As much as SF has changed over the years it still remains the same in some respects. I was in from 1988-94.
There was a time when they wanted to turn us into mech units , but dropped that after they discovered we not only were good at our primary mission (Unconventional Warfare), but could be used for long-range recon, and because we come from various units we usually have somebody on the team with just about every specialty you can name.
'Mech Units'? Wow, I never heard of that.
But the Regular Army has never cared much for SF at all. It was one of the reasons they gave EVERY Soldier the Beret.
A hundred SF operators did in 30 days what the entire Russian Army couldn't do in ten years....... Destroy the Taliban in Asscrackistan.
I have no clue what happened after I left in early 1971. In fact, I was kinda disappointed in the whole shebang.
I got sent to 10th Group at Devens. They had just returned from Baad Toelz and as far as I was concerned, were nothing more than pretty-boy garrison troops. They were more concerned about whether your boots were shined than whether you could fight.
Not that many combat vets there.
I guess Mrs A thought she was doing me a favor. After 2 years in the bush, maybe she thought I needed a rest and put me with some rear echelon mo-fos.
I didn't like it. At all.
I ETSd out.
I was also getting over falciparum malaria and had some combat stress going on.
I refuse to file for it. **** 'em. I'm not stressed, I'm pissed. There's a difference.
My buddy was at Ben Het. I was out in the bush when Ben Het was about to get hit and they came into Plei Me by chopper and grabbed him and would have grabbed me too if they knew where I was (not sure I even knew where I was at the time)
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-eYoL6IZXg]Tank Battle Vietnam - Ben Het 1969 - YouTube[/ame]
He got out okay. I don't know the entire story but he said it was pretty hairy.
BTW, Plei Me is the location where the 1st Cav almost got its ass handed to them. It was the location portrayed in the film 'We Were Soldiers'
I wasn't there for the battle (I was there later), but it was a HOT-HOT area. Heavy infiltration route that was hit with a lot agent Orange (just called 'orange' in those days)
Know the difference between a War Story and a Fairy Tale?
A Fairy Tale starts out, "Once Upon A Time" and a War Story starts out, "This Is No Shit"
'Nuff