U.S. ARMY SPECIAL OPERATIONS HISTORY Veritas
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U.S. ARMY SPECIAL OPERATIONS HISTORY Veritas Volume 15 / Number 1 Te Battle of Lang Vei An Operational Analysis A Tale of Two Teams Tactical PSYOP Loudspeaker Support in Panama Stopping Te Radio Nacional Broadcasts C/3-7th SFG Ends pro-Noriega Radio Broadcasts during Operation JUST CAUSE NW N NE W E SW SE S of theAzimuth USASOC History Offce Volume 15, Number 1 Tis issue of Veritas is the frst in our new, evolving other military services, the joint commands, and the format. Te title letters are in print font, instead of U.S. Government. the draftsman-drawn scroll ‘header’ of the U.S. Army Te quality and integrity of our historical products John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center newspaper of will not be compromised. Veritas is more diversifed; the 1960s. Produced by the Public Information Ofce abstract ‘headers,’ shorter articles, ARSOF equipment (PIO), that Veritas was printed bi-weekly by the 1st analyses, highlighted ‘takeaways,’ diferent endnote Psychological Operations (PSYOP) Battalion. positioning, and QR code links to online articles. Our Te articles in this new Veritas were ‘born digitally’ historical evidence reinforces command priorities. and may ‘hang’ on our website for up to two months. As we ‘built’ a virtual reference book on Panama Tis provides ARSOF soldiers early access and more 1989-1990 for 7th SFG, we found that the Army exposure for our written products. Tey are still history coverage virtually ended with JUST CAUSE. reviewed for OPSEC (operations security) and by ARSOF had a major role in the post-invasion the Public Afairs Ofce (PAO) before being ‘hung’ stability operations. However, PROMOTE LIBERTY digitally. When published in Veritas, they are indexed became ‘white noise’ when the Pentagon prepared and added to the public website: https://www.soc.mil/ to drive the Iraqis out of Kuwait (DESERT SHIELD / ARSOF_History/index.html. DESERT STORM). After moving to multi-media ARSOF history Preceding the JUST CAUSE articles are: post- presentations last year (November 2018), we had WWII evolution of a standard Army rife and squad to diversify our traditional written products to assault weapon; lineage of the 389th MI Battalion (1st accommodate a larger, more diversifed audience SF Command); an operational analysis of the North attuned to the latest developments in communications. Vietnamese Army tank-infantry attack that overran We had to embrace technology to become more the SF border camp at Lang Vei on 7 February 1968; relevant in the Information Age. Making ARSOF and a sample of our 50+ social media releases to date. history more accessible, in turn, increased its appeal Finally, the back cover alerts readers to the video to and made it more actionable by the multiple interview of SF icon, Colonel Charles H. ‘Chuck’ Fry generations in our Army. Our total immersion in 21st (5th, 7th, 8th, and 10th SFGs, SOCSOUTH, and Bull Century technology has required more innovation. We Simons Award) on our public website. Comments/ use creative techniques to emphasize ARSOF history suggestions on our new format are welcomed. We and to demonstrate our integration with the Army, thank you for the strong support. — CHB i | v15/n1 Contributing Staf Command Historian & Editor Associate Editors Charles H. Briscoe, PhD Jared M. Tracy, PhD Dr. Briscoe has been the USASOC Command Historian Dr. Tracy served six years in the U.S. Army, and became since 2000. A graduate of The Citadel, this retired Army a historian at USASOC in December 2010. He earned special operations offcer earned his PhD from the an MA in History from Virginia Commonwealth University University of South Carolina. Current research interests and a PhD in History from Kansas State University. include Army Special Operations in Latin America. His research is focused on the history of Army 910-432-3732 | [email protected] Psychological Operations. 910-396-5906 | [email protected] Deputy Command Historian & Associate Editor Troy J. Sacquety, PhD Michael E. Krivdo, PhD Dr. Sacquety earned an MA from the University of Dr. Krivdo earned his PhD in Military and Diplomatic Nebraska–Lincoln and his PhD in Military History from History from Texas A&M University. He is a former Texas A&M University. Prior to joining the USASOC Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance Offcer with History Offce he worked several years for the Central research interests in Army Rangers, Special Forces, Intelligence Agency. Current research interests include and Special Operations Training. Army Civil Affairs. 