Inside Force Recon

Behind-enemy-lines stories of elite Marines in Vietnam Force Recon companies were the eyes and ears of the Marine Corps in Vietnam. Classified as special operations capable, Force Recon Marines ventured into the enemy’s backyard to conduct reconnaissance and launched deliberate strikes against the enemy. Lanning and Stubbe blend analysis and you-are-there stories of Force Recon in action to create the definitive account of Recon Marines.

Elite and highly trained, the 3d Force Recon's eight-man teams were assigned to obtain vital information about NVA operations. Alone, the men of these small teams were sent behind enemy lines, where they all knew that a single mistake could cost everyone their lives. United States Navy Hospital Corpsman Bruce Norton was the only navy corpsman to act as a Marine Force Recon Team Leader. In Force Recon Diary, 1969 Doc Norton chronicles his life, mission by mission, with the 3d Force Recon in the DMZ and the A Shau Valley. He describes the tense patrols, the supreme courage, the sacrifices—in ambushes and hot landing zones—that made this courageous company one of only two Marine units during the entire Vietnam War to receive the United States Army's Valorous Unit Citation.

In 1st Force Recon you performed at a very high level of proficiency. Or you died. . . . In 1969, First Lieutenant Bill Peters and the Force Recon Marines had one of the most difficult, dangerous assignments in Vietnam. From the DMZ to the Central Highlands, their job was to provide strategic and operational intelligence to insure the security of American units as the withdrawal of the troops progressed. Making perilous helicopter inserts deep in the Que Son Mountains, where the constant chatter of AK-47 rifle fire left no doubt who was in charge, Peters and the other men of 1st Force Recon Company risked their lives every day in six-man teams, never knowing whether they would live to see the sunset. Peters's accounts of silently watching huge movements of heavily armed NVA regulars, prisoner snatches, sudden-death ambushes, and extracts from fiercely fought firefights vividly capture the realities of Recon Marine warfare, and offer a gritty tribute to the courage, heroism, and sacrifice of the U. S. Marines. . . .

In this first ever published account, learn what it takes to be an elite Recon soldier in America's toughest military service the Marine Corps. Enter the unknown world of Marine Force Recon and follow new recruits as they descend into the hell of "indoc"- a grueling 48-hour test where physical and mental failure lead to elimination and through the completion of advanced Jungle Environment Survival Training at Camp Schwab, Okinawa. Find out how these men are trained to carry out missions with stealth, speed, and accuracy; how they infiltrate enemy lines to gather intelligence and/or conduct search and destroy missions that only the finest of America's troops could accomplish. Delve into the history and uncover the founding origins of this elite unit. Read about the ten different training grounds, including the mentally challenging eight week Amphibious Recon School and the dangerous Combat Dive Training, just to name a few.

Readers will learn what it takes to be part of the elite group Marine Force Recon soldiers.

THE A SHAU VALLEYWHERE THE NVA WAS KING . . . In order to prevent surprise attacks on U.S. forces as they were pulling out of Vietnam, someone had to be able to pinpoint the NVA's movements. That dangerous job was the assignment of then-major Alex Lee and the Marines of the 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company when he assumed command in late 1969. They became the tip of the spear for Lt. Gen. Herman Nickerson's III MAF. And each time one of Lee's small, well-motivated, well-led, and wildly outnumbered teams was airlifted into the field, the men never knew if the day would end violently. But whether tracking NVA movements, recovering downed air crews, or making bomb-damage assessments after B-52 strikes, Major Lee's Few Good Men never forgot who they were: Each of them was in Vietnam to live like a Marine, win like a Marine, and, if need be, die like a Marine. Forthright and unabashed, Lieutenant Colonel Lee leaves no controversy untouched and no awe-inspiring tale untold in this gripping account of 3rd Force Recon's self-sacrifice and heroic achievement in the face of overwhelming odds.

One of the most influential strategies of the Vietnam War, the Stingray Patrol comprised seven to ten marines in small teams, inserted by chopper deep in enemy territory. Surrounded on all sides by North Vietnamese Army troops and Viet Cong guerillas, these small, high-effective teams brought death and destruction to the enemy without ever going head-to-head in a gunfight with them. Like todays Special Forces, Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, and Marine Force Recon units that operate behind enemy lines, these Stingray Patrols helped target the enemy for artillery and air strikes . . . with devastating accuracy and effect. Force Recon Marine and team leader Bruce "Doc" Norton participated in many Stingray missions and he takes the reader behind enemy lines, telling the full story of Stingrays origins and operations. STINGRAY is the definitive history of these units and missions, available now for the first time in eBook format.

The leader of one of the most successful U. S. Marine long range reconnaissance teams during the Vietnam War, Andrew Finlayson recounts his team's experiences in the year leading up to the Tet Offensive of 1968. Using primary sources, such as Marine Corps unit histories and his own weekly letters home, he presents a highly personal account of the dangerous missions conducted by this team of young Marines as they searched for North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong units in such dangerous locales as Elephant Valley, the Enchanted Forest, Charlie Ridge, Happy Valley and the Que Son Mountains. In numerous close contacts with the enemy, the team (code-name Killer Kane) fights for its survival against desperate odds, narrowly escaping death time and again. The book gives vivid descriptions of the life of recon Marines when they are not on patrol, the beauty of the landscape they traverse, and several of the author's Vietnamese friends. It also explains in detail the preparations for, and the conduct of, a successful long range reconnaissance patrol.