{"id":108053,"date":"2020-12-07T16:22:28","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T21:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=108053"},"modified":"2020-12-07T16:22:28","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T21:22:28","slug":"weapons-of-mac-sog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=108053","title":{"rendered":"Weapons of MAC SOG"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nMilitary Assistance Command, Studies and Observations Group<\/em><\/p>\n

Our own Boomer of Sunday fame sends us this article by Maj. John L. Plaster, U.S. Army (Ret.), and his experiences in the black world during a very dark time. I’ve taken the liberty of reposting the article in its entirety here.<\/p>\n

Behind Enemy Lines: Guns of Vietnam’s SOG Warriors<\/h3>\n

by Maj. John L. Plaster, U.S. Army (Ret.) – Tuesday, April 7, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s unlikely that any other U.S. military unit ever fielded such an array of weaponry as did the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group.<\/p>\n

Behind that innocuous name, MACV-SOG ran top-secret, covert operations across Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, especially U.S. Army Special Forces-led reconnaissance missions along the enemy\u2019s Ho Chi Minh Trail road network in Laos, into his sanctuaries in Cambodia, and sometimes into North Vietnam, itself.<\/p>\n

These SOG recon teams, usually four to six natives led by two or three American Green Berets, roamed deep behind enemy lines, searching out\u2014sometimes attacking\u2014North Vietnamese truck parks, ammunition dumps, storage sites, truck convoys, command centers and the base camps where enemy units refit between battles in South Vietnam.<\/p>\n

Deniability<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since Hanoi insisted it had no troops in \u201cneutral\u201d Laos or Cambodia, the United States, too, denied that SOG operations were underway. To support this deniability, recon teams were required to go \u201csterile\u201d\u2014meaning no ID or dog tags, unmarked or non-U.S. uniforms, and unattributable arms. Thus, SOG\u2019s armory stocked many foreign firearms with which a team leader armed his men according to how he saw fit to accomplish each mission.<\/p>\n

Initially, SOG\u2019s primary weapon was the 9 mm Luger Karl Gustav Model 1945 submachine gun, nicknamed the \u201cSwedish K.\u201d Obtained through the Central Intelligence Agency, these untraceable guns sported a pale green enamel finish, a side-folding stock and a 36-round magazine. The typical combat load was 13 magazines\u2014one in the gun and 12 more in pouches\u2014for some 468 rounds. That may seem like a lot, but SOG teams often fought all-day, running gunfights against untold enemy pursuers.<\/p>\n

Eventually the Swedish K\u2019s 9 mm ball cartridge was found inadequate for knocking enemies down and keeping them down. Many teams up-gunned to the more robust 7.62×39 mm, Chinese Type 56 AKM with a fixed or folding stock.<\/p>\n

The AKM was not without its own shortcomings: it was slow to reload since the bolt did not lock open with the last round, and its wooden fore-end\u2014oil-saturated by repeated cleanings\u2014could become too hot to grasp. Still, it was an improvement.<\/p>\n

Some AKM-armed teams added a degree of deception, disguising themselves in North Vietnamese uniforms. During a chance meeting, the enemy hesitated to engage a masquerading team, giving the SOG men a brief advantage.<\/p>\n

Had they been captured in enemy uniforms they could have been executed as spies; however, not one of SOG\u2019s 57 Missing in Action (MIA) Green Berets\u2014nearly all of them undisguised\u2014came back as a live prisoner. The issue was moot.<\/p>\n

Some arms were old enough to be deniable, allowing World War II veterans to carry their favorite firearms. For instance, First Sergeant Lionel Pinn, a cigar-chompin\u2019 World War II Ranger, proudly packed an M1A1 Thompson submachine gun. Master Sergeant Charles \u201cPops\u201d Humble, a veteran of the 1st Special Service Force, wanted a German Schmeisser; SOG got him one.<\/p>\n

Foreign arms figured in SOG\u2019s night parachute infiltrations\u2014the world\u2019s first combat skydives. Captain Jim Storter armed his recon skydivers with Fabrique Nationale-made Uzi submachine guns because they, \u201cfit nicely strapped atop the reserve \u2018chute,\u201d a consideration where compactness and a streamlined load mattered.<\/p>\n

His team also packed slim Walther PPK pistols which, like the Uzis, had detachable suppressors. Some SOG skydive teams also carried golf-ball-size V-40 Mini Grenades, acquired secretly from the Netherlands, which weighed just 3.5 ozs.<\/p>\n

