Ap Bac.

This is coolbert:

Even with the most sophisticated of technologies, please do not think that defeating an insurgent enemy is an easy task. If that insurgent enemy is determined and resolute, even advanced equipment in the hands of the "good guys" can go for naught.

Such was the case at the Battle of Ap Bac in Vietnam. 1962.

Vietnam was at the time a place on the globe that few Americans had even heard of, or could even point to on the map. It was terra incognito!!

NOT so to the American advisors leading and almost having to command the South Vietnamese troops they were trying to HELP!

The American military felt that with just the right type and amount of equipment, the Viet Cong [VC] could be overwhelmed and defeated. Give the right technological advantage to the Army of Vietnam [ARVN] and the war would be shortly over.

Helicopters [the "Flying Banana"] and armored personnel carriers [APC's] of the M113 variety were seen as a big part of the answer. Mobility and protection would allow for an overwhelming advantage. The under equipped VC enemy would be routed and fast too when faced with such weaponry!! Such was a large part of the thinking.

Ap Bac was to prove this assumption to be wrong. And big time too! NOT only were the ARVN troops, suitably equipped, NOT victorious, they got whipped, and good too!!

Ap Bac was to be fought with an air assault from helios by ARVN troops, backed up by another ARVN force in APC's. This was felt to be way more than the VC could EVER handle. NOT SO!!

This battle field loss caused considerable egg on the face of the American military. A defeat that was widely reported in the American press by some very distinguished reporters.

The supposed strong points of mobility from the helios and the armor protection of the M113's were found to be in certain cases liabilities!!

Ap Bac demonstrated this to be so!!

A VC unit, dug in and waiting, ambushed the helios as they attempted to land the air assault ARVN troops. Automatic weapons fire made short work of the unarmed choppers. The "flying banana" was just not up to the task, five being shot down and nine damaged. The air assault was a failure.




When the M113's made their assault, it too was a failure. It was felt that the approaching armor rushing toward the enemy would create something analogous to "tank fright" in the minds of the dug in VC and cause them to bolt. This too did not happen! The VC were prepared and resolute. The APC commanders, operating .50 caliber machine guns atop the APC's, were easy targets and mowed down almost with ease. The APC attack stalled and did press home the attack when it came under HAND GRENADE ATTACK!!

Read a very good wikipedia account of the battle by clicking here.

[around the same time as Ap Bac, ARVN forces riding INSIDE of APC's encountered VC equipped with RPG's [rocket-propelled-grenades]. A direct hit on the flat sides of the M113 would penetrate as if it was the proverbial hot knife through butter, killing the entire infantry squad riding INSIDE. After several encounters of this type, the ARVN ordered all their troops using APC's to ride ATOP their vehicle, negating the small arms protection of the M113, but preventing instant incineration from a RPG hit!! It became a common sight during the Vietnam to see scores of ARVN troops riding ATOP a M113 rather than inside, such was the danger from a single RPG!!]

Read another account of how the M113 was successfully employed in Vietnam by clicking here.

The above linked web site also describes how new, improved, and advanced M113 Super-Gavins are being used extensively in Iraq, with success. Improvement made with regard to the hard lessons learned in Vietnam!!

[riding atop the M113 was no fun either. It was and is a very rough ride. You can fall off and be killed or badly hurt. Sometimes run over by another APC!! When you ride ATOP, you have to hold on with all your might or it could be curtains. I know about this from first hand experience!!]

After Ap Bac, American senior commanders knew that technology and superior equipment were NOT going to make victory in Vietnam a sure thing!! New tactics for helios too had to be developed to prevent catastrophic losses as occurred.

In the end, NOTHING was able to stop VC and NVA [North Vietnamese Army] victory. Vietnam turned out to be a bad learning experience for American commanders over and over!

coolbert.