198th Brigade History
The 198th Light Infantry Brigade was one of three Brigades that made up the Infantry arm of the Americal Division. Usually commanded by Colonel these units where the backbone of the Division. They would have their own Artillery as well as armor, as well as supporting units. The 3rd Platoon although still under the command of the 23rd Military Police Company was “attached” to the 198th LIB.
Photo On 23 October 1967, soldiers from the 198th Infantry Brigade debarked from LSTs at Chu Lai coming from Ft. Hood TX. Offical US Army.
198th Brigade Orgin
- Constituted 24 June 1921 in the Organized Reserves as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 198th Infantry Brigade, and assigned to the 99th Division
- Organized in November 1921 at Erie, Pennsylvania Redesignated 23 March 1925 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 198th Brigade Redesignated 24 August 1936 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 198th Infantry Brigade
- Converted and redesignated 12 February 1942 as the 3d Platoon, 99th Reconnaissance Troop, 99th Division (Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 197th Infantry Brigade, concurrently converted and redesignated as the 99th Reconnaissance Troop [less 3d Platoon], 99th Division)
- Troop ordered into active military service 15 November 1942 and reorganized at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi, as the 99th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop, an element of the 99th Infantry Division
- Reorganized and redesignated 2 August 1943 as the 99th Reconnaissance Troop, Mechanized Inactivated 29 September 1945 at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts
- (Organized Reserves redesignated 25 March 1948 as the Organized Reserve Corps; redesignated 9 July 1952 as the Army Reserve)
- 3d Platoon, 99th Reconnaissance Troop, Mechanized, converted and redesignated 1 August 1962 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 198th Infantry Brigade, and relieved from assignment to the 99th Infantry Division; concurrently withdrawn from the Army Reserve and allotted to the Regular Army (remainder of troop concurrently redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 197th Infantry Brigade - hereafter separate lineage)
- Activated 10 May 1967 at Fort Hood, Texas
- Inactivated 30 November 1971 at Fort Lewis, Washington
- Transferred 9 November 2006 to the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command Headquarters activated 18 May 2007 at Fort Benning, Georgia
198th Brigade Vietnam
On October 22, the 198th LIght Infantry Brigade arrived in Vietnam from Ft. Hood, Texas and deployed to Duc Pho where it received combat training from the battle hardened soldiers of the 3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry. The 198th currently is in charge of the defense of Chu Lai base camp and airstrip.
Wallowa
Operation Wheeler/Wallowa became the responsibility of the 196th Infantry Brigade and the 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry. The 1/1 had been operating in the general area since September 1967, and officially became part of the Americal Division on January 10, 1968. The 198th Infantry Brigade remained responsible for securing the immediate area around Chu Lai.
The 11th Light Infantry Brigade joined Americal on December 20, and moved to Duc (Duc Pho) for training. The "Jungle Warriors" later conducted combat operations in the Duc Pho area.
Operation Burlington Trail
On the same day that Operation Norfolk Victory began, another operations was begun by the 198th Infantry Brigade north of Chu Lai. Operation Burlington Trail had the goal of opening the road from Tam Ky to Tien Phuoc, a Special Forces outpost and district headquarters in Quang Tin Province. The mission of constructing the road was given to elements of the 39th Engineer Battalion who were provided security by units of the 198th.
April 20 marked the first anniversary of Task Force Oregon, and General William C. Westmoreland spoke at ceremonies in Chu Lai.
On the same day the 198th Brigade assumed control of Operation Wheeler/Wallowa from the 196th Brigade, which was temporarily placed under the operational control of the 1st Air Cavalry Division.
Under the operational control of the III Amphibious Force in Da Nang, the Americal Division has been summoned to distant areas outside the division's area of operation on several occasions.
Shortly after the Brigade was released from the 3rd Marine Division, one battalion (2nd Battalion - 1st Brigade) was deployed to the aid of the besieged Special Forces camp at Kham Duc. One company from the 198th Infantry Brigade (A Company 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry) also was sent to Kham Duc, where a successful extraction was later performed.
