and in June 1965 assumed command of III Marine Amphibious Force and 3rd Marine Division in South Vietnam. He was also chief of naval forces, Vietnam and senior advisor, I Corps and I Corps coordinator, Republic of Vietnam. Ten months later, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated General Walt for lieutenant general. Senate confirmed his promotion on March 7, 1966. He continued in Vietnam as commanding general, III Marine Amphibious Force, and senior advisor, I Corps and I Corps Coordinator, Republic of Vietnam. During this period, the Secretary of the Navy awarded General Walt his first Distinguished Service Medal. In addition, the Vietnamese government awarded General Walt the Vietnamese National Order, 3rd Class; the Vietnamese National Order, 4th Class; the Gallantry Cross with Palm; the Chuong My Medal, and the Vietnamese Armed Forces Meritorious Unit Citation of Gallantry Cross with Palm. The Government of South Korea also awarded Walt the senior Ulchi Medal. As a testament to his vital role in Vietnam, Life magazine featured General Walt in a May 1967 cover story. The article noted the success of an innovative program initiated by General Walt in August 1965 called the Combined Action Program (CAP). This program consisted of squads of Marine and Navy medical corpsmen volunteers for combined action platoons (CAP), that were part of combined action companies (CAC), combined with South Vietnamese Popular Force platoons, which were sent into South Vietnamese countryside villages and hamlets to deny the Viet Cong access to the people living there. As Life noted, "His CAC units all had the same orders: help protect the villages, get to know the people, find the local Communist infrastructure and put it out of business." General Walt stressed the importance of using combine action companies to win the confidence of average, ordinary Vietnamese citizens. The magazine observed, "If these people could be located and won over, Walt argued, the Communists would be hit where it hurts." Because of the Combined Action Program, the number of "secure" villages under General Walt's protection rose between 1965 and 1967 from 87 to 197, while the number of Vietnamese living in "secure" areas in general rose from 413,000 to 1.1 million. Assistant commandant Upon his return to the United States, General Walt saw duty from June 1967 until the following December as deputy chief of staff (manpower)/director of personnel, at Headquarters Marine Corps. On January 1, 1968, he was designated Assistant