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The Vietnam Era
History of The Iowa National Guard
CW2 David L. Snook
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Iowa National Guard underwent several
reorganizations. Two of the most significant changes involved the 113th Cavalry
Squadron and the 34th Infantry Division. In 1949, the 113th
Mechanized Cavalry Squadron was redesignated as the 113th Antiaircraft
Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion. In 1959, it was converted and redesignated as the
113th Armor. In 1963, the 34th Infantry Division was deactivated.
Happily, for those many Iowans aware of the acclaimed World War II achievements of both
organizations, they were returned to the rolls of the Iowa National Guard in the early
1990s.
Additional changes to the structure of the Guard followed the 1961
Berlin Crisis. In 1961, as a result of heightened tensions following East Germany’s
construction of the Berlin Wall, President John F. Kennedy ordered a partial mobilization
of the National Guard and the Army Reserve. One hundred and fifty thousand soldiers were
activated to serve as replacements for Regular Army troops being sent to Germany. The
Guard and Reserve were caught unprepared. Nearly all units were under strength and
inadequately equipped. After the Korean War, the Department of Defense had never allocated
reserve component units 100% of their strength and equipment tables. The Kennedy
administration designed a program to improve both the Guard and the Reserve, paring their
number somewhat but emphasizing increased training for those who remained.
A major aspect of the reorganizational efforts of the 1960s was the
creation of the Selective Reserve Force (SRF). Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara
believed that, since funding was not available to train and equip the entire National
Guard adequately, he would focus on preparing a core group of 150,000 Guardsmen for
immediate overseas deployment, if needed. SRF units were supposed to be authorized at 100%
strength, receive priority training funds and modern equipment. Ultimately, two elements
of the Iowa National Guard received SRF designation – the 2nd Battalion
(Mechanized), 133rd Infantry, and the 3657th Ordnance Company. In
1968, one of these organizations, the "Second Mech," along with the 185th
Tactical Fighter Group of the Iowa Air National Guard, was mobilized for service in the
Vietnam War.
The Vietnam War was, in many ways, a natural outgrowth of
America’s foreign policy after World War II. Postwar diplomatic and military efforts
focused on containing the growing threat of international communism. A system of military
alliances was established, including NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), SEATO
(Southeast Asia Treaty Organization) and CENTO (Central Treaty Organization). Programs of
economic assistance were created to alleviate the social and economic conditions that
often spawned revolutionary movements. In addition, the United States encouraged its two
principal European allies, Britain and France, to gradually dismantle their colonial
empires and grant independence to their colonial subjects.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the British granted independence to one
colony after another. The French, however, stubbornly tried to hang on to their colonial
possessions. In the late 1940s and the early 1950s, France attempted to restore its
authority over Vietnam, its one-time colony, which it had abandoned to the Japanese during
World War II. Opposing the French were the powerful nationalist forces of Ho Chi Minh.
Ho, a long-time communist, was the inspirational leader of the Viet
Minh, a revolutionary movement that controlled seven provinces in the northern part of
Vietnam at the end of World War II. By 1954, Ho was receiving substantial aid from both
communist China and the Soviet Union. The United States, fearing Ho’s communist
connections, had been paying most of France’s war costs since 1950. In early 1954,
Ho’s increasingly powerful military forces dealt the French a decisive defeat at
Dienbienphu and forced the French government to the conference table.
"The Geneva Accords of July, 1954, to which the United States
was not a party, established a supposedly temporary division of Vietnam along the 17th
Parallel. The north would be governed by Ho Chi Minh, the south by a pro-Western regime.
Democratic elections would serve as the basis for uniting the nation in 1956."
(Brinkley, Alan, American History; A Survey, McGraw-Hill, 1991, p. 875) The United
States helped to establish a pro-American government in the south, headed by Ngo Dinh
Diem, a wealthy leader of South Vietnam’s Roman Catholic minority. The Diem
government soon reneged on the promised elections. Diem was suspicious that the Viet Minh
would rig elections in the north. He was also fearful of Ho Chi Minh’s general
popularity throughout the country.
"Ngo Dinh Diem (was) an unfortunate choice as the basis of
American hopes for a noncommunist South Vietnam. Autocratic, aristocratic and corrupt, he
staunchly resisted any economic reforms that would weaken the position of the Vietnamese
upper class and the power of his own family. A belligerent Roman Catholic in a nation with
many Buddhists, he invited dissent through his efforts to limit the Buddhist
religion." (Brinkley, p. 904) By the late 1950s, a powerful insurgency was growing
throughout South Vietnam – an insurgency encouraged and supplied, in large part, by
the government of the north. In 1960, this civil war intensified, as communist guerillas
(known as the Viet Cong) organized the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam.
Faced with a steadily deteriorating political and military position,
Diem appealed to the United States for help. Although Diem was soon to be toppled from
power, three American presidents (Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson) would respond with ever
increasing aid, both weapons and military advisers, to shore up a succession of shaky
military governments in South Vietnam. Still, in August of 1964, there were only about
20,000 American military personnel serving in South Vietnam.
