United States Army Republic of Vietnam (USARV) was a corps-level support command of the United States Army in the Vietnam War. Establishment Although the U.S. Army Support Group was the Army component command within Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) in 1962, its functions were limited to logistical and administrative matters and excluded operational matters, which were the concern of the chief of Military Assistance Advisory Group, Vietnam. Neither headquarters could qualify as a true Army ground component command. In late 1964 and early 1965, when a major buildup of U.S. Army ground combat forces in South Vietnam was imminent, planners from U.S. Army, Pacific and the Department of the Army began to restudy current command arrangements. The ever-growing responsibilities of the Army Support Command, especially its duties as the U.S. Army component headquarters, precluded its reorganization into a logistical command, as envisaged in contingency plans. These developments strengthened the arguments of planners who wanted an Army headquarters to command U.S. Army ground forces. In view of the possible deployment of major Army ground combat forces to South Vietnam, the Army Chief of Staff, General Harold K. Johnson, recommended to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in March 1965 that a separate U.S. Army component command, under the operational control of the MACV commander, be established in South Vietnam. Under his proposal, administrative and logistical functions concerning U.S. Army activities would be transferred from MACV headquarters to the new component command; the Army advisory effort would be similarly shifted, although the MACV commander would retain operational control. Under this arrangement, MACV would be relieved of administrative functions not directly related to combat or tactical operations. The Commander in Chief, Pacific, Admiral U. S. Grant Sharp Jr. and the MACV commander, General William Westmoreland, both opposed Johnson's recommendation. On the other hand, MACV's Chief of Staff, Major General Richard G. Stilwell, held that an Army component command would prove to be a valuable coordinating link between MACV, the U.S. Army, Pacific and the U.S. Army Support Command. Through July 1965 there was a constant exchange of views between Westmoreland and General John K. Waters, Commander in Chief, U.S. Army, Pacific, concerning the establishment of a separate Army component command under MACV. Waters favored an Army component command with its own commander. Westmoreland, however, proposed: that the U.S. Army Support Command be redesignated U.S. Army, Vietnam (USARV); that he personally retain the responsibilities of