U.S. GENERAL WHO WON DAK TO BATTLE TO LEAD DELTA FIGHT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000300630001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 29, 1999
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 4, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

0
After the buildup, Gen. William U.S. General VILo Westmoreland, the top U.S. com-
mander, organized three multi-divi-
Won Dak To sion American "field forces" to"par-
e
allel the first three Vietnamese
Battle: corps areas, which run from the
northern demilitarized zone to just
below Saigon on the border of the
to lead Delta Fight, delta.
Each Is commanded by an Ameri
an lieutenant general. As the next
gher command above a division,
Second, as a major general
since 1960, with a distin-
guished command and
combdt record, Peers
would' normally be close
to promotion to the three-
star grade of lieutenant
general, which, Is corps
command rank: Third, and
possibly .most' important,
Peers has a long record as
an expert In Asian jungle
fighting, insurgency and
counter insurgency meth
ods, and in. high-level in-
telligence and "s p e c I a I
warfare" activities. '
His military record,
s h o w s many variations
from that of an ordinary
"line" officer and should
specially fit him for the $
semi-political, semi-secret
methods of warfare used:,
in the delta and along its
long and almost open bor
der with Cambodia.
Peers' first war service
was as operations officer.i
'in Burma for the World
War II Office of Strategic
Services, predecessor of the
special operations branch
of the Central Intelligence
Agency. He then com-
manded an OSS detach.
ment in China and ended
the war as deputy OSS
director In the China thea- 1
Worked with CIA
After the war hsas an
Intelligence inst etor and
from .1950 to 1951 was
director of training for the
CIA. Then followed staff
duty In.. Washington and I
I I Europe, command of a"
Sanitized - Appr i
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signz lean upturn-in]
American military operations in
South Vietnam's rich and populous
Mekong River Delta was foreshad-
,wed-Sunday with the disclosure
soon will take , over as senior
American military adviser and com-
mander in the region.
Peers, 53, is a 1937 graduate . of
UCLA and a resident of Covina,
Calif. He is now commanding the 4th
Infantry Division at Pleiku, and just
directed the battle of Dak To-one
of the war's major allied victories-
against an invading force of North
Vietnamese regulars.
The appointment was disclosed by.i
top American military authority in i
Vietnam and confirmed through
military channels.
Peers will complete his year's tour
of duty in Vietnam this month, and
will, be transferred from the 4th
Division to take home leave over the
holidays.
lie's Returning in, January
11-, 847 , 869
S _t .C 4'61967
He will then return to Vietnam In
January for a second tour and on
Jan. 15 will succeed Brig. Gen. W. R.
DeSobry as senior U.S. military'
adviser to the Vietnamese 4th Corps
at Can Tho, which directs the war in
the delta region south and south-
west of Saigon. DeSobry is leaving
on normal rotation for a new
command, as yet unannounced.
The significance of the new
appointment lies in Peers' high rank
and unusual background in top-level
intelligence and counterinsurgency
warfare.
Prior to the big American buildup ..
In mid-1965, the American Army
provided a "senior adviser" for each
of the four Vietnamese corps areas,
which run numerically from north to
south. At that time the post called for
pr$t GdSt 01iiot
Pr . Page 9'artitized - A pf or Release : CIA-RDPfbM0K0 0300630001-5
LOS ANGELES 9 CALIF. ore staff u y in was n-,
r ngton, and a tour as
TIL?IES I i ssistant commander of
I he 4th -Division at r E.
nands in Vietnam. ;
After that,' Peers' held
ugh staff appointments in
Washington for "special
perations" and, "special
varfare" - euphemisms
for some of the rougher
guerrilla activities of the
fidential posts was quietly'
Medal-one of the highest
normally won by only the
highest commanders and
At the present: time, It
m o r e l an d has. enough i
rnanent U.S. field force for )
Could Be Changed I
changed by a. gnment of
if Westmorelant' thought '
present divisions and bri- j;
gales around to squeeze
Short of that, there Is no
commands could not be
Force around Saigon, does
brigades at Dong Tam,'
five miles' upriver from'
province captial s ou t h-
gade is assigned to man
"Riverine" force probing,
the delta's rivers and bay-
Whatever the actual,
I
appointment .to the delta
overwhelming'maiority o'f
it ricelands.'
_~
CPYRGHT