Knowing every grunt unit had its own way of operating, it makes me wonder what everyone took to the bush.
Since our unit prefered living in the bush, the following is what I would initially carry.

M-16 rifle, 45 mags of 5.56mm ammo, 100 rd belt of 7.62mm, 1 clamore, 2 frags, 2 smoke, 1 set of LBE w/o pack, 1 entrenching tool, 1 compass, 1 map, 1 machete, 1 knife, 1 ruck sack w/frame, 1 flashlight w/extra batteries, 1 reflective mirror, 1 2qt bladder of water, 3ea canteens, 1 poncho w/liner, 1 ball of C-4, 6 lrrp meals, 4 C-rat cans of fruit, 1 canteen cup, 4 packets of coco mix, various cans of C-rations, 2 compress bandages, 2 pair extra socks, 1 bottle of mosquito repellant, 1 small bible, 2 camo sticks, 1 boonie cap, and last-but-not-least 1 steel pot.
hmmm.... I don't recall ever carrying a bayonet. Hope to hear what others took to the bush.

Damn! I forgot my hammock! lol!

How did you get the 4-C-fruit ? I thought the REMF grabbed those !

quote:

ram82
Member
Posted Fri 30 May 2008 08:28 PM Hide Post
How did you get the 4-C-fruit ? I thought the REMF grabbed those !
Posts: 101 | Registered: Sat 04 March 2006

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Not all guys working in the rear, were REMF's. Matter fact, most of our support guys spent their time in the bush before getting a job in the rear.
Maybe it was just our unit, but us grunts were supported well, except for the C-4. We had our own ways of procuring it.

My Courage.....and the knowledge that carrying the prc-25. that I would have the knowledge to save lives..in which i did...on patrols/ambushes. my radio/spare battery/M-16/14 mags/2 canteens/2 frags/1 green smoke...

I was a LRRP in '67, in the 4th ID mostly in the central highlands. A normal rotation was 4 to 6 days in the Bush and 3 or 4 days in a firebase. We went out in 4-man teams and played "Sneaky Pete" all day and set up an ambush every night.
I carried a shotgun and a M79. I had a case of shotgun rounds strapped to the bottom of my ruck and 100 rounds in an ammo belt. I had 2 20-round bandoliers with various rounds for the thumper. I carried 2 claymores, 4 smoke grenades, 2 WP, 12 frags, a pound of C-4, 1 pair of dry socks, camo sticks, iodine tablets, mosquito repellant, and the Aid bag. I didn't have room for much food. If we had LRRP meals available, I carried 2 per day. If we only had C-rations, I carried 1 per day. I did carry a bayonet and a survival knife, flashlight, map, compass, and probably a few more items that I forgot about

BIGREB, i went on some what we Marines called Killer Teams...4 men going out just looking to get into a fight with Charlie/Nva...We carried just ammo. no flak jackets, helmets..not even a Corpsmen...

Can't remember everything, but basically:

1 case of C's (keep what you want for the next 10 days, destroy the rest). 45-50 Mags of Ball Ammo, 19 rds per mag and 2 mags tracer. 4 grenades, 2 flares; white and red, 1 can of smoke, 6 canteens, field battle dressing, survival knife, 1/2 of a towel ripped longwise around neck, sterno tabs when you could get them, c-4 when available (1/4 lb or so), steel pot, mosquito repellant, pre-sweetened Kool-
Aid from last mail received to kill taste of water purifier, Malaria pills for the platoon,
guess that is about it.

dispersed through the platoon on rotation was 2 entrenching tools, more smoke, xtra M-60 ammo belts, and a few other misc. stuff.

We went out for 10 days, got another case of C's kicked out of a chopper to last another 10 if no contact. Only ins and outs were Medivacs and stretch huey's with more ammo, etc if in contact. Not unusual to stay out over 30 days, some times close to 50 in the bush.

There were two ratios that were inversely related; Malaria and VD. The higher the one, the lower the other. In the bush long time higher Malaria and no VD. My unit had the highest Malaria rate and Lowest VD rate of any unit depoyed in Nam...meaning: we lived in the bush.

water purifier was Halazone as I remember, not sure of spelling.

