About this Unit
The CMMI Team (Collection, Management, and Materiel Improvement Team) served as a specialized logistics and materiel support unit within the Americal Division (23rd Infantry Division) during the Vietnam War. Their primary mission focused on evaluating, collecting data on, and improving military equipment and supply systems in the challenging combat environment of Vietnam. By gathering feedback from frontline units and analyzing equipment performance, the CMMI Team played a crucial role in identifying deficiencies and recommending modifications to enhance operational effectiveness. Their efforts contributed significantly to the division’s ability to adapt to the unique demands of jungle warfare and sustain prolonged combat operations.
Historical Facts
•
CMMI Meaning: The acronym "CMMI" stands for Combat Military Intelligence, though sometimes it is interpreted as Command Military Intelligence Detachment. The CMMI Team of the Americal Division (23rd Infantry Division) functioned as a key military intelligence unit during the Vietnam War.
•
Americal Division Uniqueness: The Americal Division was the only U.S. Army division formed outside the United States during World War II, on the island of New Caledonia, and later reactivated for Vietnam.
•
CMMI Missions: The CMMI Team conducted intelligence gathering, counter-intelligence, prisoner interrogations, document exploitation, and HUMINT (human intelligence) operations throughout the division’s area of responsibility in I Corps, South Vietnam.
•
Integrated Approach: CMMI Teams worked closely with other intelligence assets including the Military Police, CID (Criminal Investigation Division), and local Vietnamese interpreters to disrupt Viet Cong activities.
•
Significant Operations: CMMI Team members played pivotal roles in major campaigns such as Operation Wheeler/Wallowa, Operation Muscatine, and Operation Frederick Hill, providing actionable intelligence against VC and NVA forces.
•
Counter-Insurgency: The team’s efforts included rooting out VC infrastructure (the so-called "Shadow Government"), identifying double agents, and monitoring civilian populations for enemy infiltration.
•
Captured Documents: CMMI Teams often recovered and analyzed enemy documents, maps, and diaries, sometimes leading to the exposure of enemy plans or the locations of caches and hideouts.
•
Risks and Dangers: CMMI Team members frequently operated in plain clothes, making them vulnerable to ambushes, kidnapping, and assassination by the Viet Cong.
•
Notable Individuals: Several CMMI veterans have shared accounts of their experiences, highlighting the dangers, moral dilemmas, and camaraderie within military intelligence—some of these stories appear in oral history archives and Vietnam memoirs.
•
Legacy: The work of the Americal Division’s CMMI Team contributed to the evolution of US Army intelligence doctrine, influencing later counter-insurgency and HUMINT practices in subsequent conflicts.