On June 23, 1968, Major General Charles M. Gettys assumed command of the Americal Division following interim commander Brigadier General George H. Young, Jr.
Golden Fleece
On September 21, the heaviest contact was in Operation Burlington Trail, as units of the 1st Cavalry, F Troop, 8th Cavalry, and a company of the 11th Brigade's 4th Brigade, 21st Infantry killed 92 NVA.
Operation Golden Fleece in which the 196th Brigade helped Vietnamese harvest more than one million pounds of rice in the Que Son Valley, also began during September, ending two months later.
October brought more rice as the "Chargers" of the 196th killed 22 VC and captured 12,425 pounds of rice on the 26th. "Guardians" of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry gathered 6,800 pounds of rice in three separate caches 24 miles west of Tam Ky.
In November, the two longest running Americal Operations, Wheeler/Wallowa and Burlington Trail, ended. The former, which was primarily conducted by the 196th Brigade, accounted for 10,020 enemy dead and 2,053 captured weapons in its one year existence. Burlington Trail, in which the 198th Brigade with help from the 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry; 26th and 39th Engineer Battalions, succeeded in opening the road from Tam Ky to Tien Phuoc, recorded 1,948 enemy dead and 545 weapons captured.
Both operations ended on November 11.
On November 16, units of the 198th Brigade accounted for 41 VC killed in the Chu Lai area. A recon patrol member LRP observed VC moving down a trail 10 miles north of Quang Ngai City. The 1st/82nd Artillery placed eight inch shells right on target.
On November 17, a 1st/14th Artillery battery along with the 198th Brigade killed 32 VC when the enemy launched a mortar, recoilless rifle, and ground attack against the Binh Son District headquarters.
I action west of Tam Ky and north of the Tien Phuoc Civilian Irregular Defense Group camp, 196th Brigade soldiers netted 44 of the enemy on November 21.
Pacification/Vietnamization
On July 21st, the Americal Division concluded Operation Russell Beach on the Batangan Peninsula 20 miles south of Chu Lai. The massive pacification effort was concluded with the resettlement of more than 12,000 refugees on the peninsula after it had been cleared of enemy bunkers and sanctuaries.
But the overall pacification effort in the area continued as an intensive drive to upgrade small hamlets and villages north of Quang Ngai City.
With the summer months came intensified "Vietnamization" of the war effort and proliferation of joint Americal and South Vietnamese Army operations. US-ARVN tactical operations were increased and the three regiments of the 2nd ARVN Division worked as direct counterparts with the Americal Division's three brigades.
As the pacification effort increased in the 11th and 198th Brigade areas, intensive Communist pressures were beginning to be felt in the Que Son and Hiep Duc valleys 30 miles south of Da Nang.
Thousands of artillery rounds pounded the NVA bunker complexes during those last days of August. Scores of tactical airstrikes echoed through the Hiep Duc and Que Son Valleys. Countless times, 196th Brigade infantrymen pushed forward against pockets of fierce enemy resistance. The Marine advance from the east placed an increased strain on the NVA forces. Slowly, the enemy began to withdraw to the north toward the rugged Nui Chom ridgeline. The American units pursued determinedly. By August 29, the major sources of enemy resistance in the Hiep Duc vicinity had been irreparably crushed.
Hiep Duc had been spared! No casualties or significant damage had been reported from the refugee center. The 196th Infantry Brigade had preserved Hiep Duc and cost the enemy over 1,000 dead.
In September salt became the topic of discussion to the south of Chu Lai as elements of the 198th Brigade's 5th Battalion, 46th Infantry uncovered more than 2872 tons. It was extracted from its communist storehouses and distributed throughout the area by the Government of South Vietnam.
Later that month Brigadier General Wallace L. Clement, assistant Division commander (maneuver), left the Americal for an assignment with Military Assistance Command Vietnam headquarters. Colonel John W. Donaldson, Division chief of staff, became the new assistant Division commander. Colonel Donaldson was promoted to brigadier general on October 1.
