A QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED AMONG FIELD AND COMPANY GRADE U.S. ARMY OFFICERS WHO HAD SERVED TOURS OF DUTY IN SOUTH VIETNAM AND RETURNED TO THE UNITED STATES BETWEEN 1960 AND 1962. DATA WERE COLLECTED ON THE BASIS OF 97 RETURNED QUESTIONNAIRES (OUT OF 129). THE AIM OF THE SURVEY WAS TO CONTRIBUTE TO A PROJECT TO DEVELOP A SHORT VIETNAMESE LANGUAGE COURSE. THE FINDINGS OF THE SURVEY SHOW THAT THE RESPONDENTS, WHO WERE SERVING IN AN ADVISORY CAPACITY TO THE ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM AND PARAMILITARY UNITS, RELIED ON THE USE OF TRANSLATORS AND PARALINGUISTIC (GESTURAL) MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. THE FINDINGS INDICATED THE IMPORTANCE OF CERTAIN CONTINGENCIES TO THE ACQUISITION OF SPOKEN VIETNAMESE, FOR EXAMPLE, ISOLATION FROM OTHER ENGLISH SPEAKERS, GREATER LENGTH OF THE ADVISOR'S TOUR OF DUTY, MORE FREQUENT ATTEMPTS TO SPEAK VIETNAMESE, WITNESSING OF COMBAT, AND THE VIETNAMESE COUNTERPARTS' ABILITY TO USE ENGLISH. THE RESPONDENTS CITED FOUR MAJOR AREAS IN WHICH THEY FELT THAT GREATER KNOWLEDGE WOULD HAVE BEEN ADVANTAGEOUS TO THEM--SOCIAL AMENITIES, IMMEDIATE ACTION PHRASES, QUERIES, AND GUIDANCE AND ADVISORY TERMS. THESE FINDINGS ARE BEING UTILIZED IN DEVELOPING SHORT, FUNCTIONAL PROGRAMED LANGUAGE COURSES. (KL)