Other groups of Marines performed an assortment of missions in support of the Government of Vietnam during the course of the year. The Detachment, 1st Composite Radio Company, for example, continued its duties at the U.S. Army Communications installation in Pleiku. A handful of these Marines also served at a newly opened U.S. Army communications station at Phu Bai some eight miles southeast of Hue. The strength of the Detachment, 1st Composite Radio Company, however, was reduced from 42 officers and men to only 16 by the end of December.

The spring of 1964 saw a new, substantially larger Marine communications detachment introduced into the northern provinces of South Vietnam. Unlike its predecessors at Pleiku and Phu Bai, this unit was composed exclusively of Marines and included an infantry element for security purposes. Designated the Signal Engineering Survey Unit, the radio detachment consisted of three officers and 27 enlisted men drawn from the 1st Radio Company, FMFPac, and from Headquarters Marine Corps. This clement, commanded by Captain Alfred M. Gray, Jr. arrived at Da Nang on 20 May along with a 76-man infantry detachment from Company G, 2d Battalion, 3d Marines. The infantry element, reinforced with an 81mm mortar section (two mortars), was commanded by First Lieutenant Raymond J. Otiowski. Captain Gray assumed overall command of the composite force which was designated Marine Detachment, Advisory Team One. Advisory Team One became the first actual Marine ground unit to conduct independent operations in the Republic of Vietnam.
U.S. Air Force C-123 transports airlifted the bulk of the newly formed unit to the Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) camp at Khe Sanh in northwestern Quang Tri Province in the closing days of May. Two officers and five enlisted communicators remained behind at Da Nang and a four-man team positioned itself in the U.S. Army compound at Phu Bai to provide radio support for the main body. At Khe Sanh, Advisory Team One initially concentrated on building a solid supply base prior to undertaking actual communications operations. ARVN truck convoys brought the preponderance of its supplies from Quang Tri over Route 9, the old colonial road that snaked through the Annamite Mountains into Laos. While Captain Gray and his men proceeded with this task, Marine UH-34Ds from Da Nang helilifted an ARVN infantry company onto Tiger Tooth Mountain (Dong Voi Mep), a jungle-covered mountain located eight miles north of the CIDG Camp. With an elevation of 5,500 feet. Tiger Tooth Mountain is the highest terrain feature in northern I Corps. On 13 June U.S. Army UH-1B helicopters lifted Captain Gray, nine enlisted men, and several thousand pounds of equipment into a tiny landing zone which the South Vietnamese troops had hacked out near the top of the rugged mountain. The ARVN soldiers, who had established a rough perimeter around a peak slightly below the mountain's highest point, were on hand to greet the small group of Americans. After the initial helilift, however, bad weather in the form of dense clouds intervened to delay the remainder of the movement for an entire week. SHUFLY helicopters finally completed the mission on 21 June. When the helilift concluded 73 Marines and roughly 100 Vietnamese troops were strung around and across a 5,000-foot peak just south of Tiger Tooth's highest elevation. Another 81 Leathernecks remained at Khe Sanh to provide a pool from which fresh security forces and radiomen could be drawn when needed. MACV orders explicitly prohibited the Marines on Tiger Tooth Mountain from patrolling or engaging in any other activity which could have been construed as offensive in nature. As a result of this restriction. Captain Gray's men were confined to defensive positions around the crude little landing zone and the tents which housed the radio equipment. Even so, life on the mountain was extremely rigorous. The clouds which frequently enshrouded the mountain top left the Marines, their clothing, weapons, and equipment constantly damp. High winds heightened their discomfort. The local weather conditions also made food and water deliveries to the position hazardous and irregular. Marine UH-34Ds pre-positioned at Khe Sanh brought C rations and water cans whenever the clouds revealed Tiger Tooth's higher elevations. Often, however, the weather did not break for days. Normally the men were limited to two canteens of water daily-a restriction which made bathing and shaving impossible. Because of the harsh living conditions on the mountain, fresh security forces and radio men were rotated from Khe Sanh at two week intervals, weather permitting. Advisory Team One operated in the extreme northwestern corner of the republic without incident until the second week of July. Then a severe storm struck its mountaintop base, blowing away tents and antennae, collapsing fighting positions, and generally disrupting operations. Several nights later, on the 17th, a Viet Cong force of undetermined size probed the Marine sector of the perimeter. An intense exchange of small arms and automatic weapons fire ensued for nearly two hours. Although the Marines suffered no casualties and could find no dead or wounded Viet Cong the next day, it was apparent that their location had been compromised.
Amid reports of increasing Communist activity throughout the area, MACV authorities in Saigon promptly ordered Captain Gray to withdraw his force from Tiger Tooth Mountain. Fortunately good weather permitted Marine helicopters from Da Nang to helilift the men and their equipment from the mountain to Khe Sanh the day after the firefight. On the 22d, Air Force C-123 transports airiifted the entire Marine detachment to Da Nang. There Gray and his Marines crowded into the old French compound occupied by the helicopter task element. Although cramped, the SHUFLY facilities provided welcome relief for the men who had endured the rigors of Tiger Tooth Mountain and Khe Sanh for nearly two months.
While at Da Nang, Captain Gray detached a small group of radiomen to Monkey Mountain, a rocky, jungle-covered peninsula that jutted into the South China Sea just northeast of the city. There in relative comfort and safety, the technicians conducted equipment tests for two weeks. Several changes in the leadership and composition of the advisory team took place during this interval. Captain Raymond A. Becker, a communications officer from the 1st Radio Company, FMFPac, relieved Captain Gray as the commander of the unit on 13 August(Captain Gray was promoted to Major shortly thereafter). Soon thereafter a reinforced infantry company. Company K, 3d Battalion, 3d Marines, commanded by Captain William R. Irwin, replaced Lieutenant Otiowski and the Company G Marines as the advisory team's security element.
Under Captain Becker's command, Advisory Team One redeployed, this time to Dong Bach Ma, a 3,500-foot mountain located roughly 25 miles west-northwest of Da Nang. An abandoned French resort, still untouched by the war, sprawled across the higher elevations of Bach Ma and a hard surface road curved up its steep northern face from Route 1. Using this road ARVN trucks moved Captain Irwin and the infantry element to the newly selected site in advance of the radio personnel. Once atop the mountain, Irwin had his men establish a perimeter around an abandoned monastery. This accomplished. Marines cleared a small helicopter landing zone near the old but well-preserved religious building which was to serve as their base of operations. On 19 August Marine helicopters lifted Captain Becker, his communicators, and some 4,000 pounds of equipment to the site from Da Nang.
Advisory Team One, relying heavily on Marine helicopters for logistical support, operated without incident from the quaint old monastery until the second week of September. The composite unit completed its operations at Bach Ma on the 10th . whereupon it returned to Da Nang. Within days the detachment was disbanded without fanfare. The radio experts returned to their parent commands in Hawaii and Washington while Company K was airlifted to Okinawa where it rejoined the 3d Battalion, 3d Marines. The quite dissolution of the Marine Detachment, Advisory Team One, ended the first brief and little publicized chapter of Marine ground unit operations in the Republic of Vietnam.

My Dad was with 1st Radio at the time this occurred and was there for the whole thing since he is fluent in french. I showed this to my Dad Christmas Eve, and he was surprised that this was de-classified. He said there were not too many people who knew about this operation. After his experiences with Al Gray there, he told me that if Al Gray ever came around looking for volunteers, put your hand up.

Dear Sirs, my father was in radio, please see the memorial I designed and built for all off you at www.beaverhead.com/veterans ,click progress. Ron rs1514@hotmail.com