U.S. Army’s B Company, 504th Military Police Battalion Patrolled Central Highlands Highways During the Vietnam War

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For the men who patrolled such notorious stretches of road as Route 1 from Nha Trang to Bong Son, Route 19 from Qui Nhon to Pleiku and Route 14 from Pleiku to Kontum, the Central Highlands’ dust will forever fill their nostrils and the thick red mud will stubbornly keep pulling them back. Little has been written about these combat highwaymen, but they performed important and often dangerous tasks, such as escorting convoys; keeping a check on military traffic, civilian vehicles and pedestrians; and maintaining route security.

Among the highwaymen on the roads of Vietnam were the ‘Roadrunners’–the nickname given to the U.S. Army’s B Company, 504th Military Police Battalion. The 504th arrived in the Phu Tai Valley, Qui Nhon, on August 31, 1965. While its area of deployment varied during the war, the 504th operated chiefly in the Central Highlands in such areas as Pleiku, Nha Trang, An Khe and Kontum. As it had during World War II, the battalion participated in a large number of campaigns and earned decorations for outstanding service.

The mission of the 504th was to provide direct combat support to the tactical units in I and II Corps Tactical Zones (CTZs), as well as to furnish military police support as directed by the commanding officer of 16th Military Police Group. From 1965 to July 1966, elements of the 504th provided military police support in 12 different locations in I and II CTZs. Supporting the buildup and deployment of three infantry divisions, the battalion was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation.

As an Army MP battalion, the 504th gave priority to the support of tactical units, being cited specifically for its efforts during the Dak To fighting in November 1967 and the assistance it provided to the 11th Infantry Brigade in December 1967. During the Tet Offensive in 1968, B Company was involved mainly in sealing off the Pleiku area and defending Camp Schmidt, but it also played an important part in the defense of the MACV (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam) compound in Kontum. Meanwhile, A Company saw considerable engagement in Nha Trang, and elements of C Company were instrumental in assisting two separate convoys that were ambushed in Highway 19 January 30 and 31.

The 504th MP Battalion moved north to Phu Bai in November 1968, to Da Nang in August 1970, and then to Long Binh in 1972 before finally departing Vietnam on July 31. At its height, the battalion (comprising A, B and C companies and headquarters) had 650 men and 22 combined patrols operating on a daily basis. Specific duties included town patrol, the guarding and evacuating of prisoners of war, and highway patrol. The 504th was the only combat MP battalion (except for infantry MPs) operating in Vietnam, and until early 1967, the highway elements were eligible for the Combat Infantry Badge.

The B Company Roadrunners deployed from Phu Tai Valley, Qui Nhon, to Camp Holloway, Pleiku, in September 1965. In December 1968, the Roadrunners moved to Camp Schmidt on the other side of Pleiku City. In contrast to Camp Holloway, the living conditions at Camp Schmidt were luxurious. New two-story buildings replaced the damp and weathered hooches, and even hot-water showers became the norm. Except for one instance when the camp was shelled by 58 rounds of 122mm rockets, the living conditions for B Company were enviable. Occasionally, armored units that had spent a long night on Highway 14 with B Company’s highwaymen would jump at the chance to bivouac with them at Camp Schmidt. For the MPs, it was an equal trade: hot-water showers for the tank crews and the added security of tanks and APCs (armored personnel carriers) around the camp for the Roadrunners.

Like other units in the battalion, B Company included a Headquarters Platoon, a 1st Platoon (town patrol) and a 2nd Platoon (highway patrol). While town patrol was responsible for law and order in Pleiku City, the highway platoon conducted armed patrols on Highway 14 (Pleiku to Kontum) and Highway 19 (Pleiku to the An Khe Pass). Strong loyalties developed within each group because they lived in separate quarters, had different equipment and outlooks, and also faced different risks. While town patrol was tied to the’spit-n-shine’ of working in Pleiku City, those on highway patrol found a totally different kind of war, full of excitement, danger and a sense of freedom.When the 504th MP Battalion was moved north in the latter part of 1968, B Company was relieved from assignment to the 504th and remained in Pleiku, attached to the 93rd MP Battalion. Highway duty continued, and the Roadrunners also became involved in prisoner-of-war evacuation. Then, on February 20, 1970, B Company was dropped from its attachment to the 93rd and reassigned to its parent battalion, with concurrent transfer to Da Nang.

Although the mission of a field army MP battalion in the combat zone had remained constant through the years, Vietnam’s weather and terrain, as well as the nature of the war, dictated the development of new operational techniques–specifically in route reconnaissance, convoy escorts and route security. B Company’s Roadrunners and the other 504th highwaymen helped write the book on these new techniques.

The distance from An Khe to Pleiku on Route 19 is about 55 miles, and B Company controlled most of that area (C Company operated the stretch of road nearest to An Khe). Typical of the Central Highlands, the terrain was mountainous and beautiful … and dangerous.

Convoys ‘kicked out’ daily from Qui Nhon on their way to Pleiku and beyond; trucks from the 8th Transportation Group were loaded with everything from napalm to ice cream, ammo to beer, gasoline to steaks. This supply route was considered to be one of the most crucial and treacherous in Vietnam, perhaps as tough a trip as had ever faced a trucker. Not only did they have to worry about land mines, ambushes and snipers, but the road conditions themselves were a challenge for the most experienced driver.

These morning convoys were most likely to run into trouble in Roadrunner territory, particularly near Mang Yang Pass. The climb through the steep and narrow pass was slow, making convoys an easy target. Although each convoy maintained its own improvised ‘gun-trucks’ (some armed with M-55 quad .50-caliber machine guns) throughout its line of vehicles, Roadrunners would position themselves in the pass, ready to react in case of trouble.

An essential element of escort assistance to these convoys was the liaison and communication capability of the Roadrunners, who could call in air strikes, ‘Dustoffs’ (the nickname for medical evacuation by helicopter), gunships and ground combat reaction (usually armor). They were also tuned to the convoy commander’s frequency, providing a vital communications link throughout a convoy, which might occupy up to 3,000 meters of road space. A favorite Viet Cong target was the 5,000-gallon tanker (often carrying JP-4 aviation fuel) that was hauled by the 359th Transportation Company. A well-placed B-40 rocket would result in a thunderous explosion and devastating fire. In a practice that some looked upon as suicidal, Roadrunners would position themselves within these convoys–an example of their confidence and desire to confront the enemy.

For the most part, though, the Roadrunners actively patrolled the road before, during and after convoys to evaluate conditions, assist disabled truckers and generally handle any problem that came up. In addition to the military traffic, the road was also busy with civilian vehicles–such as buses and lambrettas (motor scooters)–and pedestrians. At times, the highwaymen responded to the occasional collision between the war effort and the people’s effort to pursue their daily existence.

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Historical Conflicts, Vietnam War

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