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Fish Fighting

I've come up with what I think will be valuable hints for the infantry small-unit leader to bear in mind while training his Marines for urban combat ops and for employment when/if the situation arises for real. All of these observations/hints are based on things I actually experienced or learned while fighting in Hue. By the way, I coined a military acronym for this stuff after deciding that MOUT (Military Operations in Urban Terrain) and FIBUA (Fighting in Built-Up Areas) just didn't fit the bill. In my view, we should classify all this stuff under FISH (Fighting In Someone's House).

  1. TACTICAL MOVEMENT PAST WINDOWS/DOORS: Most movement in urban fighting tends to be quick and short. That's good, but it leads to ignoring the obvious at times. We had a lot of Marines killed or wounded - particularly on the south side of Hue - because they exposed themselves when moving past windows or doors. In general, avoid moving past doors (open or closed) period. You will have to move past windows but BE SURE TO DUCK below the window level. Also, don't forget that many structures have ground level windows that provide light and ventilation to cellars or basements. STEP OVER THESE GROUND-LEVEL WINDOWS and do not expose your legs and/or lower body to enemy fire from within.
  2. SHOOT-THROUGH: Our infantry weapons loaded with standard ball ammo have a hell of a penetration factor. As Murphy urges, when in doubt, empty the magazine! Be especially careful of stacks of furniture, desks, cabinets, armoires, closets, clothing presses, etc. when searching or clearing rooms. You can SHOOT RIGHT THROUGH THESE ITEMS and a couple of well-placed rounds may save your life. On the south side, I was right behind a Marine who instinctively put a burst of five from his M-16 into a large wall cabinet and was rewarded with a dead NVA who fell through the door and out onto the floor. This technique rapidly became SOP.
  3. INCREASED SHRAPNEL EFFECT: Don't get salty - or let your troops get salty - regarding helmets and flak-jackets in urban fighting. Many of our MSW (multiple shrapnel wound) casualties on both the south and the north sides resulted from the increased burst effect of RPGs, mortars and ChiCom grenades that occurred due to flying masonry. Always be aware that HIGH-EXPLOSIVE TYPE WEAPONS WILL CREATE AN INCREASED SHRAPNEL FAN IN URBAN AREAS. A flying piece of brick, concrete or macadam can kill you.
  4. USE OF FRAGMENTATION HAND GRENADES: Up until we were committed to Hue, I noticed that a lot of Marines were reluctant to carry and/or use frags. Get over - and get your Marines over - this reluctance in a hurry! A basic load should be four to six frags per man before you enter the area. TEACH MARINES TO DELIVER FRAGS WITH BOTH HANDS. Also TEACH MARINES TO "COOK-OFF" A FRAG before tossing or lobbing it into a room or building. They've got four to six seconds on a standard frag fuse and that's enough time for a nimble enemy to retrieve and toss it back in your lap. This happened several times on the south side of Hue and at least once (with fatal consequences) on the north side. I like to count three, but two is sufficient, after the safety lever is released before delivering the grenade. I worked out a deal with a buddy where we would stand on both sides of a suspect window. One of us would pull the pin and release the safety lever; then toss it to the opposite man who would catch it and make the delivery. Safety Officers and NCOs may have a shit-hissy over this on the range, but it's got to be practiced! When heaving a grenade into a room or building, generally HEAVE IT AS HARD AS YOU CAN. The frag will bounce around off the walls or furniture and that makes it hard for the enemy to chase down and retrieve.
  5. STEAL CIVILIAN VEHICLES: Every Marine unit operating in an urban environment finds itself in need of quick transportation, either for re-supply, rapid troop movement or evacuation of casualties. Naturally, there is no such transportation available. We learned in fighting on the south side of Hue to HOT-WIRE AND STEAL CIVILIAN VEHICLES…emphasis on "civilian" as military vehicles left behind by an enemy may well be mined or booby-trapped. Steer clear of the enemy's half-tracks, abandoned armor or military trucks in general. What you want is the family sedan or pick-up truck. In any Marine unit there is generally a character that has had some "previous experience" in this area. Find it and use it. On the south side of Hue, this saved lives time and again. We even hot-wired several of the three-wheeled cyclo type vehicles and they worked just great for re-supply runs and CasEvac. I humbly admit to being one of the star players in this effort, which made me the go-to guy for Capt. Ron Christmas commanding Hotel 2/5.
