During the Vietnam war, America and its South Vietnamese allies forces faced a deadly enemy that not only fought on the jungle’s surface but could raise up from concealed underground bunkers and tunnels to ambush troops as well.
Travel an hour from Ho Chi Minh City, and you’ll arrive at the Cu Chi District where Communist guerrilla soldiers dug elaborate tunnels to store and transport supplies to combat American and South Vietnamese forces.
After completion, the Cu Chi tunnels stretched approximately 120 miles long, were buried 30-feet deep and helped provide the enemy cover from aerial attacks.
These tunnels were specifically designed to act as underground villages and could support months of living, making it simple for VC troops to ambush American forces and slip away nearly undetected.
One of many Cu Chi tunnel entrances that exist today which is relatively the size of a large shoe box and incredibly hard to locate. (Source: Pixabay)
The VC were masters at camouflaging the tunnel entrances and used neighboring villages to blend in with regular foot traffic to and from the tunnels.
Typically, the entrances were hidden underneath heavy cooking pots, large supplies of rice and leaves found in the jungle which made them tough to discover.
Two U.S. Marines search a discovered Viet Cong Tunnel. (Source: Flickr)
After discovering a tunnel, a detailed search began with the hopes of finding valuable intelligence, weapons, and enemy personnel who were detained for questioning.
Although considered very efficient, the tunnels also brought extreme dangers to the VC units that called it home, like flooding, disease, poor ventilation, and snake bites just to name a few.
Check out HISTORY‘s video to explore the ingenuity behind the Viet Cong’s tunnel systems that still exist today.
The U.S. Armed Forces widely uses the M249 SAW light machine gun, as it’s tried and tested on the battlefield — but all weapons have limitations, as a new video from West Coast Armory shows.
To test the durability of a suppressor, a device used to mask muzzle flash and muffle sound from firearms, the guys at West Coast Armory, a Washington state-based gun range, set up the M249 on a bipod and fed a belt of 700 rounds through it.
To be clear, this qualifies as ridiculously overdoing it and is not advisable in any but the most controlled scenarios.
In the clip below, watch the suppressor get utterly destroyed and the M249’s barrel become red hot.
Netflix partnered up with huge modern directors to tell the story of five filmmakers who chose to put their careers on hold and serve in World War II.
Based on Mark Harris’ best-selling book, “Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War,”the new Netflix series “Five Came Back” is about five filmmakers (John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens) who served in the war, then returned to share what they learned with the world through their art.
With interviews by Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Guillermo del Toro, Lawrence Kasdan, and Paul Greengrass, and narrated by Meryl Streep, “Five Came Back” explores the role filmmakers have during tumultuous times.
“Americans did not realize the extent of the threat Hitler posed,” narrates Streep.
The “five” created films that brought the reality of the war to the American people, and, in doing so, “changed the world.”
Military working dogs — MWDs for short — have long partnered with Americans in war. These four-legged troops have seen a lot of action in the Global War on Terror, including the raid that took out Osama bin Laden. The dogs have long been loyal companions, and the military returns that loyalty in spades — from when they join the service to when they say farewell to the military.
Two reconnaissance Marines and a military working dog take security positions during a reconnaissance and surveillance mission at a Marine Expeditionary Unit field exercise aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
USMC photo by Lance Cpl. Devan Gowans
Now, deployed Marine Expeditionary Units have also gone to the dogs. And for good reason: Dogs can take down a bad guy that you want to capture alive, locate improvised explosive devices or drugs, and, of course, they make for great travelling companions. They cheer up grunts and accountants alike: they gladly work for some Purina Dog Chow, a few Milk-Bones, and a game or three of fetch.
Like all Marines, these canine Leathernecks need to keep their skills sharp, even when deployed. To that end, they seen some type of training or patrol everyday. This is the case even when serving aboard a ship, like the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1). Just as with any other troop, readiness is the key to success.
In short, MWDs are excellent warfighters with an inherent, priceless loyalty. So, naturally, MEUs, in addition to multi-role fighters, helicopters, tanks, artillery, mortars, and snipers, have some MWD teams assigned.
Below, watch one team demonstrate to fellow Marines what a MWD can do.
We’ve got one last question, though. Since dogs usually like to go on the grass… where do the MWDs go to the bathroom when at sea? The lack of grass does sound like a complication…
Room clearing is a fundamental skill for all ground troops to learn and eventually master as we continue the War on Terror.
The art of clearing a room looks simple on the surface, but peel back the many important layers of the maneuver, and you’ll soon realize just how tough the act can be.
Thankfully, once you understand the basics, the operation starts to feel like second nature and muscle memory kicks into gear.
So, check out these four tips on how to clear a room, straight from a Navy SEAL.
4. Identify the number of troops entering the room
It’s crucial each man communicates and understands what their exact role in the “stack,” or the lineup, will be. The number one man goes in this direction, number two goes this way, and so on down the line. Each troop must be accounted for by everyone.
This group has decided to go with a four-man clearing team before breaching the door of their objective. (Image from Wikipedia Commons)
3. Predict the shape of the room based on what it looks like from the outside.
It’s primarily up to the number one man to clear sector one, also known as the “uncleared sector.” This is the area of the room you won’t see until you’ve entered the room — in the case of a corner-fed room, this is the far corner and corner on the same wall as the entryway.
2. Consider the size of each step taken
When entering in through a narrow doorway, the size of the step taken by the number one man can affect the second man’s progression as the team files into the room. Switching up the size of the step in a compressed environment could result in the second man getting knocked off of their path, which could be deadly.
These contractors decide to take wide steps as the practice clearing a room.
1. Once you clear or first sector, move on but don’t “flag” your teammates.
In a small room, each member of the team must avoid “flagging,” or pointing your weapon in the direction of fellow teammates. This can be avoided by maintaining your sector of fire at all times and not forgetting the basic principles of room clearing.
