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by Erin E. Thompson, USAICoE Staff Historian
FORT DEVENS VIETNAM VILLAGE MAKES NATIONAL NEWS
On Jul. 3, 1966, the U.S. Army Security Agency Training Center and School (ASATC&S) at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, was prominently featured in the Boston Sunday Herald. The article highlighted the Tactical Training Course (TTC), which featured the school’s specially constructed Viet Cong (VC) prisoner of war camp used for survival training.
The concept of the TTC was devised in the mid-1960s by Col. Lewis Millett, a Korean War Medal of Honor recipient and commander of the ASA Training Regiment at Fort Devens. Millett believed the ASATC&S should better prepare intelligence students for the reality of overseas service using simulated combat scenarios. He spearheaded the development of a special mobile training site to expose soldiers to enemy equipment, weapons, and personnel.
Soon after the first class began in July 1965, Colonel Millett determined the TTC did not adequately prepare students for the unique aspects of combat in Vietnam. Millett and other ASATC&S staff developed and began construction on two “Vietnam villages.” One site included realistic rice paddies and Vietnamese-style houses. The second village portrayed a VC prisoner of war camp, complete with an underground tunnel system, interrogation rooms, and a command post. Army personnel and their spouses roleplayed as friendly Vietnamese villagers and deadly enemy combatants. The updated course was offered to students from all branches of the Army, as well as the Navy and various other military services.
On Jul. 3, 1966, the ASATC&S’s Vietnam Village gained national attention with an article in the Boston Sunday Herald. Journalist Jim Morse detailed specific aspects of the course, including the experiences of trainees in the mock-VC camp. “The young GIs are thoroughly humiliated and many come close to mental and physical exhaustion. Yet, when the course is over, the GIs generally agree that the experience was worthwhile.”
The article sparked immediate outrage from the public. One complaint read: “Shocked and sickened [by] today’s Sunday Herald… Surely all who have already undergone [the course] will experience daily mental anguish. How will that prepare them to go to Vietnam with courage?” Several members of the public contacted their local and state representatives, urging an immediate investigation into the school’s activities.
Others defended the TTC, including ASA chaplain and Vietnam returnee Capt. Joel Andrews, who called it “the finest training I have seen to prepare our soldiers for eventual service [in Vietnam].” Pfc. Howell Kelly, who attended the TTC in April 1966 and initially disregarded it as dangerous and unnecessary, changed his mind after deploying to Vietnam:
"I learned things that someday may be priceless before I leave this country. I hope that day never comes. But, if such were the case that I had to defend myself, I could do so with much greater ease. Where I would [have] been helpless, I’m now at least able to stand on my own feet.…You’ve got a great thing at Devens. Hope it will go on, getting bigger and better."
In response to the uproar, the ASATC&S released a statement noting approximately 5,000 men had attended the TTC by July 1966, and no formal complaints had ever been filed against it or its instructors. The school further clarified that only the last six hours of the course—which ran for ten days and included 180 hours of instruction—were dedicated to escape and evasion from the realistic VC camp. The interrogation portion that had shocked audiences lasted only twenty minutes and included no real torture of trainees.
Over the next several months, the TTC welcomed civilian and military delegations, including visits from the Massachusetts’ Mayor’s Association, the office of the special assistant to the secretary of the Army, and presidential aides, to observe the course. Most left satisfied with the caliber of training they witnessed at the ASATC&S, and the Vietnam Village continued to operate successfully for the next few years.
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| Date Taken: | 06.27.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.27.2025 15:41 |
| Story ID: | 501759 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 20 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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