The U.S. Naval Advisory Effort in Vietnam: An Inside Perspective

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An advisor to the South Vietnamese Navy Mobile Riverine Forces in 1970-1971, U.S. Navy Commander Richard Kirtley was tasked with helping implement Nixon’s policy of Vietnamization -the rapid drawdown of U.S. troops to bring an abortive end to the Vietnam War.

The program called for the turnover of arms and equipment to South Vietnamese forces, while U.S. personnel trained their counterparts to continue fighting the war alone. The U.S. Navy’s supporting effort, Accelerated Turnover to the Vietnamese (ACTOV), emphasized Accelerated. Kirtley’s account gives an up-close look at the futility and frustration of the advisory effort during the withdrawal, the implementation of both programs-doomed to failure yet hyped to cover a lost-cause retreat-and their disastrous outcomes.