peninsula, the 708th Amphibian Tank Battalion was subsequently restructured and re-designated the 89th Medium Tank Battalion. In November 1951, it was again reflagged the 89th Tank Battalion and assigned to the 25th Infantry Division. The unit's combat actions earned the Presidential Unit Citation and the Navy Unit Commendation. The 89th Tank Battalion returned to Hawaii with the 25th Infantry Division where it remained until deactivation in 1957. With the establishment of the regimental combat arms system, the formerly fragmented elements of the 2nd Battalion were remade into the 69th Armored Regiment. With the left over elements of the 69th and the 89th Tank Battalions, the 69th Armored Regiment was re-designated the 69th Armor, a parent regiment under the Regimental Combat Arms system. Vietnam War The 1st Battalion was alerted to begin preparations for deployment to South Vietnam in December 1965. Deployment commenced on 25 January 1966 with the Battalion laying over in Okinawa to take over 52 new M48A3 tanks and familiarize crews with the new series, AN-GRC 12 radios. Contrasting with the old battalion M48A2 vehicles, the new A3 models still featured the 90mm cannon, a M2HB cupola mounted .50 caliber machinegun and a 7.62mm, M72 coaxial machinegun. Moreover, it now boasted a V12 Continental Diesel engine which more than doubled the tank's combat range and significantly reduced the hazard of fire. The battalion shipped from Okinawa to Vietnam, and true to the policy at the time, was fragmented, with the battalion HQ, trains, A and C companies going to Củ Chi supporting the main elements of the 25th Infantry Division, while B Company joined the 3rd Brigade of the 25th Division in Pleiku. A Company was committed within two hours of its disembarking from LSTs in Saigon as a reaction force to combat in the Filhol Rubber Plantation west of Saigon. The battalion's first major combat operation took place in April 1966 in the tangled jungle growth of the Ho Bo Woods and along the trails of the Filhol Rubber plantation again, northwest of Saigon. This operation proved the value of armor in reducing friendly casualties while significantly increasing losses to the enemy. 69th Armor tankers learned on-the-job the importance of rear and flank security, the effect of canister in dense jungle, the exaggerated needs for constant maintenance halts and the value and down-sides of assorted OVM and equipment. The 52 ton M48A3 performed well during this initial