The Infantry makes up approximately 15% of the Armys total force. My first tour was as an advisor to the VN Abn. Required fields are marked *. HOOAH!!! Every infantryman must be fluent in any weapon and equipment that is involved in the operation. means: 1 gets killed the 1st second, another one after 9 seconds avg. If the enemy was near, we never saw any. Point was the safest place to be,they knew to wait for key elements, RTO, Medica, M60 Gunners. Sanitation facilities were a box filled with sand in each car. In France, the bars were as hard as the frozen soil. The Bronze Star was awarded to ALL that were awarded the CIB in WWII because the Infantry accounted for over 70% of the casualties in WWLL BUT NOT 70% )F ALL THE INFANTRY !!! Interesting, I carried a Prick 25, for 2 months. Replacement infantrymen were often treated as an outsider, and no doubt already somewhat fearful of what they were getting into, they bore an additional burden of being considered to be little more than a casualty waiting to happen. The need for special training for BAR operators, including the proper method of cleaning it, also contributed to its being carried by only one squad member. Helicopters, F4 fighters. You will become a member of a fire team which could result in deployment to one or more dangerous settings involving direct combat. It is Honor in the Valley of Tears. An interesting comment I had. We can all hold our heads high and be proud of our service. When the reserves moved up the troops which had been in combat were withdrawn, and what luxuries the Army could offer were enjoyed. Were talking averages, obviously so, an RTO, with an expectancy of 5 seconds (!) Well he didnt make it. never happened,we lost two sweep team members and some However, Infantrymen may be eligible for bonuses, including an enlistment incentive of up to $41,000. His comparison to a FB was that if we were fired on we returned fire and requested assistance when needed. Non-divisional aeromedical evacuation units went by the callsign DUSTOFF. U.S. Army Infantryman overwhelming have positive things to say about the military career choice. 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.7 million who served. Training to become MOS 11B is open to both men and women. At age 55, World War 2 Veterans were estimated to live 21.4 and 26.1 life-years, 1.4 and 0.3 more life-years for Korean Conflict Veterans, and 3 and 1.5 more life-years for Vietnam Era Veterans for male and female, respectively. The lives of these soldiers are always at risk. Here are our sources: Company A, 276th Infantry in World War II, by Frank H. Lowry, 1991, Life in the Infantry, by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, The War, PBS online, 2007, Command Decisions: The 90 Division Gamble, by Maurice Matloff, Center for Military History, Department of the Army, 1960, online, The Infantry Organization for Combat, by Hugh Foster, April 26, 2000, online, The European Theater of Operations, ed. Not much different than his unit. To the men, it appeared they were fighting for useless hills. So was the need to stay nourished, and despite the idea of eating unappetizing rations cold, due to the necessity of avoiding using cooking fires, it was better than nothing. Cluster F, SNAFU and FUBAR fer sur. Fortunately, it was recorded on Spotify and can be listened to here: Your email address will not be published. 1ST MAW 66-68. There is no guarantee that recruits going through 11X Infantry Enlistment Option will become MOS 11B. Education: Army members can earn full-tuition, merit-based scholarships, allowances for books and fees, plus annual stipend for living expenses. However, it was the discretion of the individual crewmen if they wanted to carry personal weapons or not. Really no mention of the regular rifleman. (Petty Officer 2nd Class. I carried the PRC-25 for most of a year. Few of them talked about the horrors they endured until much later in their lives, focusing, as they had during the war, on what was ahead of them instead of what was behind. I was a 2LT on Hamburger Hill and had 4 RTOs over a 7 day period (excluding the times I ended up carrying my own radio). The Republic of Vietnam lost 1,018 aircraft and helicopters from January 1964 to September 1973. In the case of a night attack, the men could not exit the bags quickly, and most infantrymen quit sleeping in them, preferring to stay on top of the bag and cover themselves with their overcoat or blanket. Soldiers that are assigned to Bradley or Stryker units also must learn how to drive and perform maintenance on their assigned vehicles. I am 81 now and survived the encounter by terminated the sniper. They didnt know it, but they were about 60 miles from the Rhine River, which lay to the North, and less than one hundred miles east of Stuttgart, Germany. Do the math. Two of my classmates were killed within 2 weeks incountry and three wounded I know of. The extra socks they needed to carry to protect their feet was one example. Bravo, 3/187th Inf, 101st Airborne Div, 2nd Plt, 2nd Sq, Hamburger Hill, May 69. 101st Airborne Division. Thus they were deployed without artillery of their own. Occasionally the men were transferred piecemeal. The infantry rotated troops to and out of the front, either as it receded while the Germans withdrew to new defensive positions or as replacement troops took over, giving the squads an opportunity to rest, shower, obtain fresh clothing and recover from combat. For example, infantry units directed to disrupt German lines in Les Vosges in January 1945 had no idea they were preventing the reinforcement of troops involved in the Battle of the Bulge. This is excellent! I agree with all of the comments, however I would add Tunnel Rats to the group I was one and saw many of my friends die in those tunnels I was very fortunate or very lucky and was never a lead but was at the tail end. Camp Standish was both a staging area for embarking troops and a prisoner of war camp. I look over to When marching in heavy snow or mud the terrain pulled at their boots, which