Book Description

Based in part on the unpublished ms. of Col. Robert B. Rheault, this book presents the history of the first thirty years of the Green Berets. The author relates the entire available story starting with the training of the 10th Special Forces at Fort Bragg, and later at Bad Tolz in Bavaria. The ability of these men to operate as advisors in foreign countries, helping to train other armies, is dependent on their very special knowledge of the people, their customs, language, and the terrain. Guerrilla warfare, insurgency, counterinsurgency, all come within the circle of their operations. President John F. Kennedy gave a powerful impetus to the growth of SF, but they really came into prominence during the Vietnam War. Their Civic Action programs ("Winning the hearts and the minds of the people") and "Psy Ops" became well known. They maintained camps in the far-flung Vietnamese provinces among the Katu and the Bru, in Cambodia, with the Montagnards, the Hoa Hao and the Cao Dai religious groups. Colonel Simpson was personally responsible for increasing the strength of the Mobile Strike Forces composed of Vietnamese nationals from 1,000 to 10,000 men. The main function of these Mike Forces was to come to the aid of besieged fighting units, and this they did more quickly and effectively than any regular army unit. Simpson contends, in fact, that a more effective use of Mike Forces might have made the U.S. combat troops unnecessary.