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Birth of the Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP)
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by: Sonny J. O'Steen
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Wing Background
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Patch of our test Company
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Notice the lack of a date on Recondo Certificate. Each graduate was given the consequetive number since the conception in
1958 and signed by the commanding General.Of our starting class of 85,only 15 graduated.
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Copy of part of my first DD-214 upon departure from LRRP.
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By: Sonny J. O’Steen
As I starting writing it suddenly occurred to me that I am getting old. As I was the youngest, the others are in 60’s, 70’s and even early 80’s.
A look at the times which spawned the birth of LRRP. While some of this will be anecdotal, I hope to illuminate the birth with retrospective understanding that I didn’t have as a young LRRP. In other words, those "AHA" moments older people get when looking back.
First some points of clarification:
1. While this is about the first LRRPs, I realize that the LRRPs in Vietnam took those beginnings we passed and really built it into the awesome unit it is today. I also understand there was an evolution of names from LRRP to LRP and, finally to LRSU as it went into the Gulf War. That would be the "special information sources" to which Gen. Schwartzkopf referred to in the thick of it.
2. I gather that it was around late 1966 to 1967 when Recondo Training in Nha Trang and LRRP merged in Vietnam. After the merge, subsequent members would view Recondo and LRRP as a single entity. Therefore, I need clear up any resulting confusion created by the fact that I was, coincidentally, a graduate of both groups, independently. Actually, Major Lewis "Cold Steel" Millett, had been running Recondo School for the 101st Aitborne at Ft. Campbell since around 1958. The nickname of the Medal of Honor winner, refers to the taking of a hill in Korea with bayonets. I went through Recondo School in January, 1965, after leaving my LRRP unit. At the time, certificates were not dated, but sequentially numbered. I was the 2074th graduate since it’s conception. The LRRP units were organized July 15, 1961, though, most reported in Dec. 15, 1961, as a totally separate group from Recondo. Having been through both programs, however, I do agree that it was the perfect merge ... as Recondo is a contraction for "Reconniassance Comando".
3. I became interested in writing this, because the information online about this period seems sparse and vague. By this endeavor, I did learn that I was in Company 3779. I went back and looked at my first DD214 and, sure enough, there it was, (73-3779) right there at the end in parenthesis. Now, I gotta’ tell ya’, I never (sic) heard those numbers once while I was there... or else, my memory is really declining. When the 5th Corp tookover Wildflecken Kaserne the 3779th LRRP (Provisional) officially became the 5th Corp LRRP and the 3780th LRRP (Provisional), which at Nellingen, Baden-Wurttemberg became the 7th Corp LRRP. However, I distinctly remember that a few of us referred to the 3780th in pre-official designation as the "5th Corp" (doesn't mean I'm claiming we were right) and I had remembered them being at Bad Tolz, most likely confusing them with the 10th SF. That confusion was probably aided by the fact that, under 14th Cav, we wore the 7th Army patch. I have been advised and research has proven that we were in error. I guess our 19 year old heads weren't quite ripe. I have, also, learned that after trekking through a sucession of unit designations, the 3779th LRRP (Provisional) ultimately became Company A/75th Ranger Regiment.
In my seven years, 1959 to 1966, the personal Infantry weapon changed three times... from the M1 to the M14 to the M16. I don’t know about non-airborne units, but the Airborne was in the "Pentomic" (meaning 5, of course) era. The units, later called battalions, were called Battlegroups. Support within the unit was an extra company for Heavy Weapons, Combat Engineers (bridges) and a Recon Platoon. This meant five companies. Like I was in Echo Company, 2/187th when I went through Jump School at Ft. Campbell. (Side note, at age 17, I had to sign a statement saying they had asked me if I had my parents permission. Would they ever get sued now?) Anyhow, each Company had an extra platoon for mortar crews and combat engineers (explosives/mines). This meant 5 platoons. That was the structure when the 101st sent to Puerto Rico on "Operation Big Slam" in March, 1960 to stand Castro down. Also for the Berlin crisis, for which I volunteered, in Germany. I was assigned to the 504th Airborne Battlegroup under the 8th Army in the old SS Quadrangle in Gonsenheim, suburbs of Mainz when the recruitment of candidates from all of USAREUR began. I’m remembering that to be around mid-July, 1961. I was told that the unit was modeled on the Ranger/Special Forces groups, only, dedicated to reconnaissance. The qualifications for potential LRRPs were age 19, 110 GT, at least E-3 eligible for E-4, excellent military record and, preferably, jump qualified. And though, I later became a Recondo January 1965, it was not a LRRP prequisite for the Provisional (test) companies, at the time.
