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Declassified per Executive Order 13526, Section 3.3 NND Project Number: NND 63316. By: NWD Date: 2011  the DMZ into Quang Tri and Thua Thien. 111/ In April, 1959, a prisoner reported that the Lao Dong Party Central Committee directed the forming of a headquarters to control this effort, which came into being on May 5, 1959, as the 559th Transportation Group, directly subordinate to Party headquarters. 112/ Another prisoner served with the 70th Battalion of the 559th Group, which was formed in 1959 and sent into southern Laos. The 70th Battalion received weapons, ammunition, mail, and supplies from Hanoi and transported them to another organization in charge of distribution to insurgent units. The 70th Battalion was in charge of 20 way-stations, furnished escorts for infiltrating groups from North to South Vietnam, and transported sick and wound ed personnel from Thua Thien Province back to North Vietnam. 113/ While the 559th Group was being deployed on land, other prisoners reported that the 603d Battalion, was formed in June, 1959, to manage maritime infiltration into South Vietnam. 114/ According to prisoners, the 603d Battalion had 250 men upon formation, and by December, 1959, had 11 infiltration "cells" and supporting bases in operation.

Still other POWs stated that in January, 1960, a training center for infiltrators vas in operation at Son Tay, northvest of Hanoi, and that in early 1960, the NVA 324th Division in Nghe An was directed to begin infiltrator training. 115/ About the same time the Xuan Mai Infiltration Center was established southwest of Hanoi, a school which by 1961 could accommodate several 1000-man classes simultaneously. 116/

Moreover, available evidence points to 1959 as the year in which significant numbers of regroupees began to be funneled from North Vietnam through the way-station system into Sout h Vietnam. George Carver, of CIA, has conservatively estimated that 1959 infiltration amounted to a "few hundred." 117/ Altogether, during 1959 and 1960, twenty-six groups of infiltrators, comprising 4500 personnel, were confirmed by interrogations of two or more prisoners from each group. 118/ The same sources established that most of the infiltrators were military officers, senior non- commissioned officers or trained political cadre. Capture d documents and interrogations also indicate that at least half--military and civilian--were regular Lao Dong Party members. The following table shows U.S. intelligence estimates of infiltration into South Viet-Nam from 1959 through 1965; during 1963 "regroupee" resource waned visibly, and in 1964 apparently dried up; by early 1965 at least three out of four infiltrators were ethnic North Vietnamese. 119/ Rh