Nexus - 0403 - New Times Magazine-pages

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was assigned along with six others as "Combat Controllers" (the North Vietnamese ground forces. A much similar pattern was USAF equivalent of Special Forces), receiving his distinctive occurring in Cambodia, amid grave fears that the "domino theory" Special Forces burgundy-coloured beret. From there he was would result if either of these two nations were to fall to the assigned to Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and then on to Fort Communist North Vietnamese. Nixon hoped that the vacuum Bragg, North Carolina—home of the "Green Berets"—for training caused by the withdrawal of US covert forces could be filled by in C4 plastic explosives, mines, nuclear, biological and chemical native Cambodian forces. Lon Nol, the Cambodian leader, stub- warfare, plus indoctrination in electronic and psychological opera- bornly continued to resist Nixon's diplomatic overtures to take up tions. the slack, being anxious to hedge his bets and realistic about his Posted to South-East Asia as Airman First Class (AIC) in chances of survival as Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese forces pre- December 1970, he was assigned as a radio operator on a Forward pared to swarm in, unhindered by US air power. Air Control (FAC) aircraft attached to Task Force Alpha at A plan had been drawn up at the highest levels of Nixon's Nakhon Phanom, Thailand. In short order he was recruited (an administration. Team Red Rock were to enter Cambodia's capital, involuntary "volunteer") to "Team Red Rock". The team was Phnom Penh, in secret and attack the airport and military and civil composed of eight US Army Green Berets, three US Navy SEALs installations, wreaking as much havoc as possible. The plan and two "cowboys"—a euphemism for CIA paramilitary special- called for the team to parachute into the outskirts of Phnom Penh, ists. With Tatum attached, Team Red Rock totalled 14 in all, and carrying captured NVA "Sappers” with them. Taken in unarmed was about to be tasked with an oper- and alive, the Sappers would be "sacri- ation that came directly from the ficed" and their bodies left to be dis- White House. covered by Cambodian forces. A In January 1971 the team received furious Lon Nol would assume North a final briefing from General | The team members were not told Vietnam was to blame. It was hoped Alexander Haig, who had flown in that such an act would stiffen Lon specially, along with CIA Saigon that they, too, were to be Nol's backbone. With nowhere else to Chief William Colby—nicknamed sacrificed by their President to turn, the US puppet would urgently by the team as "Mr Peepers" because seek US hardware to strengthen his of his resemblance to a well-known | @NSUFE that word of the operation forces and continue the battle. character in a TV sitcom. Haig and i The team members were not told Colby outlined the plan, stressing its never reached the light of day. that they, too, were to be sacrificed by importance and extreme classifica- their President to ensure that word of tion. President Nixon, desperate to the operation never reached the light quell domestic riots over an increas- of day. A detachment of Montagnard ingly unpopular war, sought to with- tribesmen ("the Yards"), in the pay of draw all US personnel from South-East Asia. Withdrawal the CIA, was assigned to liquidate each member of the team and would—and, in the end, ultimately did—cause a military vacuum, dispose of the bodies. The attack went successfully, but the quickly leading to the defeat of South Vietnamese forces. team's suspicion of "the Yards" foiled the betrayal. Using their During those years, Nixon was also running a "secret war" in knowledge of "escape and evasion" tactics, the team decided to Cambodia and Laos. In Laos, a dwindling number of Meo tribes- trek to the Vietnamese border and back to safety with US forces.' men, together with covert US personnel employed by the CIA Casualties thinned out their numbers until only eight of them proprietary company, Air America, were battling against superior = remained. Soon these, too, were captured by NVA regulars and underwent hideous torture at the hands of Chinese and Russian — interrogators. Ultimately, only Tatum and one other team mem- ee a ber survived the ordeal. i Convalescing, Tatum was debriefed by CIA station chief, William Colby, and told he would, in future, be kept close to "the Agency". Recruited into the CIA, the yawning door of future Eee —~ a1 "black" operations creaked open. Life would never be the same ; co | EE | again for Chip Tatum. Hattie | bec] oe —=— 8 P that they, too, were to be sacrificed by their President to en Le arena eS 8s Se aN vans = Pos CIA DEEP-COVER AGENT For the next 10 years or so, Tatum's covert activities were var- ied. For a while, he worked out of Homestead Air Force Base where he was NCIOC of the tower receiver sight and MARS sta- tion. This was the base which then-President Nixon used for his frequent visits to the Key Biscayne, Florida, "White House". Much of this period remains obscured behind a thick blanket of classification. From there, he was stationed in northern Italy, tasked with visit- ing the border towns of Yugoslavia and Italy. Colby felt that as a young Air Force man, Tatum might be "approached" in these towns for "information". The idea was to make contact with for- eign agents and covertly gather information about them and their operations. Later, he was tasked with infiltrating Yugoslavia in order to gather intelligence on potential successors to the then Seemerviie 26 = NEXUS APRIL - MAY 1997