Mobile Riverine Force

The Brown Water Navy

For those not familiar with the Mobile Riverine Force, it was an Army/Navy operation that initially patrolled the Mekong River and its tributaries. Using PBRs, Alpha, Tango and other boats, the MRF patrolled, inserted 2nd Brigade units and interdicted enemy supplies flowing down the Mekong River. The MRF history goes back to the Civil War when a similar operation was used along the Mississippi River. Many 15th Engineers served with the MRF during the Vietnam War.

Go to the Mobile Riverine Force Association (MRFA) web page at http://www.mrfa.org for more information about the combined Army and Navy operations in Vietnam.

The following articles are from the July/August 1997 issue of Purple Heart magazine. These articles had been published earlier in the MRFA magazine, "River Currents".

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