Foreign handguns included the .25-cal. \u201cBaby\u201d Browning semi-automatic, complete with a wallet-like concealment holster as a last resort gun. But SOG\u2019s most ubiquitous foreign handgun was the 9 mm Luger Browning High Power, favored for its 13-round magazine capacity. Several dozen SOG High Powers came home as chromed, boxed presentation pistols, awarded by SOG\u2019s commander (\u201cChief SOG\u201d), to his most accomplished team leaders.<\/p>\n

The CAR-15<\/strong><\/p>\n

By 1967, the enemy had captured enough U.S. weapons in South Vietnam that weapon deniability was relaxed for missions into Laos, although the requirement continued another two years for Cambodia. Teams could now carry M16s, but they soon were rearmed with what would become SOG recon\u2019s trademark arm\u2014the CAR-15.<\/p>\n

Officially dubbed the XM177, the CAR-15 was a submachine gun version of the M16 and grandfather of today\u2019s M4 carbines. Available in two barrel lengths\u2014a 10″ on the E1 version and an 11.5″ on the XM177E2\u2014it featured a retractable stock, a short, rounded handguard and a distinctive 4.2″ compensator-flash suppressor. SOG\u2019s recon companies were the war\u2019s only units armed entirely with CAR-15s.<\/p>\n

As with all U.S. units, during much of the war SOG was stuck with ill-fitting M14 pouches to hold M16 magazines. Many recon men opted for old BAR belts, whose pouches perfectly held four 20-round magazines, or stretched canteen covers to accommodate six magazines.<\/p>\n

Frustrated by SOG\u2019s inability to supply 30-round magazines, a number of team leaders purchased them through a Guns & Ammo advertisement, outfitting each man with one 30-rounder. As his first magazine, this typically contained all tracer rounds for psychological effect.<\/p>\n

Suppressed Long Guns<\/strong><\/p>\n

SOG stocked many suppressed submachine guns and rifles, useful for chance contacts, ambushing trackers, removing sentries and seizing prisoners. Only SOG\u2019s Uzis had detachable suppressors, the rest having integral ones whose weight and length affected their handling characteristics. The Swedish K\u2019s integral suppressor, for example, added 6″ to its length, which made it barrel-heavy; however, it was especially accurate.<\/p>\n

Some recon men preferred the .45-cal. suppressed M3A1 \u201cGrease Gun,\u201d developed by the World War II Office of Strategic Services (OSS), predecessor to today\u2019s CIA. Offering a very controllable 450-r.p.m. rate of fire\u2014making single-shots possible\u2014its suppressor boosted the gun\u2019s weight by 3 lbs., and required cleaning the tube\u2019s metal screen \u201cwafers\u201d to maintain effectiveness.<\/p>\n

SOG\u2019s quietest long gun was the Sionics Silent Sniper, an M1 carbine converted to 9 mm Luger and transformed from semi-automatic to a straight-pull. Outfitted with a barrel-length suppressor, telescoping wire stock and 4X scope, its closed bolt firing precluded any mechanical \u201cclacking\u201d while no sound of gas blowback escaped at the breech.<\/p>\n

Such \u201cclacking\u201d seemed the only sound you heard when firing the Sten Mk. IIS suppressed submachine gun. Developed in 1940 by the British Special Operations Executive or SOE\u2014whose secret agents operated in Nazi-occupied Europe\u2014the Sten\u2019s loose tolerances kept it firing even when filthy, but limited its accuracy to 8″ groups at 50 yds.<\/p>\n

The problem with all suppressed submachine guns was their pistol rounds\u2019 minimal deadliness; not only was that a disadvantage in a firefight, but (as I learned) amid the din of gunfire the enemy heard no muzzle blast to deter his assault or compel him to seek cover.<\/p>\n

Instead of carrying a suppressed guns as their primary weapons, many SOG men instead wielded CAR-15s or AKMs, and kept the Stens disassembled into their four major groups\u2014receiver, barrel, magazine and stock\u2014and stowed them in their rucksacks until needed.<\/p>\n

As for suppressed M14s and M16s, SOG had them but lacked subsonic ammunition. Medal of Honor recipient Franklin D. Miller and I tested a suppressed M16 and determined that in short-range shootouts its noisy supersonic \u201ccrack!\u201d outweighed the benefit of its reduced muzzle blast. Some men thought otherwise, especially when using a suppressed XM21 sniper rifle at greater distances.<\/p>\n

Suppressed Handguns<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although of very limited range, suppressed handguns saw considerable action. SOG\u2019s quietest pistol by far was the .32 ACP Welrod, another product of the World War II British SOE. Its minimalist design\u2014a tubular suppressor-barrel-action, a bent metal rod for a trigger and a rubber-covered Colt M1903 pistol magazine for a grip\u2014didn\u2019t even look like a gun.<\/p>\n