was both doubly fatiguing and created friction between skin and boots, leading to blisters which needed to be attended to as quickly as possible to prevent infection. Thank You General Vessey for the almost 53 years I have lived since that day. Basic training and advanced job training are combined into a single course. Also, Infantry like the culture of the military job as well as management opportunities. My bud, Price took over as RTO. I was shot down on my very first mission in July 1968. The minimum education needed to become a U.S. Army Infantryman (11B) is a high school diploma or GED. They were a great bunch. You have to earn it, so hard work during your education and training is extremely important. As mentioned, who kept track of that in the first place? Then we all, loaded on C-147 cargo planes. They learned to spend the night in foxholes back to back with another squad member, giving them a 360-degree range of vision, and creating the term, Ive got your back. The next morning, the blasting could still be, heard. 15 May he was killed by friendly fire, and a host of us were WIA, myself included. I was to have that experience two more times before it was over. By February 1944 the US Army discontinued purchasing the Thompson, after approximately 1.5 million units had been obtained by the Army and Marine Corps. Great information. Stops on the march of more than a few minutes were to be used to grab any sleep they could. Soldiers also learn basic combative training including hand-to-hand combat and tactical combat casualty care (TCCC). The most common trade items were cigarettes and chocolate, both of which Americans were amply supplied with, and the French civilians were not. It was capable of processing an entire division for embarkation in a single day, but it seldom did due to the nature of shipping schedules from the Port of Boston. The combat infantrymen were unaware of their mission, tired and hungry having had little food other than frozen k-rations for four days, and about to enter combat with a German division which had been diverted from the Eastern Front in order to support the offensive which had stalled in the Ardennes at Bastogne. 82nd 2/505th. Even during the period of rest, the possibility of a sudden attack was always present. From the Landing Zone, we were carried not too far. An infantrymans link to the desires of the officers of the division was through his squad leader. Although a partially discharged clip could be ejected from the rifle it was common practice not to do so. Toothbrushes and tooth powder were included in ration packs, and the teeth could be brushed using water in canteens, except for during the colder periods of the winter of 1944-45 when the canteens froze solid. He was wounded and suffered permanent disability shortly before his tour was up. my left and saw this rice paddie farmer and his ox and I was trying to motion him to get down he just looks at me and starts Army Infantrymen (11B) are the main land combat force, and known as Eleven Bravo.. As I remember it the life expectancy was based on after the ambush was sprung or the fire fight started. located on the South End of, the Post. For the most part, the members of the squad had no idea of the overall strategic situation or even the local tactical situation. Either way, thats a lot of soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen, male and female that made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, and there are still people dying as a result of their wounds receiver so very long ago in a place called Vietnam. Here are 10 of the most dangerous: 1. 10-4. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Elie Piha served as a paratrooper in the US Army from 2008 to 2012. aND, mAY GOD BLESS AMERICA!!! The liners had been gutted and great rows of tiered bunks filled their hulls. Related Article: Marine Machine Gunner (MOS 0331): Job Description And Summary. Before I became a team leader on ambush and recon I was in command of the scout jeep for the 25th ID resupply convoy from January 1968 to June 15, 1968 and I found the resupply convoys a lot more dangerous because the enemy always knew where it would be and when. Like you, I carried a PRC-25 for about 5 months and never got hit. Clip 8m 41s. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_losses_of Food: Allowance for the on-base dining hall and access to tax-free department and grocery stores. Aboard ship, the troops, most of whom had never been on a ship before, endured crowded conditions, jammed mess halls with waiting lines of up to an hour, seasickness, and boredom. Such protracted exposure to the elements boded ill for his life expectancy. If my memory is correct, only the 1st Cab flew wiith doorgunners. Additionally, you must complete a Combat (CO) ASVAB score of 87. In total, the United States military lost in Vietnam almost 10,000 aircraft, helicopters and UAVs (3,744 planes, 5,607 helicopters and 578 UAVs). wias. Great reading. After consolidating the division and its equipment infantrymen were moved to the front, which by December 1944 was nearing the Siegfried Line, defensive fortifications protecting Germany from invasion from the west. Very interesting I carried theM 60 for 5 months that gun would cut down anything. While the platoon was commanded by a commissioned officer, usually a Second Lieutenant, the squad was led by a non-commissioned officer, usually, a Staff Sergeant serving as squad leader, assisted by a corporal. Our Aussie Dust off choppers had door gunners, we worked on the theory if the Noggies would shot at Red Cross choppers, we would return fire, Aussie grunt, 60000 00 Aussies fought in Vietnam, Up the Old Red Rooster and more beer. No combat assignments for another year of service in Vietnam or get out in about a month. Your article was quite interesting. In my tour everyone had the same chance of getting shot. The Americans put about twenty men in each car when they moved by train, since with their full loads of equipment they could not fit in anymore, but conditions