re: Were the LRRP teams in Vietnam the biggest badasses the US military ever produced?

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We didn’t go into Laos or Cambodia because of politics specifically the threat of China or Russia entering the war. Same reason we rarely went north of the DMZ.

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I don't think this is completely accurate. We didn't manuvuer battalion sized elements in Laos or Cambodia, but always had multiple squad size teams of SF and indigenous (mostly Montagnards) forces working for MACV-SOG operating there, particularly in Laos.

Franklin Miller, a SOG Sgt and Medal of Honor recipient, served six tours in Vietnam. He wrote a pretty interesting book about his exploits. On his final mission, he had four Americans on his team (instead of the typical 2 or 3) and three Yards. They were tasked with finding a downed jet fighter. They did, but kicked a hornets nest. The shite that guy did, while wounded multiple times, is unbelievable. There "Alamo" position was a bomb crater. He had three dead and the rest of the team wounded (one more died after being evacuated). He was the only one left who was capable of returning fire (although he was shot through the chest and had multiple shrapnel wounds) when he was shot through his dominant hand and fell back into crater. He ended up near the radio and called for the QRF again. He says he doesn't know why or what possessed him to do it, but he then sang the chorus of the Beatles song "Help" over the radio. I like his style!

Obviously, the calvary arrived in time to save his life, but Sgt Miller was an incredible warfighter.

I'd throw up my pic of grandpa from one of his tours in Vietnam, but you OSINT autists would figure out who he was, then who I am, way too fricking fast.

Long Range Recon Patrol

Basically in the shite for a really, really long time without support or resupply.

Thanks

Phoenix Program says hello

The disbanding of LRRP, and more recently LRS are apart of some of the the biggest mistakes the military has ever made imo.

The loss of knowledge from SME for each unit is disgusting. The everyday common practices is completely lost to everyday units reconnaissance, squads and teams are having to relearn and get ahold of old and discontinued TM/FM to find the unwritten sub tasks needed every day.

The military deciding to not keep at least one LRS, or pathfinder unit active is a tragedy and all the knowledge will soon be gone. Some recon and SCT platoons have begun attempting to relearn and stand up capable teams but there is just no knowledge there it’s retired or getting ready to retire.

Disgusting she was allowed to interfere with a active war and military prisoners with out being arrested and deported on site when arriving back in states, or at least a angry family member putting her down.

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Tunnel rats were just as fearless if not more so.

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I worked with a man in Germany who was a tunnel rat. He was 70 or so when I worked with him and I was in my early 40s. Dude was hard as a rock at 70...could have easily whupped any of the soldiers we worked with. Great guy but built like a slab of granite. About 5'2" tall and about that around the chest. Could drink like a fish. The only people I ever saw who could keep up with him drinking were Russians and Vodka...Him and they would take 5 shots to my one and I'd be gone 3 hours before they started showing any sign of taking drunk. He said more than once he never feared a human being in one of those tunnels but was terrified of some kind of snake in the area...called it a 30 second (?) snake...cause you were dead 30 seconds after being bitten. I don't think that snake was that bad but I wasn't in any position to take up the issue with Mr. Glines.

He also said he would be blindfolded for several hours before going under ground, if possible. Supposedly night vision is better if the eye hasn't been exposed to light. Swore he knew when someone was present several minutes before making contact because of smell.

It has said that the life expectancy of a tunnel rat was measured in seconds. I doubt that but Mr. Glines did 3 tours and was, at times, a tunnel rat during all 3, at least according to him. He had scars all over his body that would pass for knives...and claimed to have been shot several times. I know he was a hard assed old man...I never questioned any of his stories. I am sure some were exaggerated but I ain't in any position to question a man who did 1/3 of what he claimed to have done.

Our boss was a retired Colonel and a green beret during Vietnam. He was some kind of military intelligence specialist...told me once he was addicted to iron curtain pussy LOL. Said the issues between him and the USSR were always business, never personal. I sat in a beer garden one evening with the 2 of them while they seriously discussed how one could go about destroying a hospital and not leave any evidence. They were dead serious. Having never been in the military I was fascinated...

My dad and grandfather were Air America pilots and would occasionally get pickup missions in Cambodia for "local VIP passengers" that would be these guys, too extended/exhausted to get back. They had some great stories

The problem was that the Ho Chi Minh trail was many, many trails and not just one trail. These trails ran through neutral countries, so the USA declined to place major conventional military forces in those neutral countries. The US decision-makers did not want to be "branded" as Invaders of a neutral country.

I think that this might have been just an excuse, but, I don't know.