Is ‘Nam the new WW2?

[twhigham]

Even though I'm anxious to finish my LRRP Medic Impression, I also think that Vietnam War is a little early to reenact.

 

Michael

 

Actually, our dust-off public battle at Tico went over very well with the 'Nam vets. They choreographed the air strike and dust-off and were very appreciative of our efforts to show what a typical contact fight would be like. The 2nd ID did a 'Nam display, along with my little pup tent display, at the Vietnam Vets reunion in Melbourne and got positive feedback about it. I think the 'Nam vets are glad for the recognition, after being seen as dysfunctional for so long (thanks "Rambo" and "Deer Hunter"). There was also a few Desert Storm displays, too. Looking forward, I think there's going to be stagnation in WW2 and growth in 'Nam reenacting, at least over the next few years.

 

Michael, did you ever find that medic's pouch you were looking for?

[1965econoline]

There certainly should be a huge variety of specialized stuff to collect from OIF 50 years from now....

[THAT GUY]

We actually kept things jumping at a pretty good clip at our recent tactical, but we had a couple of changes from the standard WW2 tactical format which favors organized army movements of holding/capturing ground. Because VN warfare was about mobility and "winning hearts and minds", we changed the structure and used what we had available to us:

 

1) location. We used a large Boy Scout camp with many small campsites, separated by short distances. This allowed us to set up several small VN villages and schedule patrols through each one. This made the VC force appear larger than it actually was, because the VC could be at several different places.

 

2) numbers. Because of the 3:1 numerical advantage the GI's had over the VC, we broke the registrants into 4 groups - an HQ group for older guys to provide radio/logistical support (and never left base camp), a LRRP squad, a 1st squad, and a 2nd squad. This swung the balance in favor of the VC because it diminished the strength of a GI squad at any particular location. Each squad would be sent out on a scripted mission (go survey a bridge, go sweep a village, go rescue a pilot, etc.). The VC knew where the GIs were, or were going to be, but the GIs didn't know where the VC would attack. This way, the VC were constantly engaged in maximum effectiveness, and the GIs were constantly on their toes. On some missions, the VC would attack one squad in strength, but for others it was hit and run by a few VC, then hit again when the GIs stuck their heads up. The GI's never knew if "this was it" or just a small skirmish.

 

3) "in character" scripted missions. We had a couple of guys doing VC that were good at role-playing. GIs would sweep a village and find a village elder. Depending on how they interacted with the elder would depend whether the VC attacked them on their return to base or not. Even when you weren't shooting, you were on edge. GI's didn't know if they'd succeeded or not. By the time they got back to base, it could be BOHICA.

 

4) Night action. The theatre stayed hot until 11:30 Friday night, and the VC did a base assault with a mortar team. There was also a packet retrieval mission using glow sticks to mark "key intelligence" from a downed aircraft, and the beast was hungry at night.

 

5) Psy Ops. The VC had a bullhorn, which came into play Friday night as well.

 

6) Squad assignments. Most of the players were drawn from 3 WW2 Allied groups and a couple of Axis groups. On the GI side, you were assigned a squad; you didn't automatically get put with the same guys you fight alongside every tactical. A unit of 6 Airborne would find themselves split in half, and shoulder to shoulder with a couple of Rangers and regular infantry. This meant you may have a couple of buddies you know, and the rest were guys you've seen around but had to learn about in a new way. This was an attempt to simulate the rotational policy in VN, and most of the guys said they liked this because it gave them a sense of abandonment at first, and also a chance to make friends by the ends of the weekend.

 

Doing a VN tactical is possible, but as an organizer you gotta work a little harder to make it happen and be very creative in setting the mission objectives. Having effective radio communications is almost mandatory to coordinate contact between the two sides.

 

Could this be a blueprint for more VN tacticals? Certainly. It's sufficiently different from most paintball matches and airsoft tacticals that emphasize shooting, but with enough blanks-shooting to keep cap-poppers happy. It also deviates from most WW2 tacticals in strategy and execution.

 

Is 'Nam the new WW2 for reenactors? I'd say "yes" and "no"; its going to attract a fair number of WW2 reenactor refugees, but (hopefully) stay sufficiently different so as not to be the same thing in a different shade of green.

 

Now that sounds like a well put together reenactment. I could also see that scenerio, location used by PTO reenactors, if that ever gets more popular.

 

 

Sam