910-908-0939 | [email protected] 910-432-9324 | [email protected] Joshua D. Esposito, PhD Collective Research Eforts Dr. Esposito served four years in the U.S. Navy before As part of ongoing Operations JUST CAUSE and earning an MA and PhD in Diplomatic History from West PROMOTE LIBERTY research, the USASOC History Virginia University. He was a historian at U.S. Southern Offce is looking for veterans to interview, and for Command for two years prior to joining the USASOC photos and documents on ARSOF in Panama, 1989 History Offce in July 2017. His current research is – 1991. Specifc units of interest are 7th Special focused on Army Special Operations Aviation. Forces Group (SFG); 75th Ranger Regiment; 96th 910-432-5349 | [email protected] Civil Affairs (CA) Battalion and Army Reserve Civil Affairs; 4th Psychological Operations (PSYOP) Robert D. Seals Group, and 1st and 8th PSYOP Battalions; 160th Mr. Seals is a graduate of the University of Tennessee Special Operations Aviation Group (SOAG) and and a retired Special Forces offcer. He earned an MA in 617th Special Operations Aviation Detachment Military History from Norwich University and worked at the (SOAD); 112th Signal Battalion; and 528th Special Special Operations Mission Training Center before joining Operations Support Battalion. Other offce research the USASOC History Offce. His research focus is Army efforts and requests for support include: Special Forces. � The tactical impact of the Ranger type-O Low titer 910-432-9780 | [email protected] (ROLO) Whole Blood Program in Afghanistan (Dr. Krivdo) � PSYOP support to Military Assistance Command Christopher E. Howard Mr. Howard served four years in the U.S. Army before Vietnam-Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG) and Operation OBSERVANT COMPASS (Dr. Tracy) earning an MA in History from Appalachian State � U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation in Operations University. He worked as a Psychological Operations DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM (Dr. Esposito) training specialist at USAJFKSWCS before joining the � Civil Affairs in DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM; USASOC History Offce in June 2018. His research is Kuwaiti Task Force (Dr. Sacquety) focused on the history of ARSOF Sustainment � 10th SFG in Lebanon; 6th SFG and 8th SFG unit and Support. yearbooks (Mr. Seals) 910-908-2816 | [email protected] � ARSOF Support/Sustainment in DESERT SHIELD/ DESERT STORM (Mr. Howard) Veritas | ii Collection Activities Historical Record Collection Process Publication Information The USASOC History Office collects and pre- Veritas: Veritas is published by the United States Army Special Operations Command History Office, Fort Bragg, serves documents, photos and other historical North Carolina (ISSN 1553-9830). The contents are not records pertaining to Army Special Operations necessarily the official views of, nor endorsed by, the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, USSOCOM, or Forces (ARSOF). The following guidance explains USASOC. They are compiled, edited, and prepared by how to donate or transfer historic materials to the History Office. this office. Copyright: Materials in Veritas may be reprinted, except where copyrighted, provided credit is given to Veritas How to Get Historical Materials To Us and the creators. Reprinting articles in a modified version and/or without the endnotes degrades serious historical Coordination: Contact the History Office via e-mail scholarship. Address questions to USASOC, ATTN: AOHS ([email protected]) to coordinate delivery (Veritas), E-2929 Desert Storm Drive, Fort Bragg, NC 28310, or e-mail one of our editors. and receipt of historical assets. A brief description of the types, condition, and quantity of materials Past Issues: Very few print copies of Veritas are maintained is appreciated. at the USASOC History Office. However, all Veritas articles are available digitally on the ARSOF History Website at https://www.soc.mil/arsof_history/, and digital Mailing Address: versions of Veritas are available for download at: http:// Commander, USASOC cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/ ATTN: AOHS (Veritas) p16040coll7/order/nosort/. E-2929 Desert Storm Drive Permission to Reprint: Address questions and comments Fort Bragg, NC 28310-9110 to USASOC, ATTN: AOHS Veritas, E-2929 Desert Storm Drive, Fort Bragg, NC 28310, or e-mail one of our editors. Pickup Assistance: In exceptional cases, History Firewalls and Spam Filters: DoD network firewalls Office personnel can assist with on-site collection routinely block e-mails with non-DoD encryption and/ of materials. or attachments. If you send an e-mail and do not receive a response, it is most likely blocked by network Please send all technical, security, and general firewalls or spam filters. If this is the case, please support quetions to [email protected]. assume that we did not get your message, and contact us by telephone. Subscriptions: Those wishing to subscribe to print Veritas should e-mail Mr. Bob Seals at [email protected]. Check out the ARSOF History website: Please include ARSOF affiliation or list applicable military https://www.soc.mil/arsof_history service. This helps us build a research network for future Veritas articles. iii | v15/n1 Contents Spectrum Articles 1 Addenda on JAQUE Operations Security Identifying the ‘Real MI Player’ in JAQUE by Charles H. Briscoe 3 Form Follows Function Evolution of the Army Rife and Squad Automatic Weapon by Troy J. Sacquety 7 Michael L. Kunik 66 Peerless Professional, Patriot by Charles H. Briscoe ARSOF in Operation 17 From Leyte to the Levant A Brief History of the 389th MI Battalion (A) JUST CAUSE, Part I by Christopher E.