Personnel and equipment
 | This article needs to be updated.(April 2018) |
As of October 2012, the unit had 113 boats, ranging from rubber combat raiding craft to 53-foot command boats. It also had 2,657 active and 2,507 reserve personnel. [4]
The Coastal Riverine Force (CORIVFOR) is a unit of the United States Navy within the organizational structure of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC). The unit was established following the merger of Riverine Group 1 and the Maritime Expeditionary Security Group 1 & 2 (MESG-1 / MESG 2) on June 1, 2012. Its express purpose is to provide port and harbor security, and offshore protection for maritime infrastructure and Military Sealift Command ships operating in coastal waterways. [1]
The US Navy disbanded the Coastal Riverine Force in 2020 keeping Maritime Expeditionary Security Forces but dropping the riverine forces. [2]
Patrol Boat teams can trace their history back to World War II. Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three rescued General Douglas MacArthur (and later the Filipino president Manuel L. Quezon) from the Philippines after the Japanese invasion and then participated in guerilla actions until American resistance ended with the fall of Corregidor. PT boats subsequently participated in most of the campaigns in the Southwest Pacific by conducting and supporting joint/combined reconnaissance, blockade, sabotage, and raiding missions as well as attacking Japanese shore facilities, shipping, and combatants. PT boats were used in the European Theater beginning in April 1944 to support the Office of Strategic Services in the insertion of espionage and French Resistance personnel and for amphibious landing deception.
The development of a robust riverine warfare capability during the Vietnam War produced the forerunner of the modern special warfare combatant-craft crewman. In 1966 River Patrol Force (Task Force 116) operated River Patrol Boats (PBR) conducting counterinsurgency operations in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. A SEAL Platoon was assigned to each of the five River Squadrons inserted and extracted from their patrol area by PBRs. Game Warden forces lost 200 Sailors in the boats from its inception to its discontinuation, however Task Force 116's kill ratio (approximately 40 enemy KIA to every 1 American KIA) was one of the highest of U.S. forces during the Vietnam War. In total, two sailors of Task Force 116 were awarded the Medal of Honor: Petty Officer First Class James Williams and Seaman David George Ouettet. Nevertheless, the VC did not cease operations in the Mekong Delta but instead began focusing on disrupting traffic on the rivers and ultimately redirected their sampans and other watercraft to smaller rivers and canals to avoid combat with the more powerful PBRs.
| This article needs to be updated.(April 2018) |
As of October 2012, the unit had 113 boats, ranging from rubber combat raiding craft to 53-foot command boats. It also had 2,657 active and 2,507 reserve personnel. [4]
The United States Naval Special Warfare Command (USNSWC), also known as NAVSPECWARCOM and WARCOM, is the naval component of United States Special Operations Command, the unified command that oversees and conducts the nation's special operations and missions.
In the Vietnam War, the Mobile Riverine Force (MRF) (after May 1967), initially designated Mekong Delta Mobile Afloat Force, and later the Riverines, were a joint US Army and US Navy force that comprised a substantial part of the brown-water navy. It was modeled after lessons learned by the French experience in the First Indochina War of Dinassaut and had the task of both transport (of soldiers and equipment) and combat. The primary land base was at Đồng Tâm Base Camp, with a floating base which operated in the major rivers of the Mekong Delta. Soldiers and sailors went out in river boats from the floating base to assault the Viet Cong. During part of the 1968-69 period, there were two such mobile bases operating in different parts of the Delta, Mobile Riverine Groups Alpha and Bravo. The MRF played a key role in the Tet Offensive.
Operation Sealords was a military operation that took place during the Vietnam War.
The Patrol Craft Fast (PCF), also known as Swift Boat, were all-aluminum, 50-foot (15 m) long, shallow-draft vessels operated by the United States Navy, initially to patrol the coastal areas and later for work in the interior waterways as part of the brown-water navy to interdict Vietcong movement of arms and munitions, transport South Vietnamese forces and insert SEAL teams for counterinsurgency (COIN) operations during the Vietnam War.
A brown-water navy or riverine navy, in the broadest sense, is a naval force capable of military operations in littoral zone waters. The term originated in the United States Navy during the American Civil War, when it referred to Union forces patrolling the muddy Mississippi River, and has since been used to describe the small gunboats and patrol boats commonly used in rivers, along with the larger "mother ships" that supported them. These mother ships include converted World War II-era mechanized landing craft and tank landing ships, among other vessels.
James Elliott Williams was an American law enforcement officer and honorary United States Navy chief boatswain's mate who was awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. Boatswain's Mate First Class Williams was one of 32 Native Americans to receive the medal and is considered to be the most decorated enlisted man in the history of the United States Navy. Williams completed his career as the United States Marshal for South Carolina.
