December. In discussions with the Philippine government, General Gomes pressed for maximum training of the second civic action group, using returning group members and equipment, and suggested that Philippine mobile training teams should be introduced early in the training phase. This would permit training to be conducted by men who were familiar with the equipment, procedures, and area of operations in South Vietnam. With regard to other aspects of the training, the Philippine armed forces were insistent that MACV provide mobile training teams for instruction on U.S. supply procedures and the U.S. Army equipment records system.
General Westmoreland concurred in the training proposal of General Gomes, particularly since the mission of the Philippine Civic Action Group, Vietnam, had not changed. He suggested that the procedure for deployment utilize the overlap of personnel on the individual and small unit levels to give on-the-job training to the second civic action group without an undue loss of operating efficiency. The training plan not only permitted the job orientation of the replacement force in Vietnam, but also maintained continuity of the established relationships with the Vietnamese and the Americans, minimized a surge in airlift requirements and facilitated redeployment of returning aircraft, and reduced security considerations associated with assembly and movement of large groups.
In spite of the advantage of individual and small unit rotation, the Philippine government could not support financially any extended overlap and only a two-day period was envisioned. Once a deployment date was set, the entire unit was to be rotated as quickly as possible, depending upon the availability of aircraft.
Preparation for the relief of the Philippine Civic Action Group began on 27 September 1967, when the first group of military training teams was sent to the Philippines to assist in the training of the replacement units.
In November 1967 the American Embassy in Manila established parameters for Philippine armed forces proposals that might lead to additional Philippine contributions to Vietnam, especially engineer units. It was almost certain that whatever contributions were made, the armed forces of the Philippines would insist on some form of Philippine command structure to provide command and control of their units. Units that could be substituted for U.S. personnel spaces would be organized under a Philippine logistical support group with a small headquarters for command and control. The logistical group would contain one to three engineer construction battalions and might also include the engineer unit then in South Vietnam.
