Forward Operating Base 4

Summary

Forward Operating Base 4 (also known as FOB 4) is a former Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG) Command and Control North base. It was near the Marble Mountains southeast of Da Nang, Vietnam. Seabees from NMCB 12 built sea huts on the base in 1968.[1]

Forward Operating Base 4
Forward Operating Base 4 is located in Vietnam
Forward Operating Base 4
Forward Operating Base 4
Coordinates16°00′25″N 108°15′43″E / 16.007°N 108.262°E / 16.007; 108.262 (Forward Operating Base 4)
TypeArmy
Site information
Conditionabandoned
Site history
Built1967
In use1967-72
Battles/wars
Vietnam War
Garrison information
OccupantsMilitary Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group

History edit

The base was located immediately north of the Marble Mountains and south of Marble Mountain Air Facility.[2]

On the night of 22–23 August 1968, as part of their Phase III Offensive, a company from the Viet Cong (VC) R20 Battalion and a sapper platoon infiltrated the base, killing 17 Special Forces soldiers (their largest one-day loss of the war) and wounding another 125 allied soldiers. Thirty-two VC were killed.[3]

Current use edit

The base is abandoned and the area now consists of sand dunes with some commercial and residential development.

References edit

  1. ^ "NMCB 12 1968-69 Cruisebook". Seabee Museum Archives. 2017. p. 83.
  2. ^ Kelley, Michael (2002). Where we were in Vietnam. Hellgate Press. p. 185. ISBN 978-1555716257.
  3. ^ Villard, Erik (2017). United States Army in Vietnam Combat Operations Staying the Course October 1967 to September 1968. Center of Military History United States Army. pp. 656–7. ISBN 9780160942808.