“The Art of Stealth: How Viet Cong Sappers Cultivated a Mindset of Invisibility”

A Viet Cong sapper was a highly trained and elite commando unit that operated during the Vietnam War.

Role and Tactics

- Sappers were specialized units that conducted covert operations, infiltrations, and attacks on enemy positions.

- Their primary missions included:

- Infiltrating U.S. and South Vietnamese installations to destroy targets like command posts, artillery positions, and ammunition dumps

- Breaching defensive lines to create gaps for regular infantry to exploit

- Conducting sabotage, intelligence gathering, and propaganda operations in urban areas.

Organization and Structure

- Sappers were organized into three main branches:

1. Field sappers (largest branch)

2. Naval sappers

3. Urban sappers

- Field sapper units ranged from independent squads to battalions and regiments.

- A typical sapper battalion had:

- Headquarters platoon (15-20 men)

- Three field companies (60 men each)

- Signals platoon (30 men)

- Reconnaissance platoon (30 men)

Equipment and Weapons

- Common weapons included:

- AK-47 assault rifles

- TNT satchel charges

- RPG launchers

- Hand grenades and mines

- Some units had heavier weapons like mortars and recoilless rifles

Training and Selection

- Sappers underwent specialized training in:

- Political indoctrination

- Reconnaissance and observation

- Infiltration techniques

- Demolitions and assault tactics

- Key attributes for selection included bravery, ingenuity, intelligence, and discipline

Notable Attacks

- On November 1, 1968, sapper swimmers severely damaged the USS Westchester County, killing 25 U.S. sailors

- In January 1971, about 100 sappers conducted a major raid on Pochentong airbase in Cambodia

Viet Cong sappers were considered among the most elite and dangerous enemy forces faced by U.S. and allied troops during the Vietnam War due to their specialized training, infiltration skills, and ability to strike deep behind enemy lines.

How Sapper Units Were Trained and Selected, Particularly During the Vietnam War Era:

1. Training:

- Sapper training could last from 3 to 18 months, depending on whether trainees would be regular soldiers or specialized raiders.

- Training covered areas like political indoctrination, reconnaissance and observation skills, map and compass use, camouflage techniques, movement methods to avoid detection, disabling mines, maneuvering through obstacles, demolitions, and close combat.

- Reconnaissance and observation skills were emphasized the most in training.

- Training included learning to identify enemy positions, routines, command centers, and key targets.

- Sappers practiced specialized movement techniques like tiptoeing, duck-walking, and crawling.

2. Selection:

- Sappers were considered elite units and carefully selected.

- Key attributes for selection included loyalty, bravery, modesty, patience to endure hardships, accuracy, organization and discipline.

- Sappers were seen as highly trained and qualified tradesmen as well as soldiers.

3. Organization:

- After 1968, sapper operations in South Vietnam were supervised by the 429th Sapper Group, reporting to the Sapper High Command in Hanoi.

- Sapper units could be organized into independent regiments/battalions or attached to larger units at the divisional level.

4. Tactics:

- Sappers specialized in covert infiltration and attacks on fortified positions.

- They used "blooming lotus" tactics - penetrating defenses and attacking outward.

- Extensive reconnaissance and rehearsals were conducted before attacks.

Sappers underwent extensive specialized training, were carefully selected for key attributes, and organized into elite units for covert operations and attacks on fortified targets. Their training and tactics emphasized stealth, reconnaissance, and specialized combat engineering skills.

Vietnam's Secret Commando Training Program: Exporting Revolution During the Cold War

During the Cold War era, Vietnam was not just fighting its own wars - it was also covertly training elite commando forces from other countries to spread communist revolution across Southeast Asia and Latin America. Recently declassified Vietnamese military documents have shed new light on this little-known aspect of Vietnam's Cold War activities, revealing an extensive program to provide specialized training in guerrilla warfare tactics, sabotage, and covert operations to foreign revolutionary groups.