I’ve since deduced, so it’s not necessarily the official line, that, the Berlin crisis had illuminated some apparent weakness in information gathering. I concluded that the weakness was in the monitoring was of "Attack Alley". This is where the Soviets were expected to make their southern assault from the Czechoslovakian and Austrian borders. Two things make me believe this. First, the 3779th LRRP Company was in Wildflecken, northernmost Bavaria, in the middle of the Fulda Gap while the 3780 LRRPs were at the apparent alternate egress to the Saltzberg gap from the Austrian Border, close to Stuttgart, at Nellingen... Saltzberg being covered by the 10th SF. This egress channeling through the Alps is called "Attack Alley"... Secondly, a seemingly general restructuring, led to abandoning the "Pentomic" concept with it’s shallow self-support in the form of a Recon Platoon. Hm-m-m ... I don’t think I’ve fingered anything that would incite the CIA. Anyhow we started with these two "test" LRRP Companies.
From this point, I am giving my account of the LRRPs in Wildflecken. The Wildflecken installation began in 1936 as The German Supreme Army training post. Some insist that the name means other things, but as a German speaker, I recognize flecken as spot, hence, "Wildspot". The area was about 15k acres in Bavaria and 3k in Hessen, east of Wasser Kuppe (water cup) with Fulda being west of the same. It had a distinct Alpine tone. It was used during WWII for POWs. One older Seargent in our LRRP had actually been a POW there. Of, course, he had to consent to going back. Between 1951 to 1967 (I can verify only through 1962) , the kaserne was under both German and American command. The 7th Army Area then and later, as I’ve pointed out, was by the 5th Corp. The Germans had Panzers there.
First LRRPs
Most of the volunteers reported in December 15th, 1961. The new CO was Major Reese Jones, on his way to Lt. Col. and the XO was a Captain, we later were to call "The Hawk", on his way to Major. That is where the comparison ends. They were polar opposites. Let there be no doubt, the first LRRPs were high spirited. Some called us "The Cream of the Crop" ... others called us "The Nuts who had fallen from the Tree" (as subsequently, would "The Hawk"). We were also greeted by a very large Hispanic man bellowing "I AM YOUR FRIENDLY FIRST F-------G SERGEANT". I liked 1st Sgt Gilberto Martinez. He left the kick in "Top Kick". We spent the first three weeks running Jump/PLF classes. Some of the "best" of USAREUR had probably been off status for a while. The rest of us were into intense PT, running, and confidence courses. We also had a lot of "The Pit" type hand-to-hand combat training, issue & training on arctic gear, rappelling and mountain climbing classes, issue and class on how to efficiently pack and jump a rucksack. Organized athletics consisted almost solely of fifteen blindfolded men at a time wearing 8-oz boxing gloves into the ring to leave only one standing. This was with 1st Sgt Martinez standing in one corner, and at the sight of blood, rubbing his hands and licking his lips. Later, after we had settled in and started having propblast parties, we suspected that he had trained his dog to "hump" the leg of any women ... of course, not everyone found humor in that. Eventually, He and Lt Murphy went behind a Monastery to settle some differences and the 1st Sgt’s head was lopsided for a couple of weeks. It didn’t seem to bother him. Perhaps it had happened, before. Lt Murphy was the Company skydiver club leader, known for jumping a chute knowing panels were missing that weren’t part of the modification ... that and in my circles, for scratching his nose a lot, before a jump.
Sometime during the third week, being the wiseguy I was, I popped off to my new Platoon Sgt, SFC Craft. I do forget what it was about, now. I would, however, grow to admire and respect him and I think I might’ve been a source of amusement for him. Anyhow, I was to go on a weekend punishment patrol to the Rhön Range peaks. Apparently, two others had also earned first patrol-outing rights ... as well as Sgt Vance, who was designated to lead it. After, packing for the adventure, SFC Craft asked if I was sure I had everything. "Oh yeah, I forgot my camera", I piped. He handed me another item and asked if I still wanted to carry my camera. "Yea", I replied, three times. Each time earned an additional and heavier item.Finally, grinning, he handed me a back-up PRC-10 battery and asked again. At that point I "recon’d" I could live without without my camera.
Command had not yet realized the need to prohibit money, with all our operations in the German countryside. So, out on the mountain, We gave some money to a kid for a coke for himself and a few bottles of wine for us.. Sgt Vance mixed right in and passed out on the ground just as it started to snow. We just left him there, all night. Then when we got back to barracks, they Invited all Patrol Leaders to select their patrols or await assignment. A patrol was to be a four man team (I understand that it later became six men). Sgt Gene Vance chose everyone from the punishment patrol. The Patrol Leader carried a PRC-10, for calling in pickup or with a PRC-6 I sometimes carried. "Sparky" (sorry, that’s all I remember) CW Operator (International Morse Code) extreme, whose face would show emotion to the dot-dash codes, Spec4 "Stumpy" Turner, radio assistant and my best friend. Then, lastly, the Scout, someone particularly adept with map and compass for pre-reconnoitering ... that would be me. I’ve forgotten the nomenclature of the CW radio, but, it used a long wire with a plumb bob on the end for twirling like a lasso and throwing over high tree branches for an antenna. The assistant carried a very heavy ANGR-9 generator, which he gleefully pedaled during communications. Most pre-reconnoitering was by The Leader and the Scout, although, sometimes I operated alone. The CW equipment set-up was a little clumsy and authentication in CW just wasn’t so fast as to allow hopping around every few minutes. Alas, we were in business.