were still crowded. II Now, there are additional weapon qualifications including handling M4 rifles, M240 machine guns, and M249 squad automatic weapons. Copyright 2023 www.OperationMilitaryKids.org. All Rights Reserved. Squad leaders were given limited objectives, leaving them to speculate for the most part on aspects of an operation outside of those in which they and their men were participating. According to Indeed.com, overall Infantryman claim pay and benefits and job security and advancement as the two best features of the job. Pararescue U.S. Air Force pararescuemen and a simulated 'survivor' watch as an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter comes in for a landing. Each company, usually commanded by a Captain, contained three rifle platoons, and each of those was comprised of three squads of twelve men each (a company also included a light weapons platoon). A documentary about our company and our 1st Sgt was made. Welcome home!! During the winter sleeping bags were issued. According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) there are now officially 58, 318 names on the wall. The needs of the Army will dictate which MOS youre assigned. Access to the field kitchens provided the men not engaged in combat with hot meals, though complaining about the food in all situations was a time-honored tradition, as in all armies. We were like sitting Ducks. Thanks. Then he said youre on a FB, the enemy always knows your location, can pretty much attack at will, and you really dont have the capability to retreat. Rules may have changed, I was in the Delta region. While all rifle companies had assigned medics, they were not always in the company of squads on patrol or deployed in forwarding positions. The overwhelming majority of the combat infantrymen deployed during the Second World War carried as their primary weapon the Garand M1 rifle. I was a REMF but Ive heard of 05Cs that were stuck out in the boonies on a firebase. The Thompson .45 caliber submachine gun was sometimes carried by a non-com to give a squad more firepower in the field, but it was not deployed as heavily as films and television depict due to its poor penetrating power and its weight. I credit my longetivity to great training at Ft Benning. The infantry rifleman during winter bore a load of over eighty pounds, the BAR man nearly one hundred. Of the American combat troops which served on the continent of Europe during the Second World War about 15% were frontline infantry. We walked the mountains and rice patties all thru Tu Thien Province. I was lucky too but VN never left me. Here is an 18 The article was interesting. Because if only 1 RTO fought for say only 10 or 15 minutes before being killed, that would up the AVG for the total war! Foxholes were dug by individuals, with each man responsible for his own hole, or in the case of weapons teams, dug together for joint occupancy. I never understood why they didnt put M60s on Medevacs (once the VC shot them down) but then, we now know they never intended to win that war in the first place. Loaded 0%. BS but ia a way you are correct. 5 seconds. Regardless, several civilian jobs are comparable such as: Soldiers should consider enrolling in the Army PaYS program following retirement. we were getting it with machine gun and mortars. Look at the armament options in this article---those are all LRPF guns from .50cal to 30mm to 105-120mm cannon---and no "area saturation," "area destruction," and "mass fire" that China and Russia have. He also carried a weapon. Because the BAR had such a high rate of fire both the BAR man and another member of the squad carried extra ammunition for the weapon. Each rifle squad had one man assigned to carry a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) while the rest of them carried rifles, usually the Garand M1 rifle. His entrenching tool could be used as a pick and a spade, but the often frozen ground encountered in late 1944 resisted his efforts stubbornly. As I carried a PRC25 radio for over seven-months in the > Nam, I was curious to find out what I did RIGHT to surv >, One MOS I figured was a sure short timer was POL{Fuel} Truck Driver. They were marched or trucked to holding areas, where they encamped in accordance with their division procedures to await the arrival of their heavy equipment and logistics facilities. Artillery, and ground forces. When you assist in reconnaissance operations you can expect to employ, fire, and recover anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, locate and neutralize mines, operate, mount/dismount, zero, and engage targets using night vision sight. Survival led them to shed those items which were not essential to their remaining alive. Very memorable comments. In our spare time we did medevacs and medcaps for the local communities and when required inserted SEALs . The TOTAL number of CIB and CMB awarded would give you the answer !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Many were killed or wounded ! During training, you will spend close to a week on vehicle platform training. During some periods of intense combat more than a month could go by without clean clothes or a shower. Now, the wisdom of this soldier tough but humanly compassionate warrior ethos can be assessed through the 2d Bn recordNO complaints about mistreatment of prisonerswhile achieving the most combat SUCCESSES IN THE BRIGADE. Sure but so was everyone else who went 12 months without getting killed or wounded. They were also in a circular formation. Before you get started, it is important to determine right off the bat if you want to become a U.S. Army Infantryman 11B or Indirect Fire Infantryman 11C. You can follow the pay table below to figure out what you can expect to make based on U.S. Army rank for Infantryman MOS 11B: The U.S. Army has several benefits included with a monthly salary: It is also worth noting that you could earn up to $41,000 in cash bonuses for enlisting under certain Military Occupational Specialties.
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