Vietnam Patrol After Action Report

Well, what a game!

First let start with a big HUUURRRA!! For the Marines. I must admit I was a bit torn playing on the NVA side given I served with 1/9 (1990 -1994) which was one of the Marine battalions at Khe Sanh.

Smitty, job well done leading your troops and great job by all of the Marines.

Although the game start off hard for the NVA we battled back to make the game close. Let me start with a few shout outs.

First, Greenman. I know we lost brother, but you are a VERY, VERY good general. You got thrown some twists and you took them on without complaint or attitude. Man it was an honor to fight under you. Whenever, where ever, just call bro and Boxer will have your back. Semper Fi!

To my man Runaway and my Boxer brothers, once again you guys showed what Boxer is all about. No matter the situation you guys keep fighting. Runaway, great job leading the troops and your call on the breakout strategy in the afternoon really changed the dynamic of the game. MGB, well done up at DZ 5 leading the attack to take Luke. Dude I had to chuckle at the end of the game when you were holding down Luke by yourself and me and Sonic where up at Bentree.

Now there were many teams out there that did a great job but let me mention two, Frayed Knot and Carolina Sabers. These were the two teams that were with Boxer up at Apache during the morning. There were others, but these two teams stayed with the mission throughout and allowed us to hold on to that base (the last NVA base to fall in the morning) after 2 air strikes and being attacked from two sides at once. I have special thanks for Frayed Knot who was there until that entire episode played out. You guys showed great discipline and effectiveness. Also, I was more than happy to help with finding Dakota. Job well done guys!

This was a very tough game from all angles; the Opfor, the terrain, and the weather were all major factors. Not to mention the Marines just seemed to have a k@#$%ss plan. They seemed to be everywhere.

During the morning session we seemed to get into our starting positions okay but the Marines seem to get to Sim and Alpha much faster. Almost immediately fighting broke out in those areas which surprised me given I thought we’d at least get to Sim first. We had about thirty up at Apache but after talking to Runaway I sent two squads of about 11 and 8 respectively to attack Alpha. I sent MGB with Carolina Sabers to bridge B3, the big bridge, via Hamburger and then I sent Dana with a mix of guys (I believe Fallen Angels and some others) via Sim. While I was trying to support our activities at Alpha I really wanted to screen both the Hamburger and Sim sides of Apache to get advance warning on Opfor forces moving towards us. MGB and Saber seem to get to Alpha without incident. Dana and his group ran into some action at Sim before moving on to Alpha. I was hoping to link the two groups up for a coordinated attack on Alpha but it never happened. Meanwhile, I kept Frayed Knot up at Apache for base security. Again great job guys! The Frayed Know captain was excellent! Just to make sure his guys weren’t just sitting, I had them rotate 3 man patrols down to Sim since I was particularly concerned about attacks from that zone. As it turned out we were eventually overrun from the Hamburger side. Before I was killed in the second Marine air strike I believe I saw the brown t-shirts of B-Squad coming up from Hamburger.

Interesting story. I don’t know what time it was, but Greenman moved into Apache with his FTOC and a few of the Rogues. A few minutes later, this guy in OD utilities and boonie hat, no gun, and a small rocket launcher in his belt walks up asking for the general. So we’re like “whose asking?” He responds very vaguely, so of course all our guns go up. He’s all cool and smiling, “you don’t want to do that”. Greenman starts to question him, “who are you?” “Are you a ref”, ect… He responds, “I’m not NVA, I not a Marine, I’m not a ref”. I make the following suggestion, “maybe we should just shoot him.” He just smiles, “you don’t want to do that”. By this time Greenman departs with the FTOC and it’s me and Mr. Mysterious. Based on the handheld rocket I decided he is either part of the Marine supporting arms or something really bad for the NVA, so I ask him to take a walk with me so he is OUTSIDE our base. He just smiles and says okay. So we walk, just chit chatting but he’s not giving anything up. Finally, he just says “I think I’ll take a walk over to Alpha” (or maybe it was Bravo). He smiles and walks off. I’m standing there thinking, “what was that about, I should have shot that guy.” Well, sometime later Mr. Mysterious reappears asking for the General. I’m thinking, “oh no, here we go again.” I just respond, “I don’t know where he his”. Just then I get a call that Greenman is up at DZ3. I figure you can’t take out a DZ so know harm or foul, so I send him up there. Again I’m thinking, I should have shot that guy. Some time later, he returns yet again (with that same smile on his face). This time, with a ref in tow confirming he is one of the 4 horseman bringing death to the NVA. I begin to redeploy our guys outside the base, just in time of course. BANG, rocket goes off. Marine air strike! But we dodge a bullet, only 1 KIA. Greenman calls to confirm that we just got hit, I confirm but let him know only 1 KIA. However, both Mr. Mysterious and the ref are hanging around. A few minutes later, BANG, second air strike, since we were still deployed outside the base I think I may have been the only one killed. By this time B-Squad is starting to crest the ridge from the Hamburger side. By the time I got back to DZ3 Apache had fallen. I should have shot that guy!

