VIETNAM ORIENTATION SEMINAR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-03088A000100010028-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 27, 2001
• Sequence Number: 28
• Publication Date: March 16, 1966
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2001/07/12 : CIA-RDP78-03088A000100010028-2
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SUB?IBCT: Vietnam Orientation Seminsr ?
4 =
1, ?Tbe Branch has had a coati= ?interest in
nam Orientation Seminar, and has queried isoet of its
arrivals as to the contents and value Of the eeninar.
rather strongly, with the Beadquartere feeling:thst
is 1"11 worthwhile cornerstofte" in the effort to indoctr
periennel being assigned to this Station. Per requeet ln
once, vs have reviewed the contents and preeentation as outlined
in the attachment to reference, and have only minor recommenaations
to make ooncerning the Seminar.
2, A principal recommendation concerns the problen which,
for lack of a. better term, has been called "culture shook".
A significant percentage of new officers at the Statien have
never before served in any of the se.called "underdeveloped"
countries of the world, and are quite unprepared to cope with
eleotrical power breakdowns, spending half a day or more trying
to make oem urgent ts1,00IMise call or coping with native servant
probleme. Xes arrivals frequently have exaggerated ?tears of the
health hamar*, here and at the same time sometimes have exagger-
ated ideas of the iffluent living" in Saigon, making then quite
ill.prepared for the often primitive and rigorous living and
operating conditions in many of the PrOvinces, These problems
and frustrations sometimes accumulate? in a yak that generates
and focuses resentment against the Vietnamese, mhich can seriously
reduce an officer's effectiveness. in -the Station, Wro attempts
to "inoculate" mew arrivals regarding this problem, utilising
chiefly an excellent PSI paper on the subject, and also pertinent
portions Of the MAXID Study, "The American Military Advisor And -
his Foreign Counterpart: The Case of Vietnam" Headquarter,
might desire to incorporate somathing *long si;ilar lines in
the Orientation Seminar.
S. Field Officers who have attended the seminar unanimously
endorse it. The principal criticism and recommendation that
they have to make concerns reading material. /lamely, there is
a great variety of material available and recommended in the
Orientation Seminar, but it is not available in enough conies
Approved For Release 2001/07/12 : CIA-RDP78-03088A000100010028-2
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Approved Foc Rekkase 2001/07/12 : CIA-RDP78-03088A000100010028-2
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Approved For Release 2001/07/12 : CIA-RDP78-03088A000100010028-2