Lieutenant Colonel Carter distinguished himself by exceptionally meritorious achievement from 31 January to 2 February 1968 as Commander, 377th Security Police Squadron. During that period, Colonel Carter commanded the Security Police and Task Force-35 reaction forces -- almost a thousand men in all -- which successfully defended the air base against a multi-pronged attack involving hostile units with an estimated total strength of 2,500 men. He also worked directly with the Army commander in commanding and coordinating the conduct of the battle, which ultimately involved the deployment of ten battalions in and around the base, and worked jointly and successfully with U.S. Army tenant units on base, the Tan Son Nhut Sensitive Area Army advisory team, VNAF elements, and the ARVN 2nd battalion in matters pertaining to perimeter defense.
When the initial attack force -- a reinforced Viet Cong battalion of approximately 600 men -- assaulted and penetrated the west perimeter near the 051 gate, Colonel Carter knew that his men had to meet the attack and stip it. He immediately deployed a four-man Security Alert Team (SAT) and an 11-man Reserve Security Alert Team (RSAT) to the west end to engage the attackers. He then dispatched four 13-man Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) and two platoons of Task Force 35 to three selected strong points directly in front, to the northeast, and to the southeast of the main hostile assault force, thus forming a holding line with both the north and south ends protected against hostile flankiing movements.
These lines met the assault force head on and delayed it long enough for Colonel Carter, working with the U.S. Army commander and VNAF elements to bring other defensive units into the action and pave the way for the ultimately successful conter-attack. During the initial eight hours, it was clear that the principal hostile thrust was directed at the west end of the base. Although the initial hostile assault force outnumbered his defensive line by approximately four to one and possessed superior firepower (BK40 and RPG7 rockets, mortars, automatic weapons, and small arms v. M60 machine guns, M148 grenade launchers and M16s), Colonel Carter did not overcommit his reaction forces. Rather, Colonel Carter, calmly estimated the situation, reviewed the reports from his defense line, and decided to keep severn QRTs and one platoon of Task Force-35 in reserve at strategic locations to back up the main defense line if necessary and to respond to other penetration attempts.
Hknew that the job on the west end could be done easier and with less risk of being overrun if he put more men on the defense line, but he also knew that hostile forces were making contact in other areas on or near the perimeter. Complete disaster might result of one of these other forces were able to penetrate and sufficient reserves were not available to engage the.
In fact, the base was attacked during the battle at nine different locations simultaneously, including a regiment-size advance on the northeast perimeter defense line from the 055 gate to east of the 056 gate, a battalion-size attack in the golf course area, and numerous company and platoon-size probes.
Colonel Carter's evaluation proved to be correct; the main defense line was able to hold its position on the west end; fire support from helicopter gunships, dragonships, and friendly tanks and artillery units were able to give the attacking force a servere mauling; and the net result was a devastating and bitter defeat for the regiment-size hostile force.
Colonel Carter's defensive tasks were made easier by extensive preparation during the preceeding months. First, Colonel Carter had organized the squadron to insure that a minimum of approximately 425 Security Policemen were on duty during the night-time hours of greatest threat and that quick reaction forces were available to respond immediately to any penetration attempt.
Monthly practice alerts had kept the reaction forces sharp. Second, having identified the west end earlier in the month as a potential route for a hostile attack, Colonel Carter used a hypothetical attack on the 051 gate in the scenario for the monthly practice alert on 26 January. On the morning of the 31st, he was able to follow the scenario of the practice alert almost to the letter.
In addition to his command responsibilities, Colonel Carter assumed responsibility for providing logistical support for the other combat units which fought in defense of Tan Son Nhut. Working under constant pressure, he nontheless arranged with his 377th Combaat Support Group counterparts to provide for the billeting and messing of friendly units who had come from outside the base to assist in its defense. He assumed complete resupply responsibility for Task Force-35, and, when the helicopter gunships were about to run out of ammuniton, he took over the job of resupplying them, too.
The 377th Security Police armory personnel, under Colonel Carter's supervision, called other RVN bases to procure the needed munitions, packed them in clips of boxes, and kept the ammuniton flowing to the units which required it.
Through Colonel Carter's efforts, no unit involved in the defense of the base ran out of firepower. Although the main assault on the west end was driven back and the perimeter declared secure by 1217 hours, 1 February, hostile forces were still active outside the base.
Denying himself sleep and rest, Colonel Carter worked around the clock with the U.S. Army commander to insure that perimeter defenses were secure and that the activities of all friendly forces in the area were well coordinated. Using the resources of his own squadron, Colonel Carter established communications liaison between the Joint Defense Operations Center, his own Central Security Control, and several U.S. Army units participating in the base defense effort.
Colonel Carter's exceptional work in maintaining combat-ready Security Police reaction forces available for immediate reaction his his initial tactical decisions ata the time of the main assault were the principal factors in stopping the main hostile assault force on the west end and preventing the base from being over-run.
His extraordinary devotion to duty and ability to work with U.S. Army and Vietnamese counterparts were highly instrumental in the overall defense of the base and in the outstanding support provided by the bse for units participating in its defense.
Colonel Carter's many exceptionally meritorious achievements in defense of Tan Son Nhut Air Base reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
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