  6. SUPPLY POINTS AND RALLY POINTS: Re-supply of weapons, water and ammo is always a problem in urban fighting as trucks or other transport attempting to reach the fighting units rapidly become prime targets. The solution is to ESTABLISH STREET-CORNER SUPPLY POINTS. Have your support people simply run the gear up and dump it on a designated street-corner or intersection. At that point, fireteams, squads and platoons can simply send working parties to the designated point, get what they need and bring it forward with no danger to the supporting supply pipeline. Also ESTABLISH RALLY POINTS for lost troops or units. As you move a unit forward, pause at easily-recognizable intersections, buildings or corners and let everyone know this is a RALLY POINT. If they get lost or lose contact with the higher unit, they simply find the rally point and wait. The platoon guide or a designated runner can make regular checks of these points and police up the missing people. This worked particularly well for re-assembling lost squads in the north side fighting.
  7. RECOILLESS WEAPONS: The M-72 LAAW, the AT-4 and any other available recoilless weapon is extremely valuable in urban fighting for obvious reasons. However, it's important to CONSIDER THE BACK-BLAST WHEN USING THESE WEAPONS FROM ENCLOSED AREAS such as rooms, blind alleys, etc. I fired a LAAW from a second story window on the north side and was extremely proud of myself until I discovered the back-blast damn near killed the other two guys in the room with me. The back-blast from a recoilless weapon will carom off the walls of a room and act like a miniature tornado!
  8. COUNTER-SNIPER TECHNIQUES: Working in buddy-teams in Hue, we rapidly learned to play fox and hounds with NVA snipers. The generic problem was that someone got dinged before we managed to spot the shooter that dinged him. UNDER FIRE FROM AN UNKNOWN SNIPER POSITION ONE MAN WILL HAVE TO SERVE AS TARGET while the other man spots and shoots. We finessed this technique by selecting a short run to cover for the target or bait man in an attempt to draw the sniper's fire. If he moved quick and low from cover to cover, we could generally get the sniper to fire a badly aimed shot or burst. This revealed his hide and the cover man could deliver fire on the sniper's position or call for fire from the remainder of the squad by putting a tracer or two into the hide. TRAIN IN THIS TECHNIQUE!
  9. FOCUS HIGH/LOOK LOW: In Hue we tended to focus on high firing positions for the enemy. He's an infantryman and he knows the value of the high ground, so we tended to look for him high. Unfortunately, this led to a tendency to ignore spider-holes and low-level fighting positions that frequently caught us by surprise. AN ENEMY IN URBAN DEFENSE WILL FREQUENTLY LURE YOU INTO COMMITING TO AN ASSAULT BY FIRING FROM HIGH WHILE HIS SHOOTERS ARE DUG IN LOW POSITIONS AROUND A BUILDING. We got nailed in the assault on the treasury and hospital areas on the south side by not checking the low-ground before we went over into the assault.
  10. UNLIKELY HIDES: On the north side during the Citadel assault, I lost a man and nearly got nailed myself because we did not think anyone could be dug in under a pile of household junk. It was a pile of discarded crap with a broken bicycle on top; looking just like any other trash pile in any other city. Unfortunately, an NVA had dug under the trash-pile from the rear and made himself a firing embrasure at absolute ground level. NEVER PRESUME AN ENEMY CAN'T BE SOMEWHERE. HE WILL BE THERE.
  11. SEWER AND DRAINAGE CANALS: Most of the NVA who moved into Hue on the nights of 30-31 January 1968 got into the city undetected by moving through Hue's sewage system and drainage canals. IN THE OFFENSE, SPOT THE MANHOLES AND CHECK THEM OUT. IN THE DEFENSE, EXPLORE THE CANAL/SEWER SYSTEM and use to it to move troops from point to point. Marines should be trained to do this as a matter of course. Just as we designated and trained tunnel-rats for work underground in the jungle, we should TRAIN MARINES TO EXPLORE, MOVE AND FIGHT BENEATH CITY STREETS.
  12. HIGH OBSERVATION POSTS: Rooftops are extremely valuable as OP's. A good man up high can direct fire and movement for troops below and save you a lot of time and trouble in spotting potential or real danger areas. GET AN OBSERVER HIGH AND WORK OUT A SYSTEM OF SIGNALS SO HE CAN DIRECT YOUR FIRE OR MOVEMENT. An observer with a magazine of tracers can be extremely valuable in this endeavor. In selecting the rooftop OP, don't let yourself get silhouetted. If possible, tear yourself a mouse-hole somewhere in the shingle and observe from there.