The afternoon got off on the same foot. As soon as we left our insertion we were jumped by the Marines on 3 sides! I mean it was the perfect Box Ambush. We could not move more than a few feet from the entry point without getting shot. It was a debacle, to say the least. Then, Runaway, with some on the spot, quick thinking, organizes to large groups of the “walking dead” (the irony here being that this is 1/9’s nickname) of about 40 to thirty each. One group heading towards DZ 3 the other towards DZ 5. This basically created a breakout from our entry point. I took charge of the group going to DZ 5 as we crossed the middle of the field. The Marines were just staring at us like, what the heck is going on. You could see, some of their guys radioing back what was happening. On our up to DZ 5 we passed Recon-1, the only NVA unit to make it out of the entry point unscathed. They were trying to break out into the open field but were being held up by the Marines and two of their tanks. Our NVA brothers were pleading with us to bring back the two AT guns we had with us. I just said, hold on boys. We’ll be right back. However, by the time we reached DZ 5, the forced march had taken the starch out of our unit. We had thirty out of breath fighters. It took about 10 to 15 minutes for us to get reorganized and back onto the field. We head east to support Recon-1. However, just before we hit Luke we ran into Marines. They had pushed Recon-1 out of their positions at the tree line and across to the Holiday side of the firebreak. We pushed hard and were able to force the Marines back but took so many casualties that we could not exploit. We headed back up to DZ 5 which we used as a staging area for the rest of the afternoon. But as often happens, our numbers began to dwindle as more of our soldiers drifted off. Soon the 30 we took up to DZ 5, was down to about 15, then 10. You get the picture. We tried one more push with what we had left, preceded by 2 mortar barrages. By this time we were being held up by three Marine snipers with excellent positions and camouflage. We were able to get one but could not get the other two. By this time we were down to about 5 troopers, not including me and Sonic-X (my son). We made one more push, and then there was 1, MGB. At which point, I believe Greenman was dumping some heavy rocket fire onto the southern half of the firebase. He called to see if we could rally the troops, but I told him all we could do was try and hold Luke and Bentree. He agreed. I radioed MGB and told him to get a good hiding spot where he could observe the flag at Luke, while every 10 minutes or so I’d leave DZ 5 to check the flag at Bentree. I figured even if the Marines came through and turned the flags, we could get in and turn them back before the game ended. No one ever made it up to Bentree, except for Hun and his son who were hitting the outlying bases for the same reason. However, at Luke, a Marine patrol did in fact turn the flag blue but MGB was able to get in and turn it back minutes before the end of the game, preserving those points for the NVA. Outstanding job MGB!

While we were up at DZ 5, Sonic and I spent the time eating crackers, cheese, and beef jerky until the rain came. Then we got soaked and ate some more.

At that point we just waited for the official end of the game, then Hun, his son, Sonic and I headed in. I was tired and sore and REALLY happy it was over, but I felt a sense of accomplishment given how the overall day had gone. While I was sure we had lost, I knew we had put up a great fight in the afternoon. There had been no giving up in the NVA, and we did close the point gap by almost half from the morning and as Ferg said where within one base or so of coming all the way back.

Well, as I finish this up I am almost fully recovered from Vietnam Patrol 08. If you weren’t there you missed a good game!

What Does Boxer Mil Sim Mean (Part 1)

Milsim, what does it really mean? Since our involvement in the Milsim Test Game at Command Decisions. Runaway (Boxer Team Captain) and I have been discussing really emphasizing a true Milsim approach as the core philosophy of the team. But what does that really mean?

Our Air soft brothers are far more advanced in this regard. Check out several air soft videos I have posted. Clearly Milsim is more than just the gear and BDU’s it goes to the core of how we will play the game. Certainly there are many paintball Milsim teams out there, but I have yet to see any that take to the extreme of the Air Soft community.

One of the concepts we want to present to the team is taking everything we need for the entire game into the field so that we don’t have to go back into the rest area. This means air, paint and anything else required to conduct operations. Our belief is that by doing this we will maintain a sharper edge during the entire operation. The only reason we would send people back to the rest area would be for re-supply. Once on the field all of our activities will be conducted in a tactical manner.

We also want to encourage greater fire control and ammunition conservation by using limited paint hoppers. This has the benefit of making the game cheaper for the average player. This is because the limited paint hopper forces you to take aimed shots rather relying on a volume of paint. That or you will find yourself getting elimnated in the middle of reloading. Additionally, there must be a greater reliance on tactics and teamwork. All these things will give us an edge over the average scenario paintball team.

The key to this will be developing a strong squad based culture. This is more than just putting people in squads, its ensuring that there are designated roles that individuals fill on an ongoing basis. So that when we hit the field every person knows their role, how to do it, and where to go. The core value required to achieve this end is a willingness on the part of each player to do their part for the team. This includes duties and tasks that are neither glamorous or exciting.

In some ways Milsim goes against the grain of what’s at the heart of most paintball players desire to play, the desire to be the HERO!