Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Military Assistance Command, Vietnam | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Active | 1962-1973 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | Joint Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Tan Son Nhut Air Base |
| Battles/wars | Vietnam War |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
William C. Westmoreland Creighton Abrams Frederick C. Weyand |
The U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, or MACV (phonetically mack vee), was the United States unified command structure for all its military forces in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
Because of a multiplicity of headquarters units at its location of Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon, MACV was sometimes facetiously referred to as Pentagon East.
MACV was created on February 8, 1962 in response to a substantial increase in U.S. military assistance to South Vietnam. MACV was first implemented to assist the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) Vietnam, which controlled all advisory and assistance efforts in Vietnam, but was reorganized on May 15, 1964 and absorbed MAAG Vietnam into its command structure when the deployment of U.S. combat units became too large for an advisory element to control. The first commanding general of MACV, General Paul D. Harkins, was also the commander of MAAG Vietnam, and after reorganization was succeeded by General William C. Westmoreland in June, 1964, followed by General Creighton Abrams (July 1968) and General Frederick C. Weyand (June 1972). MACV was disbanded on March 29, 1973.
Major component commands of MACV were:
- United States Army Vietnam (USARV)
- Naval Forces Vietnam (NAVFORV)
- Seventh Air Force (7AF)
- III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF)
- I Field Force, Vietnam (I FFV)
- II Field Force, Vietnam (II FFV)
- XXIV Corps
- 5th Special Forces Group
[edit] See also
- John Paul Vann, US Army Lieutenant Colonel and adviser in Viet Nam who became a critic of MACV
- Military Assistance Advisory Group
[edit] References
- Stanton, Shelby, Vietnam Order of Battle, ISBN 0-89193-700-5
