The Dark arts of MACV-SOG

[hist2004]

One of the commanders of MACV-SOG General Jack Singlaub, created a plan to sabotage the significant
number of ammunition cashes that SOG's reconnaissance teams were locating along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Singlaub wished to instill fear and mistrust in the enemy, so that they would question the reliability
of their equipment. Using different code names like "Project Eldest Son," "Italian Green" or "Pole Bean",
SOG recon teams would insert special rounds filled with PETN, a highly explosive compound. When the
unsuspecting VC or NVA would use the rounds; the resulting explosions would cause the bolt and receiver
of the weapon to blow back through the enemy’s head. Both AK-47 rounds and 82mm mortar ammo were
contaminated. The effectiveness of this operation was difficult to assess, because the victims' of this
ploy could hardly attest to how effective it was. Rumors that whole US and ARVN Ranger teams were
"wiped out" due to contaminated AK-47 ammo persisted, so much so that a directive had to be issued
to use only "cleared AK-47" in captured weapons. The Joint Chiefs of Staff abruptly cancelled this operation
in 1970, with no explanation.

Regards,
Hist2004

[ChuckThunder]

One of the commanders of MACV-SOG General Jack Singlaub, created a plan to sabotage the significant
number of ammunition cashes that SOG's reconnaissance teams were locating along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Singlaub wished to instill fear and mistrust in the enemy, so that they would question the reliability
of their equipment. Using different code names like "Project Eldest Son," "Italian Green" or "Pole Bean",
SOG recon teams would insert special rounds filled with PETN, a highly explosive compound. When the
unsuspecting VC or NVA would use the rounds; the resulting explosions would cause the bolt and receiver
of the weapon to blow back through the enemy’s head. Both AK-47 rounds and 82mm mortar ammo were
contaminated. The effectiveness of this operation was difficult to assess, because the victims' of this
ploy could hardly attest to how effective it was. Rumors that whole US and ARVN Ranger teams were
"wiped out" due to contaminated AK-47 ammo persisted, so much so that a directive had to be issued
to use only "cleared AK-47" in captured weapons. The Joint Chiefs of Staff abruptly cancelled this operation
in 1970, with no explanation.

Regards,
Hist2004

In the book Good To Go, it talks about SEALs using that. They would leave AK mags with the first round a PETN one. They also did the same things with canteens, so a thirsty VC or NVA would find it, shake to see if there was water, there was, when he opened the cap... BOOM!

Jack Singlaub, the same Jack Singlaub from WWII, OSS?

[WolverineBlue]

My dad worked for Singlaub...pretty scary, eh?

;)

[hist2004]

Jack Singlaub, the same Jack Singlaub from WWII, OSS?

Yes, the very same. When Jack Singlaub took over as Chief of SOG
(1966-68) one of the first thing he did was to meet some of the returning
recon teams at the launch pad. He noticed that most recon members
were armed with Karl Gustav M45 submachine guns (used for deniability).
He changed their armament to high quality AK-47's to increase their fire-
power (7.62 v. 9mm). Below is a link to the Karl Gustav.

http://www.mst2-vietnam.info/Stoner_ordnance_notes/stonerhtml/Karl_Gustav_M45.htm

Regards,
Hist2004

[hist2004]

I forgot to mention another initiative that Jack Singlaub tried but was refuted
by the upper brass. In addition to doctoring ammo caches, Singlaub proposed
using a chemical called Bitrex to be sprayed on rice stock piles that the recon
teams discovered.
Bitrex (denatonium benzoate) is the world's most bitter substance. He felt it
was a humane way of denying the enemy its food source. Of course, the commanders
went nuts at the suggestion, claiming that the U.S. would be accused of using chemical
warfare.


Regards,
Hist2004

[MEGR]

I've read the book by Plaster, great great read btw; anyways, I was wondering if SOF still used this today? Maybe we could ask Shrek if they did that to enemy caches in Afghanistan.

