Uniforms and Materials

Materiel

TOE 7-157E, the authorization document for a long-range patrol company during the Vietnam War, contains a list of all items of equipment that should have been present in both of the Field Force LRP companies. For the purposes of this study, this TOE serves as a guide to the general types of equipment one might find in any LRRP unit in Vietnam. The several memoirs written by LRRP veterans are a better source to determine what weapons and equipment units actually had access to and used in the performance of their combat mission.

Outside of the two Field Force LRP companies, few LRRP units had assigned vehicles. At most, a unit might have a jeep for the commander and first sergeant, a 3/4-ton truck for the supply sergeant, and perhaps one 2 1/2-ton truck to move personnel from the unit area to the helipad and return. Because provisional LRRP units were not established on authorized TOEs, these vehicles were normally borrowed but sometimes stolen from other units (with commensurate modification to data plates and bumper markings). The practice of “liberating” a vehicle from its owning unit and repainting its bumper markings was common in Vietnam and should not surprise anyone. When a unit was relocated from one area in country to another, these “stolen” vehicles were frequently abandoned in place or returned to their rightful owners.143

TOE 7-157E provided for a standard assortment of weapons: M14 rifles in large numbers, several M60 7.62mm and M2 .50-caliber machine guns, M1911A1 .45-caliber pistols, an M79 grenade launcher, and several 3.5-inch rocket launchers. Replace the M14 with variants of the M16 rifle, drop the .50-caliber machine guns, replace the 3.5-inch rocket launchers with the M72 LAW, add several additional M79 grenade launchers (and late in the war the XM203), and the result is a fairly standard list of armaments found in virtually every LRRP unit by the late-war period. But this list does not begin to describe the total weaponry possessed by LRRPs. Other weapons abounded, some military and some of civilian origin. Here is a list of these other weapons:

• “exotic” weapons (unspecified) in the 1st Cavalry Division145
• Silenced Sten guns in multiple units146
• assortment of modified, unauthorized, classified, stolen, silenced, and otherwise illegal weapons in the 101st Airborne Division147
• M2 (full-automatic capable) carbine in multiple units148
• M3 submachine gun in multiple units149
• Thompson .45-caliber submachine gun in 1st Infantry Division and Americal Division150
• 12-gauge shotgun in multiple units151
• AK47 (common in many units for use by point man, who may also have been wearing black pajamas to provide the patrol greater reaction time to sudden enemy contact)152
• Simonov semi-automatic carbine (SKS)153
• CZ58 rifle in the 173d Airborne Brigade154
• silenced/unsilenced Swedish K submachine gun in multiple units155
• M79 with cut-off barrel and stock in multiple units156
• M14 with and without scope in multiple units157
• Winchester Model 70 bolt-action rifle in the 101st Airborne Division158
• high standard .22-caliber pistol (government-issue) or Ruger .22-caliber pistol159
• numerous personal weapons160

Men carried personal weapons other than standard-issue M16 variants for many reasons as diverse as the list itself. Perhaps the best reason was expressed by a veteran of the 1st Infantry Division LRRP Detachment: “[We used] anything that made fire fights sound more like their weapons and gave no indication of the size of our force.”161 In general terms, these men understood that a non-standard weapon required them to carry their own irreplaceable ammunition supply. They also learned that silenced weapons were not always silent and that “sawed-off” weapons (M79, M14, even the M60 machine gun) did not perform to the same standard as an unmodified weapon of the same type. Any submachine gun that fired the .45-caliber round was exceptionally heavy in combination with its ammunition supply. And a black-pajama-clad point man carrying an AK47 did not want to be observed by a friendly patrol or helicopter. That could lead to a disastrous outcome.

