Early Vietnam War the Command U.S. Armed Forces stationed in the country creates the MAAG-Vietnam (Military Assistance Advisory Group-Vietnam) and from 1962 MACV (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam) to provide support, advice and assistance to the South Vietnamese armed forces in their fight against the Communists.
parallel to the war effort is going to happen in the country, the CIA created an elaborate spy network dedicated to fighting clandestinely NVA and the Vietcong, which is ordered to increase their activities in the area, was authorized for use as support their personal missions of Army Special Forces and Navy SEALs.
From 1961 to 1963, succeeded in infiltrating local agents in North Vietnam or training of South Vietnamese units to conduct offensive operations against targets in the North, is rather small, so that by the end of 1963 the U.S. government "militarized" the operations of the CIA, and it is thus born in January 1964 a new military unit in Vietnam, the MACV-SOG
(MACV Special Operations Group), that due to the secrecy of their missions and to disrupt the enemy, will be called SOG (Studies and Observations Group)
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When the unit was commanded by a colonel, and as the nature of their role was purely illegal, the unit was framed with retired officers, mercenaries and local members of all branches of the U.S. armed forces, stressing mainly the elite corps. Likewise
the high level of secrecy developed in their missions gave him the advantage of bypassing the normal chain of command, answering directly to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Pentagon, thereby achieving break free from interference by other forces and personalities in Vietnam, with the exception of the Commander of MACV, General Westmoreland. ORGANIZATION
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MACV commander was informed of the operations of the SOG, but he was not authorized to engage in operations conducted outside the borders of South Vietnam. True supervisor
MACV-SOG was the Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and Special Activities of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington.
The area of \u200b\u200boperations undertaken by the CIA and the unit collected as control covering covert action in South Vietnam, North Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and southern China.
The SOG had a command of ground operations (Ground Studies Group) with the Special Forces (Green Berets) as major players, another of Naval Operations (Maritime Studies Group) in this case with the Navy Seals as major players, one dedicated air operations (Air Studies Group ), Plus a group of psychological operations (Psicological Studies Group)
THE SOG LAND
The MACV-SOG was formed green berets of 1, 3 and 5 groups of Special Forces being from 1964 when the 5 th Group assumed responsibility for service in Vietnam.
The SOG Recon Teams were assigned multiple missions such as:
Location and observation of the enemy, listening to their communications. Getting
targets for air strikes against sensitive targets or importance.
cross border operations to obtain information. (Laos, Cambodia or North Vietnam)
Harassment of Ho Chi Minh route and check for damage operations against targets.
interception of enemy communications.
rescue missions or capture of prisoners.
The Recon Teams were composed of three Americans (code names: ONE-ZERO or team leader, ONE-ONE was the second in command and ONE-TWO was the RTO or radio operator) and eight to nine "cowboys" native and South Vietnamese of different ethnic groups in the region, as Montagnards, Nung, etc.
early of the race MACV-SOG Recon activated five Teams, although as the war raged would operate up to 70 Recon Teams.
They were baptized and called for its members with the names of U.S. states, indicating the source of its operators (Recon Team Alabama), weather (Recon Team Lightning) or snakes (Rt Anaconda) and were generally known as Spike Recon Teams. "
When RT was in trouble and needed to be bailed to return to their base teams were sent "Hatchet Forces, composed of five Green Berets and thirty indígenas.Su mission was to act as a reaction force to bring safe team recognition after "contact" with the enemy needed immediate help out of danger.
were also used to swell the number of troops when a large mission or importance warrants it, eg the siege of Khe Sahn.
If a reconnaissance team got good information and wanted to take advantage of it by an offensive action in superior numbers, were sent to the companies SLAM (Search-Location-and-Annihilation-Mission) to take over the target or objectives.
Each regional command had a number of RT's, "Hatchet Forces and at least four companies SLAM.
The main mission of SOG teams was to locate and observe the enemy, listen to their communications, directing air strikes and, ultimately, disrupt, disrupt and defeat any enemy action.
operating outside the limits of action of the American artillery, and without any support, the teams worked in the missions with the utmost caution and stealth to avoid detection, avoiding any contact with the enemy, unless they were missions, ambushes, assassinations and sabotage.
At its height the SOG had a strength of 2000 troops and 8000 American mercenaries.
Their missions included features:
border crossing operations to destabilize the VC, NVA, the "Khmer Rouge" or the "Pathet Lao" in his own ground search and rescue of Americans missing or captured in enemy territory, training and inclusion of agents in North Vietnam for sabotage operations, psychological warfare, propaganda level as actions of deception and confusion.
Among other less conventional in their gender and retrieving documents and classified equipment or compromising lost during an operation, and abduction or targeted killings of key people within the organization of the enemy.
missions in different areas of influence of the regional command of the SOG was nicknamed with different code names:
examinations in Laos is nicknamed "Shining Brass" and later as "Prairie Fire", Cambodia is nicknamed "Daniel Boone "and then" Salem House ", operations in the North received the nickname" Nickel Steel ".
