Intelligence and Security Operations of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Ministry of National Defense

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POWs were temporarily detained and exploited for perishable tactical
military information. :
Following the overthrow of Khmer Chief of State Norodom Sihanouk in
March 1970 and the installation of the American-backed Khmer Republic
Government (GKR) of Lon Nol, COSVN and its SVNLA were tasked with
operations in Kampuchea. The PDV then staffed the combined civilian and
enemy proselytizing (dan dich van) components of five PAVN/SVNLA
military regions established in Kampuchea. Over 300 PDV and 200 MPS
personnel were committed to action in Kampuchea.
The PDV headquarters was composed of 75 personnel assigned to six
major sections. About 200 personnel were assigned to PDV detention facilities,
and about 1,500 personnel were assigned to subordinate enemy proselytizing
field components in, the southern half of South Vietnam. The PDV
headquarters was organized as follows into a:
1. Command Section: headed by CDV Colonel Ngo Dai Trai. Trai was
assisted by two deputies, CDV Majors Pham Tran Ban and Bui Thanh
Ngon, and one English-speaking interpreter/translator. '
2. Administrative Section: 20 personnel.
3. Battlefield Proselytizing Section: 10 personnel who monitoried the
results of interrogation and indoctrination sessions conducted by the
propaganda and enemy research sections. The section studied the
results and prepared enemy proselytizing programs for implementa-
tion by the enemy proselytizing sections of division-size units and of six
military region “political staffs, which each had a 50-man “staff,
including a 25-man detention camp facility for captured POWs.
Regiment, group, subregion, and province unit political staffs had a 10-
man enemy proselytizing subsection. Battalion and district-size units
had a three-man enemy proselytizing cell headed by their deputy
political officers. Reports were sent from field elements in a vertical
chain of command to the PDV Battlefield Proselytizing Section for
review and collation into reports for the CDV headquarters in Hanoi,
the PAVN/SVNLA Military Staff and Political Staff Departments for
distribution to their Military Intelligence and Military Security Offices,
and to the COSVN Military Affairs Committee.
4. Enemy Research Section: 10 personnel responsible for the interroga-
tion of US/Allied and ARVN POWs for information on the history,
morale, combat effectiveness, and biographical data on division-level
units and their commanders. Emphasis was placed on the identification
of personnel who opposed the war, had deserted, or who had refused to
take part in combat actions. Attention was given to the degree of
racism in US combat units, and on the relationships between enlisted
and officer personnel.
5. Propaganda Section: 15 personnel responsible for the political
indoctrination of US/Allied and ARVN POWs. Following oral group
sessions, POWs were required to make a handwritten statement
22
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