Like the Sionics carbine, the Welrod was a bolt-action repeater, operated by rotating its knurled end with the palm of the hand. Of limited accuracy and range, the Welrod was more suited to assassinations in wartime Europe than combat in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n

SOG\u2019s most popular suppressed pistol was the .22-cal., High Standard H-D semi-automatic. Another World War II OSS development, its 6\u00bd” barrel was fitted with a 73\/4″ suppressor that eliminated muzzle flash and achieved 90 percent noise reduction. It was used primarily to capture prisoners, the plan being to disable the target with one, near-silent, well-placed shot. This sometimes worked and sometimes did not, igniting a conventional gunfight.<\/p>\n

Other suppressed pistols included Brownings, Walthers and Berettas, but SOG\u2019s most revolutionary pistol\u2014mistakenly acquired as \u201csilent\u201d\u2014was the 13 mm Gyrojet Rocket Pistol. Constructed of plastic and stamped steel with the heft of a cap gun, the six-shot Gyrojet emitted a piercing, \u201cwhoosh!\u201d when fired. Its thumb-size, solid-fuel rocket was spin-stabilized by two canted nozzles and generated almost no recoil.<\/p>\n

In SOG tests, that rocket punched through 3\/4″ plywood and then pierced one side of a water-filled 55-gallon drum to dent the opposite side. Although slow to reload and of limited accuracy, the Gyrojet saw combat service, especially in the hands of 1st Lt. George K. Sisler, SOG\u2019s first Medal of Honor recipient, who had one when he died fighting off an enemy platoon; his Gyrojet was recovered and may have been the same pistol Medal of Honor recipient Franklin Miller used later.<\/p>\n

Robert Graham, leader of Recon Team Pick, carried into combat SOG\u2019s most outlandish \u201csilent\u201d weapon. A native Canadian and bow hunter, Graham had a 55-lb. bow mailed from home with broadhead-tipped arrows, which he indeed let loose during a fight in Cambodia. No prisoner resulted, but it did yield one of SOG\u2019s most unbelievable war stories.<\/p>\n

Modified Weapons<\/strong><\/p>\n

SOG\u2019s Green Berets constantly tinkered with their firearms, often shortening barrels to improve handiness. Medal of Honor recipient Bob Howard, for example, sometimes toted a compact, selective-fire M14A1 rifle, its barrel and flash suppressor chopped by 8″ and a handgrip installed below the forearm. In it, Howard fired 7.62 mm M198 duplex cartridges, each containing two stacked 84-gr. Spitzer bullets with respective muzzle velocities of 2700 and 2200 f.p.s.. In effect, this doubled his M14\u2019s output to 40 rounds per magazine.<\/p>\n

Sawed-off shotguns saw SOG service, too, primarily the Remington Model 870. One SOG recon skydiver, Sammy Hernandez, somehow got his hands on a sawed-off Winchester Model 1897, which he strapped aside his body for a night jump into Laos. Another SOG recon man carried a sawed-off Browning A5 semi-automatic into Laos, which proved his undoing; it was fast to fire but slow to reload, and he was shot dead while reloading.<\/p>\n

The belt-fed M60 machine gun, too, was much modified. Poorly balanced, heavy, and somewhat awkward to wield, Special Forces weapons men completely removed the buttstock, capped it, and then shortened the 22″ barrel, eliminated the bipod and installed a pistol grip below the gas tube, which notably shortened it and cut its weight by 5 lbs. (Three decades later, similar features were incorporated into the gun\u2019s M60E4 version.)<\/p>\n

However, SOG\u2019s most impressive M60 modification\u2014dubbed the \u201cDeath Machine\u201d\u2014was a 500-round drum fitted inside the gunner\u2019s rucksack, connected to his gun with a 5-ft., aircraft-type articulated feed belt. Fabricated at the China Lake, Calif., Naval Weapons Center, its total weight including the gun and ammunition was just short of 90 lbs., requiring a Rambo-sized man to carry it. Best suited to raids, recon teams rarely packed the Death Machine.<\/p>\n

But many teams did carry another light machine gun, the Communist Bloc RPD. Modified by Special Forces weapons men, the RPD\u2019s barrel and butt were chopped, reducing its length to 31″, shorter than a Thompson submachine gun. This also reduced the RPD\u2019s weight to 12 lbs. and balanced it so well that you could practically write your name with it. SOG men also modified its 100-round belt to hold 125 rounds, and inserted a slice of linoleum in the drum to eliminate any rattle. Firing the full-power 7.62×39 mm AK round, the RPD was SOG\u2019s deadliest small arm.<\/p>\n

