Area of Operations

The forward observer of Charlie Company, 4th Bn 12th Inf, 199th Light Infantry Brigade, 1LT Joseph T.
Turner leads the way through rocky ground in the jungles 30 miles northeast of Xuan Loc. The Charlie company "Warriors" were on a sweep operation of the area, which contained many enemy bunkers. April 70 photo by SP4 R. Seitz, 199th Inf Bde PIO.

Brigade AO for much of 1967 - 1968.

From their service in Vietnam and Cambodia, names and places such as Long Binh, Ho Nai, PhuTho Racetrack, Saigon, BinhDinh, Can Giouc, Cholon, Tay Ninh, Xuan Loc, Dinh Quan, Cam Tam and countless others would be forged into the Brigade’s proud and valorous combat history.

Private First Class Kenneth Wright (left) of Commerce, Missouri and Sergeant Charles Eastman (right) of Medfor, Mass. stand back while smoke is popped as soldiers of Delta Co, 4th Bn, 12th Inf, 199th Inf Bde await arrival of a resupply chopper 21 miles northeast of Xuan Loc. February 70 phot by SP4 Dave Hauser,

199th Inf Bde PIO.

Helicopters are used to drop men at My Tien Village in a Search and Gordon Operation which will determine if enemy supply base is located in area. Men of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade, ARVN Rangers, National Police and members of Special Forces were used in this Operation. 15 October 1968. Photo by 1st Lt. Michael A. Sheets

221st Signal Company, (Pictorial)

As a result of the Brigade’s Area of Operations, countless firebases were constructed and manned throughout the III CTZ by the different maneuver battalions. The one pictured below is FSB Libby in Long Khanh Province, the Battalion CP for the 5th Battalion, 12th Infantry for most of 1969.

FSB Nancy in upper Long Khanh Province near the village of Dinh Quan, 1970.

View of FSB Myron, below, several klicks inside Cambodia near Hill 428, June 1970. FSB Myron was described as being a “scab in the middle of the jungle.”

FSB Mace (below) taking enemy incoming fire, January 1970.

Charged with aggressively patrolling and protecting the various approaches and infiltration routes into the Saigon/Bien Hoa/Tan SanhNhout area, the 199th’s area of operations for much of 1966-1968 consisted of some of the worst and harshest terrain in Vietnam.

The Redcatchers patrolled endless miles of rice paddies, swamps, nipa palm groves, triple canopy jungles, and rivers.Although enemy contacts with the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese were numerous, booby traps and mines were always a constant threat while in the area.

B/3-7 infantry at Can Giouc, 1969.

From early 1969 until redeployment back to Ft. Benning in October of 1970, the 199th changed its Area of Operations further north into Long Khanh province.

The forward HQ would be at Xuan Loc and FSB Blackhorse.In this new AO, the terrain would change greatly, from rice paddies and nipa palm groves to triple canopy jungles and mountains. The area was also largely rural and remote.

The granite boulders at Dinh Quan, upper Long Khanh Province near FSB Nancy, December 1969.