SPECIAL WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT
The SOG in jungle operations or other scenarios outside of the base, did not use weapons, equipment or conventional uniform because inherently clandestine nature.
was wearing a uniform without any mark or label to reveal its source, and if captured, could show the enemy the U.S. troop presence beyond the borders of South Vietnam. Nor
badges were allowed personales.Toda clothing and documents was obtained by local media or manufactured specifically for them, or could dress uniforms Cambodia, Laos, North Vietnamese, black clothes or Vietcong style camouflage clothing, the legendary " tiger stripes "used by almost all special forces in the conflict.
In the last few years of the war, is usually American jungle uniforms, olive green, black or tinted with black paint.
combat team it was a mixture of American obsolete equipment, equipment captured from the enemy and other special supplies for the common CIA.Era using a local copy of the NVA backpack made for the SOG, the stock chest pouches of AK-47, rl portamunición the BAR belt to accommodate a large number of magazines of M-16 or sleeves portamuniciones canteens as large capacity.
was common during the missions "Roadrunners" of the RT's that the men were dressed and equipped as NVA soldiers during patrols carried out along paths used by the enemy, since it is also usual that a pair of men lead and closed the progress of the reconnaissance patrol dressed in such clothing.
The armament of the SOG had a great versatilidad.Al initially banned the use of American manufacturing conventional weapons in Laos, Cambodia or North Vietnam, so teams were provided with a varied range of submachine guns and European and Communist origin: from "Walthers P-38", "Hi-Power Brownings," Walthers PPK ", through the MP-38" Schmeisser ", MAT-49 French or favorite SOG: Swedish Carl Gustav M-45 Swedish K "
The Communist home could range from rocket launchers "RPG-2" or "RPG-7", RPD machine guns or the old and well-known AK-47.
The use of AK-47 by the SOG gave the team the advantages of the port it because of the confusion produced in the enemy regarding the visual, when a patrol was spotted from afar, and as regards the characteristic sound of it.
SOG members preferred the enhanced version of this, the CIA commissioned AKM.La making AK-47 magazines in South Korea before the ammunition demand raised by its widespread use. Since 1967
authorizes the use of American weapons in Laos, and Cambodia in 1970 because to American standard weapons and were sufficiently scattered throughout the area as to reach compromise with their presence. Dede
then the weapon of choice for the SOG will be the CAR-15, the shortened version of the command M-16, including a number of modifications, such as grenade launchers under the forearm of the CAR-15 or the shortening of the canyon M-79 grenade launcher reorganized into a 40mm gun.
also extended the use of silent weapons teams, useful for the removal of guards or the capture of prisoners, and were used a lot of submachine gun with a silencer incorporated, as the version with silencer "Carl Gustav "the M-3 "Grease Gun", the "Sten Mark II" by the SOG very demanding because of the possibility of storing dismantled in the backpack, or the Israeli Uzi. SPECIAL TACTICS
: INSERTION AND EXTRACTION
The SOG experimented with new weapons and theories as a pioneer in many disciplines who currently practice all armies.
The raids were carried out reconnaissance teams usually by helicopter, these require the utmost caution and skill of the pilots to bring the team to suelo.Se rappelling performed and was normal using aluminum ladders strung from "hueys ".
Some tactics used to divert the false insertion attention to the real, or land a team while picking up another or delivering supplies.
parachute insertions were performed, with the SOG precursor of the jump with the HALO system, designed to add computers without alerting the enemy through the heights of more than four or five thousand meters, which they perform jumps, falling down pounds to reach 750 meters open the parachute.
were conducted five missions HALO teams of six to ten men in 1970, of these, only one team made it to land without injury to come together and complete their mission.
If the time of insertion was dangerous, the part concerning the extraction it was more so: The state of the extraction could be a confrontation with the enemy, to be discovered a computer or due to the noise produced by helicopter rotors of rescate.Así, an extraction team consisted of several "slick", a helicopter gunship, support aircraft "A-1 Skyriders" and a FAC to take over the whole operation, being able to call if the situation required a fighter-bombers (Fast movers) or AC-47 aircraft gunners "Spooky" and AC-130 "Spectre".
The Green Berets developed a device that consisted of a special harness that allowed the soldier or soldiers in distress being lifted by helicopter from anywhere in the jungle, his name, "McGuire rig", which was further elaborated with the name Stab.
If things got really ugly and urged the immediate removal of a subject, the method could be used FULTON, also developed by the Special Forces guys and that was to tie a balloon to the subject in question in a sitting position in the ground to be captured by a C-130 in the resulting drag vuelocon and recovery of the individual.
As reward for the many courageous actions of the SOG, the U.S. government awarded a Presidential Unit Citation, and more than two thousand individual awards for heroic acts, including 10 Medals of Honor and 23 Crosses Distinguished Service ...
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