7 Rules Nobody Told The New Guys Before Their First Patrol in Vietnam

He'd been in Vietnam less than two weeks when the guys handing out his gear told him to throw away his underwear. It sounded like a prank. The Army's own 1968 regulation said the same thing. You've probably heard that the Army shipped new guys to Vietnam without teaching them anything. That isn't quite true. The Army trained them, and by 1967 it had printed most of these lessons in a pamphlet called the Vietnam Primer. What the paperwork couldn't do was stand next to a new guy on his first patrol. That job fell to the men who got there first. This video follows one first patrol, from packing the rucksack to the first night ambush, through seven rules the old guys taught the FNGs. It's told through three soldiers who lived it: Sgt. John Andres of the 173rd Airborne, Tom Brooks of the 199th Infantry Brigade, and William Hustad of the 101st Airborne. Every claim sourced. In memory of Sgt. Bruce E. Coley, B Company, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade. Killed in action 7 July 1969, age 21. The Wall, Panel W21, Line 74. SUPPORT THE CHANNEL Everything we make starts with records like the ones in this video. If you'd like to help us keep going, our Vietnam War ebooks are at https://www.truevietnamdocs.com. First-time buyers get almost 50% off their first order. Every claim sourced. If you've already picked one up, thank you. It means a lot to us. FULL SOURCE LIST Official and primary - Marshall, S.L.A., and David H. Hackworth. Vietnam Primer: Lessons Learned (DA Pamphlet 525-2). Department of the Army, 1967. Lessons Five, Six, Seven, Eleven. https://rap.mirror.cyberbits.eu/textfiles.com/survival/vietprmr.txt - Neel, Spurgeon. Medical Support of the U.S. Army in Vietnam, 1965-1970. Department of the Army, 1973. Introduction (twelve-month tour); ch. II, p. 36 (9th Division battalion and skin disease). https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA291701.pdf - Headquarters, U.S. Army Vietnam. Regulation 40-29, Prevention of Skin Disease Among Troops Operating in I