Passive Air Defense and the Viet Cong

for it seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of vietnam is to end in a stalemate but it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate not as victors but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy and did the best they could when it comes to civil defense through the ages one of the most important topics is that of air defense that is defending against attacking aircraft so today let's take a look at some of the doctrine and lessons learned in the field of defense from aerial attack and what better way to do that than not through the eyes of just united states military doctrine but also the doctrine of one of the united states most formidable foes the viet cong now before we begin we have to yet again point out how large of a topic this is the vietnam war was the origin of most western suppression of enemy air defense doctrine and also the national liberation forces commonly known as the viet cong or vietnamese communists was one of the most dedicated civil defense organizations in recent memory we thought that this unique combination of factors makes a good platform to discuss the c most dedicated civil defense organizations in recent memory we thought that this unique combination of factors makes a good platform to discuss the concepts of passive air defense from the side of the americans and that of the vietnamese if this seems a bit disorganized it's because it is us military doctrine is always written from the perspective of a global superpower that has near peer concerns or is trying to counter an insurgency but when it comes to average american citizens learning and studying warfare we often have to come at this from a different perspective so there's a mismatch we're studying the doctrine of the superpower but we have the resources and capabilities of the small hamlet in northern vietnam and when it comes to studying the vietnam war it's really easy to get overwhelmed not only was the war in vietnam an extremely complex and horrific conflict but so is the topic of passive air defense doctrine in this field has been developed ever since the first world war when aircraft were first used in mass to attack either other aircraft or ground targets so please understand that we cannot cover everything under the sun in the field of defending against an aerial a ther other aircraft or ground targets so please understand that we cannot cover everything under the sun in the field of defending against an aerial attack but we can cover the basics so let's get to it when it comes to defending against attacking aircraft the preparations for such are usually divided into two categories passive defenses and active defenses in short passive defenses are the things that you can do to passively protect yourself or your unit from an attack and active defenses are mostly things like shooting back and directly engaging the hostile aircraft today we will be talking about passive defenses as active defenses is a whole other thing that we will talk about in a different video but understanding passive air defense is key to discussing more kinetic options later and to begin talking about passive air defense we actually briefly have to talk about something that's more in the camp of active air defense this seems a bit backwards but it will make sense later the absolute first step in passive air defense is to make the decision of whether or not to engage an aircraft if it begins attacking you this decision needs to be made now because it dictates everything el e the decision of whether or not to engage an aircraft if it begins attacking you this decision needs to be made now because it dictates everything else including your passive defenses now this decision is not simply a yes or no question but you need to get the criteria set before you even consider anything else you might decide okay we're going to engage rotary wing aircraft helicopters if they pop up over that ridge line over there but we're not going to engage fixed-wing fighters or you might decide alright we're going to attack helicopters that land at these potential helicopter landing zones near us but if they just fly by overhead on a recon don't take the bait and to show how important this concept is let's take a look at the doctrine of the vietcong fighting in vietnam cambodia and laos during the vietnam war captured vc documents indicate that charlie would place high priority on observation again with their doctrine pointing out how important it is to decide first whether or not to engage one captured document from early in the war states that in case aircraft are flying over densely populated areas where people are working or are gathered in a meeting and have not droppe the war states that in case aircraft are flying over densely populated areas where people are working or are gathered in a meeting and have not dropped bombs air defense elements are not permitted to shoot unless the people have withdrawn after that shooted aircraft only when they begin bombardment or landing of troops in this example the vietcong encouraged their fighters not to engage because engaging the aircraft would only reveal their position and the people that would bear the brunt of american retaliation were the civilians living in the village civilians that might not look too kindly upon the vc the next time they showed up if the vc brought nothing but destruction with them this is not just a confirmation of how important passive air defense is but also the importance that the viet cong placed on winning and keeping the hearts and minds of the local populace which is something that is absolutely vital in every single facet of conflict yet somehow overlooked in many cases so whatever is decided whatever criteria or scenarios are decided on as soon as that decision is made ensure that it is clearly disseminated to the entire team or unit make sure everyone knows what the pl are decided on as soon as that decision is made ensure that it is clearly disseminated to the entire team or unit make sure everyone knows what the plan is and what their role in that plan is now for the real meat of the matter passive air defense most passive air defense is intended to protect you from attack without