Tunnel Rat in Vietnam (Warrior)

Here is another good book by Osprey Publishing, "Tunnel Rat in Vietnam". During the Vietnam War our government never anticipated that tunnel warfare would be so prominent or important in waging ground combat. Prior to U.S. involvement in Vietnam, we had little interest in the French Indo-China War with Ho Chi Minh and knew little about the Viet Minh tunnels at Dien Bien Phu. Our faith in superior technology and firepower also caused us to underestimate the use of tunnels overall. In the course of the war, the Viet Cong created extensive underground complexes. These tunnel systems initially at the time of U.S. involvement contained some 50 square miles of tunnels which included space for barracks, command centers, class rooms, hospitals, caches, food and weapons stores, you name it and Viet Cong had the equivalent underground. However this book does not predominantly focus on the physical infrastructure of these tunnel systems. This has already covered in the sister Osprey title, " Viet Cong and NVA Tunnels and Fortifications of the Vietnam War ". This title is focused on the warriors fighting in the holes, the elite Tunnel Rats from the U.S. Army. There is no coverage on U.S. Marine tunnelers or Australian Tunnel Rats. These elite warriors were specially trained to exploit these subterranean networks equipped with the "Tunnel-Exploration Kit" which included weapons and tools designed and/or modified for tunnel warfare. This book covers that equipment in detail to include; communications, protective mask (gas mask), various pistols as rifles were too cumbersome in tight quarters of the tunnels; knife/bayonets, flashlights, smoke machines, smoke grenades, suppressors/silencers used due to over pressure and intense muzzle blast effecting vision. The training of Tunnel Rats is also covered from basic training (boot camp), advance individual training as infantrymen or engineers, followed by tunnel warfare selection and training in demolitions, boobytrap awareness, chemical employment, counter-mine warfare and tunnel exploitation. All so of interest is the section on appearance; tunnel rats were generally, but not exclusively, men of smaller stature in order to fit in the narrow tunnels. Overall this a excellent primer on tactics, techniques and procedures of this little know form of irregular warfare that has seen revitalization of tunnel warfare in our current conflict in Afghanistan, were todays tunnel fighter carry on the linage of their Vietnam tunnel rat brethren's.

This work is badly in need of a copy editor. There are a few grammatical errors and quite a few misspellings– “which is was too heavy” (p.28)…”usually barrowed from a grenadier” (p.30)…“quickly shinned the light” (p.52)…”pulled to safety pins from the M60 igniters” (p.55). These are just a few of many examples.As for the content, anyone who has gone through Army basic training or Marine boot camp can skip the first 15 pages. Recounting small arms training and the experience of going through the gas chamber is dry reading for most veterans.The book seems “rushed” in places, especially where the narrative abruptly jumps from third person to first person.I didn’t care for the inclusion of terms like “cherry tunnel rat” (p.42) and “wannabe tunnel rat” (p.53).I think this title would have been better served with Rottman relating his knowledge and experience to someone less influenced by personal feelings and opinions in representing historical facts.

Awesome book overall. Illustrations are the weakest point but they are better than average and much better than the SOG book from the same series. While there were all types of adhoc tunnel rats from infantry units which this also covers, the real value is its coverage of the US Army Combat Engineers equipment and tactics.

I chose the book, becdetause I didn't know that there were such detachment as tunnel rat. The book was very informative and entertaining . I was in Vietnam and I thought that the Navy Seabees did most of the construction work.

I was disappointed in the book. You can read the book from cover to cover in an hour or so. It really didn't interview the tunnel rats nor the enemy that used the tunnels. The book was more like a table book that you might have in your home. I would not have purchased this book if I had seen it in a book store. I would not recommend it.

It was a good book overall and had a lot of detail and would recommend this book to others thank you.

awesome

great

Just an OK read

A good little book, gives a good overview of tunnel warfare in Vietnam. The book is presented like a school text book or course work book, so a good place to start for the beginner. Keep in mind that it's not the story of a particular unit or person who explored the tunnels but an overview of the whole tunnel war.

Terryfying reading.

Very good