Documents / FOIA release
This is a December 1979 Central Intelligence Agency study published by the Directorate of Operations Counterintelligence Staff. It describes the Enemy Proselytizing Department (Cuc Dich Van) of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Ministry of National Defense. The study traces the department's origins from 1941 through the French and Vietnam wars. It covers psychological warfare, fifth column penetration of ARVN and allied forces, the handling of US and allied prisoners of war, and the postwar reeducation of former ARVN personnel. It contains no material on UFOs.
“Headquarters”33 pages
-5'E€R'E'1" The American Target in South Vietnam - Following the August 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident, the capture of the‘ first US naval aviator in North Vietnam, and the introduction of US combat forces in South Vietnam in spring 1965, the CDV headquarters in Hanoi instructed its forward commands in South Vietnam to initiate comprehensive programs for US and Allied military personnel in Vietnam. Until spring 1965, COSVN and its CDV forward commands had no comprehensive program for US and Allied military forces in South Vietnam. COSVN, which was then responsible for all party and military operations in South Vietnam, was tasked with fulfilling this requirement which had been handed down to the CDV by the Central Military Party Affairs Committee of the Lao Dong Party's Central Committee. The COSVN Military Affairs Committee entrusted, the execution of this program to the CDV COSVNMilitary Proselytizing Section (MPS) and the CDV SVNLA Political Staff Departments Enemy Proselytizing Office (Phong Dich Van/PDV) forward commands. COSVN Military Affairs Committee members, Major Generals Tran Do and Tran Luong, supervised the programs implemented by the COSVN MPS and by the SVNLA PDV. Major General Tran Do supervised the SVNLA PDV headed by CDV Lieutenant Colonel Ngo Dai Trai, who had been transferred from the COSVN MPS. The COSVN MPS was supervised by Major General Tran Luong, who left the running of the MPS to CDVLieutenant Colonel Tran Van Du. The COSVN MPS Propaganda Subsection was tasked with responsibilities for preparing psychological warfare leaflets and radio broadcast materials in coordinated action with the SVNLA PDV. PDV Chief Ngo Dai Trai was well versed in this field, having headed the COSVN MPS Propaganda Subsection between 1963 and early 1965. The MPS Propaganda Subsection monitored US Armed Forces Radio, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts for exploitable information to use in its preparation of psychological warfare materials against US military personnel. Most MPS prepared leaflets, handbills, and pamphlets consisted of impassioned claims that the Vietnam War could not be understood nor effectively fought byforeigners. Racial themes were stressed. The MPS Propaganda Subsection was particularly interested in collecting information on US civil rights and black power movements for exploitable propaganda themes against US Negro personnel, and against US prisoners of war (POWs). All US POWs were considered to have potential for psychological warfare exploitation. The MPS was charged with the mission of “promoting the antiwar movement and urging US and satellite troops to refuse to take part in operations and to demand prompt return home." The SVNLA _PDV had primary responsibility for the administration, indoctrination, interrogation, and psychological exploitation of ARVN and US/Allied civilian and military POWs. The PDV compiled information from interrogations to draft psychological warfare materials; maintained central POW records and logs; arranged POW release ceremonies; drafted enemy proselytizing programs for implementation by PAVN/SVNLA enemy 20 secar; \¢ x» x w ewv J »mmrwI=!"\ Y" r~.' M. mi *7: res . ;\
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 120 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.