Gear used in Vietnam

lurp · 06-21-2005, 07:09

Hi
See some of you have been serving in Vietnam in the 60's. Big respect to you all.
I would like some help about webbing gear etc.. like what you guys carried in your webbing belt and how you carried with you? did you use M56 or a mix of ww2 and m56? how much ammo and canteens did you have on a 3day mission?
medic kit's? and your favorite piece of kit you carried? and why?... hehe.. lots of questions, sorry

Tips or photos would also be great

Thanks for all help

-Tom

QRQ 30 · 06-21-2005, 08:09

Let'sS ee what I can remember. In the first place I have no idea what M56 is.

My web gear and LBE consisted of a WWII style BAR belt. It had six pockets and could hold 6 20 rnd magfazines in each pouch -- five vertical and one across the top. That gave me 37 loaded magazines. In addition I carried an extra bandoleer of ammo in the rucksack. CRS but I think that was five mags. That adds to 42 mags of ammo. You can do the math. The suspenders had a first aid pouch, strobe light, and one or two smoke grenades taped on in addition to a snap link for hooking onto a rope ladder or the McGuire rig -- we didn't have STABO rigs yet. If you ever tried to climb a rope ladder dangling from a chopper in flight you will understand the snap link. We climbed onto the ladder then snapped in for the ride to a safe area where we could transfer into the acft.

The ruck was what we referred to as an indig rucksack. It was made of plasticized material. In the ruck went extra water, extra ammo, one or two claymores, etc. No necessities were in the ruck, it was the first to go in the event we had to run.

The cargo pockets on the fatigues were well stocked. In my pockets I also carried all "can't do without" essentials such as KAC codes, mirror, pen flare, compass and survival radio. Essentials were carried on our person. I carried one ration for a five day mission and seldom ate it except for some of the extras like jerkey. The indig ration had a bag of rice which you filled to a line with water and tied off and later the rice was ready to eat. IIRC I carried two 2 qt canteens in the ruck as well as one on my person.. I tried to last on that since water holes were always a danger point. My water was flavored with "Goofy Grape". I say I carried one ration for 5 days. The medics took care of the rest.

In the ruck also went additional mission equipment such asmines and sensors.

I asm sure I forgot things like the frag grenades but this is a start.

http://tadahling.tripod.com/sitebuil...res/box409.jpg

jbour13 · 06-21-2005, 08:23

Damn Terry!!! I'm sure you choose to not remember carrying that much Sh*t

840 rds of 5.56 is a good load to bear in itself.

A man can go,
years without human contact,
months without talking,
days without eating,
hours without drinking,
minutes without thinking,
seconds without ammo!!

QRQ 30 · 06-21-2005, 08:30

I never ran out of 5.56 but did have to redistribute it to my troops on occasion.

Since we were outnumbered by a gazillion to one we had to launch enough bullets to comnpensate if pinned down. On one LZ the Covey told me he had counted an estimated 200+ NVA KIA. I had a 10 man team and had one KIA.

jbour13 · 06-21-2005, 08:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by QRQ 30

I never ran out of 5.56 but did have to redistribute it to my troops on occasion.

From what MAJ Plaster has wrote, (among others) running the lines checking your troops and doing ammo count was the most dangerous job after contact and waiting for AC coverage or pickup. Gotta be a hairy ass job, glad you did it good enough to be upright today.

lurp · 06-21-2005, 09:00

wow that was fast.. Thanks alot QRQ 30

M56 is the name of the LBE gear issued during most of the war.

**Jack Moroney (RIP)** · 06-21-2005, 11:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by lurp

Hi
on a 3day mission?
-Tom

Except for local security strolls within 5km of the A-Camp the shortest missions for my folks were two weeks in duration. Because we worked in the central highlands the stuff we carried will be different than what some others used so this list is more unique to the mountains and weather extremes we experienced.

First of all we all had "ammo vests" made from canvas ammo bags. Each vest had pockets for 16 magazines, a small pocket for a compass, and assorted areas for selected items. The web gear was worn over this and consisted of 4 ammo pouches with another 16 magazines and or a variety of other ordnance. We all carried a varied of frag and smoke grenades (different colors), one canteen and cup, first aid pouch/kit, belt knife (we preferred a randall survival knife with the hollow handle in which a varitey of meds and survival items were carried). We carried a variety of stuff in an indigenous rucksack (claymore in the outside pocket) C-4 and blasting caps, ponchos, zippo, poncho liner, chow, dry socks, jungle sweater, leach repellant, cleaning kits for weapons, additional ammo, batteries for radios, flashlights, strobe lights, medical gear, and any other assorted items depending on the expected duration and mission expectations. Trouser cargo pockets carried maps, empty collapsible canteens, and one indigenous rice ration. Shirt pockets carried zippo and selected items (morphine syrettes) in waterproof bag. As we had a lot of streams, we would fill the collapsible canteen and flood the rice ration when forded the last stream before we entered our desired RON area so we did not have to back track to get water and could sterilize our trail before conducting our recon of the RON.
The ususal practice was to sleep in the vests so if we had to book in the night or drop our rucks or web gear we had what we needed to fight, move, and survive.
Each person would carry whatever snivel gear they wanted. My most favorite item was the poncho liner.

Now in most A-Camps you were always within reach of some firearm and most of us carried .45s or a variety of other hand guns.

Aerial recon's in birdogs found me with my vest, weapons, belt knife, compass, maps. There was not a lot of room for web-gear and other associated gear.

When we left the AO for trips everyone went with web gear, weapons and a variety of equipment to survive an "unplanned" landing and we all stayed oriented to land marks along the routes so we had a good idea where we were and which way we ought to move in case staying with the downed aircraft became untenable.

This is a down and dirty look for my folks and my A-Camp area. I'm sure others have additional things to add and I am also sure I have omitted some items of interest.

Jack Moroney-can't remember what I had for breakfast, or even if I had breakfast, so I am sure that there are some items short on this list.

lurp · 06-21-2005, 12:14

Thanks alot, Jack moroney

I learn more in this thread than any of the books I got, Thanks alot guys, this is excelent info for me

**Ambush Master** · 06-21-2005, 19:57

http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...ead.php?t=1307

Smokin Joe · 06-22-2005, 02:21

A.M.,

In your CLT photo are you wearing Gators?

lurp · 06-22-2005, 04:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smokin Joe

A.M.,

In your CLT photo are you wearing Gators?

Looks like ww2 style gaiters?

Nice photo, sir.

**Ambush Master** · 06-22-2005, 05:21

Yes, they were WWII era Spats. We soaked them in Bug Juice to keep the Leeches and other critters out, plus you could move more quietly through the jungle with less "snags" on your pant legs.

Later
Martin