We were the only Airborne unit on post, so we were also the only ones who ran every morning when in garrison. We had been assigned to a Consolidated Mess with an Artillery Unit, the only other American unit I remember ... well ... that and the MP’s. If anyone was there in another unit sorry, that was a long time ago. Anyway the first pronunciation of L.R.R.P. as a word was not from us, but from a young black Artilleryman. Because occasional heckling would occur during our runs, 1st Sgt Martinez would tell the last man to "fall out and kick his ass" ... and meant it, though, they usually ran. This caused a pecking order struggle to be last in line. Having noticed that trait, the young man in the Mess Hall, said to someone he was arguing with, "I’m going to LRRP you". All of this and many encounters with the MP’s were starting mark us as a little overly spirited. Fortunately, apparently someone realized high-spirits is what you want in a LRRP. Occasionally, the guys would torment the MP’s enough that they would raid our Barracks, looking for someone. Having rappelling equipment in the room, onetime, everyone upstairs rappelled out the back side (or jumped), hid the equipment. We then went around so we were all racing in the front door at the same time, just as the baffled MP’s were leaving the deserted upstairs. In another case someone placed a sealed can of C-ration pork and beans on the potbelly stove of the squad room as the MPs entered ... I suspected Cpl Ryan, at the time. They exploded, leaving red spots all over their pretty white, patent-leather trim.
In mid-1962, in Wolfgang’s Gasthaus, (Neu) Wildflecken, a young OJT MP came in and grabbed Stumpy from his seat... perhaps the only time Stumpy was ever innocent. Turner pushed him back, at which time the MP drew his pistol, fired up through the floor of the apartment of the Sgt Ogza shown in the center of this picture his and wife, and then shot Turner through the spleen. I whacked the MP with a steel chair, giving him concussion, but, he didn’t drop the pistol. With a blood-drained zombie look, he headed for the exit ... with Germans swan-diving to make a path. Just as I picked up the MP’s cap and started tearing at the liner, MP reinforcements flooded in and pounded me to the floor with batons. I easily explained that I was only looking a name in the hat band to return it. The maidens at the Gasthaus liked me (a lot ... probably for trying to learn German ... and tips didn't hurt, either) or perhaps thought, themselves, that the MP was wrong... so they wouldn’t finger me to the CID. Of course, he knew what went on and questioned me. After some attempting to nail me and having taken the customary photos, he asked sarcastically, "And just what were you supposedly doing during this melee?" I replied that "I had been apologizing to the ladies for the awful language the MP’s were using." The middle-aged CID’s face turned crimson and veins started hopping across his forehead. I thought I was going to have to resuscitate him. So ended the interview abruptly. Anyhow, as I left Germany, Stumpy was recuperating. While returning on the USS Rose, I kept expecting a helicopter to land and confiscate my body.
You know, I don't think they liked us. That reputation preceeded us. One late evening when the entire company was being trucked from a site. We stopped for a meal at the Geissen Kasern the MP’s held us at the gate and called the Provost Marshal to meet us. I was in the first truck and heard the PM tell our CO that he "wasn’t going to unload that gang of thugs on his Post" ... which proves that Provost Marshals do network. Though, we did unload. However, We had to remain in the mess hall. It was hot in there, and we had just came from near-arctic conditions, were wearing Parkas, "Mickey Mouse" boots (rubber lined with 1/4" of foam ... should they no longer have them). One of the passing soldiers asked my friend SP4 Meadows why he was wearing the boots. With a straight face, he said "I’m reducing at the ankles".
The story would not be complete without mentioning, a company groupy. She was a very pretty girl in her mid-20s,later nicknamed "Crash" for running one of our young Sgt's VW down the side of a mountain. She swore it was her duty to care for every LRRP in the company. Now she did this with the appearance of class, meeting and dating only one man at a time, remaining loyal for the two or three dates of each "relationship". After each encounter she would steal a personal item as a memento such as a cigarette lighter, cuff links, etc.. As her program became apparent, it became a source of humor, so I don't know if she ever achieved her goals or not. In retrospect, I think she might've been doing a little genetic shopping.
That is my perception of our company personality as a young man. And I was the youngest in the company, turning 19 just two days before applying, earlier, in July. Of course, we got serious on missions.
