Vtr-11, Stay Alert Stay Alive (1967)

[Music] below is a United States Army base in the Republic of Vietnam the usual tents the usual equipment the usual layout but here too is the unusual for here begins a four-phase training program that gives the soldier his baptism of fire before he engages With the Enemy phase one starts with the arrival of Replacements assigned to the first brigade of the the 101st Airborne Division very few minutes elaps before the replacement hears the key words that will dominate his existence for as long as he remains in the Brigade I'm Sergeant wi for sergeant replacement training company I want to welcome you to forade and foror division Fang rang Vietnam our here is stay alert stay alive stay alert stay alive this forw phrase is the theme the guiding philosophy of the 6-day 80-hour training period now ahead of the replacement most of the hours will be allotted to intense rugged strenuous activity an early few however are used for orientation and indoctrination and it is during this period that the replacement meets his new Commanding General Brigadier General Willard Pearson Serv with us I just want to make a few administrative comments and that are these first save your money when you're here you don't need money unless you go an RNR save your money and when you go back in 12 months you'll have the money you need for the car to start the college down payment on the home get married whatever you got in mind don't waste it here save it and by doing this you'll be contributing to the anti-inflationary program that uh concerns our government and the government of Vietnam we believe that in Union there is strength and we're all on the same tee we're all fighting the same War we all get together and work together and meeting the enemy and defeating them the instructors are all combat veterans with hard practical experience at fighting both Viet Kong and North Vietnamese enemy units the manner in which you conduct yourself in the town and the crowded areas will reflect directly upon you and your image as an American Soldier during the next 5 days you will be entering your Preparatory or P training during these five days you will be taught the tactics that the VC will use against you and also the tactics which we have learned to combat him and to kill since P training occurs just prior to the solders entry into combat his motivation to learn is at its peak and he is eager to absorb the many subjects covered take up things such as physical training to acclimate you to the weather conditions in Viet n you will also have adjustment of artillery fire BC mines and booby traps to teach you what we had to learn the hard way tuers one of the most important aspects of the training program is when you run the individual reaction course this reaction course more than anything else will enable you to stay alert stay alive on the battlefield in Vietnam and since that Battlefield exists in an extremely high hot and humid land physical alertness demands liberal doses of physical training these exercises are unpleasant tiresome and dull but they are also an essential factor in conditioning the replacement to the tropical climate in which he will be serving fresh from the states the soldier consumes 6 to eight cantens of water a day and is quickly exhausted by the combination of climate and terrain the weak of conditioning lowers his water consumption to two or three cantens a day and makes him a physical match for the country's hills and mountains up up [Applause] up in this school instructors use training AIDS designed by the enemy himself and they occasionally make their points with explosive emphasis you with DC mines and booby traps both local and hardcore also pavin People's Army of Vietnam these booby traps will be employed anywhere at any time this is a VC propaganda sign you'll find signs similar to this one in many villages that are controlled by the Viet Kong the things you should do first is check it off of booby traps you'll find that GIS come along and don't check signs out they're very impatient they want to tear the thing down the first thing they do is grab it the sign was booby trap a GI is either dead or wounded the thing could have been checked out in several ways or it could have been avoided completely you could have found a different entrance to enter this Village I'm stay alert stay alive the phrase has particular significance during these classes but we have learned that the best defense against the booby trap is alertness to be suspicious of is equipment on the battlefield the V Kong do not leave any equipment on the battlefield whatsoever if you do find equipment that's reason enough to be suspicious of it it's a crude weapon indeed but very effective all it is is a weight bamboo and some Nails it may not kill you but'll knock you out of action later on in the class we'll show you the methods of removing equipment without reaching down and picking it up this is a foot trap usually used by the Viet Kong local gorilla and sometimes the hardcore when a soldier walks along he goes through the camouflage and Strikes the trip device the Trap closes on the man's foot the spikes could be spread with filth or some type of poison this would not kill you but this would knock you out of action for a week or two weeks ways of detecting these traps you can take a long bamboo pole approximately 6 ft long the point man could walk along probing the ground looking for these traps the second man in column would have his weapon ready to protect the point man are there any questions concerning this trap like a magician's trick the booby trap is much less effective once the soldier knows what to look for this the VC handang grenade used by the local and hardcore VC it is handmade the handle is bamboo the body is metal iron anything they can get their hands on as far as metal is concerned it's filled up with any type of explosive the fuse is put into the hollow portion of the bamboo handle there's a string onto a match head inside or some device similar to this when they pull the string it ignites the fuse and the Hand Grenade burst this is a defensive type hang grenade this is a North Vietnamese mine identified by the Min written on the mine this is similar to the hand grenade that I showed you previously only this has no time fuse this end is tied to a stake this end to a tree or another stake across a trail when a soldier walks he trips the wire the fuse is pulled and this bursts immediately that gentleman was your anti Personnel man m1881 commonly known as the Claymore man