U.S. NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY DETACHMENT QUI NHON

NAVSUPPACT DET. QUI NHON was one of the first bases established to support the forces Operation Market Time, which began in 1965. Market Time is responsible for patrolling and maintaining surveillance in the coastal zones of South Vietnam. The base was officially titled in May 1966 upon the commissioning of the U.S. Naval Support Activity, Saigon. During the years of operation the command has enjoyed a fine reputation for providing the maintenance, administrative, and logistic support that is required to keep the operating forces in an outstanding condition of readiness.

NAVSUPPACT DET, QUI NHON is the northernmost of U.S. Naval Support Activity, Saigon’s detachment. It is located on the southern end of Phouc Mai Peninsula across the bay from the city of Qui Nhon and about 250 miles northeast of Saigon. If you have a map you will find Qui Nhon at a little less than two-thirds of the distance between the southern most part of Vietnam and the border at the seventeenth parallel. Qui Nhon is the province capital of Binh Dinn province and is a relatively large city.

The primary mission of the detachment is to support the forces that maintain coastal surveillance in the waters of the II Corps Tactical Zone on the South China Sea. These forces include Inshore Undersea Warfare Group I unit 3, a harbor Defense Command with varied types of boats ; North Central Coastal Surveillance Center, the operational control center for coastal operations; and various other Naval and Coast Guard craft and activities. The support provided by our team includes maintenance, overhaul and repair of the varied craft and vehicles used by this and our tenant commands; berthing, messing, medical, postal, supply and administrative facilities for approximately 400 personnel; pier and waterfront facilities capable of handling up to 40 boats of varied design and capability; morale, welfare and recreational facilities, which include the chapel, recreation room clubs, and game areas; defensive positions and tower to protect the base, the tenant commands and the equipment; and shops, warehouses and buildings necessary to perform this support. We feel that we are a compact, but complex and flexible instrument of the U.S. peace-keeping machine in Vietnam.

The motto of the command is “We Keep Them Afloat”, and this means that long hours, days and weeks of concentrated team effort are needed to meet the challenge of that motto. Servicemen will be putting in a full day’s work six and seven days a week and will be standing watches at the base defense stations as well. Even with the busy schedule our men find time to relax in the recreation room where TV, ping pong and pool tables are available. We also have an outdoor basketball court, which serves for volleyball and badminton games as well.

There is liberty in the city of Qui Nhon when alert staus is not imposed and movies are shown on the base five nights a week. The servicemen’s club have a full line of refreshments of beer for 15 cents and mixed drinks for 25 cents except the day before payday when all drinks are 10 cents.