Department of the Army Special Photographic Office

DASPO CONUS (Continental United States) was headed by SFC Jack Yamuguchi. Unlike DASPO Pacific and DASPO Panama, DASPO CONUS was stationed in the United States and was capable of being sent anywhere in the world.

In April 1965, civil unrest broke out in the Dominican Republic and President Lyndon Johnson sent U.S. troops to secure peace. Shortly after, the DASPO office at the Pentagon lost contact with the DASPO Panama Detachment. A team working for DASPO CONUS at the time was assigned to cover the invasion in the Dominican Republic and was led by First Lieutenant Carl Conn.

This DASPO CONUS team was to document the military operation in the Dominican Republic as U.S. troops came under sniper fire in an urban environment. Early on in the invasion, the civilian press was invited to a press tour hosted by the rebel group. The DASPO team disguised themselves in civilian clothes and accompanied civilian journalist on the press tour, filming the rebels' equipment and combat positions along the way. Later, Lieutenant Conn and other members of the DASPO CONUS team were awarded the Combat Army Commendation Medal for their service in the Dominican Republic.[6]

The Panama Detachment was based in Corazal within the Panama Canal Zone and provided photographic and video coverage documenting political activity in Central and South America. DASPO Panama was the smallest of the three DASPO unites. It was authorized for seven members and a single commanding officer. In 1971, this was unofficially augmented with an individual serving as a clerk and supply NCO.

DASPO Panama covered many historical events, including the Panama Riots of 1964, the interrogation of Che Guevara after his capture, the inauguration and later overthrow of President Arnulfo Arias Madrid, and U.S. relief efforts following national disasters. They also documented the training of U.S. troops in the Panama Canal Zone and other areas of Central and South America.[7][8]

Combat Photographer Harry Breedlove of DASPO wades through rice paddies during an infantry sweep outside of Saigon, Vietnam.

The Pacific Detachment, nicknamed "Team Charlie" by its members, was the most active of the DASPO sections due to its coverage of Vietnam War combat operations.[6][9] It was based in Fort Schafter in Hawaii. DASPO Pacific sent rotating teams of photographers into Vietnam for three-month tours of duty. Although other military departments and press organizations sent their own photographers into the war zones, DASPO was considered "the Army's elite photographic unit."[10]

The Vietnam teams usually consisted of a commanding officer, a non-commissioned officer, and 10-18 enlisted sound specialists, motion picture cameramen, and still photographers.[6] From their base in Saigon, DASPO photographers would follow combat units through swamps and jungles, capturing the soldiers' experiences. In his book Vietnam: Images from Combat Photographers, author C. Douglas Elliott writes that DASPO Pacific "showed soldiers--often teenagers--coping as best they could with unrelenting heat and humidity, heavy packs, heavy guns, and an invisible enemy whose mines, booby traps, and snipers could cut life short without a moment's warning."[10]

The DASPO photographers put themselves at personal risk and suffered many of the same hardships as the soldiers that they documented.[10][11]