Rice denial operations achieved tremendous success. On November 19, the 3rd Battalion, 21st infantry, captured 20,000 lbs. of rice. Numerous other large caches of enemy salt and rice were found.
On November 21, Colonel Joseph C. Clemons assumed command of the 198th Infantry Brigade. Colonel Thomas H. Tackaberry became the Division Chief of Staff, a position formerly held by Colonel Clemons.
ICIPP
A new pacification program was initiated. Two battalions, 5th Battalion, 46th Infantry and 1st Battalion, 52nd Infantry of the 198th Brigade were partially committed. In the Infantry Company Intensified Pacification Program (ICIPP), platoon and squad size US elements live, work with, and train Vietnamese Regular Forces and Popular Forces in their hamlets. This program is designed to help organize, build, and provide continual security in hamlets and villages against local VC forces, guerilla units and VC/NVA main forces.
Education plays an important role in the overall pacification effort. New schools were constructed throughout the division area of operation.
A new strain of rice was introduced into southern I Corps.
Touch and go in Hiep Duc Rescue
Incoming small arms fire, rocket propelled grenades, 60mm mortar fire and satchel charges erupted in the early morning hours of April 1, as an undetermined number of VC were repulsed following a futile attempt to penetrate Landing Zone Bayonet, headquarters of the 198th Infantry Brigade. Artillery, mortar and gunships teamed up to saturate the outer perimeter of Bayonet with deadly fire.
The soaring temperatures of southern I Corps in June did not stop soldiers of the Americal's three brigades as they accounted for 184 enemy killed. The heaviest action of the month remained in the area 22 miles northwest of Tam Ky in Operation Frederick Hill. Soldiers of the 196th Brigade operating in that area were accredited with 60 enemy soldiers killed.
On June 5, Colonel John Insani became the Americal Division Chief of Staff, replacing Colonel Albert G. Hume.
During the latter part of June, a company of 11th Brigade soldiers uncovered one of the largest enemy rice caches ever found in the I Corps Tactical Zone. The men of Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry, conducted an intensive, nine-day search operation that produced 97,500 pounds of enemy rice along the coastline, ten miles north of Duc Pho.
Brigadier General Theodore Mataxis became the Assistant Division Commander (Maneuver) on June 29, following Brigadier General Edwin L. Powell.
During the month of July units of the Americal Division, teamed with units of the 2nd ARVN Division, air assaulted the Kham Duc area near the Laotian border. The joint operation is establishing a fire base and re-opening an airstrip at Kham Duc.
"Born in Battle," The Americal continues to battle the enemies of freedom "Under the Southern Cross."
198th Brigade Order of battle Vietnam
| HHC, 198th Lt Inf Bde | Brigade Support |
| 1st Bn, 6th Inf | 8th Support Battalion |
| 1st Bn, 46th Inf | 23rd Military Police Co., 3rd Platoon |
| 1st Bn, 52d Inf | 26th Combat Engineer Battalion |
| 5th Bn, 46th | 175th Engineer Company |
| 1st Bn, 14th Arty | 687th Signal Company |
| 555th Engr Co | 156th Signal Platoon |
| 9th Spt Bn | 635th Military Intelligence Detachment |
| 265th MP Plt | 87th Chemical Detachment |
| 49th Sig Plt | 10th Public Information Detachment |
| 47th Mil Hist Det | |
| 635th MI Det | |
| 601st RRU | |
| H Trp, 17th Cav |
198th Brigade Presently
The 198th Infantry Brigade was reactivated on May 15, 2007 at Fort Benning, Georgia to serve as an Infantry Training Brigade.It is still doing that mission today. Of the total US Army there are only a total of 50,000 active infantry many of them train through the 198th.Photo Date 1970 The BTOC "Brigade Tatical Operations Center" LZ Bayonet Vietnam.