you actually doing much work at all i.e passive right and as such passive air defense itself is broken up into two main categories attack avoidance making sure the attack never happens in the first place and damage mitigation measures to decrease damage that might occur if preventing the attack fails so up first avoiding the attack in the first place the main way of doing this is camouflage if we take a look at what the americans think on this various us military manuals further break this down into yet more doctrine to memorize for instance army training publication 3-01.8 breaks this down into three further categories sitting discipline and construction sitting is the practice of selecting the best spot for an air defense again like we mentioned in the beginning if you have made the decision to engage or not engage attacking aircraft you might choose different spots nse again like we mentioned in the beginning if you have made the decision to engage or not engage attacking aircraft you might choose different spots depending on what you decide again the vietcong had this concept down pat for charlie campsites and temporary hole-up sites were raided based on three criteria number one the hamlets of the village and the area surrounding them must provide terrain favorable to defensive operations number two the areas surrounding the defended perimeter must provide little protection for attacking gvn troops and number three finally there must be no obstacles such as rivers or highways that impede a subsequent withdrawal so for the vietcong the concept was pretty simple a good site afforded good protection for them little or no protection for the enemy and was easy to escape from if things got hairy this is not just useful for air defense but for defense against ground attack as well we can also see how important it was to choose a good sight based on whether or not we plan to engage aircraft a site that offers the most protection from an attack might not be the same site that offers the best chance of success if we ourselves need to engage for insta t offers the most protection from an attack might not be the same site that offers the best chance of success if we ourselves need to engage for instance a position deep down in a steep valley will limit the number of vectors that an aircraft can use to attack us due to terrain so if we're trying to get as much cover as possible deep down in the valley might be an option however if we're planning to engage high up on the ridgelines might be a better place where we can engage aircraft from a similar altitude that aircraft might be flying at or better yet fire down upon helicopters that might be landing in the valley below this is very similar to what the vietcong did during the battle of outback though the terrain for this battle was mostly flat the vc were able to pick positions that offered the most defense from americans landing troops in helicopters by exercising patience and exploiting the overconfidence and over reliance on technology by attacking arvin and u.s forces the viet cong were able to successfully engage 15 american helicopters landing in the rice paddies across from their position destroying five helicopters in the process and securing the first major victory for th icopters landing in the rice paddies across from their position destroying five helicopters in the process and securing the first major victory for the viet cong in the vietnam war we will examine this pivotal battle further when we talk about active air defenses but the key takeaway for now is that the viet cong through superior passive air defense were able to camouflage and conceal their true numbers which were much larger than u.s military intelligence indicated the vc were also able to conceal their positions until arvind forces were just 30 yards away positions that were specifically located to provide concentration of fire on helicopter landing zones passive air defense is crucial for active air defense to work and this battle proved it in the prelude to this battle the viet cong picked the absolute best terrain to defend and their choice of sitting in the right spot ensured their success up next is discipline discipline refers to overall camouflage discipline not leaving tracks that an aircraft can spot using the best personal camouflage and camouflaging equipment as best one can again the vc demonstrated superior tactics in this category as well which they are infamous for camouflage and camouflaging equipment as best one can again the vc demonstrated superior tactics in this category as well which they are infamous for the vietcong have been one of if not the most disciplined fighting force that the united states has ever fought against this is not just because the vc were willing to accept astounding casualty rates but because they rigidly adhered to camouflage practices and this discipline goes back to before the viet cong even existed the french fighting the viet minh the predecessor to the viet cong in indochina in the 1950s learned this all too well in his book street without joy the french debacle in indochina bernard fall describes this camouflage discipline very accurately in the following passage he writes here and there a small group of men advancing single file through the high grass was caught in the open by a french reconnaissance plane but by the time the plane had made a second sweep the enemy would have disappeared from the path and blended into the surrounding countryside in view of the french mastery of the air the viet minh troops had made a veritable fetish out of camouflage the greatest pains would be taken even in safe rear ar he french mastery of the air the viet minh troops had made a veritable fetish out of camouflage the greatest pains would be taken even in safe rear areas to camouflage anything which could offer the french a suitable target this constant emphasis on camouflage carried out relentlessly even when at rest made the communist soldier as well as the civilian population unbeatable masters at the game the palm leaf helmet of the communist soldier with its constantly worn camouflage net on it was the major trademark of the regular in addition every regular vietmen soldier on the march carried a large wire mesh disk