Vietnam War US CIA-Led "PHUONG HOANG HANH QUAN" PHOENIX Patrol Program Patch
Vietnamese phrase "PHUONG HOANG HANH QUAN" means Phoenix Patrol.
During Vietnam war, from 1965 CIA and Saigon intelligence services maintained an active list of VC cadre marked for assassination. Phoenix Patrol Program called for "neutralizing" 1800 VCs a month. About one third of VC targeted for arrest had been summarily killed. Security committees were established in provincial interrogation centers to determine fate of VC suspects, outside of judicial controls. Green Berets and Navy SEALs were the most common recruits for Phoenix Program. Green Beret detachment B-57 provided admin cover for other intel units. One was Project CHERRY, tasked to assassinate Cambodian officials suspected of collaborating with North Vietnamese, and the KGB. The Phoenix Program used the CIA's assassination squads, the former counter-terror teams later called the provincial reconnaissance units (PRU). Technically, they did not mark cadres for assassinations but in practice the PRU's anticipated resistance in disputed areas and shot first. People taken prisoners were denounced in Saigon-held areas, picked up at checkpoints or captured in combat and later identified as VCs.
Vietnamese phrase "PHUONG HOANG HANH QUAN" means Phoenix Patrol.
During Vietnam war, from 1965 CIA and Saigon intelligence services maintained an active list of VC cadre marked for assassination. Phoenix Patrol Program called for "neutralizing" 1800 VCs a month. About one third of VC targeted for arrest had been summarily killed. Security committees were established in provincial interrogation centers to determine fate of VC suspects, outside of judicial controls. Green Berets and Navy SEALs were the most common recruits for Phoenix Program. Green Beret detachment B-57 provided admin cover for other intel units. One was Project CHERRY, tasked to assassinate Cambodian officials suspected of collaborating with North Vietnamese, and the KGB. The Phoenix Program used the CIA's assassination squads, the former counter-terror teams later called the provincial reconnaissance units (PRU). Technically, they did not mark cadres for assassinations but in practice the PRU's anticipated resistance in disputed areas and shot first. People taken prisoners were denounced in Saigon-held areas, picked up at checkpoints or captured in combat and later identified as VCs.
Vietnamese phrase "PHUONG HOANG HANH QUAN" means Phoenix Patrol.
During Vietnam war, from 1965 CIA and Saigon intelligence services maintained an active list of VC cadre marked for assassination. Phoenix Patrol Program called for "neutralizing" 1800 VCs a month. About one third of VC targeted for arrest had been summarily killed. Security committees were established in provincial interrogation centers to determine fate of VC suspects, outside of judicial controls. Green Berets and Navy SEALs were the most common recruits for Phoenix Program. Green Beret detachment B-57 provided admin cover for other intel units. One was Project CHERRY, tasked to assassinate Cambodian officials suspected of collaborating with North Vietnamese, and the KGB. The Phoenix Program used the CIA's assassination squads, the former counter-terror teams later called the provincial reconnaissance units (PRU). Technically, they did not mark cadres for assassinations but in practice the PRU's anticipated resistance in disputed areas and shot first. People taken prisoners were denounced in Saigon-held areas, picked up at checkpoints or captured in combat and later identified as VCs.