having been impressed with the enemy's booby traps and mines the replacement welcomes the extensive coverage p training gives to our weapons such as the Claymore Mine we have learned that the Claymore a valuable weapon against Guerilla forces can be used most effectively and safely only by soldiers who have been thoroughly briefed on its capabilities have seen what it can do to a Target and have had practical experience at using it that all man seemingly go off at one time now what I want you to do is place your steel pots on your head get down into prone position facing into the blast facing into the blast I do not want you to look up do not look up I want you to cover your neck cover your neck with your hands all right gentlemen keep your head down bur the [Music] ho my fellow instructor Sant Perry bringing us a few boxes we're out in the Target area this box here is a claymore crate Claymore box you can see is pretty thoroughly saturated with pet holes as you can see Claymore m is a very very effective weapon all right so I want you to take your clayo mine set it up your aiming pointed up there as your target your front I what I want here mostly is group participation I want man to aim the mind I want men to run the car back I want another man to use the M57 firing device make sure that the man this is training in actuality the school room is in the backyard of enemy territory the lessons are shaped and reshaped by current combat experiences and the tools of learning are the same devices the trainee will soon use against the enemy in the field here there are no mockups no simulators no dummy rounds scratch one chicken decapitated the Hardway to forcefully introduce a major subject during the next period we will discuss survival techniques here in Vietnam techniques of Great Value to soldiers whose units whether for Planned or accidental reasons might be isolated in an unfriendly environment you were in a helicopter your helicopter was down first Salvage all AOSS equipment second move away from your aircraft or whatever the situation may be move away to an area and hide and third you must form some sort of a plan once you form this plan stick by it the things you do over here that comes natural just might be the tip off to give you away good example chewing gum these Vietnamese people here they don't chew gum out in the woods so just keep it in mind things that come natural just might be the tip off give you away vangu wish fear and panic I don't think there's one person in the classroom here doesn't have a certain amount of fear fear is good fear is Nature's Way of giving you that extra shot of energy when you need it you might only be 25 M from help start feeling sorry for yourself there's many things that enter your mind such as giving up surrender when help help again might only be 25 M around the corner since survival in combat can sometimes depend upon the ability to distinguish sights and sounds P training includes familiarization with captured enemy weapons a briefing that also serves to boost The Replacements morale the replacement company has been assigned a mission for this afternoon we to go out with two patrols and conduct a Recon type Mission and our general area of operation which is outside of the inner perimeter here we'll have one SE ration meal along with us we'll have two CS of water and two m79 to the uh each patrol leader a replacement has been told the nature and mission of the patrol but he must organize the particulars and he must brief his men the show is his though instructors will always be present to Forstall any serious errors P training leans heavily on correct patrolling procedures for this is a war in which small unit action is the primary form of combat support is operating on 3870 their call sign is slick method seven you men can start camouflaging yourself from the relative complexity of radio communication links to the Simplicity of facial camouflage both day and night patrolling missions provide the replacement with extremely valuable experience the training patrols are conducted beyond the perimeter of of the base camp and the enemy has frequently acknowledged their presence with sniper fire and even when the enemy is not there to open fire The Replacements reflexes are still conditioned by these patrols and he has taught how to react when live ammunition heads in his general direction comprehensive intensive realistic P training helps save lives and save limbs phase two trains not Replacements but combat experienced Squad leaders General Pearson explains the need for this post-graduate course Gilla Warfare is essentially a squad leaders war and just as in a game of chess the opening Gambit determines who has the advantage in the next play so the initial orders of the squad leader can save lies and save limbs by placing the enemy in an untenable position to make the initial orders of the squad leader come as naturally and as quickly as a reflex action that is the objective of phase two of the brigade's training program Sergeant take charge of the first Squad and move him to the ammunition issue Point pick up seven magazines and one handang grenade all right man pick up your magazines pick up your hangs and place them in your magazine pches they one magazine out to place your weapon and I Tell You Lock and Load your weapons this time Lock and Load your weapons one magazine 20 rounds all right move out of here I want you to cover your sector fire and keep your fingers off the trigger and you open on safety at all time all right first quad on your feet face to your left C seor fire move it out I don't forget to uh keep five fet between each man keep a good distance stay alert stay alive Man start thinking right now the leader is provided with a squad of Replacements undergoing their P training carrying weapons loaded with live ammunition and then headed for a 625 M stretch of ground that will confront him with a series of realistic situations demanding immediate decisions its purpose to polish his professional abilities to the point where any combat situation will automatically trigger the correct reaction on his part a reaction that will snatch the initiative from the attacker [Music] all team team leader report on me give me situation for let's go get over here plent of ammo okay go back to your team okay ammo okay okay get back stay low over there keep your legs together man all right p man you know where to go right all right first squad on your feet move it out the squad's performance comes under close scrutiny the instructors carefully observe the squad leaders responses to a wide variety of combat problems problems as challenging as an entrenched bunker and as simple as a lone [Applause] sniper what happened what he got sniper head all right look check out what it is good job okay there sad on your feet there is stress on method deliberate methodical technique the reaction course is designed to be habit forming but these are habits that will save lives and save limbs when later actual combat duplicates the situations faced here I told you when you followup critiques continue through to the end of phase 2 the week-long squad leaders course but the brigade's training program is not contained within a time slot nor restricted to the one location where the Brigade goes the program follows when the replacement joins his unit he taught to fire his weapons individual and crew served he participates in platoon and Squad live firing exercises rehearses air mobile operations with live artillery and Tack Air at400 hours today the third plon will conduct a hellborn assault to seas and secure objective area Abu this will be a training operation in conjunction with normal combat operations phase three training concurrent with operations has already given the replacement heavy practical experience at firing his and other weapons used by his unit now it puts him to work in enemy territory the first ship will have the first squad leader and five of his men the second ship will be the patoon headquarters minus a patoon sardon and one machine gun crew I want a machine gun on each flank the first Squad will be the base Squad in the middle second squad on the left third squat on the right what kind of shape's gun in Lucky oh she's in good shape how about your ammo uh we got 400 round there is a great deal of attention to detail a great deal of emphasis on the role of the individual Soldier the fact that he is still actually an apprentice is not lost sight of his responsibilities what he must do how he must do it the weapons and equipment He Will Carry and operate all these factors are examined and reviewed in essence a very legitimate military operation with a sound objective to achieve is made to serve double duty as a session in on the job training round right is it the old or is that some was issued the other day is it some of the old inside uh did you understand the Lieutenant's briefing completely right s what ship are you flying in on the first ship s the theme now is safety lies forward in this phase of training aggressive forward movement is practiced as well as preached it is emphasized as the shest way to survival the soldier sees and more important is part of a tactical application of Firepower and maneuver as a means of overcoming resistance for him the mission represents a major transition he he enters the village a well-trained amateur he leaves it a professional the brigades training program has now included everything from the replacement first exercise under the Vietnamese sun to his first plunge into a Vietnamese River and there is still more to come the last phase of our training program is the research and Analysis phase we have appointed or designated one officer fulltime to analyze all small unit actions gentleman I'm the Brigade small unit action evaluation officer I got you here all together so we can talk this thing over for Lessons Learned techniques learned maybe even new tactics we can utilize I'll WR a report send this on down to Squad level so everyone in the Brigade can learn from your your actions and further we might be able to start training standards set new training ideas within the Brigade from your act from your action Len marshack do you want to want to start off what happened yes uh my platoon the uh third platoon of Company B of the 502nd was designated as the stay behind Force so the morning that the unit was to move out we received a resupply of SE rations and ammunition water and during this time we also were able to adjust artillery on predesignated concentration uh this would allow us to shift from one concentration to a Target in a hurry my team and I we Trail along behind the VC about 75 to 100 met we Trail uh for short ways and uh and came in sight of two more we so we Trail the three of them till we hit an open field and I had the sniper to drop the one farest away then I takeen up and uh got the next two what Lessons Learned do you think would be the most beneficial to the whole Brigade I believe uh sard Moran my platoon sard may have some that he can mention first well I'd say Sir one of the most important things would be quietness now we found out it's rather difficult to hide 40 men in a small location so we have solved this problem by putting them in twom man positions uh this gives us all around Security Plus complete quietness all the time uh you have anything else sir yes uh I believe the fact that to stay behind force is effective is one thing that we learned plus uh the stealth and uh also the fact that you shouldn't move out from the main body prior to it leaving by infiltration and that all indigenous Personnel that may happen to come through your area should be detained and also the fact that we trailed them about uh 100 met 200 me something like that before we actually engaged them because uh then we caught them when they were sling arms and uh were able to kill them search them get their gear and move back into position with they not knowing where we came from the Final Phase is also a beginning for its feedback information results in new improvements in both training methods and combat operation techniques you have been watching highlights of a program that supplements the soldiers State Side training with pre-combat on the spot polishing given under the climate ENT rain conditions in which you will actually be fighting by learning to call in fire support and direct it onto the Target by learning the quick safe way across obstacles by learning in short all the tricks of his trade the soldier can make the phrase stay alert stay alive the key to survival in Vietnam the effectiveness of this training program has been acknowledged by General West Morland with a directive instructing All American com combat units to begin similar programs it is a program that makes Professionals of Replacements and Experts of professionals and it is a program that works airion the following award is announced combat infantryman's badge first award Hernandez Alfred a sergeant E5 long range reconnaissance Patrol headquarters headquarters company first brigade congratulations there the mark of the man n