SOG One-Zero Course

[hist2004]

SOG One-Zero Course

Regardless of what an SOG recon man may have learned in infantry AIT,
from serving in an infantry unit, the Ranger course, the COC, or any other
training, he still had alot to learn. All of his past training and experience was
of course applicable and valuable, but there were several unique aspects to
SOG operations. First, they were conducted "across the fence, " in Laos and
Cambodia, where the US officially had no troops. They operated without
artillery or close air support, something few US units ever risked doing,
though they did receive this support when operating in South Vietnam. They
seldom had direct radio contact with bases, relying on communications relay
aircraft flying on the Vietnamese side of the border. These were C-130
airborne battlefield command-and-control centers, designated "Hillsboro"
during the day and "Moonbeam" at night. This caused further delays in
requesting desperately needed extraction aircraft and attack helicopters.
While any reconnaissance patrol could find itself deep among enemy forces,
SOG RTs routinely went into heavily occupied and controlled base areas with
the enemy expecting their presence. Specialized counter-reconnaissance units
were fielded to hunt down RTs and large numbers of combat and service
troops would be turned out. The RTs seldom numbered over nine men and
had to be able to fight viciously and give the impression of being a larger
force than they really were.

All Americans assigned to RTs underwent One-Zero training, which
qualified them both for RT duty and as an RT leader, after the requisite
mission experience. There were many instances of new men being assigned to
RTs and sent on missions prior to attending One-Zero training. They were of
course fully briefed, and they rehearsed with the RT during its pre-mission
preparations. They would still be sent on the course as soon as possible even
though they might have a number of missions under their belts.

The course was conducted at Dong Ba Thin, located between Na Thrang
and Cam Ranh Bay under Special Forces Detachment B-51. It was here that
Vietnamese Special Forces (LLDB) were trained, along with the MIKE Force
jump school. The three-week course ran seven days a week. There was no
room for slow learners and they were expected to be sharp and flexible. The
instructors were all former One-Zeros. Classes contained 20 or more men and
might include a few Special Forces members from other reconnaissance forces.
One-Zero instruction included: survival, escape and evasion, resistance to
interrogation, advanced first aid, immediate-action drills (IADs), silenced
weapons, detecting ****y traps, setting ****y traps, demolitions, defensive
and offensive use of Claymores, arm and hand signals, determining friendly
and enemy personnel, target identification, radio procedures, use of spotter
aircraft, directing air strikes, AN/URC-10 emergency radio, patrol procedures,
working with indigenous troops, using an interpreter, mission planning, mission
brief back, post-mission debriefing, and more.

A two-day mission was conducted prior to graduation in order to practice
skills and procedures. Team leaders were rotated in each of the RTs and a
quick field debriefing was undertaken after each rotation, with every man
having a run as the One-Zero. A simple graduation ceremony was held in the
mess hall, where each man received a certificate, quickly returned to his FOB,
and went to work.

All text from:

US MACV-SOG Reconnaissance Team in Vietnam (Warrior) by Gordon L. Rottman

[hist2004]

All Special Forces soldiers assigned to the 5th SFGA were required to undertake the Combat Orientation Course (COC, or “C##K Course”) conducted by the MACV Recondo School (an abbreviated Ranger course). This entailed a week of acclimatization and refresher training in land navigation, first aid, communications, directing artillery and air strikes, patrolling, company tactics, working with interpreters, etc. Morning runs with sand-filled rucksacks were the order of the day. The second week saw the class moved to Hon Tre Island. Here they undertook practical exercises in what they had learned the previous week. They also conducted a three-day combat patrol.

Returning to Nha Trang, the Special Forces soldiers received their assignments. Some who had managed to find a way to an SOG base skipped the COC. They would undertake additional training, however. Once accepted by SOG, the new man would be interviewed by the sergeant major and different One-Zeros in order to find a personality and temperament fit.

All text from:

US MACV-SOG Reconnaissance Team in Vietnam (Warrior) by Gordon L. Rottman

[JJHH]

Review on Amazon:

The general way that Gordon L. Rottman writes for Osprey Publishing isn't through the official records as a normal military historian (as the time he went to the U.S. Marine Corps Historical Reference Center located at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia to investigate records for his U.S. Marine Corps World War II Order Of Battle and World War II Pacific Island Guide which were both published by Greenwood) but via Internet communication with websites featuring veteran reminisces and unit histories. He finds Vietnam veterans with photographs on the Internet and then uses their recollections for some of his Osprey titles. He repeats much of what is stated without factual cross-checking in archival records. This amateurish approach produces a glut of books to satisfy modeler, amateur historians, and re-enactor cravings, but are of less value in academically-rigorous studies of the Vietnam War.

[hist2004]

Review on Amazon:

Is any of the data concerning the One-Zero Course or the Combat Orientation Course
as detailed by the author inaccurate, misleading, or a fabrication? If so, please make
appropriate annotations were inaccuracies exit and post sources for your claims. I would
appreciate any updated information concerning both course contents.

[ferguson]

He skimmed over a bunch of stuff and there arte some fuzzy generalities.
Don't see any point in revising them.

[Dominique]

I went to AIT with some guys that were Rottman's TX ARNG LRS unit. At the time he was their Ops NCO.