| On 20 December 1967, the 71st
Infantry Detachment (Long Range Patrol)
was activated by sixty one troops chosen
by General Forbes from the ranks of
Company F, 51st Infantry (II Field Force
Long Range Patrol) Within a month the
unit was fully operational and acquainted
with it's Long Binh sector. One hour
before midnight 31 January 1968 a LRP
patrol gave the brigade it's initial
warning that the Tet Offensive had began.
This report propelled the Redcatchers of
the 199th into maelstrom of continuous
fighting and emergency reaction tasks
throughout the eastern Saigon defensive
zone. For six months the reconnaissance
detachment performed important
surveillance and ambush work in the Binh
Hoa and Long Binh area of operation.
The Tet campaign was concluded by the
end of May 1968, and the 199th Infantry
Brigade was relocated southwest of
Saigon, into the extensive marshlands
commonly called the "pineapple"
plantation. The flat swampy region
offered an ideal Viet Cong approach
corridor to Saigon and General
Westmoreland believed that the brigade's
presence would hamper this well-known
enemy route into the capital. The 71st
(LRP) was based at "Horseshoe
Bend" and conducted regular patrols
into the bomb scarred rice paddies,
elephant grass, and stretches of fruit
thickets and nipa palm..
The 71st (LRP) highlighted the
"LIGHT, SWIFT, and ACCURATE"
trademark of the brigade. For over a year
thˇ LRRP's of the 71st watched scores of
footbridges, embankment pathways, and
other guerrilla traveled avenues accross
the paddy landscape. The recon teams also
operated effectively from Navy Patrol
Boats that scoured the Song Vam Co Dong
and landed ambush parties along the mud
flats and reed-covered shores. During
this time the brigade recon framework was
enhanced and the 71st was expanded and
transformed into a Ranger company.
On 15 January 1969, Lt. Robert Eason
Jr. took over the 71st with an assigned
priority to reorganize it into a
brigade-level ranger company by the end
of the month. In conformity with this
schedule on ! February Brigade commander
Brigadier Gen. Frederic Davis activated
Company M (Ranger), 75th Infantry. The
Ranger structure gave the 199th a
reinforced combat reconnaissance and
surveillance capability. Rangers from
Company M were know to patrol in two man
teams, however the six man Ranger team
was standard and a twelve man heavy team
was used for combat patrols in most
instances.
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