on his back and head adorned with the foliage of the terrain through which he was passing as soon as the terrain changed it was a responsibility of each soldier to change the camouflage of the man ahead of him as the surroundings changed rarely would a communist unit be in too much of a hurry to not take the time to change camouflage when it left a dark green forest to enter a lighter green grassland area or the marshy brown of a rice field about to be harvested i just know the little bastards are somewhere around here was the standard complaint of the french reconnaissance pilot ce field about to be harvested i just know the little bastards are somewhere around here was the standard complaint of the french reconnaissance pilots but go and find them in this mess finally we come to construction constructing both cover and concealment as required using natural materials hiding blending and disguising one's position from overhead observation in the years following the war the elaborate jungle fortifications of the vietcong called home have become legendary and the dedication to surviving b-52 bombing raids was a huge part of the average vietcong soldier's worries in fact chiron nu tang wrote a lot about this in his book a vietcong memoir an inside account of the vietnam war and its aftermath though he was a very high ranking individual by the time he had to resort to hiding in the jungle he spends a lot of time talking about how terrifying and devastating the b-52 bombing raids were and how much time soldiers spent defending against them for the most part vietcong soldiers would prefer to egress from the area entirely in advance of a b-52 bombing run but truong recounts just how much dedication was given to the constant digging of earthworks tunnels and jungle irely in advance of a b-52 bombing run but truong recounts just how much dedication was given to the constant digging of earthworks tunnels and jungle fortifications he writes when neither sick nor fighting the gorillas spend their time building bunkers raising vegetables and training constant training it was a life of hiding and preparation hiding from attacks preparing to meet attacks or training to carry out their own missions if there was a half-day break in some movement either away from or toward an engagement they would dig trenches and bunkers within this category we also find the use of decoys to lure enemy aircraft into attacking positions that are empty rather than the truly important positions again captured viet cong documents from 1962 and 63 highlight the importance that charlie placed on decoys early in the war recently enemy artillery shelling and strikes have been relentlessly conducted against our routes combat fortifications sites of repeated attacks by friendly forces frequently used assembly areas such as road junctions and intersections uncamouflaged trenches etc to prevent the enemy from bombarding the villages we must use deception by setting up dummy troop nctions and intersections uncamouflaged trenches etc to prevent the enemy from bombarding the villages we must use deception by setting up dummy troop locations in little frequented areas far away from roads and hamlets these dummy positions must be camouflaged but not thoroughly enough to make it impossible for the enemy to see them a dummy anti-aircraft position will be set up two or three hundred meters away in order to attract the enemy fire and avoid his destruction of villages and hamlets now to me all of this is well and good but breaking things out into sitting discipline and construction sound kind of redundant to me the entire subject of attack avoidance can be summed up in one word camouflage so if you want to skip reading a couple of chapters of army manuals you can summarize this very simply and quickly attack avoidance is simply following the absolute best camouflage practices which will reduce the chances of an adversary using the factors of recognition to locate and identify you plus the caveat of choosing the best location will allow you to either engage aircraft or have cover from attacking aircraft depending on what you want to do so camouflage your position as b ation will allow you to either engage aircraft or have cover from attacking aircraft depending on what you want to do so camouflage your position as best you can and if you need to engage aircraft choose a good spot for it the other category in the field of passive air defense is damage mitigation now camouflage itself is a form of damage mitigation after all an enemy cannot usually hit what they cannot see but the other way is dispersion dispersion is one of the most important basic soldier tasks in existence and it is one of the hardest things for untrained or scared personnel to do dispersion is simply the act of spreading out your forces so that a single munition cannot cause many casualties clumped together in groups and that creates a juicy target for even just a single 30 millimeter round again we see how the vietcong used dispersion to their advantage in conjunction with camouflage one viet kong soldier writes next to hoamai is ben min campsite this campsite is regarded as a very good one the site is large and is covered with dense foliage too the width of the campsite gives us a special advantage it confuses the gvn artillery about where to shell now the concept of dispers dense foliage too the width of the campsite gives us a special advantage it confuses the gvn artillery about where to shell now the concept of dispersion is an utterly terrifying concept for those who are not experienced with getting shot at for a living for civilians or non-combatants living in our modern world there is nothing so terrifying as lying in a foxhole alone while an aircraft is attacking your position humans naturally want to be together with their team when they're getting shot at so care must be taken to ensure that everyone disperses appropriately despite the fear this also often applies to professional soldiers as well especially those who are used to having aerial superiority on their side and off the other way around the good news is that attacks from ground to aircraft are very survivable if the right precautions are taken of course there are thousands of possible munitions