Different units had various rationales for issuing and carrying the M72 LAW. In II Field Force, the M72 LAW was initially viewed as a psychological weapon, used to shock and stun enemy soldiers and also to confuse them as to the size and identity of the American unit they had engaged.162 But on occasion the weapon was actually fired for its destructive effect, in one case at an enemy sampan.163 Infrequent mention of the M72 LAW is made in 101st Airborne Division memoirs. In one case, the LRRP team's mission was to find and destroy an enemy radio transmitter. In another mission, conducted in April 1969 in the A Shau Valley, a team carried a LAW because of rumors of NVA armor using the road through the valley. In the third example, in March and April 1971, Ranger teams equipped with claymores, shaped charges, and LAWs were inserted along a road to ambush and destroy enemy vehicular traffic.164 The LAW was occasionally used to break contact with the enemy in the 1st Cavalry Division LRRP company.165 The paucity of references to this weapon in memoir literature suggests that its use was not widespread.166

The list of standard-issue items for a LRRP soldier looks about the same across all units, plus or minus a garment here and there or the different number of canteens (reflecting seasonal weather and terrain variations). If one inspected the personal gear and rucksack of any LRP soldier in any LRP unit in 1968, one would likely find the following items:

• personal weapon (M16 or CAR15) with at least 18 to 20 20-round magazines (18 rounds per magazine with ball-to-tracer ratio as per unit SOP)
• fragmentation grenades (minimum four-six)
• smoke grenades (minimum 1)
• white phosphorus grenades (frequently 1)
• chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile (CS) grenades (frequently 1)
• claymore mine (minimum 1)
• map in protective plastic
• C4 or other explosive substance (1/4-pound block or more)
• detonation cord, non-electric blasting caps
• dehydrated rations (two per day for anticipated duration of patrol)
• water (minimum two quarts) and purification tablets
• strobe light (team leader and assistant team leader)
• signal mirror, pen flare, signal panel (selected patrol members)
• PRC-25 or PRC-77 radio (selected patrol members), signal operating instructions
• URC-10 radio (selected patrol members)
• extra radio battery (selected patrol members)
• Starlight scope (selected patrol member)
• Olympus Pen EE or Polaroid camera (selected patrol members)
• serum albumin or other blood products (selected patrol members)
• binoculars (selected patrol members)
• drugs (morphine syrette, tetracycline, dextroamphetamine, darvon, codeine tablets, and others)
• large knife (issue survival knife or commercial knife)
• lensatic compass
• insect repellant
• camouflage stick
• rope (six-foot length) for rappelling seat, two snap links
• heavy-duty leather gloves
• clothing items (extra socks, poncho liner, sleeping sweater)
• extra ammunition for M79 or M60 (as required by mission)167

The AN/PVS-2 Starlight Scope weighed seven and one-half pounds and was about 18 inches long and eight inches high. This first-generation night vision device, intended to be attached to an M14 or M16 rifle as a sighting device but more often hand-held, was used by some units that operated in more open terrain. These included the LRRP/Ranger units in I and II Field Forces, 1st Infantry Division, 1st Cavalry Division, 4th Infantry Division, 9th Infantry Division, 101st Airborne Division, and the 173d Airborne Brigade.168

Depending on the exact load configuration of a rucksack, particularly in heavy items such as water, ammunition, and communications gear, the overall combat load for a LRRP soldier could easily range from 70 to 100 pounds. The physical demands on LRRP soldiers were great indeed. LRRP soldiers' tendency to load themselves down did not escape the attention of General Peers, who had intimate knowledge of LRRP activity from his own command experience in Vietnam:

No discussion of the materiel aspect of LRRP/Ranger unit operations in Vietnam can be complete without mention of the helicopter and other dedicated aircraft. Company F (LRP), 51st Infantry (II Field Force) had dedicated helicopters. The former operations officer of this unit mentions a dedicated lift platoon and gunship platoon.170 Another source describes the helicopter support to this unit as “one C & C, three Slicks [lift helicopters], and three to four gunships . . . for exclusive use by the company.” This same source's description of the unit cantonment area includes a helicopter landing pad.171 A veteran of one helicopter-support unit recalls that whenever a LRP team was inserted, his unit kept a gunship team and a lift helicopter physically mission ready in a small field at the LRP compound. The crews for these helicopters slept in the LRP compound. This veteran, who flew a Huey UH-1C gunship, indicates that he was under the operational command of the LRP company commander unless the cavalry's ground platoon was also committed, at which time the helicopters reverted to the control of the cavalry troop commander.172

