Scope and Contents

The collection consists of approximately one linear foot of materials accumulated by Dr. James M. Carter during his research for his book Inventing Vietnam. The materials are predominately the papers of the private consortium RMK-BRJ and they deal with every aspect of the military construction project undertaken to accommodate major American escalation of the Vietnam War after 1964 (known as Contract NBy-44105). The materials include memos and correspondence (e.g. re: award fees, audit reports, contract evaluations, specific construction projects); contracts and agreements (including changes); DOD procurement circulars; periodicals; evaluation reports; books; a diary of Contract NBy-44105; articles, excerpts, and clippings; a contractor's fee proposal; and completion reports. The materials are dated 1962-1972, 1989, and 2008.

RMK-BRJ was an American construction consortium of four of the largest American companies (Raymond International, Inc., Morrison-Knudsen International, Inc., Brown & Root, Inc., and J.A. Jones Construction Co., Inc.) put together by the United States Navy during the Vietnam War to build critically needed infrastructure in South Vietnam so that the U.S. could escalate the introduction of American combat troops and materiel into Vietnam. This construction contract, amounting to $1.9 billion, completed a construction program deemed to be the largest in history up to that time.

Over the ten-year life of the contract, RMK-BRJ trained 200,000 Vietnamese workers in construction and administrative trades. The use of a civilian contractor and construction force in an active theater of combat operations was authorized for the first time in U.S. history.

Biographical / Historical

James M. Carter obtained his PhD from the University of Houston in 2004 and is currently associate professor of history at Drew University. His research specialties include U.S. foreign relations, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War. His publications include several articles on nation building in Vietnam and private contractors in both Vietnam and Iraq, in addition to book reviews in Itinerario, the Journal of Military History, and Education about Asia, as well as on H-Diplo. In summer 2007, he was appointed a Fellow of the Summer Military History Seminar at West Point Military Academy.