And Oh Yes, length of surgical tubing to tie off wounds in arms and legs or suck water from Bamboo joints.

quote:

Originally posted by DCT435:
BIGREB, i went on some what we Marines called Killer Teams...4 men going out just looking to get into a fight with Charlie/Nva...We carried just ammo. no flak jackets, helmets..not even a Corpsmen...

Yes, that's what we were. We were called the Apache Raiders and designated as Hunter-Killer teams on most of our missions. We did some sniping, some snatching, a lot of stay-behinds, and some pure recon. We bragged to each other that we could "Out Charlie Charlie", and the night belonged to us.
Not many people knew about us. So I just call myself a LRRP. Everyone knows about them and to try to explain what we did makes me sound too much like some high speed poser. You are the first person I have run into, outside my old platoon, that knows what I'm talking about.
I never wore a helment. It's amazing how far the sound of a branch hitting or rubbing on a steel pot will carry.

If I Remember correctly, we were always pretty light in the field.

Well, we caried the M-14, usually in a jungle sling fashion so as the trigger housing group was right by our hand as we walked though the areas. Ammo for the M-14; we carried 200 rounds. Most of the rifles, except the designated AR Man, had the selector removed from our weapons. Our skill was in marksmanship, not in the spraying of the area with lead projectiles. The M-14 usually knocked down what it hit. We had the care and cleaning tools for the rifle in our WWII Haver Sack.

We had our required Flak Jacket that was usually without enough plates to block a rain drop from getting to us.

We had Two Canteens of water, usually hanging off of the Flak Jacket, and when they were the old Aluminium type canteens, the cork tops would not work so well, so we carried plenty of halizone tabs to drop in the canteen when we filled up in the rice paddies or irrigation streams, or even at the village wells. As the useage of the halizone tabs indicated, we were to keep the top loose on the canteen, which was no prob considering our lose of water due to the cork tops, but when we got the plastic canteen, we had to remember to loosen the tops. Either way, the water taste like crap.

Inside the old WWII Haver Sack we kept our pancho and the boxes of ammo that would not fit into the five mags we had (four on the gun belt, and one in the weapon). We carried the gun oil and lub tubes and patches for the rifle's care in the sack, and we had our C-rats for our meals we would take with us. And, we had our razor for shaving in the bush, and maybe a bar of soap. A flashlight for going into holes, and a dry package of matches wrapped in plastic, or a Zippo filled with Motor T Fuel that burned like a black smudge pot at a road barrier caution sign, but the matches in combination with a cigarette had other uses should we want something destroyed without us still being in the area at the time.

A bayonet was a standard, and a soft cover was always in the possession of the individual, as well as the helmet. Maybe some dry socks, if we had any.

Creature comforts were few, and we slept on the gound where we fell.

A couple of grenades, and we usually carried belt ammo for the guns, or 60 MM mortars rounds for the Company Tubes, and maybe some radio batteries, more for the PRC 6, and fewer for the PRC 10.

Of course, we had our e-tool, and when machetes were not available, they worked well to work our way through patches of jungle.

Usually, on the back of our gun belt, we had a small med pack that usually consisted of a couple of bandaids, some iodine, our halizone tabs, and a battle dressing.

Like I said, we traveled pretty light, and usually, we would receive resupply in certain time frames if we were in the field for any longer length of time than was anticipated.

Like I said, we traveled light and we traveled fast.

I was in the 1st of the 28th black lions. 67-68 my M-16 called Betty Lou, put a hurt'n on you. 40 mags, 4 frags, 2 smokes, claymore, plus extra belts for the M-60 mach.gun. one block of C-4, steel pot during the day and a soft cap at night. later we also carried a green star cluster. sometimes i even carried a bottle of anything i could get my hands on to drink. i called it liquid courage. I was glad now to have served. My father fought in the marines in WW11, i in vietnam and both my sons have been to Iraq.

BIGREB, wanna do it again...

quote:

Originally posted by DCT435:
BIGREB, wanna do it again...

My head says,"You can't do that". But, yeah, I'd love to be able to do it again.

Same here Bro...My mind says YES...But the OLD bod says NO...and HELL NO....But i'd do it again if i were young....and that was back in 19??