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Why Australian SAS Taught Americans to Hunt VC "Backwards"... And Tripled Their Kill Ratio

Vietnam War Tales

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Discover how Australian SAS revolutionized American tactics in Vietnam by teaching soldiers to hunt "backwards" - and tripled their kill ratio against the Viet Cong. This is the untold story of how Aussie jungle warfare experts from Malaya transformed US infantry tactics.

When American forces arrived in Vietnam, they used conventional WWII tactics: aggressive patrols, movement to contact, and overwhelming firepower. The Viet Cong simply melted away. Australian advisors showed them a different way - move slower, quieter, and get ahead of the enemy rather than chasing them.

Learn about:

The Battle of Long Tan where 108 Australians held off 2,500 VC
Counter-tracking techniques that reversed ambush tactics
How patience became deadlier than aggression
Why some US units achieved 20:1 kill ratios after training

This tactical revolution changed jungle warfare forever, influencing Special Operations to this day.

#VietnamWar #MilitaryHistory #AustralianSAS #JungleWarfare #VietCong #MilitaryTactics

20 Comments

@brandon8541 10 months ago

Tell you what, I always requested to have Aussies with us in training our Marines. This was during the last two wars. Some of the most professional, tactically informed and dedicated personnel I’ve ever met. They were essential in training our men and proud to serve with and call them a brother in arms.

@garrymuir1442 10 months ago

I don't think it was mentioned here but that artillery support in the battle of Long Tan came from Kiwi artillery

@IC86 11 months ago

The SAS, both Australian and British, have the unconventional warfare tactics down. They’re the forerunners of America’s Special Operations Groups, including Delta Force. Good on ‘em!

@eleveneleven572 11 months ago

In Korea the Brits and Aussies, and later Aussies in Vietnam, had to teach Americans how to fight.
A principle lesson when patroling in the jungle was "SHUT THE FUCK UP !!!"

@adamparker9765 10 months ago

Australia has never had the luxury of endless numbers of soldiers and our commanders at all levels value the lives of our men . We fight smarter not harder , we have to. The field craft of Australian soldiers has always been high , its our force multiplier , but now we are also embracing the high Tech gadgets needed by a modern fighting force , a lot of which is made at home and now exported OS.

@KookaburraAU9908 10 months ago (edited)

I worked with a man who was stationed at Australian fire bases during the Vietnam war. Many times the bases under attack from VC and NVA forces. He said the Australian SAS left the base at dark and within 2-3 days there was no VC or NVA left alive.

@chriskilmartin6079 11 months ago

Australian soldiers don’t risk their lives needlessly. We never had the old tactics of facing the enemy on a field of fire. Therefore our soldiers aren’t expendable. We don’t believe in throwing bodies at the problem and hoping for the best. We had our best successes after being freed from the control of the English generals in WW2.

@BigAl53750 11 months ago

Aussie reservists during WWII gave the best Japanese troops in the Pacific theatre a very hard battle in their attempt to cross the ranges in New Guinea and they were just boys. They did things the Japanese were not used to and their story is one that typifies the fact that Australian soldiers were a very different breed. Their NZ cousins are similar.

@Chuck-h3r1i 11 months ago

It is depressing that there are generals who prefer to do things the wrong way, instead of listening to the ones fighting the war, the soldiers that know better.

@MartianDropkick 10 months ago

My grandfather was an australian commando in vietnam. He told us more than once that one of the things he hated most was any time he had to link up with american units. They were loud and obvious, they moved in big groups, radios on, smoking, talking. By comparison they were so loud and you just spend the whole time expecting to be ambushed at any moment because everyone always knew where they were. When this big group of loud american marines encounted the VC, they would usually decimate them. But when they were ambushed by the VC, they were often outmaneuvered and ended up suffering more casualties than they should. They were a powerful force in the jungle, but they were so terrifyingly obvious and vulnerable by the way they moved.

@NedKellysRevenge67 11 months ago

Good information here as an ex Aussie digger I can tell you our jungle warfare is the best there is…

@Keith-z5f1n 11 months ago

Australian prowess in jungle warfare goes back to WW2 in Milne Bay Buena and Kakoda New Guinea.Then after WW2 Malaya.All troops going to Vietnam went to Cunundra jungle training centre prior embarkation to the funny farm steel Barracks in Sydney home of the sapper had a mock VC village including tunnels.So when the diggers hit the ground in Vietnam they were running.

@darriusjeddburgh6316 11 months ago

Interesting. Barry Petersen was a friend of mine. His book is a masterclass, in both warfare and the dangers of being too closely allied to America.

@johnnyjrotten59 11 months ago

The North Vietnamese called the Australians "the Phantoms of the Jungle". Americans - "the great white Elephants"

@dustytheyobbo 10 months ago (edited)

My next door neighbour was a Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) in Vietnam and he was a member of the AATTV in 1966-1967 and he ended up in some of the worst of it... He's 80 odd now. We live in the Goldfields in Victoria and we're both gold detectorists. The other day we were talking over the back fence about detecting out in the bush around here and he was saying, 'You've gotta watch it when you're out digging in the bush, the bush has eyes...you've gotta use your instinct. Meaning dig robbers can watch you dig and cone back at night and rob your dig. But you could tell he meant something else by that too. So I said, 'Well mate, I can imagine your instincts probably saved your arse quite a few times I'd think' without even mentioning Vietnam, and we both looked at each other & laughed. I didn't evem have to say the word Vietnam. He knew what I meant...

@scottbartlett4853 11 months ago

Former US Army SSG (non-combat) here. This is also why you hear tales of the country boy farmer/hunter that always excelled in sniper situations and the like, he knows how to hunt. I think the worst part of all this is when a large contingent of soldiers and civilians accurately pointed out that Afghanistan is/was the next Vietnam. No one in charge listened. Revenge was the order of the day. Yes, we can be an incredible fighting force but the final objective is never addressed. Don't even get me started on Iraq. Hey, let's go destabilize an entire region that is already teetering on the edge of war. What could go wrong?

@tonyolivari2480 10 months ago (edited)

The basic problem with Kill Ratios was that too many VC kills were simple villagers. McNamara's body count didn't care who the bodies belonged to.

@cjryan88 11 months ago

the australians are teaching this to the marines based in australia and there is a good movie about the battle of long tan called danger close

@awf6554 10 months ago

The AATV were DEFINITELY NOT all SASR. Most were regular Australian infantry.

@fjb4932 11 months ago (edited)

Read of a American civilian Army Scout during the American -Indian wars out West.
The Cavalry needed meat and several Indian Scouts were went out to hunt. The American Scout asked to accompany them and they agreed to take him. The Indians went along in no particular direction, examining deer track until they determined to follow one. After a mile or two they quit following it and headed straight to the nearest spring of water. They set up an ambush about a quarter mile from the spring in the direction they expected the deer and within the hour made the kill. When the American questioned them, they explained they were not trying to follow and catch up with deer, but instead find a fresh track, determine where it was going and why, then get ahead of it and hide in ambush. Hunting smarter, not harder.
A lesson learned, forgotten, relearned . . . ☆