Documents of an Elite Viet Cong Delta Unit: The Demolition Platoon of the 514th Battalion

Translations of Viet Cong documents pertaining to the structure and functioning of the People's Revolutionary Party (PRP) in a demolition unit. This Memorandum is second in a series representing the entire file of unit records captured intact. (The others are RM-5848, RM-5850, RM-5851, and RM-5852.) In the period covered by the documents, early 1966 to mid-May 1967, the battalion was under-strength and saw little action. Much time was spent training, reorganizing, and bolstering morale. The PRP governs all insurgent activities in South Vietnam. Control is vested in a Party Committee at each territorial echelon (from Region to Village) and is exercised through the Committee's Military Affairs Section, which governs the units in its area. Official Party representation extends through all military units to the squad. The documents, including minutes of meetings, organizational guides, moral codes, and members' self-criticisms, recount in detail the activities that take place in the system. Of special note are the meetings to resolve problems of military discipline and effectiveness. The Party apparatus serves not just for surveillance and repression but also to rouse and quicken by exhortation and example.