Another problem that plagued the Marines during their entire first year at Da Nang--inadequate water supply--was finally solved in late 1963. Originally the task unit had depended on a shallow well from which water was pumped and purified. The Marines nearly exhausted this source shortly after their arrival at Da Nang late in the dry season and their commanders were forced to impose strict water discipline. The monsoon rains eased the water crisis but by January production again dropped, this time as a result of the accumulation of heavy silt in the pumps. A Vietnamese contractor was engaged to clean and repair the pumping system but the problem soon recurred. In the early spring two new shallow wells were dug, one in the motor transport working area and the other in the living compound. With the onset of the dry season, however, the Marines again were forced to conserve water. This time the shortage became so acute that tank trucks were required to haul some 16,000 gallons of water a day from a nearby Air Force installation. Finally, in November, a detachment from a Navy construction battalion completed a well 450 feet deep and capped it with a high pressure pump. This proved to be the permanent solution to the long-standing water shortage. Over the course of the year the Marines received several new vehicles which helped relieve the burden on the rebuilt buses which were beginning to falter under heavy use. Four 10-passenger, four-wheel-drive trucks and two M-442 “Mighty Mite” jeeps were flown in by KC-130s from Okinawa and assigned to the task element’s motor transport section. By summer, two of the old buses were replaced with tactical passenger vehicles which were better suited for transporting personnel between the barracks and work areas. The addition of the new vehicles also allowed the mess hall to begin transporting hot noon meals to the men working on the east side of the airstrip. A mess line set up in the hangar area fed those Marines who previously had lost time by travelling to the living compound for noon meals. Two changes were made in the task element’s command structure in midyear. On 5 July Lieutenant Colonel Earl W. Cassidy, a veteran aviator with 20 years service, relieved Lieutenant Colonel Linnemeier as commanding officer of the MABS-16 sub unit. Two weeks later, on the 18th, Colonel Andre D. Gomez, a Marine who had distinguished himself as an artillery officer during World War II before becoming a pilot, assumed command of Marine Task Element 79.3.3.6. In summary, the improvements made in the task element’s compound during the course of 1963 helped insure the successful support of sustained combat helicopter operations. Although overshadowed by the publicity which the actual flight operations attracted, the continued improvement of the Da Nang base was vital to the overall effectiveness of the Marine combat support effort. _Combat Support Operations_