9 Things Every FNG Did in His First 30 Days in Vietnam (That Nobody Taught Him)
The Quartermaster Files
2,894 views
He dove into the mud for his own artillery, carried everything on his first hump, lit a match on night guard and saluted the captain in the middle of a patrol. These are the mistakes almost every new guy made in his first month in Vietnam, why the old guys kept their distance, and what changed on day thirty-one.
Sources:
Shelby L. Stanton, The Rise and Fall of an American Army: U.S. Ground Forces in Vietnam, 1965-1973 (Presidio Press, 1985)
Gordon L. Rottman, Vietnam Infantry Tactics (Osprey, 2011)
Alfred M. Allen, Skin Diseases in Vietnam, 1965-72 (Office of The Surgeon General, U.S. Army, 1977)
Accounts from Army and Marine veterans of the Vietnam War
11 Comments
Pronunciation of the names and acronyms.
Woke up in a very large tent they were Accommodations for about 60 guys I think there was 12 of us there. You could tell the installation had been there for quite some time. Tents and a couple of huts.
About 200 years through open ground you could see the bunker line and tracer at night.
Spent the first couple of days exercising and feeding and caring for a group of dogs.
The only thing I remember doing is watching the Beatles yellow submarine in one of the huts.
There wasn’t much going on as some units like this were in the process of moving into a large new facility. Third or fourth day we were to march there not far away. With the dogs with us of course. The sergeant and the Lieutenant walked over to us pointed to me and said he’s the one. What the hell did I do. Turned out one of the dogs I’ve been taken care of and rather large one was recovering from injuries from an explosion and was not behaving very friendly with the handlers for some reason he let me take care of him. Probably realized I was a clueless new guy and had pity on me. I was to take him and put him in a jeep with the Lieutenant as he had a bad leg and wouldn’t be able to do the march.
We get off the plane lined up. They give us toothbrushes and toothpaste and tell us to go brush our teeth. I am not making that up.
Late 1969.
We go into a very large building where several plane loads of guys were sitting. A podium on the far end with a microphone. We were told if our MOS is called come to the podium.
Very first one was mine. Scout dog handler. It flashed through my head do they need us that badly?
Four of us I think approached the podium where a couple of sergeants escorted us out to a truck. We got in the back of the truck and they drove us to an NCO club. Where we had some lunch and a beer.
This may not be so bad.
Arrived at the new location. Very nice. Long building look very much like a born with a center row and kennels on either side. Concrete floors and metal roof. The dogs will be out out of the rain and weather.
Nice new clean barracks. We were introduced to our dogs that’s where I met Eric. We spent time getting to know them and doing exercises simulating different events that would occur on a patrol.
The only event that I remember is one night when I was doing CP duty. There must always be someone in the CP 24 hours a day. Of course at night that would be any available enlisted man. Me being available I was there. Turned out to be a good night to do it. One of the lieutenants come and got me and escorted me back to the barracks which is unusual.
Turned out there was nobody in the barracks but me everybody else was standing outside being screamed at and told they were gonna stand there until they found out who set set off a smoke grenade in the barracks.
Every class has a clown.
9 Things Every FNG Did in His First 30 Days in Vietnam (That Nobody Taught Him)
The Quartermaster Files
2,894 views
He dove into the mud for his own artillery, carried everything on his first hump, lit a match on night guard and saluted the captain in the middle of a patrol. These are the mistakes almost every new guy made in his first month in Vietnam, why the old guys kept their distance, and what changed on day thirty-one.
Sources:
Shelby L. Stanton, The Rise and Fall of an American Army: U.S. Ground Forces in Vietnam, 1965-1973 (Presidio Press, 1985)
Gordon L. Rottman, Vietnam Infantry Tactics (Osprey, 2011)
Alfred M. Allen, Skin Diseases in Vietnam, 1965-72 (Office of The Surgeon General, U.S. Army, 1977)
Accounts from Army and Marine veterans of the Vietnam War