This Manual, "Quartermaster Water Units," covers the operations of four quartermaster water units. It is for the use of the commanders, platoon leaders, and section and team chiefs for both the water supply company (TOE 10468) and water purifications detachment, general support (TOE 10469). This manual is for the use of the commander, staff, and other supervisory personnel of the headquarters and headquarters detachment, water supply battalion (TOE 10116). It is also for the use of the supervisor and shift leaders on the water team - water purification barge (TOE 10570). This manual covers planning, operations, and training; it gives suggestions and standards based on field experience. It relates procedures and policies that apply to water production, treatment, and distribution.

The purpose of this field manual (FM) is to provide doctrine and training procedures for unit field sanitation teams (FST). In addition, a training program in the application of personal protective measures (PPM) is included for personnel appointed as members of the FST for each company, troop, or battery. This publication contains a proposed 20-hour master training schedule which may be adjusted as necessary; a text that may serve as reference material for the FST instructor; and supporting illustrations for the instructors assigned the training task. This publication provides guidance to the commanders, unit leaders, and soldiers for implementing unit field sanitation and preventive medicine (PVNTMED) measures in the field. This publication is written to further aid the commander and his unit leaders in the continuing effort of reducing the disease and nonbattle injury (DNBI) rates during deployments. This publication provides information on PPM for the unit FST on applying unit-level PPM.

This work describes riverine combat during the Vietnam War, emphasizing the operations of the U.S. Navy’s River Patrol Force, which conducted Operation Game Warden; the U.S. Army-Navy Mobile Riverine Force, the formation that General William Westmoreland said “saved the Mekong Delta” during the Tet Offensive of 1968; and the Vietnam Navy. An important section details the SEALORDS combined campaign, a determined effort by U.S. Navy, South Vietnamese Navy, and allied ground forces to cut enemy supply lines from Cambodia and disrupt operations at base areas deep in the delta. The author also covers details on the combat vessels, helicopters, weapons, and equipment employed in the Mekong Delta as well as the Vietnamese combatants (on both sides) and American troops who fought to secure Vietnam’s waterways. Special features focus on the ubiquitous river patrol boats (PBRs) and the Swift boats (PCFs), river warfare training, Vice Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., the Black Ponies aircraft squadron, and Navy SEALs. This publication may be of interest to history scholars, veterans, students in advanced placement history classes, and military enthusiasts given the continuing impact of riverine warfare on U.S. naval and military operations in the 21st century. Special Publicity Tie-In: Commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War (Commemoration dates: 28 May 2012 - 11 November 2025). This is the fifth book in the series, "The U.S. Navy and the Vietnam War." TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction The First Indochina War The Vietnam Navy River Force and American Advisors The U.S. Navy and the Rivers of Vietnam SEALORDS The End of the Line for U.S. and Vietnamese River Forces Sidebars: The PBR Riverine Warfare Training Battle Fleet of the Mekong Delta High Drama in the Delta Vice Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. Black Ponies The Swift Boat Warriors with Green Faces Suggested Reading