Project GAMMA

Project GAMMA
    
Unofficial "War Patch" of Det B57 "Project GAMMA" 5th SFGA RVN 1968–70 & US Army Special Forces SSI c. 1970
Active 1968–1970
Country United States of America
Branch United States Army
Type Covert Operations
Role Intelligence
Size Detachment, 6 US, 460 Indigenous personnel
Engagements Vietnam War (Cambodia)

Project GAMMA was the name given in 1968 to Detachment B-57, Company E (Special Operations), 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, U.S. Army in Vietnam from 1967 to 1970. It was responsible for covert intelligence collection operations in Cambodia.

History

Detachment B-57 arrived in Vietnam in June 1967. On 26 February 1968 it was moved from Saigon to Nha Trang and it received the designation Project GAMMA on 1 April 1968, in conjunction with other special forces units such as Project DELTA (Detachment B-52) and Project SIGMA (Detachment B-56), both responsible for Special Recon.[1] Members of the detachment operated from nine sites under the cover of civil affairs and psychological operations offices.[2]

Project Gamma was responsible for obtaining intelligence on Cambodian support for the activities of both regular and irregular units of the Vietnam People's Army, as well as irregular camps in Cambodia. The top intelligence officer on General Abrams' staff stated in October 1968 that Project GAMMA was providing 65 percent of the known data on NVA base camps and strengths in Cambodia, as well as 75 percent of the same data on South Vietnam.[3] According to historian Shelby Stanton, by early 1969 Detachment B-57 "had developed into the finest and most productive intelligence-collection operation the United States had in Southeast Asia". Stanton attributes this success to the South Vietnamese authorities not being aware of operations conducted by the detachment's indigenous agents.[2]

One source claims GAMMA was responsible for intelligence operation against Prince Norodom Sihanouk.[4]

Capture, interrogation, and killing of Chu Van Thai Khac

In early 1969 some of Detachment B-57's sources of information started to disappear. This led the detachment's leadership to conclude that its intelligence agents had been compromised.[2] In the spring of 1969, a MACV-SOG reconnaissance team operating in Cambodia captured photos showing Chu Van Thai Khac (AKA Thai Khac Chuyen[5]), a South Vietnamese GAMMA agent, meeting with North Vietnamese intelligence officers. Chuyen was subsequently arrested and interrogated for ten days, with polygraph tests indicating that he had compromised security arrangements and was working with the Viet Cong. Various ways of dealing with Chuyen were discussed within Detachment B-57, including possibly killing him. While the 5th Special Forces Group's executive officer strongly opposed killing Chuyen, the detachment's commander and operations officer met with the CIA headquarters in Saigon who suggested that "elimination ... might be the best course of action".[6]

On 20 June 1969, three officers assigned to Project GAMMA drugged Chuyen, took him out on a boat into Nha Trang Bay, shot him twice in the head and dumped his body into the South China Sea. A cover story claiming that Chuyen had been sent on a one-way mission as a test of his loyalty was later approved by the 5th Special Forces Group's commander, Colonel Robert B. Rheault.[7]

Later, Sergeant Alvin Smith, Chuyen's former handler, became concerned for his safety and sought sanctuary with the CIA in Nha Trang, where he revealed that Chuyen had been killed. General Abrams heard of the matter and ordered the arrest of Smith and seven involved officers, including Colonel Rheault.[8] The case went to trial and was covered extensively by the media, becoming known as the Green Beret Affair[9] and led to popular knowledge of the term "terminate with extreme prejudice" as a euphemism for "execute".[10] The Army defense lawyers for the eight soldiers called General Abrams and CIA officials to the witness stand. Both declined to get involved in the proceedings and testify. Finally in September 1969, Secretary of the Army Stanley Resor announced to all that all charges would be dropped against the eight soldiers since the CIA, in the interests of national security, had refused to make its personnel available as witnesses, therefore making any manner of a fair trial impossible.[3]

Project GAMMA was deactivated on 31 March 1970.

An official Army history of the Green Berets, published after the Vietnam War,[11] does not mention Project GAMMA or Detachment B-57. Although the Pentagon has declassified much material about Green Beret crossborder operations inside Laos and Cambodia, as of 2007 nothing on Project Gamma has been made available.[3]

Organization

Project Gamma used members of the Khmer Serei and the Khmer Kampuchean Krom in its activities inside Cambodia.

