cording to prearranged and previously rehearsed procedures. Military police or an infantry reaction force immediately closed all entrances and exits of the cantonment and cordoned the area of the incident. Company and platoon commanders assembled their men and called roll; they took into custody any Marines from other units found in their areas. All NCOs and other enlisted Marines then went to their living quarters and stayed there until they received further orders, while specially assigned teams searched the incident site and each hut or barracks- Meanwhile, the unit legal officer, assisted by NIS and Criminal Investigation Division personnel, set up an interrogation point, where each Marine, brought from his quarters, underwent private questioning about the incident. The interrogators, as General Jones put it, would "call in each Marine and point out to him his responsibilities as a man, as a Marine, as a Christian." This process continued until suspects had been identified and arrested. During it, the unit cancelled all leaves and suspended personnel rotations."
As an auxiliary to Operation Freeze, FMFPac and III MAF issued a steady stream of orders and messages designed to impress upon the individual Marine the "cowardly context" of fraggings and other acts of violence and to convince him that "identification of criminals is the responsibility of every citizen" and "is not playing the role normally attributed to being an informer." Of more practical value, the commands promised protection, if necessary by transfer out of Vietnam, to any Marine who volunteered information.100 The 1st Marine Division in addition imposed strict control of grenades and other explosive devices and conducted frequent inspections* of troop quarters for potentially dangerous materials. The division also emphasized preventive action. A division order in mid-December 1970 directed small-unit leaders to "be alert as to behavior or symptoms which may signal the possibility of a violent act" and where appropri ate to arrange for the immediate medical treatment, transfer, or administrative separation of potentially dangerous men. Commanders were to keep close watch on such possible fraggers and withhold weapons from them "except in the extreme case where their lives might be endangered by enemy action."101
By the end of 1970, Operation Freeze and its associated measures appeared to be producing results. In the first half of the year, the 1st Marine Division solved only 10 of 26 fraggings. During July, August, and September, division units made arrests in five of 10 cases, and in the last three months of the year the division solved seven out of 11 fraggings. In two cases during December, individual Marines, responding to the offer of protection, furnished information that led to arrests, confessions, and convictions. Only two flaggings, neither of which caused any casualties, occurred between January and April 1971. The division G-l staff attributed this encouraging trend to the effectiveness of Operation Freeze and to the fact that "few, if any, such incidents . . . occur in ... units standing down."102
Training and Morale-Building
Besides trying to remedy specific disciplinary problems, III MAF carried on a broad training and morale-building effort. The necessity for training increased as combat diminished and an often false sense of security led to slackness in the field. Repeatedly, regimental and battalion commanders had to remind their small-unit leaders to follow correct tactical procedures. In May 1970, for example. Lieutenant Colonel Johan S. Gestson, commanding the 3d Battalion, 5th Marines, declared: "Ambushes are often compromised by Marines smoking, coughing, or talking and fire power is not effective frequently." He directed his company and platoon commanders to "take immediate corrective action to upgrade marksmanship and discipline in ambushes."103 At the end of his tour as commander of the 1st Marines, Colonel Wilcox observed: "The best training the Division could get is to get out of Vietnam and ... get people teaching . . . fire support, fire discipline, fire control, sensors, and a lot of other things that . . . we're awful shaky on."104
While unable to follow Wilcox' advice about getting out of Vietnam, the 1st Marine Division did the next best thing. It conducted continuous training aimed at preparing Marines to "fight aggressively and intelligently in a counterinsurgency environment" and to "maintain the individual Marine's readiness to
* Commanders had to observe a fine legal line between inspection and search. Inspection was "a legitimate review of persons and property to insure the fitness and readiness of the unit to execute its mission." A search "has as its purpose the uncovering of physical evidence to support an apprehension or charge .... There must be reason to believe that a crime has been committed and that the fruits of the crime or other evidence may be found on the person or property to be searched." Nevertheless, unannounced inspections were "legitimate forms of military inspections," during which officers could seize contraband material, including unauthorized ordnance. IstMarDivO 5830.1, Subj: Standing Operating Procedures for Prevention of Crimes of Violence, dtd 13Dcc70. tab B15, 1st MarDiv ComdC, Dec70.
