3rd Radio Research Unit Arrives in Vietnam, May 13, 1961

Americans had been sending supplies to South Vietnam and had assumed responsibility for training its army when France pulled out of the country in 1954. John F. Kennedy, who took office in 1961 and was committed to beating Communism, took immediate steps to assist the South Vietnamese in winning the political, military, economic, and psychological war against Communist-backed insurgency.

It wasn’t long, however, before the Republic of Vietnam needed more specific assistance. For example, the South Vietnamese army was trying to monitor the communications of the North Vietnamese-backed guerilla forces but needed help. The US Army supplied radio receivers and AN/PRD-1 direction-finders to support this effort. Shortly thereafter, US Army intelligence personnel began planning for a deployment to Southwest Asia to conduct small-scale communications intelligence (COMINT) operations.