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Edited on Tue Aug-10-04 07:41 AM by necso
A "swift boat" is a small, fast, lightly protected and lightly armed craft. It is what might be characterized as a "patrol boat", and it would be designed to be used on small "bodies" of water or anywhere else that "the water doesn't run too deep".
A "riverine" swift boat is a swift boat either tailored for inland (river) use, or some craft "adapted" to that purpose.
A riverine swift boat, such as Kerry commanded in Vietnam, would be used for reconnoissance, patrol, rescue, insertion, retrieval and other military missions.
It could also be used just to "stir up trouble", but it is not well suited for combat against heavy weapons, or sustained combat of any kind. And when disabled, a swift boat becomes, more or less, a target.
It is also worth noting, that it is relatively easy to disable a swift boat, and that this could be accomplished using something as common as an RGP (rocket propelled grenade).
In the Vietnam War, swift boats were used fairly extensively, since the Vietnamese rivers were widely used by both sides as transportation routes. In a broader historical context, such craft have seen much use.
However, the commander taking a swift boat into combat, does well to understand certain consequences of operating swift boats in hostile, confined waters.
When initially deployed, a craft like the swift boat might acheive some considerable tactic surprise. When such a craft surprises enemy troops or comes suddenly upon enemy supplies protected only by light weapons, it can be quite a formidable weapon.
However, even when a swift boat is heavily "silenced", it is not invisible and tactical surprise would quickly become nearly impossible except for covert nighttime operations. (And these missions are necessarily limited in scope.)
Where swift boats are used to conduct regular operations, the enemy will gradually become more and more familiar with their use. Eventually, (and sooner than one might like), any resourceful enemy will figure out much of what he needs to know about swift boats and swift boat operations. And although it might cost him a considerable amount of observation, trial and error, and a fair amount of loss, he can be expected to grow ever more effective in reacting to the swift boat threat.
Moreover, as a military man, knowledgeable in local terrain, he will be able to do this in many ways: He can lay traps, set ambushes and prepare defenses; He can build fieldworks, arrange camouflage, place and target weapons; He can bring in troops, weapons and material; and He can choose his place and time.
And there is nothing that a swift boat crew can do about all this, except, of course, ponder, plan and prepare.
Getting into a swift boat, casting off and making way into hostile waters, under these circumstances, is a weighty thing. For it will mean running an invisible gauntlet of prepared blows, never knowing what blow may fall or when. And it means being prepared for anything to happen at any time.
So as he guides his boat upriver, the swift boat commander must consider the river's every twist and turn, every hill and bank. He must choose a course here or there, each fraught with attendant dangers. He must look for traps, ambush, hidden fieldworks and weapons. And when sudden hazards threaten, he must rapidly respond.
To do these things, to accomplish his mission and to preserve the lives of his men, a swift boat commander must use every resource at his disposal: speed, maneuver, tactics, and all the varied skills of himself and his crew.
Heavy must this burden lie on the shoulders of a man. Great must be his concerns for crew, boat and mission. Great must be his doubts and nagging worries. And with danger threatening every minute, great must be the strain.
Sure, there were safe areas in Vietnam and, sure, there were days with no action. But you never knew when or where all hell might break loose. For Vietnam was like Iraq is today... It was almost entirely hostile territory.
And, sure, soldiers and airmen faced similar challenges. But there was one big difference: Mr. Charles always knew where the swift boats had to go.
Swift boats did a great deal of useful service in Vietnam, and they were well suited to their role, as an inexpensive, effective and expendable means to conduct operations in inland waters. They were a Vietnam version of a WWII PT boat, such as PT109, the boat that JFK heroically commanded, although with a significantly different mission.
....
Legion are the liars who "fought" in Vietnam. And they come in all shapes and sizes: from the Saigon clerk, magically transformed into the leader of special forces, to the fourteen year old who actually spent that time stealing beers and drinking them behind the church. (I respect the former, for he served his country.)
As any good source will tell you, of all the troops that actually served in Vietnam, only a relatively small percentage ever had their "asses in the grasses", on any kind of a regular basis.
I do not ask you to take my word for this. Check out the writings of one of our distinguished, war-tempered, war-wise, retired former officers, who write upon this subject.
The tail-to-tooth ratio of our military is very high. It has been this way for a long time, and this means that we must bear a lot of cost and use a lot of men to put just a little tooth in somebody else's tail. (Privatizing military functions is not, however, a solution, and sooner or later this will result in disaster.) Finding your way to the tip of that tooth could and can take many levels of volunteering. And it is much just to get there.
....
John Kerry served in Vietnam. He served in a combat role, and that an especially taxing one, and one that gets far too little credit.
John Kerry fought in Vietnam and he fought well. He took care of his boat and he took care of his crew. He led his men into combat and he brought them home. He served his country... and he killed for her.
This alone should be enough.
But there is more to this man. In Vietnam, John Kerry acted in ways that his peers recognized as worthy of special note, commendation and reward. He was given medals for his courage and he was held up a model for other men to emulate. (When you dishonor this, you dishonor all the service that so many great patriots have given over the years, and you dishonor our serving military men and women.)
And too, John Kerry emerged honorably from the Vietnam war, a respected leader and warrior. (That one or two of his men should tell a different story tells us much about them, but nothing about Senator Kerry.) He was given an opportunity by his military superiors to go home, based on the standard criteria of the times, and he took it. He was a war hero, he had been wounded multiple times, and he was given the additional honor of being released early from combat service.
Whether John Kerry already had in mind the antiwar movement when he left Vietnam I do not know. I do not need to know and I do not care. As might a fireman, retired from hard service, try to stop the careless use of fire, John Kerry tried to stop the careless use of our military. (And I admire this just as much as I do his service.)
Moral courage is the rarest of ethers, and going from supporting the war (with his life) to opposing it must have been a difficult journey.
....
When one of the bastards, thoughtlessly sullying John Kerry's service record, steps forward, who has done half as much for this country as John Kerry has, then I will politely pretend to listen. If that person turns out to have even half of Kerry's vision, knowledge, wisdom and understanding, then, and only then, I actually might. And if that person suggests a candidate who has a even quarter of Kerry's character, abilities and natural leadership, I might even give it some thought. Until then, well, you what Cheney said!
.....
John Kerry is a great man, and he is a great leader. Few public men are of this stature today. I see none of them speaking against him and I see none of them running against him.
But you know, sometimes it is hard, looking at Senator Kerry in normal circumstances, to see all this.
That is because it takes something special to show a man like John Kerry in the right light. It takes special circumstances to strip away all the reserve, humility and gravitas with which John Kerry carries himself.
I respect him for this. This hearkens back to the days when men were expected to act with decency, dignity, courtesy and respect --- It hearkens back to the days when heedlessly pushing one's way forward and brazenly serving only one's own interest were considered indecent, undignified, uncivil, unChristian and crass. (And, oh, how I wish that we were back in those days.)
John Kerry is a great man, and he will make a great president. Led by him, this nation can acheive new, and renewed, greatness.
(I choose "armed forces" to place this post, because it is primarily about military affairs, specifically: military service, history, tactics, weapons and leadership.)
....And I really am sick of all this swift boat shit.
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