Both the U.S. and Thai governments were anxious to speed up the deployment of additional Thai forces to South Vietnam. In this regard, the State Department queried the American Ambassador in Bangkok on the possibility of the Thais' augmenting some existing battalions and sending them to South Vietnam early in 1968 under the command of the Royal Thai Army Volunteer Regiment. As a parallel example, the State Department pointed out that the United States was expediting the deployment of infantry forces to the level of 525,000, and in some cases units were having to complete their final training in South Vietnam.
General Westmoreland did not concur with the concept of expediting the Thai augmentation forces to the point of curtailing their training. He believed that forces deployed to South Vietnam should be equipped and ready to accomplish unit missions upon arrival in their area of operations. Although an exception had been made in the case of certain U.S. units, General Westmoreland did not agree in the case of Free World Military Assistance Forces units. He held it essential that, with the exception of limited orientation in Vietnam, Free World units be fully trained prior to deployment. Lacking full training, it would be necessary to divert troops from essential missions until the Free World troops were operational. The threat of a successful enemy attack on partially trained troops and the resultant adverse political consequences for the Free World effort had to be kept in mind.
For different but equally important reasons, the American Ambassador in Bangkok and the Military Assistance Command, Thailand; also viewed the State Department proposal with disfavor. The ambassador pointed out that the Thais were interested in an early deployment as shown by the one-month adjustment in deployment dates, but the suggestion of augmented battalions was impractical. The Thai government had repeatedly announced that the formation of the volunteer division would not detract from Thailand's ability to deal with internal security problems, and that the volunteer division would be a new and additional Army unit. Deploying an existing battalion would not be in accordance with the firm internal security commitment the Thai government had made to the Thai nation.
The Military Assistance Command, Thailand, also opposed early deployment, believing that the early deployment of one infantry battalion would have a serious impact on the activation, training, and deployment of the division. One of the most difficult problems to be faced in forming the division would be the
