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Carlos R Hatcher, Chinese Bandit 13 Rear Security 1965-66

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Carlos R Hatcher, Chinese Bandit 13 Rear Security 1965-66 By Ranger Conners, Chinese Bandit 13 In February 1965 the US Airbase located outside of Pleiku had been attacked resulting in American casualties and additional US troops were assigned to improve security at the base.   During the Battle of the Ia Drang Oct-Nov 1965, the Chinese Bandit 13 reconnaissance scout squad of the Chinese Bandit Recon Platoon patrolled the wooded areas around the tea plantations surrounding Pleiku…a large NVA attack was expected at Pleiku but did not materialize, however the security of the area remained a concern and the Jumping Mustangs 1 st Bn (ABN) 8 th Cav deployed to the hills above the large lake north of the city in December. All three Chinese Bandits recon scout squads conducted patrolling around the assembled battalion bivouac site and the Montagnard village located on the far side of the lake.   During this period the Jumping Mustang Battalion conducted parachute
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Chinese Bandit Parachute Jumps and Patrolling at Pleiku, S. Vietnam in December 1965 by RANGER Jerry Conners, Chinese Bandit 13 After the Battle of Ia Drang where the Chinese Bandits would be awarded their first Presidential Unit Citation for Extraordinary Heroism, the entire Chinese Bandit Recon Platoon was relocated to Lake Pleiku where patrolling was conducted on the margin of the tea plantations and in support of other Jumping Mustang search and destroy missions in the Kontum area while operating with the 1st Bn 9th Cav. Aerial and ground reconnaissance efforts had confirmed that the NVA were withdrawing towards Cambodia and only small enemy units were believed to be operating in the area; however the local American and South Vietnamese units remained concerned that another large NVA attack would occur during Christmas or New Years Day. Our patrolling confirmed that no large NVA units were mobilizing in or near the area. A parachute proficiency jump was scheduled for D
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Raindrops and tracking the NVA during Operation Crazy Horse

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Raindrops and tracking the NVA during Operation Crazy Horse, May 22-23, 1966 by RANGER Jerry Conners, Chinese Bandit 13 and War Eagle 13 The patrol moved north to the location where we encountered abandoned NVA bunkers that contained the body of one NVA soldier that was discovered in one of the deeper excavations. While evaluating the bunker complex, an American rifle squad consisting of 8 men approached from the north “team carrying” one of their men (believed to be a SP/4 Parks) in a poncho litter. The man was semi-conscious and the poncho was filled to his armpits in a mixture of his blood and rain. I called for medivac and had some of the patrol members bring in the UH-1. The man was evacuated to the sound of rifle and machine gun fire from the surrounding hills when the aircraft was on approach and during departure. The UH-1 was not damaged and I was informed many years later that Parks had survived. We resumed our search of the bunkers and located another
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Night Movement and Tracking Techniques along N Border of Cambodia

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Night Movement and Tracking Techniques along the Northern Border of Cambodia by RANGER Jerry Conners, Chinese Bandit 13…Spring 1966 DOD/MACV directed Long-Range Reconnaissance Operations The Chinese Bandits had been performing extended patrolling operations since their arrival in Vietnam in the fall of 1965 and our SOP’s, including mission preparations, had become routine as our teamwork constantly improved. Warning and operations orders were routinely given, however only some priority pre-insertion rehearsals, refresher training and other preparations were performed and were primarily focused on suspected enemy and indigenous population location reports, area studies, route navigation and night movement techniques. The tentative routes had been planned for night-only movement that would take place primarily along the ridgeline border of Cambodia or Laos and Vietnam with several routes extending eastward into small valleys and the adjacent hilltops. Contrary to policy, the routes
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