The monsoon season, which was characterized by cold rains, high winds, and deep mud, proved to be a source of much irritation to the Marines during the winter of 1962–1963. In addition to slowing flight operations and creating almost constant discomfort, the weather caused some unforeseen complications. In October 1962, heavy rainfall had combined with constant vehicle usage to turn the road between the living area and the flight line into a quagmire that was virtually impassable. At the time, Colonel Ireland, then the task unit commander, had responded by requesting equipment from Okinawa to improve the Marines’ only road link with their aircraft. Wing authorities promptly complied and a road grader was flown in by KC-130 (the new designation for the GV-1 Hercules). Within days a 700-foot section of the road was opened and a drainage ditch dug along its entire length. This measure proved to be only temporary, however, for in January the mud again threatened to cut the Marine vehicles off from the east side of the airfield. Lieutenant Colonel McCully obtained a bulldozer from Okinawa to make more permanent repairs. With the help of this piece of equipment, the Marines constructed a new 400-foot section of road on an eight-inch rock base. These repairs proved to be satisfactory and the road caused no further problem during the remainder of the monsoon season. Improvements in the compound continued to be made under the task element’s new commander, Lieutenant Colonel Brown. In April action was taken on an earlier request for the assignment of a security detachment to guard the Marine area. A reconnaissance platoon of 47 Marines from the 3d Marine Division joined the task element, thus freeing the men of the helicopter squadron and the MABS-16 sub unit of the important secondary responsibility they had held since the task unit’s deployment to Soc Trang. The assignment of the ground Marines was timely in that it corresponded with a reduction by the ARVN of its forces guarding the perimeter of the Da Nang airbase. One Marine general later observed that with the arrival of the infantry unit, “the air-ground team was in being in Vietnam.”[9-1] Other less obvious changes that contributed to the overall efficiency of the Marine task element also occurred during the early spring. In April, the task element commander was able to assign a better facility to medical and dental services. They had been crowded into one of the small structures along with other offices since the displacement from Soc Trang, but now were moved into a separate building in the living compound.