A Practical Lesson in Self-Defense From Vietnam’s Central Highlands

Central Highlands, Republic of South Vietnam – Patrol Number One, led by 2nd Lt. Smith, is conducting a daylight security patrol when they’re hit with an NVA ambush as they’re crossing a shallow stream. Lt. Smith and his men scatter in all directions and he orders them to take cover while he gets on the radio to call headquarters to get them to send reinforcements. HQ responds that the QRF (quick reaction force) will be there in 15 to 20 minutes. 

Patrol Number Two, led by 2nd Lt. Jones, while conducting a reconnaissance patrol, is hit by an enemy ambush while negotiating the intersection of two dirt roads. Lt. Jones, seeing where the muzzle flashes are coming from, points his rifle in the direction of the attacking forces, fires a burst of rounds at them and orders his men to attack directly into the heart of the ambush. 

After-Action Report

The QRF did indeed arrive in just under 20 minutes to the coordinates that Lt. Smith gave them. When reinforcements  arrived, the enemy had already withdrawn. The QRF found that 11 of the 13 members of the squad, including 2nd Lt. Smith, were already dead, the remaining two men were injured, but expected to live. 

The patrol of Lt. Jones lost one man at the outset of the ambush and two more were injured during the fighting and were medevac’d out. The enemy, facing an attacking force, broke contact almost immediately and five enemy KIA were confirmed by the patrol to include an NVA officer.

Reaction to Contact

For hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, opposing forces have been searching for each other and ambushing each other. During the French and Indian War, Robert Rogers and his Rangers called these attacks an “ambuscade.” Roger realized very quickly that if his men were ambushed, attempting to run away or to hide was the surest way to die at the hands of the enemy.

Ambushes are deliberately set in areas that limit the movement and available cover of the enemy. Also, those conducting the ambush are counting on the natural tendency of those whom they have surprised to either break and run or try to hide. All avenues of escape have been taken into consideration and covered. If the enemy simply tries to take cover and hide, the ambushing element will flank them and kill them.

Rogers knew that to be the case and therefore, if his men were ambushed, their first reaction to contact was to attack directly into the center of the ambush as quickly and with as much ferocity as they could muster. More often than not, that reaction took the attacker(s) by surprise…and they broke and ran. 

In what seems to have been a lifetime ago, when I was going through USMC Infantry training in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, we were instructed to follow Roger’s rules for breaking an ambush. As quickly as possible, determine where the attack is coming from and put everything you have directly into the enemy, overwhelming them by fire and close combat.

Old Lessons, Modern Times

During patrol training, we Marines were taught that there are three possible scenarios when making contact with the enemy; 1) You see them before they see you, 2) You see them at the same time as they see you, or 3) They see you before you see them. Obviously, scenario number one is the most preferable as that gives you time to figure out what to do. Number two isn’t good, but through immediate action you can gain the upper hand. The last scenario, number three, is the worst one possible. The only way to survive in number three is an immediate and ferocious counter-attack. 

Thanks for sticking with me to his point, because now I’m going to apply this to the modern world. A rampage killing attack, regardless of the offender — a psycho-transformer, a crazed jihadist, a deranged coworker — is an ambush. The ambusher sets the trap on unsuspecting victims.

In the cases we have been witnessing, the killers have conducted reconnaissance and planned out the attack, to include the anticipated reactions of their victims. They expect the victims to attempt to run away or simply hide. They’re prepared for both situations. However, what they’re not prepared for, and something they’re counting on them not to do, is urning and and attacking them with ferocity.

In nearly every single case of a rampage killer ambushing innocent victims, at the first sign of violent resistance, the killer breaks off their attack and either flees or, if trapped, kills themselves. The Columbine monsters, when the police were closing in, stopped and killed themselves. 

Going back to the beginning of this article, Patrol One with Lt. Smith represents the typical reaction to an ambush; run, hide, call for help, and then try and fight. The historical results of this behavior is always a high body count for the attacker. By the time the QRF — ie: the police — arrive, the ambush is over.

In the Walmart in Traverse City, Michigan the first veteran Marine to witness the mass stabbing ambush attacked directly into the threat using only a shopping cart as a weapon. The attacker broke off his attack and ran, allowing a second Marine veteran to pull his pistol and end it.

Reality

In our world, there is certainly a large number of potential victims of whom we do not expect a counter-attack. We don’t expect old men and women or children to break the ambush. However, how many rampage attacks  have been completely void of physically fit adult humans who could do that? 

Not everyone is capable of being an armed citizen. Nonetheless, how many of those who can intentionally disregard their duty to the helpless and default to the run and hide tactic? Like 2nd Lt. Smith, they hide and call for help, waiting in vain for strangers to arrive and solve a very immediate problem. 

The monsters who would kill you, your wives, and children are counting on your “humanity,” your desire not to be the one who gets your hands bloody. They’re banking on the fact that you will run for cover and just hope the problem goes away before it gets to you.

Going all the way back to the beginning, the difference between the two Lieutenants wasn’t who had guns and who didn’t. The difference was one of mindset. No one wants to think about bad things happening. No one wants to have to fight back against a crazed homicidal maniac. Regardless of your feelings on the matter, though, you can’t change their behavior.

What you can change is how you react to the situation if and when it arises. Prepare accordingly.    

 

 

Paul G. Markel is a combat decorated United States Marine veteran. He is also the founder of Student the Gun University and has been teaching Small Arms & Tactics to military personnel, police officers, and citizens for over three decades.