[radiohead]

Ended up a great LRRP

Hi. My late husband was in Nam. I remember him saying he was a LRRP, but I don't remember what LRRP stands for. Can you tell me? I'd like to remind our son what his father did.

My husband was a small town boy from the Midwest who had been shooting since he was 11 or 12. He said he ranked very high in his shooting tests.

[Hun in the sun]

"Hi. My late husband was in Nam. I remember him saying he was a LRRP, but I don't remember what LRRP stands for."

long range reconnaissance patrols

Hun

[MindBender26]

Long Range Reconnaissance (Recon) Patrol.

Basically, groups of 3-8 men, often with some "indig" (ingenious personal, ie "locals") with them. Idea was to helicopter deep into Indian Country, with little regard for foolish things like international borders, gather intel on enemy movements, call in artillery and air strikes on them, scare them in their own rear areas, and when caught, run, pray and often die, in that order.

The unit that is most "noted" for this activity was "MAC-SOG," short for Military Assistance Command - Studies and Observation Group. The term Studies and Observation Group was used to make it sound innocuous and confuse anyone hearing it.

Most LRRPers worked in northern and northwest areas, near (and often over) Cambodian and Laotian borders.

Down in III Corps, SLRRPS (Short Little Ridiculous Recon Patrols) idea was to catch PAVN and hard corps VC units moving from Fishhook area down toward Saigon.

When US forces first OFFICIALLY entered Cambodia in '70, a guy I know once claimed "I was the first officer off the first chopper to touch down in Cambodia." Another guy, from SOG, piped up. "Yeah, it's true. He was. I was in the treeline watching him!"

U work in radio?