In all other cases, helicopters were borrowed assets, provided by higher HQ on request of the LRRP-unit commander or by direction from the controlling HQ staff. To be sure, many LRRP units, particularly those operationally controlled by a cavalry squadron, had habitual relationships with their helicopter-support units. And within those helicopter units, some pilots appear to have become particularly adept at supporting LRRP insertions and extractions.

So what was the typical helicopter requirement for a LRRP team? A single UH-1, two if the unit SOP required it, was needed to conduct a pre-mission air reconnaissance or overflight. The purpose of this flight was to enable the LRRP company and reconnaissance team leadership to view the reconnaissance zone in its entirety from the air, to select primary and alternate insertion LZs and extraction pick-up zones (PZ), and to view possible movement routes or select observation positions for the patrol. Participants in this overflight were normally someone from the company chain of command (company commander, operations officer, or platoon leader), the reconnaissance team leader, and possibly his assistant. This overflight was normally executed about 24 hours in advance of the planned insertion time. Logically, the same helicopter pilot who flew the reconnaissance overflight would also fly the insertion mission on the following day.

The actual insertion of a six-man LRRP team was normally accomplished using five helicopters: a C & C helicopter for the LRRP company commander or his designated representative (operations officer or platoon leader), two UH-1s (one for the inserted team and the other to portray false insertions), and two Huey or Cobra gunships. If a 12-man heavy team was being inserted, at least one more UH-1 was required to carry the additional six men. If helicopters were plentiful, additional lift helicopters could accompany the mission to portray the insertion of a larger force, or additional gunship helicopters could accompany the insertion to provide additional fire support and a safe extraction in the event of enemy presence in the LZ area.

Picture, then, a LRRP company commander attempting to insert a half dozen or more six-man teams in a brigade or divisional AO over a period of several hours to execute a “saturation” mission. Such an AO may be 20 kilometers or more from the base camp, requiring refueling between insertion sorties. It could take a relatively limited number of helicopters a long time to insert all the teams, or conversely a relatively large number of helicopters a short time.

Once inserted into its reconnaissance zone, the LRRP team was then at the mercy of the weather and the chain of command for subsequent helicopter support. A notable example of a LRRP team in contact that could not be extracted because helicopters were not immediately available occurred on 20 November 1968. About an hour after springing an ambush on a small enemy force in mid-morning of that day, a 101st Airborne Division LRP heavy team (12 men) came under attack and spent the remainder of the day pinned in its position by a larger enemy force. It could neither be extracted nor reinforced due to the unavailability of helicopter-lift support. By the end of the day the team had lost four KIA and several WIA, and were finally rescued by an ad hoc force of off-duty LRP company personnel followed by a QRF from the cavalry squadron.174

Lift helicopters used for emergency LRP-team extractions out of severe terrain or triple-canopy jungle typically had to be rigged with rope ladders, jungle penetrators, and McGuire rigs. Helicopter crews had to be trained in the use of all these devices, because their use severely affected control of the helicopter. By their very nature, these extractions were frequently conducted under enemy fire, sometimes at night, and often involving wounded personnel. It is no surprise that LRP units developed a special relationship with their habitual helicopter-support units and crews.

In a similar fashion, gunship pilots who routinely supported LRP units developed TTP intended to bring suppressing and killing fire in close to LRP-team positions. LRP teams identified their exact locations using panels, strobe lights in the open and in M79 grenade-launcher barrels, colored smoke, trip and pen-gun flares, and tracer fire. Skilled gunship pilots routinely delivered ordnance to within mere feet of LRP positions. Also on occasion LRP soldiers sustained injury from gunship fire.

