# Marijuana Ambush



## sfmike (May 2, 2010)

Operating near Song Be in triple canopy jungle, I asked my 6 man team to think outside the box so that we could get a good body count.  Gandy came up with an outragious idea to burn a small amount of marijuana to let the NVA think that one of their own was smoking the stuff.

We deployed in an L shaped ambush with the two outside men armed with 90 mm recoiless rifles with flachette rounds.  Rear security had an M79 grenade launcher as his additional weapon and the other three of us were carrying our CAR 15s.   Once we were set up, Gandy lit the marijuana in a rubber tree bowl and turned a portible radio onto a Vietnamese station with the volume turned up.  we waited.

Approximately 25 minutes later we heard voices and then observed three NVA walking on the trail with their weapons over their shoulders.  One of the NVA called out and Gandy answered in a muted voice.

The 3 NVA walked into the "Kill Zone" and we fired them up.  Normally we would search the bodies and DD out of there.  This time, however, We waited until the NVA sent a platoon to investigate the shots.  The NVA platoon approached from the left and the 90mm Recoiless did a damn damn on the NVA.  We killed 12 of them (along with the original 3) and observed several blood trails.

A pretty effective tactic!


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## pardus (May 2, 2010)

You carried two 90mm recoiless rifles on a 6 man patrol??? :uhh:


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## HOLLiS (May 2, 2010)

Sat Cong/bac biet, Um moui mo ang!


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## 7point62 (May 2, 2010)

pardus said:


> You carried two 90mm recoiless rifles on a 6 man patrol??? :uhh:


 

_And_ in triple canopy. I've heard enough. _Ong la noi doi_


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## 8'Duece (May 2, 2010)

What kind of slings did you have on the 90 mils ?


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## billb (May 3, 2010)

8'Duece said:


> What kind of slings did you have on the 90 mils ?


 
Para Cord would work.:bleh:


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## Rabid Badger (May 3, 2010)

pardus said:


> You carried two 90mm recoiless rifles on a 6 man patrol??? :uhh:



NOT uncommon, nor impossible:



> [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Garamond]Among Anti-tank weapons employed by Rangers, especially in modern times, none are as storied and despised as the M67 90mm Recoilless Rifle, used by 1st and 2nd Ranger Battalions throughout their existence, prior to the creation of the 75th Ranger Regiment in 1985. [/FONT]
> [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Garamond]*The 90 was carried by a two man AT team.* The teams trained together as part of a weapons platoon in each Ranger Company. For operations, the AT teams were attached to a Platoon. In heavily wooded areas, the responsibility of the Assistant Gunner was in assisting the gunner in manuevering the "stovepipe", as it was affectionality called by some, through the morass of vegetation typically encountered. [/FONT]
> [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Garamond]
> The greatest success story of the M67 was the defeat of two lightly armored vehicles approaching the tarmac at Point Salines Airport on the island of Grenada. The two vehicles were manned by Cuban soldiers who intended to attack the Rangers of 1st and 2nd Ranger Battalions who had just landed to take the island. [/FONT]
> ...


just FYI.

carry on.


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## RustyShackleford (May 3, 2010)

RB, it states it was carried by a two man team, not they carried two 90s in their team.  It is followed up by being depicted as a crew served weapon, once again indicating more than one man carried one 90 and its components.


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## Diamondback 2/2 (May 3, 2010)

I am guessing everyone has confused the M67 (80mm RCLR) with the M20 (75mm recoilless rifle).

Either way thats a hell of a load for a 6 man LRRP team, when you add up the weight of both RCLR's (37.5 lbs a peice) and a few rounds (6.79 lbs per anti personal round) along with the bulky size of the rounds and RCLR it would be a suck day for sure...

Attached is a picture of the M67, the M20 was the one commonly mounted on the old jeeps.


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## Rabid Badger (May 4, 2010)

sfmike said:


> I asked my _*6 man team*_ to think outside the box



I must've misread.......



I carried an M60 w/spare barrel and 1200rds in near triple canopy for about a year and a half as an FNG Pvt 1 / 5th Mech ID, Ft Polk, La early 80's.....[about the same weight as the 90 w/rounds]

nothing like the REAL TC in the badlands but still made for extra long hot n heavy days..... it can be done.

How many in a Wpns Platoon have carried the M60, tripod, spare barrel and a few hundred rounds??

Rangers??

ETA: looked all over for an *M67 80MM* and couldn't find a thing.......I must be confused.


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## Diamondback 2/2 (May 4, 2010)

RB said:


> ETA: looked all over for an *M67 80MM* and couldn't find a thing.......I must be confused.


 
LMAO Type'o 90mm... I was able to fuck with the M20 75mm recoiless during the 11H course, that thing took 3 dudes to carry and set up hints the confused comment. I have never messed with the M67, but looking at it and the weight I could not see my self saying that it would be something I would want to pack into junglel.

Anyway back to the subject, why did you guys have Marijuana on a ambush patrol (yes I heard it was the thing to do back then) but really? Did you guys do a lot of team level ambush missions, most of the history I read up on the LRRP/Ranger companies shows the teams would do the eyes and ears stuff and for ambush/Raids they would work in platoon + size elements? I also remember reading about some of the MACV-SOG teams doing disrupt missions in small teams, small hit and run type stuff. Were the LRRP/Ranger companies doing the same?


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## Voodoo (May 4, 2010)

7point62 said:


> _And_ in triple canopy. I've heard enough. _Ong la noi doi_


 
sfmike _an cuc_


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## sfmike (May 4, 2010)

> Anyway back to the subject, why did you guys have Marijuana on a ambush patrol (yes I heard it was the thing to do back then) but really? Did you guys do a lot of team level ambush missions, most of the history I read up on the LRRP/Ranger companies shows the teams would do the eyes and ears stuff and for ambush/Raids they would work in platoon + size elements? I also remember reading about some of the MACV-SOG teams doing disrupt missions in small teams, small hit and run type stuff. Were the LRRP/Ranger companies doing the same?


 
*LRP (Long Range Patrol) companies could and did combat missions.  LRRP (Long Range Recon Patrol) were the eyes and ears of the division.*


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## Diamondback 2/2 (May 4, 2010)

sfmike said:


> *LRP (Long Range Patrol) companies could and did combat missions.  LRRP (Long Range Recon Patrol) were the eyes and ears of the division.*


 
Right on, I learn something new every day... Thanks Mike...


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