Forward Operating Base 4 Explained

Forward Operating Base 4
Type:Army
Built:1967
Pushpin Map:Vietnam
Used:1967-72
Condition:abandoned
Occupants:Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group
Battles:
Vietnam War

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]

History

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

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

Notes and References

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