as a toolof Hanoi. Although the terminology distinguishes northerners from thesoutherners, communist forces were under a single command structure set up in1958.

North Vietnam established the NationalLiberation Front on December 20, 1960, to grow insurgency in the South. Many ofthe Việt Cộng's core members were volunteer "regroupees", southern ViệtMinh who had resettled in the North after the Geneva Accord (1954).

Hanoi gave the regroupees military training andsent them back to the South along the Ho Chi Minh trail in the early 1960s.

The NLF called for southern Vietnamese to"overthrow the camouflaged colonial regime of the Americanimperialists" and to make "efforts toward the peacefulunification".

The People's Liberation Armed Forces of SouthVietnam (PLAF)'s best-known action was the Tet Offensive, a massive assault onmore than 100 South Vietnamese urban centers in 1968, including an attack onthe U.S. embassy in Saigon.

The offensive riveted the attention of theworld's media for weeks, but also overextended the Việt Cộng. Later communistoffensives were conducted predominantly by the North Vietnamese. Theorganization was dissolved in 1976 when North and South Vietnam were officiallyunified under a communist government.

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