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Special Agent, Vietnam: A Naval Intelligence Memoir

by Douglas H. Hubbard Jr. Potomac Books, Washington, D.C., 2006, hardcover $26.95.

Hubbard served three tours in Vietnam as a Naval Intelligence Service (NIS) officer. His experience, augmented by those of other NIS agents, provides a history of naval intelligence that encompasses the entire war. The staff consisted of officers, enlisted, civilians, and included Vietnamese. NIS agents operated throughout the country, from Khe Sanh in the north to Sea Float/Nam Can in the south. The NIS investigated everything imaginable. Never numbering more than 25 (the Army had hundreds) they were responsible not only for the Navy but also the Marines. Criminal investigations dealt with felonies including drug trafficking, fragging, murder, currency manipulation and postal fraud. Elite units were sometimes involved, including Marine Recon and Navy SEALS. The NIS also engaged in intelligence and counterintelligence activities such as terrorism, POW rescue, communications security and investigation of black power organizations. This is the only book on this aspect of the war. Hubbard is a good writer with a very interesting story to tell.

 

Originally published in the December 2007 issue of Vietnam Magazine. To subscribe, click here