History of Oscar Company - USMC Combined Action Platoon ...

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(Courtesy of HN "Doc" John Roberts, O-2)
The Big Sweep
In October, shortly after my arrival, we formed part of a major sweep of the
surrounding hills. All the CAPs participated, as did Marines from the combat base,
and I believe some of the Army Special Forces were also involved. The idea was
that we would comb the hills and (ostensibly) "flush" the enemy, or locate him
(and / or act as a "blocking force") and then the line units would converge to
engage them more heavily.
The picture at the top of this page was taken before that patrol. It was taken by
Doc John Roberts' camera, wielded ably by a Bru PF. It is a very rare picture -
perhaps one of a kind - it is the only picture I have ever seen or heard of with an
entire Combined Action Company all together in one place at the same time.
The patrol itself was fruitless and arduous - like many military "events". I don't
believe that we even had a peep of the enemy.
Someone once said that war is 90% boredom and 10% sheer terror. To that I
would add that it is often hot, exhausting, and uncomfortable. The noted
seventeenth century philosopher Thomas Hobbs once, "Life in an unregulated
state of nature is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." I would say that we
although we were highly regulated, this would sum up the nature of warfare
nicely.
Starting very early in the morning, we went up one steep hill and down another,
the mud, wait-a-minute weeds, and other obstacles and hazards causing us much
trouble as we slid back two steps or more for every three gained. In a short time,