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Cryptonym: SWITCHBACK

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Definition:
According to the ARRB, Operation SWITCHBACK was designed to transfer the CIA's paramilitary capability to the Pentagon (undertaken after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion).
Status:
Documented
Discussion:
John Newman mentioned Operation SWITCHBACK in his 1992 book, JFK and Vietnam (pages 434, 447). It was also mentioned in a number of other books.
Sources:

Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963, Volume III: Vietnam January-August 1963 Current Section: 18. 1/25/63 - Memorandum From the Commander in Chief, Pacific (Felt) to the Joint Chiefs of Staff

01/25/63: Memorandum from the Commander in Chief, Pacific, H.D. Felt, to the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Subject: Comprehensive Plan for South Vietnam (CPSVN): ..."4. The Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) program (Switchback) is an important counterinsurgency force, complementary to other programs in SVN and has been integrated into the Comprehensive Plan. However, experience on the ground has shown that this program is not susceptible to MAP procedures and should be treated as a separate but related program. 5. To defeat the insurgency by the end of 1965 and effect early withdrawal of U.S. special military assistance, it will be necessary to accelerate training, equipment deliveries, and combat operations. Comparing the DOD dollar guidelines provided in reference (c) with the Comprehensive Plan costs extended through FY 69, the net difference is about 66 million dollars. The preponderance of the increase is required in FY 64. 6. The plan has been developed by COMUSMACV, coordinated with the SVN Country Team and concurred in by the Ambassador. 7. It is recommended that: a. The Comprehensive Plan for South Vietnam be approved as the basis for the development of the FY 64-69 MAP for South Vietnam. (5) b. Switchback be funded from sources outside of PACOMMAP. c. Administration of Switchback funds be accomplished through DA channels, and authority be granted to dispense funds in an unvouchered manner and without compliance with a number of requirements that cannot be observed in an operation of this nature."

Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963, Volume III: Vietnam January-August 1963 Current Section: 21. 1/28/63 - Memorandum From Michael V. Forrestal of the National Security Counsil Staff to the President

01/28/63: Memorandum from Michael V. Forrestal of the National Security Council to the President: Titled: SOUTH VIETNAM: ..."5. You might ask John McCone to see if his people think 'Operation Switchback' (the shift of responsibility for paramilitary training from CIA to the Army) should be delayed at least until the Army can assure its continuity..."

Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963, Volume III: Vietnam January-August 1963 Current Section: 27. 2/1/63 - Memorandum From Michael V. Forrestal of the National Security Council Staff to the President

02/01/63: Memorandum from Michael V. Forrestal of the National Security Council to the President: Titled: SOUTH VIETNAM: ..."6. Does Director McCone feel that 'Operation Switchback' (the transfer of paramilitary training REDACTION to Army Special Forces) is progressing smoothly, or should it be stretched out to allow the Army more time to work out its funding procedures? 7. Have we thought about the danger of creating too many separate and disorganized paramilitary organizations? Is this an efficient use of manpower? Has any thought been given to providing a police force to control the movement of peoples and goods in areas which have been cleared by government forces?"

Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963, Volume III: Vietnam January-August 1963 Current Section: 51. 3/7/63 - Memorandum From the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Secretary of Defense (McNamara)

03/07/63: Memorandum from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Secretary of Defense (McNamara): Subject: Comprehensive Plan, South Vietnam: ..."8. The CPSVN has been coordinated with the RVN Country Team and concurred in by the Ambassador for MAP planning purposes. It now requires careful coordination and integration of effort by all involved governmental agencies at the Washington level. CINCPAC and Commander, US Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, have recommended that the CIDG program (Switchback) be funded from outside of PACOMMAP. Funding of Switchback for the period FY 64-66 has not been resolved and requires early action to insure a capability for supporting CPSVN as well as other programs covered by NSAM 57. (5) 9. The Joint Chiefs of Staff recommend that the CPSVN submitted by CINCPAC be approved as the basis for the refinement of the FY 64 MAP and development of the FY 65-69 Military Assistance Plan. For the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Maxwell D. Taylor, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff."

Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963, Volume III: Vietnam January-August 1963 Current Section: 136. 5/27/63 - Memorandum From the Commander in Chief, Pacific (Felt) to ... (Harkins)

05/27/63: Memorandum from the Commander in Chief, Pacific (Felt) to the Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Harkins): Subject: Civilian Irregular Defense Group Program in the Republic of Vietnam: "1. Purpose. The purpose of this letter is to confirm agreements previously reached by providing a mission, tasks, and coordinating instructions for execution of U.S. Military responsibilities concerning the Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) Program and certain CAS activities in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN). 2. Background. On 23 July 1962, SecDef announced that the DOD would assume responsibility for certain activities in the RVN which had been developed under CAS auspices with U.S. military support. The JCS accordingly directed that training, operational assistance and logistical support responsibility for the essentially overt military and paramilitary elements, which had been developed in the RVN under CAS sponsorship, be taken over by COMUSMACV. This directive has been complied with. COMUSMACV has assumed responsibility for the CIDG program in RVN (nicknamed Operation Switchback). 3. Policy. a. The CIDG Program will be supported by the U.S. Armed Forces with due regard for certain sensitive matters involved including the basic CAS requirement to obtain covert intelligence. In handling political aspects, care will be taken to preserve the well-established U.S. relationships with GVN officials in Saigon and the provinces...c. The CIDG Program will be undertaken in a spirit of mutual CAS-Defense cooperation and support. DOD funds, including special authorization to meet unusual requirements, will be made available for the CIDG Program upon submission of firm requirements. Whenever possible these requirements should be determined by COMUSMACV in coordination with the U.S. Ambassador, CAS Saigon, and the Government of Vietnam..."

Honolulu Meeting Briefing Book, 11/20/63, Part II Current Section: Tab A: CIA Memorandum of 14 Nov 1963

11/14/63: CIA memorandum: Subject: Recent MAC(V)/CAS Discussions Concerning the Transfer of Certain Programs: "Summarized below are the discussions between MAC(V) and CAS Saigon regarding the possible transfer of certain CAS paramilitary and other programs to MAC(V) or joint MAC(V)/CAS control...e. Funding: Discussions have been held with the Comptroller of CAS concerning the funding, during FY 1964, of the border surveillance program and the mountain scout program after transfer to MAC(V). It has been agreed that (REDACTION) should be earmarked for the border surveillance program and (REDACTION) should be earmarked for the mountain scout program, and that these funds would be added to Operation Switchback funds for use by MAC(V) during FY 1964. No agreement has yet been reached for the funding of the above programs or the funding for the combat intelligence teams for FY 1965. This presumably will be discussed at the 20 November Honolulu conference..."

104-10301-10000: EXCERPTS: DRAFT HISTORY: JOHN A. MCCONE, THE SIXTH DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE

Page 25: ..."6 June 1964: McGeorge Bundy and Michael Forrestal raise with McCone the possibility of an Agency program along pre-SWITCHBACK lines..."

_ID-R_A.30

ARRB document: Research and Analysis: Acronyms/Abbreviations/Crypts/Organizations Identification Aid: Page 52: ..."Switchback: Operation to transfer the CIA's paramilitary capability to the Pentagon (undertaken after the Bay of Pigs invasion)..."

John Prados, Safe for Democracy (Ivan R. Dee, Chicago: 2006) p. 343

..."In consonance with John Kennedy's decisions after the Bay of Pigs, the CIA had been ordered to get out of the paramilitary business. That became the origin of Operation Switchback, which turned over the agency's montagnard CIDGs to the military command in Vietnam. But the prohibition lasted less than a year. A directive already in draft form when LBJ became president provided for unilateral U.S. pressures against North Vietnam, a program of covert military action called OPLAN 34-A. Langley's Far East baron Bill Colby went to Honolulu within weeks of Diem's downfall to discuss this with U.S. military commanders. Colby now opposed missions of the sort he had carried out in Project Tiger, but the CIA view would be overridden. President Johnson approved OPLAN-34-A. The CIA boat base at Da Nang, handed over to the military under Switchback early in 1964, would be expanded to support 34-A. Quite soon the military's Studies and Observation Group (SOG), with orders for commando attacks along the North Vietnamese coast as part of 34-A, added its own version of the infiltration program. The CIA supplied intelligence and specialized support to these activities as long as they continued..."

John Prados, Safe for Democracy (Ivan R. Dee, Chicago: 2006) p. 340-341

..."Chink Layton, Colby, and other CIA officers had far greater success with a paramilitary effort in South Vietnam's Central Highlands, organizing armed forces among the tribal minorities. For self-defense, an upland counterpart of 'strategic hamlets', then for border control, the tribal units became the basis for a striking force. Called the Village Defense Program by the CIA, and Civilian Irregular Defense Groups (CIDGs) by the military, the units had fortified base camps and Green Beret leadership. Until November 1962 the CIDG program was entirely a CIA project, thereafter operational command shifted to MACV, though the agency continued to foot the bill. All responsibility went to the military in a 1963 phase-out of CIA activity known as Operation Switchback. By the time Colonel Layton transferred to Thailand in 1965 the CIDGs were well established. They comprised eighty base camps..."

Contributors:
Gavin McDonald • John Prados • John Newman

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