Robert Tonsetic - Forsaken Warriors: The Story of an American Advisor who Fought with the South Vietnamese Rangers and Airborne

This book is about the authors experiences as a Senior Advisor to South Vietnamese Ranger and Airborne battalions during the latter years of the Vietnam War. During the years 19701971, the withdrawal of U.S. forces proceeded at a rapid pace, and the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces (RVNAF) were assuming the major role in combat operations throughout the country. The story is written as a personal memoir of that period, but it is in no way representative of the total advisory effort in Vietnam. Thousands of U.S. officers, warrant officers, and non-commissioned officers from all branches of the armed services served in advisory capacities during the Vietnam War, along with numerous civilians representing various government agencies.

Surprisingly, few have written about their experiences, leaving a gap in the literature that needs to be filled lest the lessons learned be forgotten. While it is doubtful that future counter-insurgency operations will involve the numbers of U.S. combat forces that were deployed in Vietnam, it is likely that such conflicts will require the deployment of U.S. advisors to train and assist indigenous forces. Hopefully, future advisory efforts will benefit from the experiences of the MACV advisors.

The advisory effort in South Vietnam began in the mid-1950s, organized under the Military Assistance and Advisory Group (MAAG). In the early years, the emphasis was on training and equipping South Vietnamese forces, and U.S. advisors were forbidden from participating in a direct combat role, although they could accompany ground forces as observers and offer advice. The newly organized ARVN Ranger units were among the first to benefit from this U.S. advisory support. By 1961, the Communist insurgency had gained sufficient strength to seriously threaten the Diem regime, and the Kennedy administration increased the number of advisors to 3,200. A year later, U.S. military assistance to South Vietnam was reorganized with the establishment of the U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (USMACV). Initially, priority was given to assigning advisors at the province and regimental levels. Beginning in 1964, the program was expanded and field advisors were assigned to selected districts and combat battalions.

The ramp-up in advisors continued in the ensuing years until all districts and combat battalions had U.S. advisors. The program was further expanded in 1968, when advisory teams were deployed to assist territorial Regional Forces (RF) and Popular Forces (PF). By 1970, the number of MACV field advisors peaked at around 14,000, of which some 3,000 were serving with combat units at the regimental and battalion levels.

The phase-down of the advisory program began in 1971. By 1 July of that year, all Battalion Combat Advisory Teams (BCATs), with the exception of Airborne and Marine teams, were phased out. Over the next two years, the drawdown continued and the U.S. MACV headquarters was disestablished in March of 1973, formally ending the advisory effort in South Vietnam. This book provides just one snapshot, among many thousands, of the overall advisory effort during the Vietnam War.

Regardless of when and where U.S. field advisors served in Vietnam, they faced daunting challenges. Immersed in an alien culture with little or no familiarity with the language, they provided much needed assistance to their South Vietnamese counterparts, often in extremely dangerous and hostile circumstances. With little external support, most served with distinction, receiving little recognition for their efforts.

The origins of this book can be traced to a manuscript that I wrote in 1971, at the conclusion of my advisory tour. The manuscript was never completed and was put aside until 2008, when I decided to expand upon it by doing further research on events that were such an important part of my overall Vietnam experience, bringing a sense of closure to that period of my life.

Research for the book was a daunting challenge, since surviving records are few in comparison to records pertaining to U.S. units and their operations during the Vietnam War. Mr. Richard Boylan, Senior Archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration, was extremely helpful in locating those records that do exist at the archives. Organization and cataloguing of the records is still a work in progress. Other sources used in my research were found at the U.S. Army Center for Military History, the Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University, and the Moise Vietnam War Bibliography. Other sources can be found in notes and bibliography sections of this book.