When the job is done, in a year or more, the Marines move on to another village and repeat the process. There now are 114 CAP units operating in about 450 hamlets, a political subdivision roughly similar to a U.S. precinct or township. There are two to five hamlets in each village. So far, Marines have left more than 90 hamlets after training local PF platoons. Not one hamlet, including some in traditionally strong Viet Cong areas, has reverted to Communist control.
Officers say, however, that the real test is yet to come.
In the past, Marines normally moved only a few miles from one village to another. More important, the PF militiamen always have operated under protection of a main Marine force not too far distant. Now, the U.S. withdrawals rapidly are thinning this Marine shield. Through most of 1968 and 1969, about 85,000 Marines were in Vietnam. By mid-April this number is expected to drop to around 42,000 and to continue decreasing sharply in the months ahead.