European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 18, 1967, Darmstadt, Hesse                              Them Tough skilled  a enemy estimate is the same As last year but twice As High As the previous year which was twice As High As 1he year before that. Iii july this year half As Many gov Erm tent troops were killed As in july 196 i the number of enemy killed Ahmed also. The truth in the Delta seems to be that a status quo exists with the Saigon government hanging on to the province and i District capitals and the immediate environs and with the Viet Cong holding out tin their lairs. Tie canals and roads Are contest Don occasion but generally the Viet Cong leave them open and collect tribute for their use. As has been shown in the res i of Vietnam Only the infusion of american troops is Likely to upset the Stalus quo. This has happened in Gradith province which surrounds Saigon in x no an province to the South Andin Tau Nghia province to the West. By relentless operations Day an night american troops have managed to break Down the enemy battalions int Small groups. They have them on the run and search for them continuously. The vietnamese army has failed to achieve this result anywhere in the country. They do sometimes have major Battles with the enemy killing Many and capturing sizable caches of weapons. Some of the elite vietnamese Marin and airborne units compare with Amer ican battalions. But the sustained Effort that bring results has not been forthcoming from the vietnamese and does not look Likely in the months ahead. For example . Authorities Are talking about the need for two divisions of . Troops to help pacify the Delta. The performance of vietnamese regular battalions has hardly varied Over the years. The 20 highly trained Ranger battalions still perform spot tily. Only five of them killed More than 100 Vietcong last year the highest with 255 kills. . Officers believe that if prop Erly utilized a Ranger battalion should kill 600 to 900 enemy per year. How can the vietnamese be persuade to utilize their units better Many americans argue for a joint command with an american at the top. Short of that they would like a Strong voice in the selection of commanding officers. An outspoken vietnamese province Clef commented the one big mistake the United states made when it sen combat troops into Vietnam was not to demand the right to relieve and appoint vietnamese officers. You Are paying for it  civilian and military commanders inthe Field resort to various techniques of leverage. A senior american in the Delta entices his three Star general counterpart into taking Field trips with him casually Dis cussing area problems within his ear shot. This technique apparently satisfies the general s ego to the degree that he sometimes comes around to his Ameri can adviser the next Day with a solution. An american corps commander presents his vietnamese counterpart with a list of five problems no Moreno less each Friday. By resubmitting this vietnamese Soldier has been fighting for 20 years. Vietnamese patrol crosses Stream in search for Viet Cong. The same problems he Hopes that eventually he will get something done. This sort of advisory merry go round has proved completely ineffective in the past in Vietnam. There Are no Guaran tees that it will succeed in the future. The vietnamese seem no More amen Able to american advice now than they have been in the past. But the problems far More than just one of listening and then doing even though that would be a major step in the right direction most americans agree. The logistics problems in the vietnamese army remain almost insoluble. The army is organized on american lines except for the logistics one . Officer explained. Under the crazy French system they use if an armoured vehicle has its tires blown off in the Foothills the Driver has to take the tires to Saigon so he can get new ones. There is equipment lying All Over this country that could be repaired easily if the red tape was  commanders Are military dilettantes when it comes to running an operation. A division commander generally will deploy and control his battalions him self unwilling to Trust them to his Chadnof command. If he goes off for lunch or to a political conference the operation will collapse because no one else dares give orders. There Are no Long Range patrols made in the vietnamese army even though these patrols have proven very effective in every american unit in the country. We could never get any volunteers to go out in enemy territory in groups of four or five men like the american do a regimental adviser said. Political loyalty still dominates in the appointment of officers. There Are majors in Saigon More powerful than generals in the Field one . Adviser commented. Leadership remains one of the great weaknesses. There is corruption at All Levels. Province chief holding the rank of colonel commented of course therein corruption. My salary is 17,000 plasters about $150 each  that i have to feed clothe and educate my family support myself and pay for your breakfast and All the other breakfasts and dinners that i As prov Ince chief have to give. Can i be anything else but corrupt when the americans pay 20,000 plasters salary each month to just an inter Preter vietnamese troops particularly the Low Grade regional and popular forces personnel Are poorly  a regimental commander my men live like pigs in shacks in  can they be motivated with so Little a vietnamese division commander complained american troops have helicopters much artillery Many air Craft. Give us All these things and Letus try. If we cannot do the Job then you can take  soldiers conduct them selves As their armies have for decade sin much of the country stealing and looting in the  regimental commander remarked "1 will not condone my soldiers stealing chickens but 1 accept it. Our logistics system is so bad what else will thereat Al Here Auk elaborate plans afoot for the improvement of the vietnamese military including the addition of  new troops most of them  is talk of breaking Down some divisions into Mobile groups similar to those used by the French. Elaborate new training programs Are being devised with a four year curriculum instead of a two year course at the military Academy in Dalat. Next year Vietnam will begin its ver Sion of a National defense College patterned after the . War College. American units Are beginning to work with vietnamese battalions. But at no time have the vietnamese Bee prepared to relinquish even a fraction of command. And the benefits of having americans near at hand can Boomerang. An adviser with one of the Vietnam Ese Ranger battalions working with the . 199th brigade commented this integration has ruined any Chance there was that my battalion would eve operate independently. Now they depend completely on the ."they know what americans will do for them. All i do now is Settle dispute Between them and the  rach Kien a District town in Longan province South of Saigon was Paci fied by successive battalions of Ameri can troops who operated Day and night to the Paddy Fields and the swamps of the District. A vietnamese battalion from the 25thdivision, worked with the americans and according to senior americans caught fire with  in Early August american command ers judged the time was almost Ripe for the vietnamese battalion to takeover Security of the area itself. The . Unit would move  the last minute the vietnamese division commander pulled his battalion Back to Home base for Security guard with no  american battalion was left in rach Kien to continue the Tough end less task of seeking the guerrillas in the Paddy Fields and in the Leech infested swamps. Fember 10, 1967 stars and Page 13