The Vietnamese Sapper Forces

At the heart of this training program were Vietnam's elite sapper (đặc công) units. These highly trained special forces troops played a crucial role in Vietnam's wars against France and the United States, specializing in covert infiltration, sabotage, and hit-and-run attacks on enemy installations. Sappers were masters of stealth, camouflage, and explosives, capable of penetrating heavily fortified bases to strike at critical targets.

During the Vietnam War, sapper units carried out some of the most daring raids against American and South Vietnamese forces. Their tactics emphasized thorough reconnaissance, meticulous planning, and lightning-fast strikes. A typical sapper cell consisted of just 3-5 men, trained to slip undetected through perimeter defenses and plant explosives on key targets like fuel depots, aircraft, and command centers.

The sappers' expertise in unconventional warfare made them ideal instructors for foreign guerrilla movements seeking to replicate Vietnam's success against more powerful enemies. As the Vietnam War wound down in the mid-1970s, the Vietnamese government began offering this expertise to allied revolutionary groups around the world.

The Training Program Takes Shape

According to official Vietnamese military publications, the sapper training program for foreign forces began in the 1970s and continued through the early 1990s. Training was conducted through several channels:

1. At the PAVN Sapper Training School in Vietnam

2. By Vietnamese sapper advisors assigned to Cuba's Sapper School

3. By a secret Vietnamese sapper training team stationed in Nicaragua during the 1980s

The program appears to have been coordinated primarily through Cuba, which acted as an intermediary between Vietnam and various Latin American guerrilla movements. This arrangement allowed Vietnam to maintain plausible deniability while still exporting its revolutionary expertise.

Foreign Forces Trained by Vietnamese Sappers

The declassified documents reveal an extensive list of foreign forces that received training from Vietnamese sappers. These included both official military units from allied communist countries and clandestine guerrilla groups:

Official Military Forces:

- Laos

- Cambodia

- Cuba

- Soviet Union

Revolutionary/Guerrilla Groups:

- Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) - El Salvador

- Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR) - Chile

- Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) - Colombia

The inclusion of Soviet forces is particularly noteworthy, as it suggests that even Vietnam's superpower patron saw value in learning from the battle-tested tactics of the Vietnamese sappers.

Training Curriculum

The sapper training program covered a wide range of skills essential for guerrilla warfare and covert operations. According to the "Sapper Handbook" published by Vietnam's Sapper Command in 1992, the curriculum included:

- Sapper tactics and operational planning

- Reconnaissance and intelligence gathering

- Camouflage and stealth movement techniques

- Explosives and demolitions training

- Sabotage methods

- Use of various weapons systems

- Hand-to-hand combat

- Survival skills

Trainees learned how to conduct detailed reconnaissance of enemy targets, plan and execute lightning raids, and escape without detection. The program emphasized both physical conditioning and mental toughness, aiming to produce commandos capable of operating independently in hostile territory.

Impact on Global Conflicts

The full impact of Vietnam's sapper training program on Cold War-era conflicts is difficult to assess, but there is evidence that it played a significant role in several theaters:

El Salvador

The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) waged a brutal guerrilla war against the U.S.-backed Salvadoran government throughout the 1980s. FMLN commandos trained by Vietnamese sappers carried out a number of spectacular raids and sabotage operations. In 1981, FMLN sappers destroyed over half the Salvadoran Air Force in a daring nighttime raid on Ilopango Airport. The tactics used in this attack bore striking similarities to those employed by Vietnamese sappers during the Vietnam War.

Nicaragua

During the 1980s, Vietnam maintained a secret sapper training team in Nicaragua to assist the ruling Sandinista government. This team likely helped train both Nicaraguan special forces and guerrillas from other Central American countries. The presence of Vietnamese advisors may have contributed to the Sandinistas' effectiveness in combating the U.S.-backed Contra rebels.

Colombia

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) received sapper training from Vietnam during the 1980s and early 1990s. This came at a time when FARC was expanding its military capabilities and becoming more heavily involved in the drug trade. The Vietnamese training may have enhanced FARC's ability to protect its remote bases and drug production facilities from government raids.

Chile

Members of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR) received training from Vietnamese sappers as they fought against the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. While ultimately unsuccessful in overthrowing Pinochet, MIR's urban guerrilla tactics posed a persistent threat to the regime throughout the 1980s.