[Delta Niner]

Hist,
I believe the US Military Advisers to the Philippine Government during the 1950's did the same to .30 caliber carbine rounds. Knowing that the M-1/M-2 Carbine is a popular weapon at that time. This was during the HUK anti-insurgency campaign and they would usually contaminate known arms cache of the communist or would let the insurgents capture the same contaminated ammo during firefights. I'm not so sure if what they put on those rounds are PETN but here they are usually known as 'hot loads'.

[hist2004]

Hist,
I believe the US Military Advisers to the Philippine Government during the 1950's did the same to .30 caliber carbine rounds. Knowing that the M-1/M-2 Carbine is a popular weapon at that time. This was during the HUK anti-insurgency campaign and they would usually contaminate known arms cache of the communist or would let the insurgents capture the same contaminated ammo during firefights. I'm not so sure if what they put on those rounds are PETN but here they are usually known as 'hot loads'.

I hadn't heard about similar operations against the HUK's but you may
find the following excerpt from an article interesting:

Many early U.S. psywar operations were conceived by a famous clandestine commander, Air Force Brigadier General Edward G. Lansdale (1909-1987). A firm believer in the efficacy of "psychological operations" (or PSYOP, for short -- the military's term for propaganda), Lansdale was a pioneering psywarrior.

Lansdale believed that the key asset of the psychological combatant is a thorough understanding of the target audience's beliefs and values. The mores and myths that shape a society's culture, he argued, must be exploited if a psywar campaign is to be effective. Lansdale applied his strategy ruthlessly in the Philippines, where he served as the CIA's chief operative during the early 1950s counterinsurgency campaign against the country's Huk rebels.

"To the superstitious, the Huk battleground was a haunted place filled with ghosts and eerie creatures," Lansdale later wrote. One of his favorite psywar stunts "played upon the popular dread of asuang, or vampire" to drive the guerrillas from Huk-held territory:

"A combat psywar squad was brought in. It planted stories among town residents of an asuang living on the hill where the Huks were based. Two nights later, after giving the stories time to make their way up to the hill camp, the psywar squad set up an ambush along the trail used by the Huks. When a Huk patrol came along the trail, the ambushers silently snatched the last man of the patrol, their move unseen in the dark night. They punctured his neck with two holes, vampire-fashion, held the body up by the heels, drained it of blood, and put the corpse back on the trail. When the Huks returned to look for the missing man and found their bloodless comrade, every member of the patrol believed that the asuang had got him and that one of them would be next if they remained on that hill. When daylight came, the whole Huk squadron moved out of the vicinity."

Another of Lansdale's spooky counterinsurgency tricks was what he called the "eye of God technique," wherein government troops, using information gathered from counterintelligence efforts, called out the names of Huk guerrillas over loudspeakers and threatened the rebels with death if they did not surrender. Lansdale devised a related scheme to intimidate civilians, using "all-seeing eye" graffiti to threaten constant surveillance. He later wrote: "[the method] was especially useful in towns where some of the inhabitants were known to be helping the Huks secretly. The army would warn these people that they were under suspicion. At night, when the town was asleep, a psywar team would creep into town and paint an eye on a wall facing the house of each suspect. The mysterious presence of these malevolent eyes the next morning had a sharply sobering effect."

Regards,
Hist2004

[iflu]

God Hist. U have such enthusiasm in MACVSOG.

[Delta Niner]

Hist,
About the aswang/vampire scheme, I have read that from a school textbook entitled Continuing Past, I can not remember the author. Guess that one would work because not so very few of our barrio folks still believes in ghost and unnatural creatures of the night. Some of them could really be very supertitious. This being the "gift" of Spain for more than 200 years of being under the crown :roll:

[Delta Niner]

Hist,
I just remembered the author of the book Continuing Past. It's Renato Constantino. Keep those good post coming. more power to you.