that aircraft can carry but for the most part your average pilot is going to be looking for juicy targets equipment vehicles emplacements fortifications really anything but a single guy in a foxhole and if your group or unit is nothing but a bunch of dispersed individuals and foxholes that wi fications really anything but a single guy in a foxhole and if your group or unit is nothing but a bunch of dispersed individuals and foxholes that will make you a very hard target so let's recap passive air defense consists of two parts attack avoidance and damage mitigation before doing anything decide on the criteria for fighting back and engaging the attacking aircraft avoiding the attack is as simple as embracing the best tenets of camouflage and based on your decision to engage picking the best location in which to either take cover or engage the aircraft and just in case you can't avoid an attack disperse your forces as much as feasible in order to mitigate the damage that does occur from an attack so as we can see it's pretty simple but let's briefly sidestep for a minute and talk about special considerations for convoys convoys being attacked from the air and from the ground have been a kind of hot topic lately so we can briefly touch on some specific tactics that can be used to passively protect convoys from aerial attack convoy defense is another big topic but since we're talking about it now let's go over some passive air defense tactics for convoys convoys by their ver nvoy defense is another big topic but since we're talking about it now let's go over some passive air defense tactics for convoys convoys by their very nature are very different from static locations in placements or installations convoys naturally consist of large objects all arranged in a line usually traveling on a road surface that is different from their color so we've got some serious breaches of camouflage doctrine here right off the bat if we look at the factors of recognition we can see how troubling this is position vehicles are positioned on the most conspicuous thing in the area the road shape long lines of vehicles can be seen from extreme distances from the air and naturally draw the eye shadow the shadow underneath vehicles in combination with a smooth road surface is very eye-catching texture vehicles will have a different texture than that of the road surface especially in the rain color unless driving on a dirt road in the desert it's unlikely that vehicles will match the color of the road's surface movement convoys by their very nature have to move and the dust that is often kicked up by convoys can be seen for miles away shine windshields and windows can't reall by their very nature have to move and the dust that is often kicked up by convoys can be seen for miles away shine windshields and windows can't really be covered up because they are needed to drive and for security presenting shine hazards so we can see when it comes to passive air defenses for the convoy we have got quite a few challenges to overcome choosing good routes that offer natural concealment in the first place would be preferred though when it comes to military convoys even the convoy commander might not have the authority to deviate the route so in these cases you might be stuck if you can choose your route you will obviously have to weigh your priorities you might want to stick to tarmac to avoid dust being kicked up but if the only paved road in the area is an ied alley you might want to put up with the aerial threats that dust brings and roll across country then again you might be more concerned about leaving tracks or even worse getting stuck or bogged down in the mud on the open field or any other number of problems that might come up by traveling cross country the point is when planning your convoy route make sure to take these things into consideration we're not that might come up by traveling cross country the point is when planning your convoy route make sure to take these things into consideration we're not just concerned about ieds anymore there are certainly threats in the skies now too the timing of the convoy can also help greatly scheduling the convoy for night time even in an age where no one truly owns the night anymore would be preferred nighttime conditions make detection more difficult even with all of the high-tech surveillance equipment out there just like pretty much everything else take advantage of bad weather to travel by notice a trend here like clockwork traveling in bad weather during precipitation or with an overcast sky at a low altitude is paramount as we have stated many times bad weather is your friend when it comes to avoiding aerial surveillance now it's not foolproof of course and most fixed-wing ground attack aircraft can operate just fine in the rain but again all we're trying to do is reduce vulnerabilities not eliminate them entirely that concept also applies to reducing shine or glare from vehicle glass such as windows headlights tail lights and the windshield now to be honest there's not much that can be to reducing shine or glare from vehicle glass such as windows headlights tail lights and the windshield now to be honest there's not much that can be done about this in most cases the manuals tell you to cover as much glass as possible with mud or a poncho or even paint it with a non-reflective paint in reality very few people are going to do this but it is not unheard of for units to paint over windshields leaving just a small viewing port for the driver to see through though this is very very dangerous and not really practical for a convoy on the move speaking of being on the move one of the main defenses for military vehicles at least is the use of smoke to obscure the precise location of a vehicle now smoke is a big topic and we're going to talk a lot more about this when it comes to active defenses but it's worth mentioning now because smoke must be planned for remember how we said you have to make the decision of whether or not to engage before anything else well the use of smoke is super important to consider as well because if your convoy's plan is to engage the aircraft the use of smoke will impact your ability to engage the aircraft you don't want to pop smoke and blind