 Okay, move out. In the Republic of Vietnam, the usual layout, the usual equipment, the usual tents. 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. A program dedicated to his combat survival, with the theme stated in four simple words. The program phase one starts with the arrival of replacements assigned to the first brigade of the 101st Airborne Division. A few minutes elapsed before the replacement hears the key words that will dominate his existence for as long as he remains in the brigade. Sergeant Wilkin, 1st Sergeant, replacement training company. I want to welcome you to 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Phang Rang, Vietnam. I will see you in here. Stay alert. Stay alive. Stay alert. Stay alive. It will be repeated and repeated often, for it is 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. I just want to make a few administrative comments. On that of the 1st, save your money when you're here. You don't need money unless you go an R and R. 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 concerns our government and the government of Vietnam. We believe that in union there is strength. And we're all on the same team. 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 Cong and North Vietnamese enemy units. The manner in which you conduct yourself in the towns and the crowded areas will reflect directly upon you and your image as an American soldier. During the next five days, you'll 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 him. Since P-training occurs just prior to the soldier's entry into combat, his motivation to learn is at its peak, and he's eager to absorb the many subjects covered. Such as physical training to acclimate you to the weather conditions in Vietnam. You will also have adjustment of artillery fire, BC-minded booby traps to teach you what we had to learn the hard way. Tuber's 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 hot and humid land, physical alertness demand 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 state, the soldier consumes six to eight canteens of water a day and is quickly exhausted by the combination of climate and terrain. The week of conditioning lowers his water consumption to two or three canteens a day. And makes him a physical match for the country's hills and mountains. Instructors use training aids designed by the enemy himself. They occasionally make their points with explosive emphasis. 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 Cong. The things you should do first is check it out for 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 traps. A GI is either dead or wounded. The things 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. They 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. It's equipment on the battlefield. The Viet Cong 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 it'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 Cong local guerrilla 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. These 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 could take a long bamboo pole approximately six feet 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 to turn in this trap? Like a magician's trick the booby trap is much less effective once the soldier knows what to look for. This is a BC hand 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 is 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 bursts. This is a defensive type hand grenade. This is a North Vietnamese mine identified by the men 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 up 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 it bursts immediately. That gentleman was the anti-personnel man in 1881 commonly known as the Claymore Mine. 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 guerrilla 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. They go off at one time. Now what I want you to do is place your steel pots on your head, down in the 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. My fellow instructor, Sergeant Perry, is bringing us a few boxes that were out in the target area. This box here is a Claymore crate. This box, you can see, is pretty thoroughly saturated with solid holes. As you can see, the Claymore Mine is a very, very effective weapon. All right, Sergeant, I want you to take the Claymore Mine, set it up, your aiming point up there is your target in the front. I want what I want here mostly is group participation. I want a man to aim the mine. I want a man to run the car back. I want another man to use the M-57 fire device. This is training in actuality. The schoolroom is in the backyard of enemy territory. The lessons are shaped and reshaped by current combat experience. And the tools of learning are the same devices the trainee will soon use against the enemy in the field. Here there are no mock-ups, no simulators, no dummy rounds. Scratch one chicken. Decapitated the hardware to forcefully introduce a major subject. 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. Your helicopter was down. First, salvage all possible 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've formed this plan, stick by it. The things you do over here that comes natural just might be the tip-offs that'll give you a way. For 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-offs that'll give you a way. Vanguished fear and panic. I don't think there's one person in the classroom here who 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 meters from health. Start feeling sorry for yourself. There's many things that are in your mind, such as giving up, surrender, when health again might only be 25 meters 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 replacement's morale. The replacement company has been assigned a mission for this afternoon. We have to go out with two patrols and conduct a reconnaissance-type mission in our general area of operation, which is outside of the inner perimeter here. We'll have one C-ration meal. Along with us, we'll have two canings of water and two M-79s to the patrol. Each patrol leader, a replacement, has been told the nature and mission of the patrol. But he must organize the particular, and he must brief his men. The show is his, though instructors will always be present to forestall 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 operated on 38.70. Their call sign is Slick Message 7. A few minutes to 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 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 replacement's 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 2 trains not replacements, but combat experience, squad leaders. General Pearson explains the need for this post-graduate course. Drilla warfare is essentially a squad leader's war. And just as in a game of chess, the Olting Gambit determined who has the advantage in the next play, so the initial orders of the squad leader can save lives 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 2 of the Brigade Training Program. Sergeant, take charge of the first squad and move them to the ammunition. It's your point. Pick up seven magazines and one hand grenade. All right, man, pick up the magazine. Pick up your hand grenades and place them in your magazine pouches. Leave one magazine out to place your weapons. 