News Release
On the 50th Anniversary of Mayaguez Incident, CNA Releases Original Report
On the 50th anniversary of the Mayaguez Incident, CNA has released a 180-page, previously declassified analysis of the operation to extract 40 mariners held by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. CNA produced this independent after action report, The Mayaguez Operation, in 1977 at the request of the Commanding General of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific.
“Though this report is frequently cited by experts, to my knowledge, this is the first time it has been made widely available to the public on our website,” said Jonathan Geithner, director of CNA’s Marine Corps Program. “It’s a prime example of the kind of work military leaders still expect from CNA today: data-driven analysis informed by time spent working shoulder to shoulder with our forces.”
On May 12, 1975, Cambodian armed forces seized the SS Mayaguez, a commercial US ship, and offloaded its crew. Three days later, US Marines led an assault on Koh Tang Island in a costly attempt to rescue the crew. A total of 18 US troops were killed in and around Koh Tang, in addition to 23 Air Force personnel lost in a crash while preparing for the rescue. The Mayaguez crew were separately found and retaken from a boat just off the island.
The Mayaguez Operation offers many lessons learned and recommendations for improvements. It finds that Marine Corps units were responsive and that Marine Corps doctrine was probably not at fault. Rather, the operation failed to follow the tactics laid out in doctrine, beginning with “adequate reconnaissance before insertion.” The analysis also found problems with command and control of forces from three different services, noting that there appeared to be “a breakdown in the central coordinating function, especially in the first hour or two of the Koh Tang assault.”
CNA, which operates the federally funded research and development center of the Department of the Navy, has deployed scientists and other analysts in every major war and combat operation since World War II. Some 40 CNA analysts are currently embedded in commands and carrier strike groups as part of the CNA Field Program, providing quick-turn analysis to decision-makers. The author of The Mayaguez Operation, Urey Patrick, was a field analyst assigned to the Commanding General of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, in the late 1970s.
CNA is a not-for-profit analytical organization dedicated to the safety and security of the nation. With nearly 700 scientists, analysts, and professional staff across the world, CNA's mission is to provide data-driven, innovative solutions to our nation's toughest problems. It operates the Center for Naval Analyses—the federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) of the Department of the Navy—as well as the Institute for Public Research. The Center for Naval Analyses provides objective analytics to inform decision-making by military leaders and ultimately improve the lethality and effectiveness of the joint force. The Institute for Public Research leverages data analytics and sophisticated methods to support federal, state, and local government officials as they work to protect the homeland, the American people, and industry.
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