Training Locations and Methods

The sapper training program utilized several key locations:

Vietnam

The primary training site was the PAVN Sapper Training School in Vietnam. Foreign trainees were brought to Vietnam in small groups, often under the guise of cultural exchanges or other innocuous cover stories. The remote location allowed for intensive, hands-on training in demolitions, infiltration techniques, and other sensitive skills that couldn't be easily taught elsewhere.

Cuba

Vietnam sent sapper advisors to work at Cuba's own Sapper School. This arrangement allowed for greater discretion in training Latin American guerrillas, as Cuba already had extensive ties to various revolutionary movements in the region. The Cuban school likely focused more on theoretical instruction and planning, with practical demolitions training kept to a minimum for safety and security reasons.

Nicaragua

The Vietnamese sapper team in Nicaragua during the 1980s provided a forward operating base for training Central American guerrillas. This location allowed trainees to put their skills into practice in an active conflict zone. The Vietnamese advisors could also directly observe and refine guerrilla tactics based on real-world results.

Training Challenges and Adaptations

The Vietnamese sappers faced several challenges in transferring their skills to foreign trainees:

1. Language barriers: Few Vietnamese instructors spoke Spanish or other relevant languages, requiring the use of interpreters which could impede the training process.

2. Cultural differences: The Vietnamese approach to warfare was heavily influenced by Maoist doctrine and Vietnam's own historical experience. This didn't always translate directly to other cultural contexts.

3. Technological gaps: Some guerrilla groups lacked access to the same weapons and equipment used by Vietnamese sappers, requiring creative adaptations of tactics.

4. Security concerns: The covert nature of the program necessitated extreme secrecy, limiting the number of trainees and the scope of practical exercises.

To overcome these challenges, the Vietnamese instructors emphasized flexibility and improvisation - core tenets of their own sapper doctrine. Trainees were taught to adapt Vietnamese tactics to their own specific circumstances and resource constraints.

Decline of the Program

Vietnam's sapper training program for foreign forces appears to have wound down in the early 1990s. Several factors contributed to this decline:

1. The end of the Cold War reduced global demand for guerrilla warfare expertise.

2. Many of the Latin American conflicts that had driven demand for training (El Salvador, Nicaragua, etc.) were resolved through peace agreements.

3. Vietnam began normalizing relations with the West, making it less willing to risk controversy by training foreign insurgents.

4. Improved satellite surveillance technology made it more difficult to conduct covert training, especially within Vietnam itself.

Legacy and Modern Relevance

While Vietnam's direct training of foreign commandos has ceased, the legacy of the program lives on in several ways:

1. Tactical innovations: Many of the infiltration and sabotage techniques developed by Vietnamese sappers have been adopted by special forces and guerrilla groups worldwide.

2. Doctrinal influence: Vietnam's approach to asymmetric warfare continues to inform both state and non-state actors facing technologically superior opponents.

3. Ongoing military relationships: Vietnam maintains military-to-military ties with several countries that participated in the sapper training program, including Laos and Cuba. These relationships still involve some level of special forces training and exchange, albeit in a less covert manner.

4. Institutional knowledge: The experience gained from training diverse foreign forces has been incorporated into Vietnam's own special operations doctrine and training programs.

Conclusion

Vietnam's cold war-era sapper training program demonstrates the complex and often shadowy nature of international relations during that period. A small country that had itself recently emerged from colonial rule was able to position itself as an exporter of revolutionary expertise, projecting influence far beyond its borders.

The program also highlights the Vietnamese communist regime's commitment to supporting global revolution even as it began to liberalize its own economy in the late 1980s. For Vietnam's leadership, sharing their hard-won guerrilla warfare knowledge was seen as an extension of their own struggle against imperialism.

Ultimately, the Vietnamese sapper training program serves as a reminder that the Cold War was fought not just by superpowers, but by a diverse array of state and non-state actors pursuing their own agendas. The full impact of this covert knowledge transfer may never be fully known, but it undoubtedly shaped the course of several conflicts and left an enduring mark on the evolution of irregular warfare tactics.