f your convoy's plan is to engage the aircraft the use of smoke will impact your ability to engage the aircraft you don't want to pop smoke and blind your gunner who's trying to lay down some hate at an attacking aircraft you've got to choose what you're going to do and communicate that effectively to everyone ahead of time especially if you plan to use smoke smoke is normally used after you've already been detected like for instance if the aircraft has already made its attack run you can pop smoke and maybe confuse sensors just a little bit because as we know even just avoiding a missile hitting your vehicle from a few feet away that can mean the difference between life and death right so if we can confuse the aerial platform sensors by just a few feet that might make the difference smoke can also be a helpful decoy to distract from the true location of your assets before you're spotted too smoke draws the eye so it might be helpful to use smoke to direct the attention of observation aircraft which will surely check it out as with all other decoys the use of such decoys is not without risk if the enemy knows that a certain tactic you're doing is a decoy or a fake out they will be l other decoys the use of such decoys is not without risk if the enemy knows that a certain tactic you're doing is a decoy or a fake out they will be even more intent on discovering the real target since decoys are often located next to high value targets so when it comes to defense against convoys it also sounds quite simple maybe with a couple of extra steps to make sure camouflage efforts are effective well not so fast this is a great example of the trouble you can get into if you only read u.s military manuals you see all of this sounds well and good until it's you in the convoy then we have some contradictions for instance a common russian tactic is for helicopters to serve as a sort of aerial indirect fire platform the russians in particular are fond of this climbing attack in which they approach ground targets at high speed and low altitude then pull their nose up at a steep angle climbing up in altitude sharply at the top of their arc they fire their rockets at a steep angle at targets very far away slinging their rockets as far as they can while still being far away from the target we saw this kind of tactic being used in ukraine kind of a lot and many western observers th ar as they can while still being far away from the target we saw this kind of tactic being used in ukraine kind of a lot and many western observers think that this tactic is done in order to avoid man-pad threats which which makes sense or because pilots are scared to get close to their target but the mi24 actually has fire control systems on board to assist with this type of targeting so it's definitely more doctrinal than we think it's not just some you know russian bubba pilot just slinging rockets because he's too scared to get to the target now it's actually more doctrinal than we actually think but in any case it's hard to imagine unguided rockets being slung out of a launch tube in this manner being accurate at all and the observations in the field confirm this it's a very inaccurate way to fire rockets so what's the moral of the story and why does this matter to convoys well this specific tactic is just an illustration of how a convoy might not know that they are under an aerial attack they might think it's a ground attack or an ambush and the choice of what to do varies widely based on this distinction for instance the global war on terror has brought us classics like coun an ambush and the choice of what to do varies widely based on this distinction for instance the global war on terror has brought us classics like counter ambush tactics at this point it's pretty much common knowledge that if your convoy gets ambushed you do not stop you push through it you what quote get off the x or out of the kill box makes sense for ground convoys right we've gotten really good at this but what if that ambush turned out to be an aircraft attacking from so far away that you didn't see it in that case pushing through it and getting off the x might make it easier for an aircraft to target you especially if you were a hit in a wooded tree line and you push through it and to get into the open into an open clearing in that case pushing through it might make it easier for an aircraft to target you or make it more difficult for friendly air defenses to engage the aircraft in the heat of the moment when you're getting shot at or explosions are going off right outside your door when you only have seconds to react what are you going to do are you going to break out your vehicles and disperse them in a herringbone pattern or are you going to push through it just in case it' u going to do are you going to break out your vehicles and disperse them in a herringbone pattern or are you going to push through it just in case it's an ambush you don't know what's happening all you see is explosions up and down the convoy what if it is an ambush and you decide to disperse now you've got your convoys scattered on the x pretty much the worst thing that you could do what if a vehicle is disabled does that change your decision clearly these are hard decisions to make and we cannot possibly indicate what the right decision might be in a simple video here however we can say that generally speaking it is better to make a decision and stick with it rather than be indecisive in this situation even if you make the wrong decision this is preferable to not making a decision at all the whole concept of passive air defense is very simple but simple does not mean easy and all of these simple steps will require significant effort dedication and discipline over time to be as effective as possible and remember passive air defense is the first step in active air defense which we will cover next so stay tuned and if you want some further reading on the subject check out these publ s the first step in active air defense which we will cover next so stay tuned and if you want some further reading on the subject check out these publications and resources so thanks again for watching thanks for all of your support and we will see you next time and as always find in the shade