Origins of the 232nd Mixed Commando Company, Callsign Armiger

Written by Colonel Clyde Russell

Origin of the Mixed Commando Concept

With more countries joining America in its war against the Communist North Vietnamese, strategists and military planners were struggling to contend with the dramatically increasing VC activity plaguing South Vietnam.

While MAVN-SOG teams waged relentless intelligence and counter insurgency operations in areas occupied by US forces while Airborne forces regularly struck deep into enemy territory, the VC and their allies in the local population seemed to constantly predict any hostile actions taken against them.

In 1966 Colonel Clyde Russell suggested the use of SOG teams composed of members hailing from different countries and military backgrounds to diversify each team’s skill set and tactical thinking against the VC and later Dac-Cong forces.

Unit History

The 1st unit deployed in such a structure were the 102nd Mixed Commando Company, Callsign Lance, which operated from Saigon between April-June of 1966 with considerable success while sustaining 20% members killed and 30% members with varying injuries. 

It wouldn’t be until January the following year that the 2nd deployment of such a unit, the 241st Mixed Commando Company, Callsign Halberd, between January-May along the DMZ. The unit would later be nicknamed “Slaughter” after they coordinated the annihilation of several hundred VC along the Ho-Chi-Minh trail in a three hour act of aerial violence on the 27th of April near Tchepone.

This came at the cost of 20% of the unit killed and 70% wounded, with many members using flares on themselves as markers for allied aircraft to strike as their positions were overrun.

The 232nd Mixed Commando Company, Callsign Armiger, marks the 3rd deployment of such a force, being deployed to Khe Sanh on the 15th, November 1967 to investigate VC activity around the base.