2nd Marine Division ( Republic of Korea ) The 2nd Marine Division ( ; Hanja : 第2海兵師團 ) , also known as Blue Dragon ( ; Hanja : 青龍 ) , is an infantry division of the Republic of Korea Marine Corps . History . On June 1 , 1965 , Prime Minister of South Vietnam Nguyen Cao Ky requested military aid from South Korea . To support South Vietnam from communist North Vietnam , Korea State Council agreed to send a Division and its supporting units on July 2 , and National Assembly of South Korea made final decision to send troops on August 13 . On August 17 , the Republic of Korea Marine Corps attached various battalions , companies , and platoons to the 2nd Marine Regiment to increase its size to a brigade . The Marine Corps originally planned battalion to regiment size unit , but reports from Vietnam said that separating army and Marines was more appropriate to operate . With President Park Chung - hee in attendance , the 2nd Marine Brigade was formally activated at the ROK Marine Corps training camp at Pohang on September 20 , 1965 . Vietnam War . The Blue Dragons were initially deployed to Cam Ranh Bay in September 1965 , but in December moved to Tuy Hoa to provide security against the NVA 95th Regiment . In August 1966 , the Blue Dragons moved to Chu Lai and was placed under the operational control of the III MAF . Under an arrangement with the USMC , air assets would be provided to the brigade and assigned the same priority for available aircraft as American units . A team from Subunit One , 1st ANGLICO was dispatched and charged with the mission of keeping an air umbrella over the Blue Dragon Brigade in and out of the field . A two man fire control team was assigned to each ROKMC infantry company at all times . Initially , the AK - 47 - equipped Vietcong and NVA outgunned South Korean soldiers , since they were armed with World War II - era weaponry ( M1 Garand and M1 carbine ) . However , they soon received more modern weapons from the United States military such as the M16 rifle . Significant operations and actions involving the Brigade include : Most of the operations never exceeded battalion - size , but they also conducted divisional size operations . Before conducting missions , the Marines laid out their plans much more carefully than their allies , with greater fire discipline , effective use of fire support , and better coordination of sub - units . They also had to their favor the distinguished combat leadership of the company and platoon commanders . During village searches , ROK soldiers would subject the settlement to a series of detailed sweeps while interrogating subjects on the spot . By comparison , American units tended to favor a single sweep followed by a removal of all civilians for screening . Such a painstaking approach paid dividends in terms of weapons seizures and reduced VC activity in ROK areas . South Koreans quickly learned pidgin Vietnamese language ; for fear that most Vietnamese translators were spies for Vietcong and NVA . South Koreans also had better field intelligence than their American counterparts . South Koreans conducted counterinsurgency operations so well that American commanders felt that the South Korean TAOR ( Tactical Area of Responsibility ) was the safest . This was further supported when Vietcong documents captured after the Tet Offensive warned their compatriots to never engage the South Koreans until full victory was certain . In fact , it was often that the NVA and Vietcong were ambushed by South Koreans and not vice versa . The ROK Marines were experts at locating enemy weapons caches . The official U . S . report on South Korean participation in Vietnam states that " The enemy feared the Koreans both for their tactical innovations and for the soldiers ' tenacity . . . The Koreans might not suffer many casualties , might not get too many of the enemy on an operation , but when they brought in seventy - five or a hundred weapons , the Americans wondered where in the world they got them . They appeared to have a natural nose for picking up enemy weapons that were , as far as the enemy thought , securely cached away . Considered opinion was that it was good the Koreans were ' friendlies . ' " The U . S . Army manual on South Korean participation in Vietnam also states that " the Koreans were thorough in their planning and deliberate in their execution of a plan . They usually surrounded an area by stealth and quick movement . While the count of enemy killed was probably no greater proportionately than that of similar American combat units , the thoroughness with which the Koreans searched any area they fought in was attested to by the fact that the Koreans usually came out with a much higher weaponry count than American forces engaged in similar actions . " A total of 320 , 000 South Koreans served in the Vietnam War , with a peak strength ( of any given time ) at around 48 , 000 . About 4 , 000 were killed . Order of battle during Vietnam War . 2nd Marine Brigade After the Vietnam War . After returning from the Vietnam War , the 2nd Marine Brigade was expanded and restructured as 2nd Marine Division .