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SOG
The Studies and Observations Group was a U.S. task force formed on 24th January 1964 to conduct covert operations in Cambodia, Laos and North Vietnam and to advise its Vietnamese counterpart organization, the Special Exploitation Service (SES). Its American personnel were mostly drawn from Army Special Forces, but also included Air Force Commandos, Marine Force Recon and Navy SEALs. Though technically part of MACV, SOG answered to the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon via the Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and Special Activities (SACSA).
SOG was divided into five principle operational divisions:
OP-31: Maritime Studies Division
The Naval Advisory Detachment (NAD) based at Da Nang trained South Vietnam’s Coastal Survey Service to interdict North Vietnamese craft, gather intelligence and attack coastal targets.
OP-32: Air Studies Division
From its base at Nha Trang the SOG air force operated a variety of unmarked fixed and rotary wing aircraft that were used to transport personnel and supplies.
OP-33: Psychological Studies Division
SOG’s psychological division attempted to encourage and exploit discontent amongst the North Vietnamese population. In addition to producing propaganda materials, SOG / SES endeavoured to convince Hanoi that a resistance movement existed within its borders by creating the Sacred Sword of the Patriot League. From their base on Paradise Island, which purported to be in the North’s waters but was actually off the coast of Da Nang, SES personnel indoctrinated captured North Vietnamese fisherman in the precepts of the SSPL before sending them home to spread the word. An SSPL radio station was also set-up to further enhance the movement’s credibility.
OP-34: Airborne Studies Division
Based at Long Thanh, OP-34 supervised the training of Vietnamese agents before inserting them into North Vietnam to conduct intelligence and sabotage activities.
OP-35: Ground Studies Group
The largest and most successful branch of SOG, the Ground Studies Branch managed the cross-border reconnaissance teams that operated along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos and Cambodia. Each recon team typically consisted of three American NCOs and eight indigenous personnel, all of whom wore and carried unmarked clothing and equipment, in order to maintain plausible deniability. Though their primary task was to identify targets and call in air strikes, they also captured prisoners, conducted bomb damage assessments, planted Igloo White sensors and placed booby-trapped Communist ammunition on the trail.
Reconnaissance missions were launched from three regional forward operating bases:
Command and Control Central – Located at Kontum in the Central Highlands; CCC based teams operated in the tri-border region of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam
Command and Control North – Located at Da Nang, CCN teams conducted operations in North Vietnam and Laos
Command and Control South – Located at Ban Me Thout, CCS recon teams focused on southern Vietnam and Cambodia
Officially deactivated on 30th April 1972, SOG was immediately replaced by a small advisory group to South Vietnam’s Strategic Technical Directorate, which had superseded SES in 1967. STDAT-158 (Strategic Technical Directorate Advisory Team 158) was itself disbanded on 12th March 1973.
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