USS Ford (FFG-54) was a Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate in service with the United States Navy from 1985 to 2013. She was sunk as a target in the Pacific Ocean near Guam in 2019.
The Republic of Vietnam Navy (RVNN; Vietnamese: Hải quân Việt Nam Cộng hòa - HQVNCH; was the naval branch of the South Vietnamese military, the official armed forces of the former Republic of Vietnam from 1955 to 1975. The early fleet consisted of boats from France; after 1955, and the transfer of the armed forces to Vietnamese control, the fleet was supplied from the United States. With American assistance, in 1972 the VNN became the largest Southeast Asian navy and, by some estimates, the fourth largest navy in the world, just behind the Soviet Union, the United States and the People's Republic of China, with 42,000 personnel, 672 amphibious ships and craft, 20 mine warfare vessels, 450 patrol craft, 56 service craft, and 242 junks. Other sources state that VNN was the ninth largest navy in the world. The Republic of Vietnam Navy was responsible for the protection of the country's national waters, islands, and interests of its maritime economy, as well as for the co-ordination of maritime police, customs service and the maritime border defence force.
The EXW qualification is a warfare qualification awarded to enlisted United States Navy personnel assigned to U.S. Navy expeditionary combat units, who satisfactorily complete the required qualification course and pass a qualification board hearing. The program was approved July 31, 2006 by then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Mullen.
The Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) is an echelon III command of the United States Navy, which serves as the single functional command to centrally manage current and future readiness, resources, manning, training and equipping of the United States Navy's 21,000 expeditionary forces who are currently serving in every theater of operation. The NECC was established in January 2006. NECC is a subordinate command of the Navy's Fleet Forces Command.
Operation Game Warden was a joint operation conducted by the United States Navy and South Vietnamese Navy in order to deny Viet Cong access to resources in the Mekong River Delta. Game Warden and its counterpart Operation Market Time are considered to be two of the most successful U.S. Naval actions during the Vietnam War.
USS Hunterdon County (LST-838) was an LST-542-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II, and later reconfigured and recommissioned for riverine warfare during the Vietnam War. Named after Hunterdon County, New Jersey, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.
The Special Warfare Combat Crewmen (SWCC ) are United States Naval Special Warfare Command personnel who operate and maintain small craft for special operations missions, particularly those of U.S. Navy SEALs. Their rating is Special Warfare Boat Operator (SB).
The Maritime Expeditionary Security Force (MESF) is a force within the United States Navy under the organizational structure of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command. The MESF originated from the Naval Coastal Warfare community which transitioned to the MESF in the early 2000s. The MESF's primary mission is force protection with deployed operations occurring around the world. Anti-terrorism and force protection missions include harbor and maritime infrastructure defense, coastal surveillance, and special missions. Specialized units work together with MESF squadron staffs providing intelligence and communications. MESF units deploy worldwide to detect, deter, and defend an area or unit. Recent locations include the United States, Panama, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Egypt.
The small unit riverine craft (SURC) is a rigid-hull, armed and armored patrol boat used by the U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy to maintain control of rivers and inland waterways. They are similar in size and purpose to the much older Patrol Boat, River vessels used during the Vietnam War.
The Riverine Squadrons of the United States Navy are elements of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC). According to the Navy: “The Navy’s Riverine force focuses on conducting Maritime Security Operations and Theater Security Cooperation in a riverine area of operations or other suitable area. The force is capable of combating enemy riverine forces by direct fire, or by coordinating supporting fire. It will share battle space with the other Services in an effort to close the seams in Doctrine, Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures, and Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance.”
Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron EIGHT FIVE (HSC-85) was a United States Navy Reserve forces helicopter squadron (RESFORON) based out of Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California. The "FIREHAWKS" of HSC-85 are Reserve and Active Component Sailors who operate and maintain Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk helicopters.
The Khmer National Navy was the naval component of the Khmer National Armed Forces (FANK), the official military of the Khmer Republic during the Cambodian Civil War between 1970 and 1975.
Sa Đéc Base is a former U.S. Navy and Republic of Vietnam Navy (RVNN) base near Sa Đéc in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam.
Lieutenant Commander Arthur James Elliot II was an American naval officer killed during the Vietnam War. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the Gorham State Teachers College in Gorham, Maine, in 1955. In June 1956, he entered the Navy Officer Candidate School and was commissioned an ensign in the Naval Reserve in October of that year. He then served successive sea duty tours on USS Lyman K. Swenson (DD-729) for two years, and was promoted to lieutenant. His next tour was on USS Little Rock (CLG-4). In 1962, Elliot was assigned as aide and flag lieutenant to commander, naval surface forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Upon completion of this tour, he reported for duty as operations officer aboard USS John King(DDG-3). He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Albert B. Elliot of Thomaston, Maine.
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