[Vietnam] SOF using North Vietnamese Gear? - Page 1

General » History

Site Notices

TNVC Partners With Envision Technology - MARS Rangefinder Family, MARS-Lc!

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - [Vietnam] SOF using North Vietnamese Gear?

Posted: 7/13/2018 1:33:32 AM EDT

Maybe there is a better forum or website to ask this but a few hours of googling hasn't yielded many results.

Anyway, saw a picture of some sf guys in Vietnam wearing fatigues they dyed black, also some mike force guys using SKS rigs, and of course ARVN rucks and such, that's a little different though.

Did US special forces often use NVA and NLF gear? Anyone have some good pictures or examples? Maybe some links that go into more detail? I'd really love to research this more.

Thanks!

Posted: 7/13/2018 2:32:36 AM EDT

[#1]

Yes NVA uniforms [made by CISO in Okinawa] were worn by SOG recon team members across the fence.

Posted: 7/13/2018 3:45:51 AM EDT

[#2]

MACV-SOG pictures

MACV-SOG Slideshow

Posted: 7/13/2018 9:18:34 AM EDT

[#3]

And ate the same foods, same bathing habits (or lack) so they would even smell the same.

Posted: 7/13/2018 10:15:57 PM EDT

[#4]

That led me down the rabbit hole I was looking for. Thanks!

Posted: 10/26/2018 10:17:14 PM EDT

[#5]

Sgt Patrick Tadina LRRP

Not sure what he is doing in this photo. I did read a story about him with all VC gear.

Posted: 11/2/2018 3:47:08 PM EDT

[#6]

Quote History

Quoted:
Sgt Patrick Tadina LRRP

Not sure what he is doing in this photo. I did read a story about him with all VC gear.

View Quote

Tadina was CSM of either 2/64 or 3/64 Armor in Schweinfurt, Germany in the mid 80's. I was in B,1-30 Inf, and one day he inspected my company, maybe the entire BN, can't remember. But he wasn't about screaming and throwing people's gear around, I would say 1 of 2 sergeant majors I've ever met who wasn't an asshole. He said "aim low at the enemy as the bullets track low to the ground" or, "I would dress as an NVA soldier, and march an American down the trail in front of me,like he was my prisoner, towards the enemy ". Things like that. We were all, what's he doing in a tank battalion? We want him here! I recall him, soft-spoken, and respectful of the soldiers.

Posted: 12/22/2018 2:05:29 AM EDT

[#7]

Quote History

Quoted:
And ate the same foods, same bathing habits (or lack) so they would even smell the same.

View Quote

I worked with a Vietnam vet who made the same comments about eating the same foods. He couldn’t pass as a local being a 6’3” East Tennessee Ginger.

Posted: 4/3/2019 6:15:56 AM EDT

[#8]

I read in a book about Vietnam, that they used the same weapons because they had no resupply. They could just acquire ammo from dead VC.

Posted: 4/3/2019 8:55:52 AM EDT

[#9]

I seem to remember reading that NVA rucksacks were popular ALICE alternative but, am having trouble remembering what book.

Posted: 4/3/2019 8:55:31 PM EDT

[#10]

Quote History

Quoted:
I seem to remember reading that NVA rucksacks were popular ALICE alternative but, am having trouble remembering what book.

View Quote

I don't know about that, but a lot of Marine Recon guys liked the ARVN rucksack.

Posted: 4/3/2019 9:37:14 PM EDT

[#11]

Quote History

Quoted:
And ate the same foods, same bathing habits (or lack) so they would even smell the same.

View Quote

The Marine Corps took dogs to sniff out the enemy. The NVA started using US made bath soap to confuse the dogs.

OP: The idea of the gear is that at 5-600 meters a quick look at a group of guys wouldn’t give away that it was Americans. It obviously wouldn’t hide the fact that it was a six foot American if you saw him up close.

Posted: 5/12/2019 9:08:12 PM EDT

[#12]

Read “We Few” by Nick Brokhausen.

Great book on his time with CCN RT Habu. He talks about this a lot.

Posted: 5/19/2019 11:36:01 AM EDT

[#13]

Quote History

Quoted:
I read in a book about Vietnam, that they used the same weapons because they had no resupply. They could just acquire ammo from dead VC.

View Quote

A friend of mine in grad school had worked on Project Omega. Said very little except about weapons. He carried among other things a suppressed Sten gun, a suppressed M3 and a suppressed CAR 15

Posted: 5/30/2019 11:41:48 PM EDT

[#14]

A med school professor of mine was in the medical corps there and spoke of some US troops preferring to carry AKs.

ETA: I remember a story about a LRRP leader, maybe Tadina, being detained by MPs in an airport because he was wearing a lot of medal ribbons, until it was verified that he had indeed been awarded them. He seemed too young to have earned that many medals.

Posted: 8/18/2019 10:37:04 PM EDT

[#15]

Daryl Young said that he and the guys of Juliet Platoon, SEAL Team One in 1970, would wear NLF/VC black pajamas, and even roll up on insertion points in requisitioned sampans.

Posted: 11/10/2019 11:14:43 PM EDT

[#16]

Quote History

Quoted:
I worked with a Vietnam vet who made the same comments about eating the same foods. He couldn’t pass as a local being a 6’3” East Tennessee Ginger.

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
And ate the same foods, same bathing habits (or lack) so they would even smell the same.

I worked with a Vietnam vet who made the same comments about eating the same foods. He couldn’t pass as a local being a 6’3” East Tennessee Ginger.

I joined the Army in 1982, so there were plenty of Vietnam veterans still in uniform. I was told that the LRRP type units tried to group troops by general height because at a distance you can't always tell if someone is 5'6" or 6'4" if they're surrounded by the same sized people.

Posted: 11/10/2019 11:53:43 PM EDT

[#17]

It's been a while but i think i remember Marcinko saying they (seals) wore Ho Chi Minh sandals in the delta to not leave boot prints.

Posted: 11/11/2019 1:11:22 AM EDT

[#18]

Look up Tiger Force. Those guys were out there.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - [Vietnam] SOF using North Vietnamese Gear?

General » History

Win a FREE Membership!

Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!

You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.

Warning

Confirm Action

About AR15.COM

Stay Connected

Newsletter

Contact Us