Description by the publisher: In SPECIAL AGENT, VIETNAM, Douglass H. Hubbard, Jr., relates the story of a highly dedicated and professional group of men who served voluntarily as officers, enlisted men, and civilian special agents of the Office of Naval Intelligence in Vietnam. Through Hubbard's eyes-he served three consecutive tours as one of about two dozen civilian agents-the reader enters the clandestine and often dangerous world of counterespionage and crime, all amid the sights, sounds, and smells of the Vietnam War. Civilian special agents, despite their rather uncertain combat status as civilians, left secure stateside jobs and families behind, donned military uniforms, and carried weapons. They lived and worked in the field with sailors and Marines. They shared the same dangers and discomforts as military personnel, and - often in cooperation with their Vietnamese counterparts - supplied the naval services with counterintelligence and criminal investigative support. From communist infiltrators and fragging incidents to the murder of a visiting singer, Hubbard skillfully portrays the underlying chaos of a tour in Vietnam. SPECIAL AGENT, VIETNAM is the only book that addresses this aspect of the Vietnam War. It will appeal not only to those with an interest in the U.S. presence in wartime Vietnam, but also to those interested generally in military history, intelligence, counterintelligence, and criminal investigation.

Reviews: "Doug Hubbard's exposition defines a period of counterintelligence development in the Vietnam conflict and records its events for the first time. Compiled personal recollections of wartime special agents make this historical narrative a defining work in the legacy left by the group of Naval Intelligence professionals who devised rules for counterintelligence and force protection in the challenging and dangerous arena of Vietnam in the 1960's. Theirs was a monumental contribution to the U.S. government's efforts to achieve stability in the Republic of Vietnam, particularly in the early days of the mission when much was accomplished by a select few. " -- Maynard C. Anderson, former Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Security Policy "Although the Vietnam War gives up its secrets grudgingly, former special agent Douglass Hubbard unveils an intriguing new account of U.S. Naval Intelligence operations in the Republic of Vietnam. Drawing on his three years' service in Vietnam and his subsequent research and interviews, Hubbard weaves a masterful story that is equally inspiring and frustrating-just as the war itself proved to be. " -- Col. Joseph H. Alexander, USMC (Ret.), author of THE BATTLE HISTORY OF THE U.S. MARINES "Doug Hubbard, Jr., explores the seamy underside of the Vietnam War from his catbird seat as a special agent of the Naval Investigative Service. At the most there were never more than twenty-one of these Naval Intelligence officers serving in-country, and they had to deal with an overload of such unsavory matters as counterespionage, sabotage, black marketing, currency manipulation, simple theft, drug trafficking, subversion, rape, and murder. Sometimes these investigations came to a brilliant resolution that Sherlock Holmes would have applauded. More often they foundered because of command apathy or indifference. " -- Brig. Gen. Edwin H. Simmons, USMC, Chief of Staff of the First Marine Division in 1970, former head of the Marine Corps History Branch, author of FROZEN CHOSIN: U.S. MARINES AT THE CHANGJIN RESERVOIR