Introduction

During the Vietnam War, a joint army and navy unit was established to operate in the maritime environment of the Mekong Delta. Eric Villard is digital military historian at the US Army Center of Military History. He says William Westmoreland had thought about sending US combat troops down there since the beginning of the war. The Mobile Rivering Force created an amphibious strike force that will allow the Allies to get at some of these Viet Cong base areas that had been inaccessible before.