Jungle extraction

Many veterans of WWII and Korea have trouble understanding why Vietnam experience was stressful, even given the fact that many infantry units spent much more time in actual contact than their uncles and fathers did. An additional source of stress was the air assault tactics made possible by the ubiquitous helicopters.

Air assault tactics are characterized by the almost total absence of conventional “front lines” or “rear areas” or “supply lines.” Every airmobile operation meant leaving the relative security of other units and support bases and being intentionally inserted into situations where they were surrounded by enemy troops with the advantages of superior numbers, camouflaged fighting positions and familiar terrain.

An airmobile insertion is a dangerous undertaking like any attack because of the uncertainty about who and what will be there to greet us. Extensive reconnaissance, artillery and gunship prep and availability of support help mitigate the sources of concert.

There are so many things that can go wrong – mechanical problems with the increasingly complex aircraft, a luck shot by a distant sniper shot, a bit of debris ingested by the air intake; any or all of these can mean disaster. We all go through the ritualistic processes of extraction, checking on one another to ensure that nobody gets left behind… the nightmare that each squad leader and platoon sergeant fears above all.