Late in 1964, the American involvement in South Vietnam would
escalate into a full-fledged war. Responding to an attack by North Vietnamese gunboats on
a U. S. destroyer, supposedly in international waters, President Lyndon Johnson received
congressional authorization to "take any necessary measures to protect American
forces and prevent further aggression" in Southeast Asia.
From 1965 until 1972, hundreds of thousands of U. S. soldiers would
serve in an increasingly unpopular war, combating a foe whose strength lay not in weaponry
but in a pervasive infiltration of the population. American and South Vietnamese forces
controlled major urban areas and won most of the conventional battles. They failed in a
more important area, however – the battle for the "hearts and minds" of the
Vietnamese people, especially those living in rural areas. (Brinkley, p. 909)
Richard Nixon succeeded Lyndon Johnson as president in 1969. For the
next four years, Nixon attempted to mute public criticism of the war by a new policy,
which he termed "Vietnamization" – training and equipping the South
Vietnamese military to assume the burden of combat in place of American forces. In January
of 1973, a tenuous peace settlement allowed for the withdrawal of the last American troops
in South Vietnam and for the release of several hundred American prisoners of war.
American forces were hardly out of Indochina before the Paris
agreement collapsed. During the first year after the cease-fire, the contending Vietnamese
armies suffered greater battle losses than the Americans had endured in ten years of
fighting. (Brinkley, p. 939) In March of 1975, the North Vietnamese launched a full-scale
offensive. The government of South Vietnam appealed to the United States for assistance,
but Congress refused President Gerald Ford’s request for additional funds. Finally,
in late April, communist forces marched into Saigon, and the Vietnam War came to an end.
The Vietnam War was both frustrating and disillusioning to the
United States. The war cost the nation $150 billion. It resulted in the deaths of 55,000
young Americans and the injury of 300,000 others. It led to major policy reassessments by
both America’s diplomatic and military leaders.
While the Vietnam War had resulted in a bitter outcome, American
soldiers, including members of the Iowa National Guard, had fought with bravery and honor.
In 1968, units from both the Iowa Air National Guard and the Iowa Army National Guard were
mobilized into federal service. It marked the first such mobilizations for both
organizations since the Korean War.
On January 26, 1968, the 185th Tactical Fighter Group
(TFG), Iowa Air National Guard, from Sioux City, was mobilized, together with the 174th
Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS), its subordinate unit. The 174th, along with
three other Air National Guard fighter squadrons, flying F-100 aircraft, were ordered to
Vietnam. The 174th TFS, codenamed "Bats," flew over 6,500 close air
support and bombing/strafing missions from its base at Phu Cat. The performance of the 174th
TFS earned the Presidential Unit Citation Award and the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award.
Individuals were awarded 12 Silver Stars, 35 Distinguished Flying Crosses and 30 Bronze
Stars. Other members of the 185th TFG were assigned as individuals throughout
the Air Force. The Group returned to state control on May 28, 1969.
The 2nd Battalion, 133rd Infantry
(Mechanized), Iowa Army National Guard, was also mobilized during the Vietnam War. The
battalion was part of the Selective Reserve Force (SRF). The "Second Mech,’ with
units located at Sioux City, Le Mars, Sheldon, Cherokee, Ida Grove and Mapleton, was
mobilized on May 13, 1968, assigned to the 69th Infantry Brigade (Kansas Army
National Guard) and stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado. Although the battalion colors
remained at Fort Carson, 264 officers and enlisted men were ordered to duty in Vietnam.
Twelve soldiers of the battalion were killed and 76 were wounded in action. Members of the
battalion received over 2,600 awards and decorations for their Vietnam service. The
battalion returned to state control on December 13, 1969.
Footnote:
Lieutenant General (LTG) Roger C. Schultz, former Director of the Army National Guard
(1998 -2005),
was mobilized as a Platoon Leader for Company B, 2nd Battalion 133nd Infantry. After the battalion
was joined with the 69th Infantry Brigade at Fort Carson, 2d Lieutenant Schultz volunteered for
duty in Vietnam and served as a Platoon Leader with the 22nd Infantry Battalion, 25th Infantry
Division. During that tour he earned both a Silver and Bronze Star, a Combat Infantry Badge plus
two Purple Hearts. After he returned from duty in Vietnam, Schultz served as a Company Commander,
a Battalion Commander, a Brigade Commander, Deputy Chief of Staff Operations, Chief of Staff, and
finally Deputy Adjutant General of the Iowa National Guard. LTG Schultz served as the Deputy
Director for Military Support (DOMS) on the Department of the Army Staff and later was selected
to serve as the Director of the Army National Guard. LTG Schultz was the only Guardsman mobilized
for the Vietnam War that would obtain three-star rank.
The 2nd Battalion, 133rd Infantry was reorganized into the 1st Squadron 113th Cavalry in 1989.
The Cavalry is in the communities of Sioux City, Le Mars and Des Moines. The 2168th Transportation
Company is stationed in Sheldon and Company C, 1st Battalion 168th Infantry is stationed in Dennison.
The Ida Grove, Cherokee and Mapleton Armories have been consolidated with other units to maintain historical
lineage. Russell V. Bierl, COL (Ret) FA
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