Woke-up early and started writing some things down. Did some quick training, and one of my parts was natural camo. Basically stuff from the manuals, with a bit of experience dialed-in.
Using tree limbs and leaves is a workable method for personal camouflage/concealment, but there are several things to consider:
– Live leaves and the dark side of leaves are more effective at defeating NIR and hyperspectral detection.
– Leaves are lighter on the bottom than on the top, this is due to the abundance of chlorophyll on the top, sun-side of the leaf, so you have to be careful placing them, as a sharp eye or a drone operator might notice this. This can also be used to establish a pattern that might give your position away.
– In nature, the positions of leaves and branches are typically irregular, placement should mimic that as best as is possible.
– Limbs and leaves tend to exaggerate your movements, which the human eyes can pick-up upon quickly.
– They tend to create extra noise if they rub against trees and bushes.
– Placement has to take into account your quick access to and ability to use your rifle and other combat tools such as grenades, ammo and your sidearm.
– Depending on the type of leaves and the environment, they may wilt quickly and create a visual difference that may give your position away. This should go without saying, but do not use limbs large enough and sharp enough, and placed where they might impale you if you have to hit the deck.
– Attaching limbs to the body must take into account they may need to be removed quickly. Easily ripped string or very small tie wraps can be used, as can small natural plant runner. Test attachments before using.
– Keep in mind when working in mixed terrain that a bunch of shrubbery hanging on you may increase your chances of detection when moving through different areas.
– The most detectable aspects of a combat soldier are things that are linear or have true curves, examples being a helmet, a rifle and some types of packs. Small leaves and branches can be used to break these lines up into more random shapes.
Interesting, is this something you guys do when you go out?
I don’t really care much for hanging bush on me, it exaggerates movement too much. But, in some terrain and circumstances it is workable, especially in a hide if you are good at noise and movement discipline. I more go by the dead space theory, which works better if you know an area and the seasonal changes. But, if you move slow and examine what is ahead of you, it is workable in unfamiliar terrain. I do think small twigs and leaves if placed properly to break the body line and linear objects you carry can be effective. Here the terrain is mixed, so just one method does not work well where you are moving from cover to the open.
How fast or slow do you guys move at night? I remember reading about MACV SOG teams and was surprised just how slowly they moved. It made perfect sense, I had just never thought about it before.
Very slow. About as slow as we went in Vietnam. It is not unusual for us to go 100 meters in an hour.
Yeah, that’s what I read about Vietnam.
Another question I had: when you show up at an resupply depot what’s the procedure for getting rifles, ammo, Javelins, British patrol rations, etc? Do you have to present credentials? Do you have to sign for it? I imagine you don’t have to pay.
Rations are no problem at all. For kinetic items we get a chit from command that is signed.
Ah
Here we generally work in areas more rife with bad guys, more known ones anyway.
Enemy battlefield density aside, what terrain do you prefer, the Delta or Ukraine? I guess I could see comparative advantages and disadvantages to both. Seems like engagement distances in Ukraine might be farther, at least in the rolling farmland?
In Vietnam we had a pretty steady-state environment as far as camouflage and cover. In the Delta is could be pretty open. Only real seasons were the monsoons. So, it had the edge per concealment. And, very limited high power incoming. The engagement distances were shorter.
Went to the gun shop yesterday to look around. They had a Les Baer Concept 2 sitting in the back room. That is a nice looking 1911. I did not ask the price.
Yeah, pricey.
I guess Southeast Asia does not really have a winter or fall as I understand it.
No, the seasons are subtle, except for the rains, The seasons are 3, dry, wet and hot.
Incidentally, latest tranche of DoD goodies includes cold weather gear.
Yeah, cold weather….I keep trying to forget that.
We trained 10 guys who are headed to recon. Just their final familiarization before hitting the field.
Ukrainian guys?
Eight Yooks, a Brit, and a guy from Namibia. A Namibier, a white Namibian.
Are they operating as a unit? Ten sounds like your group, two groups of five or something like that?
They will be broke-up. Some of the forward teams have had casualties and need replacements.
We are six right now. Tonight we will be back at it. Likely the same area.
Still sneaking and peeking only?
So far. It is only a matter of time before we run out of luck and get into some shit. We are going deeper and into heavier concentrations. Wish we had air power on call 🙂
Speaking of the differences between Vietnam and Ukraine…would having helicopters on call to pull recon teams out when it gets too hot be practical? Or is are there just too many MANPADS out there?
Where we are working it would not be worth the risk. But, it seems in general the Russians are not responding well to air. I don’t think they have a lot of lower-level distribution of AA.
I saw a purported list of Russian AD systems with grid coordinates, I’m guessing compiled by a RC-135. About fifty systems, from S-400s to Pantsirs. I suspect those are no longer around anymore.
They go fast. We are told about 60% of the targets we pin are engaged, which is a pretty good number.
Wow.
My response as well. Early on it was nowhere near that. But, we are working in a high-value area.
What’s the drill if you guys unexpectedly take small arms fire? Do you break contact and fall back to a rally point?
Break contact and go out via a path different from out insertion point. But, we go way out of our way to not draw attention.
At 100 meters an hour I’d say you do.
We move slowly, stop, then move again. We also have to keep a good watch for mines, which is much harder at night. We have predetermined paths based on the latest intel, but that does not always work out, so we have to improvise. Of course, if you get into the shit, you have to move fast, which is where the risk goes high.
We of course stay away from trails, which are kinda rare here anyway. Working out in the open is where the risk starts to become unmanageable.
Who was doing what you’re doing now in Vietnam? I mean, patrolling the no man’s land on foot without the benefit of helicopters? I seem to recall Force Recon used to venture beyond the wire, and Green Berets working out of camps with CIDGs and what not. Doesn’t seem very common in the US military these days.
I spent some time with teams way beyond support, mainly in Cambodia. We usually had some support from a fire base, and certainly air. It was usually army recon teams and SEALs. I worked a few times with Marine recon. The Army guys did most of the long range stuff. The US Mil still does it, but they do not advertise it at all. It is usually the hit missions that get leaked, intentional or otherwise.
Is that the part of Cambodia they called the Parrot’s Beak?
Yes, spent a lot of time there.
My main job was support to the Riverine forces, which was built around the Army 9th Div.
I read somewhere Julian Ewell, the division commander, was not too concerned about civilian casualties. Can’t remember where I read it but it was recently.
The “Butcher of the Delta.” Yeah, I was in a few meeting with Ewell. Ewell was a hard-ass, But his performance at Normandy was pretty special.
Just rigged up three fishing rods for kiddo and her two friends, going fishing under the Golden Gate Bridge tomorrow morning.
Nice.
One of the things I try to get across to people is something I have a hard time swallowing myself…which is to not stare at people when you are on the QT. I have no idea why, but in these stressful situations, if you keep your eyes on someone long enough, they seem to sense it. I know that sounds crazy, but it was a thing that was passed along in Vietnam. I can’t be really taught, it has to be learned in the field.
A lot of people take the idea that you can feel someone watching you as fact. Some people seem to be better at sensing it than others. I am bad at sensing it, and I’ve tried staring at people to see if they notice, and I seem to be bad at that also. Weird to think of the eyes as somehow active emitters and not just a passive sensor. But that seems to be what is going on there.
I am pretty sensitive to it, but much more so under stress in the field, where all your senses are very acute. Using Dex amps those senses up a lot.
Ukraine Volunteer Transcripts 