Small boat or brown water operations

[Tom Odom]

Funny that the salient lesson in the monograph was that combined arms and maneuver were the key to success--in other words it was not just reverine alone but riverine in concert with air assault, infantry, or even mech with fires that worked. As soon as they tried to go cheap and just use a river based force the bad guys slipped the noose. No big surprise but one we almost always have to learn.

Tom

[Bob's World]

You may want to try the Naval Post Graduate School's Littoral Dominance Center of Excellence (LDCOE). Captain (Ret) Craig Powell, the former SEAL who is the manager of the program, has a knowledge of small boat ops that is match only by his passion for the topic. Tell him I sent you.

[Small_Axe]

Thanks to all for the input so far.

[davidbfpo]

Thanks to this excellent WoTR article I have reopened this thread. Link:https://warontherocks.com/2018/01/tet-navy/

The WoTR author in 2015 published his book, available for free online and the summary says:

At the height of the U.S. Navy’s involvement in the Vietnam War, the Navy’s coastal and riverine forces included more than 30,000 Sailors and over 350 patrol vessels ranging in size from riverboats to destroyers. These forces developed the most extensive maritime blockade in modern naval history and fought pitched battles against Viet Cong units in the Mekong Delta and elsewhere. War in the Shallows explores the operations of the Navy’s three inshore task forces from 1965 to 1968. It also delves into other themes such as basing, technology, tactics, and command and control. Finally, using oral history interviews, it reconstructs deckplate life in South Vietnam, focusing in particular on combat waged by ordinary Sailors. Vietnam was the bloodiest war in recent naval history and War in the Shallows strives above all else to provide insight into the men who fought it and honor their service and sacrifice.

Link:https://www.history.navy.mil/researc...-shallows.html