The United States Army Vietnam Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, or unit patch, was approved on 10 February 1966. Its shield-shaped design suggests defense, the principal mission being the defense of the sovereign nation of South Vietnam against aggression from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, more commonly referred to as simply North Vietnam.
Red and yellow, the colors of South Vietnam, are seen in the outside vertical stripes in the shield’s interior, with a blue stripe in the center representing the United States; the sword on the blue stripes denotes the United States Military serving in Vietnam.
The establishment of United States Army Vietnam (USARV) was the result of discussions regarding the creation of a separate U.S. Army component under the existing Military Assistance Command between General John Waters, Commander in Chief of U.S. Army Pacific and General William Westmoreland, commander of Military Assistance Command.
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United States Army Vietnam Combat Service ID Badge (CSIB)Ultimately, Waters agreed that Westmoreland’s suggestions regarding the new component should be followed, starting with the redesignation of U.S. Army Support Command to U.S. Army, Vietnam. With Army Support Command disestablished, Westmoreland proposed that its Commanding General be redesignated as Deputy Commanding General of the new USARV, and that all Army units that were sent to Vietnam should be assigned to the headquarters of USARV.
20 July 1965 can be seen as the unofficial date of USARV’s creation as it marked the date of a letter that spelled out the command structure and relationship between USARV and MACV. USARV controlled the activities off Army units in South Vietnam through ten major support commands with nearly six dozen smaller organizations carrying out their orders and commands. In May 1972, USARV was merged into MACV TO become USARV/MACV Support Command and was subsequently disestablished a year later