  13. WEAK-HAND SHOOTING: Cover in urban fighting is most often what's available rather than what you would select. This makes it important that all Marines BECOME ADEPT AT WEAK-HAND SHOOTING. Learn to fire accurately - or at least effectively - from either shoulder, so you are not forced to expose yourself when firing from behind inconvenient cover.
  14. USE COVER: Obviously, you should hug walls rather then moving down the center of an alley or street. On the north side of Hue, we found ourselves advancing up streets adjacent to the Citadel walls by rushing from doorway to doorway which minimized our exposure to fire from the walls. Unfortunately, this left us with our backs to doors very often and NVA inside the buildings would shoot-through the doors at us. WHEN DUCKING INTO DOORWAYS FOR COVER, BE AWARE OF WHAT'S AT YOUR BACK. IF IT'S A DOOR, GET LOW AND BE PREPARED FOR INCOMING FROM INSIDE THE BUILDING.
  15. SNEAK A PEEK: At regular intervals in urban fighting you will find yourself at a corner or intersection; wanting desperately to know what's on the other side. LEARN TO OBSERVE QUICKLY by getting low and taking a quick peek around the corner or the wall. TWO OR THREE QUCK PEEKS MINIMIZES EXPOSURE and lets you get a picture or plan for your next move. DON'T HANG YOUR FACE OUT THERE for a prolonged observation.
  16. FIRE ON EMBRASURES OR LOOPHOLES: Due to the rapid, violent, confusing nature of urban fighting, there is a tendency to "spray and pray" when putting fire on an identified target. Fight this element of human nature! When you have spotted a firing embrasure or loophole from which an enemy is firing at you, SLOW DOWN AND PUT DELIBERATE, AIMED FIRE ON THE TARGET. In Hue we frequently took fortified positions under fire causing the enemy shooter to duck and ceasefire. When we moved, he was back up and shooting. The solution is to KILL HIM WITH AIMED ROUNDS RIGHT INTO THE SLOT.
  17. ENTER AND EXIT LOW: An enemy is under just as much pressure and adrenalin rush as you are. Remember that and WHEN YOU ENTER OR EXIT A BUILDING, GET LOW! An enemy's initial tendency under pressure is to aim and shoot center-mass for a standing man. If you're under that point of aim, you may survive the fire.
  18. DON'T MASK YOUR COVERING FIRE: Unfortunately in Hue there were a number of instances in which Marines attempting to move under covering fire from other Marines ran right into friendly fire. Put this down to confusion and the "fog of war," but you can avoid it if you THINK BEFORE YOU MOVE UNDER COVERING FIRE. Be sure you know where your cover's line of fire is from his position to the target, select an intermediate or terminal position that is outside this line of fire before you move.
  19. FIX BAYONETS: In Hue we experienced a number of very close encounters with NVA soldiers inside buildings or when turning into alleys or hallways. These EYEBALL-TO-EYEBALL MEETING ENGAGEMENTS HAPPEN all the time and Marines need to be prepared for instant action. The best insurance is to HAVE YOUR BAYONET FIXED and prepared to deliver a quick, decisive thrust at the face or chest. If you don't kill him, you'll scare the hell out of him and cause him to retreat rapidly. This happened at least twice that I know of on the south side resulting in a wild hand-to-hand melee that could have been avoided and decided in the Marines' favor with a quick bayonet thrust.
  20. FIRE FACTOR: Most buildings in an urban environment contain lots of material that will burn. We learned quickly on the south side of Hue, absent tear gas grenades at the squad level, that we could take WP grenades, toss them into a house and depend on whatever was inside to catch fire. The resulting blaze often forced hiding NVA shooters into a panicky exit and we were able to kill them in the open.
  21. SLOW THE TEMPO: Finally, one of our most valuable lessons fighting on the south and the north sides of Hue was to SLOW DOWN AND BE DELIBERATE. Before we got a feel for urban ops, we had a tendency to just go hey-diddle-diddle right up the middle and rely on the momentum of our attack to shock the enemy. He was not easily shocked as we learned to our detriment. The solution was to SLOW DOWN, ASSESS THE SITUATION, MAKE A DELIBERATE PLAN AND CARRY IT OUT WITH VIGOR.






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