Customer Reviews

Vietnam Primer

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Hack's classic has been on the way back for some time now, and it's an essential purchase now that it's here.

Like WW II Special Forces commanders Chapman and Wingate before him, Hack realized that The Jungle Is Neutral i.e. it did not favor the Enemy. He set out to understand the Enemy and the realities of asymmetrical jungle warfare, with a view to being able to Out Guerrilla the Guerrilla. He succeeded.

I shall be buying a few copies for some of my Vietnam Vet friends, as a reminder of how good the US troops could be with the right leadership and tactics. With a man like Hack out front.

I agree with another reviewer that this would benefit any combat troops, whatever the situation they are being deployed to.

Perhaps the saddest thing to reflect on, is that even after Hack turned the hopeless into hardcore with his proven tactical innovations, raw troops were still arriving in Nam having been trained for a conventional war.

Outstanding.

The number of people who have actually sat down and provided specific advise on how to tactically approach combat in Vietnam is exceedingly small. Plenty of literature out there on "this happened to us" or "that happened to us" but almost none on how to actually move and fight.

Yes. I know its called The Vietnam Primer, but many of the points and lessons in this book can be applied to the here and now. The advice on small unit tactics, the proper use of intel, setting defensive perimeters, communications, etc. should be read and reread until it becomes second nature.

The soldier's soldier teaching his hard-won lessons of counterinsurgency in the school of Vietnam. The lessons on small unit tactics are invaluable for working in the jungle, entering a village, leaving a village, and more. Detailed descriptions are provided in easy to read and concise style that goes straight to the issues. "The Hack" will always live on in the hearts of those his works touched. This book was just the beginning of a long life of service to his fellow soldiers.

If you are the definition of an American Patriot (not obedient) then this book is mandatory. As would be the Art of War by Sun Tzu.