Even though an enormous number of helicopters were present in the theater, they were a critical asset and, thus, strictly managed. In August 1968, General Peers stated that “any time you get about five or six LRPs out you have to keep about two gunships, sometimes four gunships depending on the situation, and two to four slicks setting aside that you cannot use for anything else.”175 As the former commander of 4th Infantry Division and at that time I Field Force commander, Peers knew well the aviation support required for LRP operations.

Other types of aircraft support to LRP teams included dedicated fixed-wing O-1 (L-19A) “Bird Dog” light observation aircraft in both I and II Field Force LRP companies. In both of these units, the aircraft flew above or off to the side of a reconnaissance zone in direct support of the LRP patrol. The pilot or observer had several functions: to serve as an aerial radio relay operator, to adjust artillery, to provide exact position coordinates to a patrol on the ground, to make visual contact with patrol for extraction, to provide information and warning to patrol of enemy activity, and to precisely locate a patrol in contact.176 The front-seat pilot was, of course, an Air Force FAC, who was empowered to bring in and control close-air support (CAS) aircraft. When it first formed a LRRP detachment in October 1966, the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division made frequent use of an L-19A for airborne radio-relay with its LRRP teams.177 In 1968, the 101st Division LRP unit used FAC support for insertions.178 Other LRP units had occasional access to fixed-wing aircraft support for radio-relay and other purposes; however, it was on a periodic rather than continuous basis.179

So like a Normal ak would work? you know jeromy that ill end up being point man at some time lol its going to take me a while to get a wepon that will work, i tryed trading my G36 for something, but i never got a reply from the guy...hmmm... i do have a Remington model 70 tho.. well actually its a m700 but its identical... if i got it to shoot at 400 fps would that work? bolt action that can shoot a dime off a fence at 50 to 60 yards lmao

Hell yeah, many of the lrrps used the AK47. As a matter of fact the book I just read, "Stealth Patrol the making of a Vietnam Ranger", TL Tanida only used the AK. I was even thinking about going that route.

Im check it out maby i can find someone to trade me an ak for the g36... if not it will take a second lmao i like aks there sweet man

What do you think about my m16 would that work?

shadowsghost wrote:

What do you think about my m16 would that work?

I think it would work as long as you take all of the bells and whistles off of it prior to deployment.

Will do.

Well I got my Really old VN Tiger stripe I think that thay are early to mid 60's maybe even older than that? And thay wher in country and came back in good shape. Other than being a little faded thay rock and varry comphy.
I allso have M56 gear Compleat.
1 H harness
1 Pistol belt
1 Black leather .45 cal pistol holster with flap top
1 compus pouch
1 ranger beed's
1 butpack
2 20 round 3 mag/gernade pouch's
2 30 round 3 mag/gernade pouch's


Thing that i still need are a 2 mag pistol pouch, and a pair of size 11W jungle boots in new to realy good shape.



Photo's are soon to come.

Don

Slick.50 wrote:

Well I got my Really old VN Tiger stripe I think that thay are early to mid 60's maybe even older than that? And thay wher in country and came back in good shape. Other than being a little faded thay rock and varry comphy.
I allso have M56 gear Compleat.
1 H harness
1 Pistol belt
1 Black leather .45 cal pistol holster with flap top
1 compus pouch
1 ranger beed's
1 butpack
2 20 round 3 mag/gernade pouch's
2 30 round 3 mag/gernade pouch's


Thing that i still need are a 2 mag pistol pouch, and a pair of size 11W jungle boots in new to realy good shape.



Photo's are soon to come.

Don

Dude I can't wait to see those pictures. I will get some of me when I get my uniform in. Not the real thing like yours but they will do.