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Ruff Puff : A "MAT" Team Leader's Story by [Tompkins, Phil]

Ruff Puff : A "MAT" Team Leader's Story Kindle Edition

by Phil Tompkins (Author)

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Some American troops called them “Ruff-Puffs” and laughed at them. We called them our brothers and lived and fought alongside them every day in South Vietnam. By the end of my year as a Mobile Advisory Team (MAT) leader I admired all of them.

This is the story of one MAT team (5 American Army advisors) in one of the 244 Districts in South Vietnam and about our great counterpart - the District Chief .

In 1969, the first year the 200-plus MAT teams were deployed in Vietnam, legend says half of their outposts were overrun -- wiped out. Fortunately our team survived -- somehow. This story is dedicated to those who never made it back to "The World".

The “Vietnamization” program was a general mobilization of 500,000 local defense forces called Regional Forces (RF) and Popular Forces (PF). -- thus the nickname “Ruff Puff”. This new militia’s mission was village and hamlet security -- and they started with nothing. We helped them get uniforms and new M-16 rifles and other weapons, trained them and then helped them fight against local Viet Cong and even North Vietnamese Army troops in our small coastal District.

So we looked at this as our homeland and used all the American artillery, air strikes, helicopters and whatever other resources we could scrounge to help our brothers protect their villages, families, schools , rice paddies, bridges and homes - and to win the war at the local level.

Find out why we who served know that the "advisory" role that our troops are undertaking in Iraq and Afghanistan is really a full-fledged combat mission. Don't let anybody tell you different!

Length: 291 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled

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Product details

File Size: 659 KB
Print Length: 291 pages
Publication Date: September 12, 2010
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B0042RV1G4
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

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Not Enabled

Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported

Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,154,510 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #509 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Americas > United States > Military History > Veterans
- #563 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Asia > Southeast
- #1001 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Military > Vietnam War

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars

5 star		69%
4 star		15%
3 star		8%
2 star		4%
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Top customer reviews

If you were a officer you had to drink the cool aid. Any way it was hard for every ...

Byrobert l williamson November 8, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I was on his MAT team. I only remember the district cheif as worthless. The way lt tomkins saw things and the reality of what was going on was non sense . Of course he had to because he was a officer. If you were a officer you had to drink the cool aid.Any way it was hard for every one. I just thought they were all stupid. That was my fourth tour in Vietnam 1964,65 66 67 when I met them.. I knew that the war was over but they could not accept the reality of what was to come.. 1975. MY best friend and a true Hero Major General Nguyen Van DIEM THE COMMANDER OF THE arvn 1ST iNFANTRY div WAS KILLED IN april 1975.God Bless him and all the American and South Vietnamese soldiers KIA in this War. Thanks for writeing your book LT Tompkins.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Another Penetrating Look at the Use of Mobile Advisory Teams in the Vietnam War

ByDavid E. Vancilon August 5, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This book is one a of a few that deals with the mobile advisory teams deployed by the U.S. Army during the Vietnamization phase of the Vietnam War. Having been a member of one myself, I found Ruff Puff fascinating since the experiences revealed by Tompkins were similar in some ways while in others being quite unique. Tompkins must have kept incredible notes, for his recollection of place names and the names of his counterparts is remarkable. I am not sure that this book will interest many readers who don't already want to know about this unfortunate war. For someone who is not a professional writer (as far as I know), Tompkins did a good job of telling the story, although it is less revealing of how this experience affected him. In my case, it suggested that the whole process of Vietnamization was a way to abandon the South Vietnamese to their enemies, while Tompkins sees the use of MATs as a way to support our ally. I'm sure the situation varied throughout Vietnam. I recently read a book by a Marine, A Field of Innocence, who was embedded with Popular Force platoons using a different approach in which Americans were attached directly to South Vietnamese units. Everyone has a different a useful story to tell about the war. Two other good books about MATs are Once a Warrior and In Pharoah's Army by Tobia Wolff.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

REALISTIC PERSPECTIVE

ByJ. E. Gibbonson January 7, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This book was recommended to me by someone I served with on a MATS team in VIETNAM, circa 1969-70. As not much has ever been written I was anxious to relive and see this man's perspective. I DID NOT become a MATS team leader and go thru all the formalized training that the author did. I wish I did but as a volunteer I was given free reign to learn as I went but in retrospect I wish I had had more formalized training. This was a fascinating read for me. As a Veteran of these efforts I understood and appreciated exactly what was required of the team leaders. I am unsure as to whether the casual reader will find this book to be as interesting as I did. I suspect those who wish to understand all aspects of the Vietnam-ization Process will find this book to be worthwhile.

0Comment 5 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Been There

ByFrederick A Camachoon January 12, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

When the author arrived in country I had left 2 weeks earlier. He often mentioned the District to his north and across the river..SonTinh, my home in 1968. His story brought back a flood of memories. Thank you Phil...It was great look at a past I shared.

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Very enjoyable

ByEric The Readon January 21, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is a very enjoyable read. It has the feel of something written by a guy with a story to tell - a guy who is NOT a professional writer. The price was right. I hope he makes an amazing amount of money on this book. I liked the way he described the processes he went through. I liked his analysis of the various personalities he worked with. I liked his analysis of the strategies employed. It was nice that he liked what he did, too. There is no axe-grinding in this story, in my opinion, just a easy understood narrative.

0Comment 4 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

A very informative read!

ByMikeyBon July 7, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

An excellent book! The author tells his story well with a very respectful and sympathetic view of the "Ruff Puff's" that he worked with. He really fitted in with the people very well, and his story is very interesting - highly recommended!

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A Different View of Viet Nam

ByRobert L. Gayloron April 19, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Very different view of the Vietnamese during the war. Nice to see an officer who really cared about his men. Makes me ashamed for America and how we abandoned the good Vietnamese.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Finally a book written about the Advisors who lived, ...

ByRon Osimoon May 23, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Finally a book written about the Advisors who lived, worked and died with the Regional and Popular Forces of South Vietnam. The RF/PF soldier recruited from their Provinces, Districts and Villages were the key to the success of the pacification of South Vietnam.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most recent customer reviews

Good job, Phil

I know this man personally, and he is the real deal! Period! I was in RVN same year flying Cobras over guys such as Phil.Read more

Published 2 months ago by A27

Worth reading

A very interesting and enlightening story written well enough by a non-writer.

Published on July 9, 2015 by S. Pidd

Five Stars

I was an Advisor he tells our story the right way it really was.

Published on June 21, 2015 by William Acebes

Five Stars

told it like it was.I was there and he hit the nail on the head

Published on April 4, 2015 by Heavy Drop.

Great Book by a Former Advisor

The author did a great job of telling about the Advisor experience in Viet Nam. Having been one myself, he certainly lived the experience like so many of us.Read more

Published on September 6, 2014 by Steve L

Pass on this one.

I Suppose I had too many bad experiences with the ARVN soldiers, Ruf/Pufs, or anything that had to do with the South Vietnamese forces.Read more

Published on September 7, 2013 by USA Retired

It rings very true......

Phil's story of his year as a MAT leader could be, with minor changes from I Corps to the delta, mine.Read more

Published on March 22, 2013 by J.L. Jameson

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