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 of fire and keep your fingers off the trigger and you're up on our safety at all times. All right, first squad, on your feet. Face to your left. Cover your sector of fire and move it out. I don't forget to keep five feet between each man and 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-meter stretch of ground that will confront him with a series of realistic situations demanding immediate decision. 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. I'm a team. I'm a team leader. Report on me, give me a situation report. Let's go. Get over here. Oh, what if there's a plane of animals? Okay, go back to your team. Don't have any of these animals. Okay, get back in there to keep your hands moving about. Stay low on that. Keep an eye together, man. All right, start, 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 leader's responses to a wide variety of combat problems. Problems as challenging as an entrenched bunker and as simple as a lone sniper. What do you got? Sniper head. All right, look. Move out and take out what it is. Good job. Okay, first squad, 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. All the critiques continue through to the end of phase two, the week-long squad leader's 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's 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 pack air. At 1,400 hours today, the third platoon will conduct a helleborn assault to seize 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 replacements 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 platoon headquarters, minus the platoon sergeant 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 squad on the right. What kind of shape is done in, Lucky? Oh, he's in good shape. How about the ammo? We've got 400 rounds. 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. How many rounds? You've got 36 rounds? Right, dog. Is it the old or is that some way issued the other day? It's some of the old ones, dog. Did you understand the listeners' briefings completely? Right, dog. What ship are you flying in? On the first ship, dog. A small abandoned village has been designated as a possible Viet Cong supply storage area. It is not a major objective, but the fire support provided by artillery and practical aircraft will acquaint the soldier with some of the complicated dimensions of modern warfare, as well as soften any potential resistance to the landing. The landing is now dead ahead, and it will provide the final ingredient, separating training from combat, the element of uncertainty. He lies forward. In this phase of training, aggressive forward movement is practiced as well as preached. It is emphasized as the surest way to survival. Soldier sees, and more important is part of, a tactical application of firepower and maneuver, as a means of overcoming resistance. Major transition. He enters the village a well-trained amateur. He leaves it a professional. The brigade's training program has now included everything from the replacement's 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 full-time to analyze all small unit actions. Gentlemen, I'm the brigade's small unit action evaluation officer. I got you here all together so we can talk this thing over for lessons learned, techniques learned, maybe the new tactics we can utilize. I'll write a report, send a sign down to squad level for everyone in the brigade to learn from your actions, and further, we might be able to start training standards, set new training ideas within the brigade from your actions. Lieutenant Marchek, do you want to start off what happened? Yes. My platoon, the 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 sea rations and ammunition, water. And during this time, we also were able to adjust artillery on pre-designated concentrations. This would allow us to ship from one concentration to a target in a hurry. My team and I, we trailed along behind the VST about 75 to 100 meters. We trailed for short ways and came inside with two more. So we trailed the three of them until we hit an open field and I had to sniper to drop the one farther away. Then I'd taken up and got the next two. What lessons learned do you think would be the most beneficial for the whole brigade? I believe Sergeant Moran, my platoon sergeant, may have some that he didn't mention first. Well, I'd say, sir, one of the most important things would be quietness. Now, we find out it's rather difficult to hide 40 men in a small location. So we have found this problem by putting them in two-man positions. This gives us all-around security plus complete quietness all the time. You have anything else, sir? Yes, I believe the fact that the stay-behind force is effective is one thing that we learned plus the stealth and also the fact that you should 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 100 meters, 200 meters, something like that before we actually engaged them because then we caught them when they were sling arms and were able to kill them, search them, get their gear and move back into position without 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' stateside training with pre-combat on-the-spot polishing given under the climate and terrain 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 Westmoreland with the directive instructing all American 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. Congratulations there, the mark of the man.