sailors attached to Marine Infantry Units in Nam

[platoonDaddy]

My friend was at the range yesterday, met a guy who said as a sailor he was attached to a Marine Infantry unit in Nam. Friend asked him if he was a corpsman and he said nope, just a sailor.

Did some searching only came across the Mobile Riverine Force that provided tactical water mobility with the Army in the Delta.

What say you guys?

[C-grunt]

My best friends uncle was a Marine infantryman with like 3 or 4 Nam tours. He has talked about the Navy river boats.

[RetroRevolver77]

deleted

[platoonDaddy]

My best friends uncle was a Marine infantryman with like 3 or 4 Nam tours. He has talked about the Navy river boats.

Bless HIM!

Yes, the Navy PBR's were a very versatile boat in the Delta and the Saigon River.

I never heard sailors (non-corpsman) were attached to grunt units and saw land combat, that is the reason for my question.

[chuckman]

If not HM, could have been SeaBees, mobile riverine forces, Navy security.

[C-grunt]

Bless HIM!

Yes, the Navy PBR's were a very versatile boat in the Delta and the Saigon River.

I never heard sailors (non-corpsman) were attached to grunt units and saw land combat, that is the reason for my question.

He was told by USMC command that if he volunteered for more tours his little brothers wouldn't be drafted. Whether that was true or not, who knows, but his brothers weren't drafted.

He has stories of working with Army, Navy, and Air Force guys. From his stories and a few other Nam vets I've talked to, guys getting attached to other units wasn't uncommon at all.

[Averageman]

He was told by USMC command that if he volunteered for more tours his little brothers wouldn't be drafted. Whether that was true or not, who knows, but his brothers weren't drafted.

He has stories of working with Army, Navy, and Air Force guys. From his stories and a few other Nam vets I've talked to, guys getting attached to other units wasn't uncommon at all.

Hmmmm, I believe they would go ahead and draft your brother but, they just wouldn't/shouldn't be in a combat zone at the same time as you were. Now having said that it may actually have been the same combat zone as you were. I had Uncles serving in the Pacific and in Europe at the same time, so..?
They got pretty careful about this after the Sullivan Brother went down together.

[C-grunt]

Hmmmm, I believe they would go ahead and draft your brother but, they just wouldn't/shouldn't be in a combat zone at the same time as you were. Now having said that it may actually have been the same combat zone as you were. I had Uncles serving in the Pacific and in Europe at the same time, so..?
They got pretty careful about this after the Sullivan Brother went down together.

Yeah, who knows. His brothers weren't drafted but that could easily have been because they just didn't get drafted.

And it could have just been a lie to get him to keep going back.

[Co-gnARR]

OP, I have a buddy who was a Riverine in Iraq. He has worked with Marines, Specwar and other he doesn't have much to say about. I asked him the difference between his role and SWCC, and his curt reply was "SWCC guys don't leave the boat. We do". He was trained in Marine infantry tactics (AIC?) and says they provided insertion and extraction support, as well as combat patrols on foot from the river inland. He loved it but the constant combat and non-stop duty rotations wore him out. I was not aware of this field when I joined the Navy, so I think it became a thing post 911.

[platoonDaddy]

OP, I have a buddy who was a Riverine in Iraq. He has worked with Marines, Specwar and other he doesn't have much to say about. I asked him the difference between his role and SWCC, and his curt reply was "SWCC guys don't leave the boat. We do". He was trained in Marine infantry tactics (AIC?) and says they provided insertion and extraction support, as well as combat patrols on foot from the river inland. He loved it but the constant combat and non-stop duty rotations wore him out. I was not aware of this field when I joined the Navy, so I think it became a thing post 911.

Listening to my friend this am talking about the guy he met, 1st thought was he must have had advance infantry training (Army term AIT, not sure what the Marine term is). As a PSG, there is no way we would have a non-AIT or equivalent in our platoon.

Thank you VERY much for your post and stating he was Infantry trained. In my research the unit was created in 66 the Year of The Horse.

Again thanks, hopefully we have a member who was part of that unit that will shed more light.