The Missions
The missions generally involved reconnaissance of an actual radio tower, Power station and things like that. We were busy familiarizing ourselves with the gap. A lot of them were in the Rhön Mountains that had been covered with snow so long that it was solid ice. The mountain was so steep and slick, you dare not go asleep without "forking" a tree. Our boots had mountain soles, but when lying down, you became a toboggan. If I remember correctly, our rucksack with equipment, c-rations and two canteens weighed around 70-80 lbs.. The winter gear was bulky and somewhat restricting. Most of the time, we alternated between sweating and freezing.
One such mission was of a radio tower next to a cliff, with a heavy population downslope. So, in order to a look at the base, it meant going up the 100 plus foot cliff face. The radio people were belay while Patrol Leader Mayo and I climbed ... occasionally we had fill-in members, when someone had to be out. Anyway, after several switch-hops, fist wedges, fingerfolds ... and I distinctly remember several Hair-of-Leg holds and a few tongue hangs ... I reached a ledge about three-quarters of the way up just big enough to allow my muscles vibrate down to a usable state again and we arrived at the top just as the sun was setting. I will be the first to tell you,
though I’ve never fallen, when cliff-climbing, I’ve always felt that I was operating about two meters beyond my ability. We then waited in some bushes until everything had settled and and darkened, then we moved in to take some base measurements. Later verifying the measurements in peace-time is a very easy and up front operation, so, there could be no slick stuff.. Of course, rappelling back down was exhilarating, in thatwe were perfectly concealed from those folks downslope.
Another type mission we would run was an Escape & Evasion (E&E) whereas your presence was presumed to be known and you must get back to base. There was a bottleneck area about 150 meters wide that we had to pass. I (somewhat) remember one side of the bottleneck being some kind of German firing range on the mountain slope and was off limits. There was a large creek running to the other side with a Village on the opposite bank which had been informed of the operation and was also off limits (with another steep slope beyond that). The exercise was so timed as to make a wide skirting not possible. The 10th Special Forces out of Bad Tölz were the aggressors along with MP’s and translators for the citizens on the road running through next to the mountain. When approaching in the dead of winter, our team slipped quietly into the creek, about chest deep. We figured no one would expect us to be in water in that weather. Well, about three-quarters through, we were spotted by a sentry on a bridge watching for just such action. Who would watch the water in that weather? ... someone who would go in, themselves, of course. We were routed out and put into the front leaning rest position until all the skin I could see was deep purple. Then when arising, I could hear and feel my icy field pants breaking. We were then hurried to a warm-up tent. As we arrived, all recovered capturees there were laughing and reminiscing about how they had almost gotten away, but, we would later learn, that wasn’t the test. It was to teach us how to act while being detained, which is why they wanted all teams captured. Of course, once captured, we had presumed the exercise was over, so we too were open. The E&E was rescheduled to better build our resolve in detainment. What it did for my team, was steel our resolve to not get caught. So, round two began with moving out. We sat down for an hour so those in front could get caught and the count would be getting fuzzy. Then, when nearing the neck, with my rudimentary German, we recruited a taxi driver (with DMs, naturally) to distract the MPs and translatorsThe driver was an enthusiastic accomplice. He had placed a tarp over some gear in the rear floorbord, arranged to look like someone hiding and performed a beautiful “you have no jurisdiction” act while surrounded by MPs and translators. Meanwhile, we quietly slipped through on the outside of the participant’s parked vehicles next to the firing range slope in our camo-whites. We choose that point, because we knew the 10th was upwind, so to speak. We were the only ones to walk back into the barracks. "The Hawk" called us in and said, "I don’t know how you did it, but I know you S.O.B.’s did something illegal". I don’t think we did anything illegal. Major Jones, however, was thrilled that anyone could get through the bottleneck.
The missions got further out and more professional as we went through the summer and started fall. My first hitch ETS was 2 Sep. 1962. After going home and being out for a short while, I reenlisted.
A Small World
When I reenlisted, My old Patrol leader, Gene Vance’s brother Jim was the recruiter in my hometown of Lakeland, Florida. They were like duplicates, so he and I ran around for a few days, before I returned. Also, in OCS, I ran into Gene again ... as well as "The Hawk". It seems that the LRRP had moved to Frankfurt after I had left. At the last of the final hitch, I then went through Recondo School where two of the instructors were also part of the first LRRPs. Sgt Mayo was one and I forget the other's name. My remaining service time was spent on a short tour in Vietnam. I obviously wasn’t there long enough to watch the LRRP’s take-off. From a few sources, I have heard our test Company integrated into LRRP units which had been subsequently organized because of our successful adaptation. Even in later in civilian life at ALCOA Aluminum, from which I’m a current retiree as Senior Mechanical Designer, I ran into (Sgt) Jack Hines as a smelting room forman.
I salute the heirs who propelled test Company’s legacy to the LRRP’s current status.
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