It was bordered on the west by the Dong Nai River and on the north and east by a vast expanse rice paddies, marsh and tidal streams.

   To the south was a densely wooded area that eventually opened into another large expanse of rice paddies that continued for several thousand meters to a final wooded area situated on the heel of the TAOR boot.

   Because of its proximity to the river the village was also surrounded by several swift tidal streams and marshland. Until 1968 when the US Army built the new bridges (Friendship Bridge) over the two northern streams as part of a civic action program to improve the village economy, transportation to and from An Xuan was limited to helicopter, boat or foot.

    If you were the type of person that liked the outdoors as a kid, roughing it, primitive camping in the woods, eating from a can, minimum hygienic standards, critters that crawl on you 24/7, you would get by. If you didn't, well you would have to learn to get by.

   For the MP's it was the most spartan lifestyle of any Military Police unit in Vietnam, and of the four Military Police/Popular Forces static posts in the battalion Tactical Area of Responsibility (TAOR) it was the worst.

   The dominant physical structure of the outpost was an old two story, 25’ by 30’ clay brick watch tower with firing ports built into each level of the four walls. It was constructed under the French Watch Tower program during the first Indochina War, sometime in the late 1940's and 50's, and served a similar purpose then as it did during the Vietnam War.

     The digging of trenches to connect the perimeter bunkers was often a futile effort because of the marsh water encroachment. They would fill up with water, become stagnant and contribute to the already terrible mosquito problem.

     The tidal marsh in itself produced an over abundance of mosquitoes and other swamp creatures, like the ever present leeches, to invade the living area and clothing of the MP's stationed there. Even in the dry season the humidity and stench from the stagnant water filled the air and clung to your body and clothing.

When manpower was available, Outpost-1 was staffed by four to five 720th MP’s with a Specialist Forth Class (SP/4) in charge. It was very rare to see a Non Commissioned Officer (NCO), assigned there.

   The RF/PF armament was a limited assortment of surplus WWII and Korean War vintage small arms, which were handed down among the RF/PF’s when their shifts changed. PF's were not permitted to take their weapons from the outpost home with them.

   The MPs and PFs also had their own separate tactical radios. Land line communications, although technically unreliable and often interrupted by enemy harassment and the weather conditions, connected the outpost’s to each other and the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) on Long Binh Post.

   When not patrolling the village during day and night, life at the outpost evolved around a routine of constant vigilance for enemy activity and maintenance on the outpost security features, and the ever present grass and weeds that seemed to grow back to their original height overnight.

   Water, ammunition and supplies were carried in by boat or jeep and the daily meals consisted of standard C-Rations, or lovingly referred to as Rat's....no further explanation needed. Occasionally the meals would be supplemented by perishable items that the men would obtain on post or in the village and keep in a cooler when ice was available from the village.

   For entertainment there was always Armed Forces Radio Vietnam or if you were lucky, the men would chip in and purchase a cheap TV at the post exchange. When the small generator wasn’t working there were always batteries for the radio, but then the television was out of commission.

   Whenever they could, the MP's also spent time entertaining the young children from the village and those of the PF's that worked at the outpost.