Question for viet nam history buffs

[max]

Bruce, our tours were similar. I was 12-16-69 to 10-16-70. I was at Long Binh the entire time.

 

[CH47gunner]

Max - Welcome home. What was your MOS?

"Too many brigade and battalion commanders were simply trying to punch their tickets instead of actually lead."

Have to agree that this was another huge problem.
I was in aviation - I flew for a living. I couldn't believe the amount of VIP aircraft I saw. Or even worse, the many C&C (Command & Control) helicopters that were used. How could field grade officers get the "feel" of the terrain from 2,000 ft.?

Bruce

 

[glypnir]

Bush 1 actually wrote in his book that he didn't want to take over Iraq because it would be ungovernable.

I think also that they wanted to leave Saddam relatively strong so that he could continue to oppress the Shiites and not give Iran an open pathway through southern Iraq to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. As they would have if the Shiite majority took over Iraq.

Hmmmmmm.

In Vietnam, we were basically fighting a colonial war. It wasn't like Greece, where a lot of them wanted the communists out. Vietnam is a country with thousands of years of experience resisting Chinese colonialism. And they had had recent practice against the French and Japanese. There was no way to tell who was really in charge, or where anyone stood. No one was really on our side there. That's why we put in an entire parallel government structure of our own.

Fortunately we're don't really want to be a colonial power, so we got tired of it. And got out. And I say good. And I say maybe this thread should be in the political side.

 

[max]

Bruce, I was trained as an MP. When I got to Long Binh, they put me in the 18th MP Brigade S-2 and I typed intelligence reports.

 

[10-12]

Bush Senior stopped short of Baghdad and the Liberals criticized him because of it. President Bush W went all the way and the Liberals criticized him because of it. President Bush W gave his generals far more latitude than Johnson gave his. Between Johnson and McNamara, a lot of good soldiers, marines and aviators were killed needlessly.

Bill

 

[roundgunner]

Originally posted by 10-12:
Bush Senior stopped short of Baghdad and the Liberals criticized him because of it. President Bush W went all the way and the Liberals criticized him because of it. President Bush W gave his generals far more latitude than Johnson gave his. Between Johnson and McNamara, a lot of good soldiers, marines and aviators were killed needlessly.

Bill

Well said Bill. I think history will be kind to W after a coupla years of BHO.

 

[S-W4EVER]

Originally posted by Amici:

Originally posted by feralmerril:
I had heard that president Johnson and his cronies would hand pick the targets for the next days bombing.
President Bush stopped General Schwartzkopf from finishing off the jammed up road of the iraq army trying to make it back from Kuwait.
My point really is that once the politicans all agree a war should be declared that they should step aside and let the military that is schooled in fighting take over and fight it.

I have always DESPISED LBJ, McNamara, Rusk, et al for how they micromanged the Vietnam War. A generation of Americans paid the price for their wimpiness.

Bush I kept the coalition together by NOT seeking to remove Hussein, as the neighbors feared what might come after him even more, which speaks volumes. Present events suggest the neighbors' concerns were valid.

As I recall, the coalition helped pay for the war and therefore had a voice in how it was prosecuted.

 

[jaysouth]

Originally posted by dlstewart01:

Originally posted by BLACKHAWKNJ:
The 12 month tour started in Korea, in that case the higher ups decided that one winter in Korea was enough. One reason why Vietnam was the bloody fiasco it became was careerism. One Army general said:
"Too many brigade and battlaion commanders were simply trying to punch their tickets instead of actually lead."
The Pentagon set the tour of duty for the critical position of Battalion Commander in the Army at 6 months, there was an unwritten policy that an officer would spend 6 months in the field, 6 months in the rear while an EM spent the whole 12 months in the field.
Also there was a great deal of micromanaging-I read that approval for special operations had to go through TEN levels for approval.
One of the best books on Vietnam is "The War Managers-American Generals reflect on Vietnam."
by Douglas Kinnard, BG, USA, Retired. he notes even the generals weren't sure what their mission was.

The 3/5 Cav was a combat unit. There was no rear for us. We spent 90% of the time at firebases or the boonies. Thats officers and every body, even the cooks. They cooked from a duce and a half. We got one hot meal a day. We oppereted from the Ashau valley to the DMZ.

Were you in the 1st Cav Division?

 

[dlstewart01]

Originally posted by jaysouth:

Originally posted by dlstewart01:

Originally posted by BLACKHAWKNJ:
The 12 month tour started in Korea, in that case the higher ups decided that one winter in Korea was enough. One reason why Vietnam was the bloody fiasco it became was careerism. One Army general said:
"Too many brigade and battlaion commanders were simply trying to punch their tickets instead of actually lead."
The Pentagon set the tour of duty for the critical position of Battalion Commander in the Army at 6 months, there was an unwritten policy that an officer would spend 6 months in the field, 6 months in the rear while an EM spent the whole 12 months in the field.
Also there was a great deal of micromanaging-I read that approval for special operations had to go through TEN levels for approval.
One of the best books on Vietnam is "The War Managers-American Generals reflect on Vietnam."
by Douglas Kinnard, BG, USA, Retired. he notes even the generals weren't sure what their mission was.

The 3/5 Cav was a combat unit. There was no rear for us. We spent 90% of the time at firebases or the boonies. Thats officers and every body, even the cooks. They cooked from a duce and a half. We got one hot meal a day. We oppereted from the Ashau valley to the DMZ.

Were you in the 1st Cav Division?

We were part of the 9th infantry div. The cookie patch. The 9th were headquarted in Dong Tam in the mekong delta. Tanks and personell carriers dont work too good in the delta so the 3rd of the 5th cavalry was sent up north to operate from the ashau valley to the DMZ. We were attached to several units I believe the 1st cav being one. We were also attached to the 101 airborne. The last base camp we were at was Dong Hua which is a Marine camp and also the northern most base camp.

We have a webpage and are having a reunion this year in Branson Missouri.

http://www.3-5cav-blackknights.org