Sniper Rifles<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because SOG recon\u2019s primary duty was intelligence gathering, there were few planned sniping missions, which would have compromised a team\u2019s presence with the first shot. However, there was no shortage of sniper rifles when the need arose.<\/p>\n

SOG\u2019s most accurate sniper weapon was the heavy-barreled, Remington Model 700 rifle, in 7.62×51 mm NATO (.308 Win.), with a Redfield 3-9X Accu-Range scope, similar to the system issued to Marine Corps snipers. SOG recon was the only Army unit in Vietnam armed with the Model 700.<\/p>\n

The M14-based XM21 Sniping System, too, was in SOG\u2019s armory, many of them suppressed. These definitely saw combat service, especially for recon teams in central Laos where the jungle opened up. Special Forces Sgt. Kevin Smith used an XM21 while manning a roadblock overlooking Laotian Highway 922 and made a confirmed 1,000-yd. shot, as well as a number of other kills.<\/p>\n

The Korean War-era M1D Sniper Rifle, topped by a 2.5X M84 scope, was considered outmoded by many, but SOG old hands who\u2019d been raised on the M1 rifle thought it an excellent rifle and its .30-\u201906 Sprg. cartridge more suited to long-range sniping than the 7.62×51 mm.<\/p>\n

Quite likely the first-ever flattop AR was an SOG-modified M16. Topped by an M84 scope, SFC J.D. Bath took the experimental sniper rifle to a Laotian mountaintop in early 1967, but no enemy appeared within 5.56×45 mm range. Although promising, that was that rifle\u2019s only known combat service.<\/p>\n

Exploding-Projectile Weapons<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some team leaders believed that the slow-firing, single-shot M79 Grenade Launcher reduced their teams\u2019 firepower. Rearming their two grenadiers with CAR-15s, they mounted still-experimental Colt XM148 grenade launchers on their short-barreled CARs, which required a bit of jury-rigging. Later, these were replaced with XM203 grenade launchers.<\/p>\n

However, all this bulk degraded the performance of both the CAR-15 and the launcher, which was unacceptable to other team leaders. Instead, they sawed off the M79\u2019s butt and barrel into a \u201cpistol,\u201d which was carried unloaded and snapped into men\u2019s web gear. Thus, 40 mm fire was still available when needed while it freed up everyone to carry CAR-15s.<\/p>\n

SOG\u2019s most unusual grenade launcher was an experimental pump-action, four-shot, that functioned like an oversized Winchester Model 12 shotgun. Developed by the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake, Calif., it weighed 10.2 lbs. and measured 34\u00bd” overall. It wasn\u2019t too heavy, but notably bulky, poorly balanced and prone to short-stroking.<\/p>\n

SOG lost more men to the blast and fragments of enemy RPG rockets than to any other weapon. Attesting to this lethality, several recon teams replaced their M79s with RPG-2 launchers, which fired the Chinese B-40 rocket. In SOG\u2019s hands, it proved just as deadly.<\/p>\n

Some considered the RPG too heavy a weapon for a small recon team, yet a few team leaders went a step further and also toted a 60 mm mortar. Normally found with a 120-man infantry company, it was the last thing the North Vietnamese expected in a SOG team.<\/p>\n

The 60 mm tube was carried by one man, with about 20 rounds distributed among his teammates. Recon Teams, such as Joe Walker\u2019s RT California and Ed Wolcoff\u2019s RT New York, regularly packed a 60 mm mortar, along with sawed-off RPD machine guns and RPG rocket launchers. Unsurprisingly, these were called \u201cheavy\u201d teams.<\/p>\n

Whether heavy or just a half-dozen men, these SOG teams raised such havoc behind enemy lines that the North Vietnamese diverted 50,000 troops from the battlefield to rear area security. However, the cost was significant: SOG lost 243 Green Berets, which included 10 recon teams that went missing while another 14 were overrun.<\/p>\n

In 2001\u2014after its covert missions were declassified\u2014SOG received the Presidential Unit Citation for, \u201cExtraordinary Heroism \u2026 . while executing unheralded top secret missions deep behind enemy lines across Southeast Asia.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No mention of how these men carried their huge brass ones in the jungles of North Viet Nam. Some things will remain classified, I suppose. Thanks Boomer. Now I want a Swedish K.
\n*grin*
\nThis article, “Deep Behind Enemy Lines: Weapons of Vietnam’s Covert Warriors,” appeared originally in the April 2015 issue of American Rifleman. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Military Assistance Command, Studies and Observations Group Our own Boomer of Sunday fame sends us this … Weapons of MAC SOG<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[359,406],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-army","category-guest-link"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108053"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110084,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108053\/revisions\/110084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}