It consisted of five collection teams supervising 13 nets with 98 indigenous agents.[3]

A listing of the personnel assigned to Detachment B57 "GAMMA" is available from Radix Press Houston, Texas.[12]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Stanton, Shelby L. (2003). Vietnam Order of Battle. Stackpole Books. pp. 244–245. ISBN 0-8117-0071-2. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 Stanton (1988), p. 196
  3. 1 2 3 4 Seals, Bob (2007) The "Green Beret Affair": A Brief Introduction, militaryhistoryonline.com http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/20thCentury/articles/greenberets.aspx
  4. ↑ Hersh, Seymour M.,The Price of Power, Kissinger in the Nixon White House, Summit Books, 1983, paper, Cambodia: The Coup p175; ISBN 0-671-44760-2
  5. ↑ The Green Beret Affair: A Factual Review by Terry McIntosh|http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/vietnam/articles/thegreenberetaffair.aspx
  6. ↑ Stanton (1988), p. 197
  7. ↑ Stanton (1988), pp. 197–198
  8. ↑ Stanton (1988), p. 198
  9. ↑ Smith, Terence (15 August 1969). "Questions in Green Beret Affair". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ Smith, Terence (14 August 1969). "Details of Green Beret Case Are Reported in Saigon". The New York Times. ...suggested that he either be isolated or 'terminated with extreme prejudice.' This term is said to be an intelligence euphemism for execution.
  11. ↑ Kelly, Francis John (1989) [1973]. U.S. Army Special Forces 1961–1971. Vietnam Studies. Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History. CMH Pub 90-23.
  12. ↑ Sherman, Stephen; WORK-IN-PROGRESS, Who's Who from Detachment B-57 (Project GAMMA), Radix Press 2006. See reference below.

References

  • Hersh, Seymour M. (1983). The Price of Power, Kissinger in the Nixon White House. Summit Books. ISBN 0-671-44760-2.
  • "The "Green Beret Affair": A Brief Introduction". Seals, Bob. militaryhistoryonline.co 2007.
  • "WORK-IN-PROGRESS, Who's Who from Detachment B-57(Project GAMMA)". Sherman, Stephen. Radix Press 2006.
  • Berry, John Stevens (1984). Those Gallant Men: On Trial in Vietnam. Presidio Press. pp. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stevens_Berry. ISBN 0891411860.
  • Stanton, Shelby L. (1985). Green Berets at War. U.S. Army Special Forces in Southeast Asia, 1956–1975. Ballantine. ISBN 0-8041-1884-1.
  • Stein, Jeff (1993). A Murder in Wartime: The Untold Spy Story that Changed the Course of the Vietnam War. ISBN 978-0312929190.

Periodical References to the Green Beret Affair

  • Rowan, Carl T. (10 October 1969). "Russian Propaganda Mills Run Wild on Green Berets". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  • Hoffman, Fred S. (20 September 1969). "Green Beret Trouble Sets Off Bitter Trouble". Eugene Register-Guard. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  • "Beret Case is Dizzy Mess". Spokane Daily Chronicle. 18 August 1969. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  • "Army Names Trigger Man in Green Beret Slaying". The Evening Independent. 27 September 1969. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  • "Green Berets Free of Murder Charge". Rome News-Tribune. 30 September 1969. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  • Kraft, Joseph. "Green Beret Case Indicates Willingness to Hide Truth". Toledo Blade. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  • Baker, Russel. "Green Berets of Mafia: A Question of Style". Pittsburg Post-Gazette. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  • "Green Berets on Trial". TIME. 22 August 1969. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  • Kaiser, Robert G. (19 August 1969). "Brother of Victim Breaks Army Secrecy on Berets, Tell as to Saigon Press". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  • "Green Beret Denied Release". The Evening Independent. 15 August 1969. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  • Anderson, Jack (19 August 1969). "Green Berets Usually Left Executions to Vietnamese". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  • "8 Green Beret Soldiers Held, Charged in Killing". Toledo Blade. 6 August 1969. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  • "Green Beret Inquiry to Reopen Soon". The Age. 18 Aug 1969. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  • "Seven Green Berets Get 'Routine' Post in US". St. Petersburg Times. 7 October 1969. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  • "Army to reveal details of case against berets". Eugene Register-Guard. 26 September 1969. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  • "Famed Attorney to Aid Defense of Green Berets". Pittsburg Post-Gazette. 20 September 1969. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  • "7 Green Berets Leave for Home". The Spokesman-Review. 1 October 1969. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  • "Green Berets Freed". The Age. 19 August 1969. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  • "Who Killed Thai Khac Chuyen? Not I, Said the CIA". TIME. 5 September 1969. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
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