redeploy to other combat/combat ready zones." Following division guidelines, each battalion regularly put its men through refresher weapons and tactics instruction. Colonel James E. Harrell, commander of the 26th Marines in 1970, said that Lieutenant Colonel William C. Drumright designed a retraining program for the 2d Battalion to counter the bad habits that were often developed:
He look in one platoon for 10 days and conducted fire team and squad training. He went hack to basics, even marksmanship and grenade throwing- It was ... a most successful program since it was a unit program. By the little statistics we were able to gather in the remaining time we had in country. it appeared that casualties went down in retrained platoons especially during night patrols and ambushes.105
The retraining touched other areas also: rules of engagement, Vietnamese customs, and race relations. The cycle was concluded with a steak and egg breakfast, followed by an inspection, usually by Lieutenant Colonel Drumright or his executive officer. Other units developed similar programs. The division operated formal schools for officer and NCO leadership, scout-sniper instruction, and mine and boobytrap counter-measures, with monthly student quotas allotted to each regiment. Each month, division Marines, with others from the wing and FLC, attended the III MAF Vietnamese Language and Combined Action Force schools or went to Okinawa for specialized technical courses.106
Each battalion managed a complex variety of training activities. During April 1970, the 3d Battalion, 1st Marines held staff officers' and NCOs* schools. Each rifle company conducted training in employment of supporting arms, ambush tactics, leadership, racial problems, and the rules of engagement; all incoming Marines received combat firing instruction on the battalion rifle range. Seventy-five percent of battalion Marines attended drug abuse classes taught by the division drug contact team. Twenty-seven men went to a division class in operation and maintenance of the experimental XM-191 Multi-Shot Portable Flame Weapon. The battalion sent 40 men to the division mine and boobytrap school, 2 officers to officers' leadership school, and 10 NCOs to staff NCO and NCO leadership schools. Two Marines attended division 16mm projectionist school, and eight took a course on multi-channel radio equipment.107
Other III MAF elements conducted similarly extensive training. In Force Logistic Command, for instance, the Supply Battalion, 1st FSR regularly instructed its Marines in marksmanship, weapon and motor vehicle safety, first aid, and defense against nuclear, biological, and chemical attack. The battalion held seminars on drugs and personal response and classes on proper treatment of civilians. Battalion Marines took courses each month in one or more supply specialties, and the battalion's Ration Company trained bakers from FLC, the division, and the wing.108
All Marine commands provided extensive troop recreation facilities and personnel services. At the beginning of 1970, the III MAF G-l staff, in addition to its prescribed functions, operated a Rest and Recuperation (R&R) Center at China Beach in East Da Nang and the Freedom Hill Day Recreation Center Just west of Da Nang Airbase. Ill MAF coordinated R&R assignments and travel for all United States personnel in I Corps. It sponsored and scheduled USO and other professional entertainment groups, and it had charge of Armed Forces motion picture distribution. As part of its exchange of roles with XXIV Corps, III MAF, in late February 1970, turned its entertainment scheduling and film distribution responsibilities over to the U.S. Army 80th Special Services Group.109
The Freedom Hill Recreation Center, one of III MAF's largest entertainment facilities, served 6, 000-7, 000 off-duty Marines, soldiers, sailors, and airmen each day; it was open most days of every month. The center included an indoor 35mm motion picture theater and fully equipped bowling lanes. Due to its location. Freedom Hill catered largely to rear-area troops rather than frontline riflemen. Colonel Wil-cox, the 1st Marines commander, commented: "Every time I drove past Freedom Hill, it bothered me. It seems to me that's an investment in manpower and facilities for the wrong people." Ill MAF retained control over Freedom Hill until 28 February 1971, when the center came under Army management during the final Marine redeployments.110
The division, wing, and FLC maintained their own recreational facilities. Early in 1970, the division had 12 officers' clubs, 21 staff NCO and NCO clubs, and 26 enlisted men's clubs in operation, as well as 16 post exchange stores and 1 main and 11 unit post offices. Besides a comparably complete club system, the 1st MAW boasted a hobby shop complete with a model car racing track and a golf pro shop with a driving cage. Force Logistic Command units enjoyed equally elaborate facilities, including post exchanges with civilian gift shops and concessions.111
