REPORT ON VIETNAM AREA COURSE #4-69

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-03088A000100080015-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 8, 2001
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: February 6, 1969
• Content Type: MEMO

flIP-?
Approved For Release 2001/08/30-: CIA-RDP78-03088A000100080015-9
6 February 1969
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Training
FROM CTR/IS/OBF
SUBJECT . Report on Vietnam Area Course A-69
1. Basic Data
The first full calendar year of the operation of the
Vietnam Area Course ended 2-6 December with the running of V.A.C.
,'-69, the 8th in the series. This session, run at Headquarters,
was completed by 39 persons, and was conducted without hitch or
problem.
2. Speakers
25X1A9a
25X1A9a
Some form of the flu hit the speaker's roster and
caused the cancellation of Mlecture and the replace-
ment of d of the Pentagon's
Colonel Dexter by his co eague, Colonel George Benson.
Because of TDY abroad, was not on 25X1A9a
hand for the final talk on "The Role of the Agency in Vietnam."
Since no one else in Vietnam Operations was available, I deliv-
ered the talk, plagiaaing heavily from the almost countless
presentations I've heard on this subject.
The panelists for the 3 December discussion of "Work-
25X1A9a ing with the Vietnamese" were (OTR), 25X1A9a
25X1A9a (FE) and (EUR). canno say t it was an effec-
tive panel, and this comment applies to a few other occasions
when I have tried this technique and subject. People can recount
experiences and tell anecdotes, but an 18-months' tour is probably
an inadequate experiential base for the formulation of generaliza-
tions on Vietnamese behavior.
3. Critiques
Of 39 students, 37 were present for the writing of
critiques. Among the more interesting comments, which I pass on
without any attempt to explain or rebut are these:
Approved For Release 2001/08/30 : CIA-RDP78-03088A000100080015-9
 Approved For Release 2001/08/30 : CIA-RDP78-03088A000100080015-9
(The speakers) "all seemed to give a very dim if not
pro-N.V.N. outlook on some subject (sic)."
"I've taken this course twice now and feel that the
addition of a presentation by a military officer was certainly
a plus."
"I felt that the CIA speakers were dull as opposed
to the outside speakers and wish there could have been more
visitors (they would be worth the additional money)."
"The availability of the course should be more greatly
publicized."
4. Concluding Observation
After the TET offensive in January, speakers in the
V.A.C. expressed so much pessimism about the situation in Viet-
nam that by the third day of the course, students gave vent to
their own feelings of surprise and dismay. This situation per-
sisted throughout the spring and summer sessions. Hence I found
it interesting to note in this December class that there was no
word of this dismay expressed in class. The reason, of course,
is that the Allied mood in Vietnam in recent months has been in-
creasingly confident and optimistic even though such is not the
mood back in the United States.
Approved For Release 2001/08/30 : CIA-RDP78-03088A000100080015-9