VIETNAM AREA COURSE NO. 3-68

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-03088A000100080031-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 8, 2001
• Sequence Number: 31
• Publication Date: May 16, 1968
• Content Type: MEMO

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16 May 1968
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Training
FROM: OTR/IS/OBF
SUBJECT: Vietnam Area Course No. 3-68
1. Basic Data
The third running of the Vietnam Area Course
(VAC) was held 22-26 April 1968 in Room 1 A 07. There
were 24 persons enrolled; 15 of these are heading for
Saigon and 9 are Headquarters personnel. Happily, no
changes in the schedule had to be made.
25X1A
25X1A5a1
25X1A5a1
2. Outside Speakers
We had 4 outs' akers:
Mr. Ma rom a epartment
o tate; an Colonel Dexter from the Department of
Defense. has proved such an effective
speaker t a a im speak twice in this course and,
hence, he was paid $100.00, and as paid
$50.00.
3. New Agency Speakers
a. I had two new speakers from within
this time. The first was
whose experience in Vietn o a y ex-
tended over as long a period of time, 1945 to
the present, as that of an one in the Agency.
The second was who was
formerly the D representative in Saigon.
b. spoke of some of his personal ex-
periences in Vietnam in the period 1945 to
1954. He gave a particularly interesting
account of two OSS missions into Indochina
in 1945. He recounted how both he and
_ were parachuted, without the knowledge
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of each other, into North Vietnam. Of
course, he indicated, trouble resulted; he
was "ambushed b and both of us got
25X1A9a medals!" speaking of basic
social pr in outh Vietnam,stressed
the need to put things into perspective.
He stressed that South Vietnam is just one
of a hundred new developing nations, that
it has the same problems and difficulties
as other new nations, and that "it is no
worse than all the rest who go their foul
way without the light of publicity on them."
4. Critiques
a. Critiques were received from 22 of the 24
students. Again they were asked to specify
any disappointment with speakers or presen-
tations. Again, as in the first and second
runnings of this course, the sessions on
language and religion were especially criti-
cized.
b. Five persons thought that one of the two
language sessions could be eliminated. My
own feeling is that neither lan ua a instructor,
either has been
able in e s or ime a otte to them,to
generate a strong feeling for the language;
this may be unfair to them, but I had hoped
that the language instructor could get the
students pronouncing Vietnamese in class,
could get them to try to articulate the foreign
sounds and get them over some of the initial
hesitancy in wrestling with a new language.
I think I may eliminate one of the two
language sessions.
25X1A5a1 C. speaking on religion, has really
not proved satisfactory and I shall probably
not use him again, although the subject is
25X1A5a1 one that must be covered and an outsider will
have to be found. was criticized
by six people. He is no oo well organized
or too effective a speaker, but the thing
that seems to nettle some people is what they
consider an interjection of his own personal
-2-
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opinions. The personal opinion is a
strong conviction that the United States
Government has not properly used the
Buddhist monk as a vehicle of social change
and political activit in South Vietnam.
25X1A5a1 I suspect it is not opinion
that annoys so much as it is the manner in
which he does it; he seems too much of a
"special pleader."
d. Several other speakers drew mild individual
criticisms, and these are not worth singling
out here. Unfortunately, 25X1A9a
Chief and Deputy Chief, respect-
ively, of VNO, were criticized by three or
four people. is not a strong 25X1A9a
speaker, thoug had made some
recent months. The reaction to
is more surprising to me; while
dynamic speaker, he is reflective,
and it may be that some found him hard to
follow.
iet, Vntelligence Schoo
DISTRIBUTION:
Orig - Adse (w/2 atts); Return to IS
2 - Chief, P& M
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