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billl
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I'm a free lance writer. My next article will be in Vietnam Magazine in December.

 

What's the easiest way to get an incident / after-action report? I'm going to do an article on a friendly fire incident that took place 12/26/67.

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439th Signal Battalion

Try this link here: http://www.war-stories.com/after-action-kolsun-1969.htm

 

I have done so with success in the past.

 

If possible, try to find a unit association or personal contact for the specific unit/action/date you are trying to find. I know that some members with unit associations have many of their AAR's copied from either the National Archives or College Park.

 

Also, don't be surprised that if you do happen to find the AAR for 12/26/67, it will often be vague and perhaps void of much of the information you are looking for. Sometimes actual events had a way of getting changed or distorted in most G2 or S2 records and people, as you are aware, remember these events differently than what is written down in "official" after-action reports.

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Do I understand that they will reply to the first form, telling you what is available?

 

Then you send the second form, asking for copies?

 

I requested under the Freedom of Information Act certain info about a WWII incident. I got pages of info (about 150 pages) but very little of it was helpful.

 

Did you get a bill for copies? How big?

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439th Signal Battalion

Yes, I believe that is the way it works.

 

In my experience, if anything is available for the specific date and action (if five pages or less I believe), then they should photocopy what you want and send it to you free of charge. I think you could put an addendum somewhere on your form requesting that and see what happens. The last time I used this link, I was looking for a specific action that took place in Cambodia on 21 May 1970. They sent me all the AAR's for that day and the unit I had requested, which was somewhere around five pages.

 

There is a fee for copies, but I think that it is for perhaps five pages or more? If it is, then they will send you back a form telling you how many and what cost you may expect to incur.

 

I can tell you firsthand, however, that there is a lot of information in the AAR's that are intentionally left out. I would expect the same on a friendly-fire incident.

 

Here is an example of what to expect.

 

post-4009-0-65278300-1473893980.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

As you expected, I got five pages, they look identical to the sample you posted. Unfortunately, there's not much help. Here's what they sent as a cover. Where do I go from here? Any suggestions?

========================================

Dear Sir:
We located unit records for the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment (1st Infantry Division) among the Records of the United States Forces in Southeast Asia, 1950-1975 (Record Group 472). Unfortunately, there is a severe gap in the records. There are no records documenting the year 1967.
We then searched the records of the higher echelon, the 1st Infantry Division. We located Daily Staff Journals documenting December 26, 1967 at the division level; and the 1st Brigade level (the unit was attached to the brigade directly). Copies of the records are attached for your use at no cost. These records provide the closest level documentation of the incident.
We hope this information proves useful towards your research.
Sincerely,
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