Recondo
[2] The Recondo School was located approximately 20 miles from the outer drop zones on the Fort Bragg military reservation in North Carolina.
In the final week, the day began with a helicopter jump, with assessment of patrolling practically nonstop until students arrived back at the school.
[5] General Westmoreland was a veteran of the Normandy invasion and knew the importance of small unit leaders and individuals separated from their parent companies to take initiative against superior enemy forces.
They were dropped in favor of producing qualified paratroopers; it was seen as more effective to provide the extra training through other courses rather than fail candidates who had passed the main airborne portion.
The exercises involved an airborne insertion followed by patrolling, ambush, antitank, and sabotage missions, escape, and evasion techniques.
Since the school would specialize in small unit reconnaissance tactics the Recondo insignia was designed to resemble a downward-pointing arrowhead to signify assault from the sky and the hunting and tracking skills of an American Indian.
[2] In 1967 the Recondo school at Ft. Campbell converted to a provisional long-range reconnaissance patrol unit prior to deploying in Vietnam.
[7] In 1960, General Westmoreland became Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point where he created a Recondo school for the cadets.
When General Westmoreland became commander of the American forces in Vietnam he ordered the creation of the MACV Recondo School at Nha Trang in 1966.
The second week was spent outside the compound on Hon Tre Island in the South China Sea practicing subjects, such as foreign weapons familiarity, tower and helicopter rappelling, ambush and escape-and-evasion techniques, and other field activities.
[2][11] Several infantry divisions re-instituted Recondo Schools in the post-Vietnam era to better train more small unit combat arms leaders.
The cadre were mainly composed of former senior members of the 2d Battalion (Ranger), 75th Infantry, a separate unit also located at Fort Lewis.
The program of instruction included intense training in patrolling, ambushes, small unit tactics, first aid, rappelling, night navigation, riverine operations, and survival.
Riverine and boat insertion tactics were taught and raft drills were conducted in the Puget Sound even in the middle of winter pushing the students to their absolute breaking point.
