The 3rd Brigade headquarters base camp was divided between Tan An Army Airfield and Tan An South. Tan An South was the 3rd Brigade headquarters southeast of Route QL-4.

The 9th Infantry Division Band traveled to Tan An a total of four times during the Division's last 8 months in-country. First encounters are often the most memorable and so it was for me that sunny, hot, May 1 day back in 1969. The band had left Dong Tam's Reliable Airfield on a US Air Force C-7A Caribou. Although we were more accustomed to flying in helicopters, soaring high above the Mekong Delta in safety and relative comfort was an exhilarating break from our usual routine The Go Devils were receiving a new brigade commander, Colonel Dale J. Crittenberger, to replace the ailing Colonel Levin B. Broughton. (Colonel Crittenberger would be tragically killed in an air crash on September 17, 1969, the anniversary date of his first year in Vietnam.) The band had been ordered to perform at the change of command ceremony. En route to Tan An a flight of fast-moving US Air ForceF-4 Phantom jets crossed the path of our aircraft. The large Caribou hit the turbulent wake the jets had created and began to violently wing-wag while rapidly losing altitude. I imagine that the pilots had their hands full trying to regain control while keeping the plane relatively level. The airplane eventually settled down and we safely landed at Tan An Army Airfield, just a little shaken!

Tan An Army Airfield was a short distance west of the village of Tan An and National Route QL-4. The airfield was constructed early in 1967 to support 3rd Brigade participation in operation Enterprise. Company C - 15th Engineer Battalion and Company D - 86th Engineer Battalion transformed a straight stretch of Communal Route 223 into an asphalt, 2,500x50-foot, fixed-wing runway. The displaced road was rerouted south of the airfield. The installation included a heliport with 28 pads, a MEDIVAC pad, and a Chinook pad. Company C -  9th Medical Battalion operated a 40-bed hospital staffed by 5 doctors and a dentist. The hospital functioned as a clearing station between Tan An and Dong Tam/Long Binh. Airfield assets included a weather detachment, a rearming and refueling team, an air operations detachment from the 361st AOD, Battery C - 5/2 (40mm Duster) Artillery, and Battery H - 29th (Searchlight) Artillery.

INDICATED MONTHS OF COMMAND ARE APPROXIMATE

3/39 INFANTRY BATTALION COMMANDERS

AUG 1968 - FEB 1969

Battalion re-assigned to 1st Brigade in March 1969

    As of NOV 1968