In this figure: The clearing team maintains their sector and never point the weapons in the direction of a teammate. (Source: Global Security)
Check out Tactical Rifleman‘s video below to watch this Navy SEAL take you through the proper steps of clearing a room.
In this latest episode of Vets Get Real, WATM talks to a group of former servicemembers about whether or not they’d join the military all over again if given the chance.
Be sure to keep an eye out for other episodes of Vets Get Real where WATM hosts discussions with vets on topics ranging from relationships to recruiters.
Editor’s note: If you have questions that you’d like to see Vets Get Real about, please leave a comment below.
Air Force Capt. Mark Harper was probably worried about the lack of network connections and other technology in 2007 when he was sent to Djibouti, Africa, to take over a staff section there. Unfortunately, his colonel hadn’t gotten the message about Djibouti’s limited network access and ordered Harper and his crew to start making weather podcasts for Djibouti.
A podcast. In 2007. For a group of people with limited internet access. The “Good Idea Fairy” had struck again.
Air Force Capt. Mark Harper and his crew record their weather podcast for the people of Djibouti. (Go90 No Sh*t There I Was screenshot)
Shocker, it had a limited listenership and the crew wasn’t happy while making it. But since the order came from a colonel, they would need at least a general to shoot it down.
Unfortunately for them, their attempts to sabotage the program in front of a visiting two-star didn’t exactly go according to plan. Check out the whole story, complete with a colonel falling asleep on a grateful captain, in the video embedded above.
Noah Bailey was an Army specialist serving as an M2 .50 cal. gunner in an Army scout sniper platoon when the Humvee he was patrolling in was struck by an IED.
The explosion was part of a complex ambush, and the platoon quickly came under fire. Both of Bailey’s legs were amputated because of the trauma he sustained.
Bailey went through a dark period after his amputations, almost committing suicide before a well-timed phone call saved his life.
See Bailey tell his full story — complete with cool tattoos that put a twist on his experiences — in the video above.
Bailey’s story is part of a series presented by We Are The Mighty. War Ink: 11 for 11 features 11 combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan using tattoos to tell their stories on and off the battlefield. Each week for the next 11 weeks, a different tattooed veteran will share his or her story.
Do you have a tattoo that tells the story of your war experiences? Post a photo of it at We Are The Mighty’s Facebook page withthe hashtag #WeAreTheMightyInk. WATM will be teeing up the coolest and most intense ones through Veteran’s Day.
The Swiss Guard, the Pope’s elite security force, had humble beginnings 500 years ago as infantrymen defending their lands against cavalry. In medieval times, the Swiss perfected the use of the pike in battlefield formations, and quickly became known as one of the greatest fighting forces of their time.
It never fails. You sit down to watch a “Three Musketeers” movie or TV show and you’re quickly introduced to Athos, Porthos, and Aramis…and also D’Artagnan.
Not one of the movies ever takes the time to explain why the Three Musketeers blatantly features four musketeers.
But first, a little about the French Musketeers: Musketeers were actually a common European military unit, known for carrying, well, muskets. In France, they were a little more serious than that. Their full name was “Musketeers of the Guard” and the unit was created by King Louis XIII when he purchased muskets for a unit of light cavalry.
And of course, swords.
Swords! Huzzah!
The Musketeers became the Royal bodyguard but also fought in France’s wars. they were like the Secret Service, if the Secret Service had a special operations unit that worked in frontline combat.
Back to the four musketeers.
French author Alexandre Dumas’ epic takes place in the 1620s and follows a young man named D’Artagnan who has just left his home to go to Paris and join the Musketeers of the Guard. The young man meets and befriends “The Inseparables,” a trio of Musketeers named Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.
The barracks party with these three must have been off le chaîne.
D’Artagnan does not actually become a Musketeer of the Guard until two-thirds through the book. Since the story is from D’Artagnan’s point of view and he’s not yet a Musketeer, it would be a very early version of stolen valor on the young man’s part to call himself one.
Good on you, D’Artagnan.
If you read the book or watch the movie and just can’t get enough D’Artagnan, I have good news for you. The character was based on a real person, Charles de Batz-Castelmore d’Artagnan.
Dumas continues his adventures in “The Vicomte de Bragelonne: Ten Years Later” and “Twenty Years After.”
There are few stories as truly amazing and inspiring as that of World War II hero and Medal of Honor recipient Desmond Doss.
The soldier saved 75 of his fellow troops during the hellish battle for Okinawa — under cover of darkness, avoiding roving Japanese patrols at every turn and lowering his brothers to safety down a cliff by hand … one at a time.
And he did it all without ever firing a shot.
The story of Pvt. Doss — a 7th Day Adventist and conscientious objector during World War II who despite his religious convictions enlisted to serve in the war as a medic — is portrayed in vivid and emotional detail in the upcoming film “Hacksaw Ridge.”
Directed by Mel Gibson and starring Andrew Garfield as Doss, Vince Vaughn as Sgt. Howell, Teresa Palmer as Doss’s eventual wife Dorothy and Sam Worthington as Capt. Glover, “Hacksaw Ridge” is as much a love story as it is a tale of gritty resolve and strength of character.
WATM sat down with some of the stars behind the film to find out what their motivations were for tackling a character as complex as Doss and to get a sense why those who’ve “been there and done that” should get to theaters and see the epic film themselves.
Director Mel Gibson and actor Andrew Garfield explain the difficulty of portraying a soldier as complex as Pvt. Desmond Doss:
Actors Vince Vaughn and Luke Bracey talk about how vets inspired them for their roles:
Actor Teresa Palmer gives an intimate look at the experience of her family during World War II:
