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Unlikely Warriors: The Army Security Agency's Secret War in Vietnam 1961-1973
In early May 1961, a U.S. military aircraft taxied toward a well-guarded terminal building. The plane slowed to a halt; steps were maneuvered up to its side, and the door was pulled open. The tropical night air was heavy and dank, and the moon shone dimly through high thin clouds. On board the aircraft were ninety-two members of a specially selected team. The men were dressed in indistinguishable dark suits with white shirts and dark ties, and each man carried a new red U.S. diplomatic passport inside his breast pocket. The men held copies of their orders and records in identical brown Manila envelopes, and each man's medical records were stamped "If injured or killed in combat, report as training accident in the Philippines." In such clandestine fashion, the first fully operational U.S. military unit arrived at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in South Vietnam. The unit was so highly classified even its name was top-secret. It was given a codename, a cover identity to hide the true nature of its mission. The unit's operation was housed in a heavily-guarded compound near Saigon, and within two days of its arrival, Phase I was implemented. Its operatives were intercepting Viet Cong manual Morse communications, analyzing it for the intelligence it contained and passing the information to the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group-Vietnam. The Army Security Agency was on duty.
- GenresHistoryMilitary Fiction
490 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2013
38 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 13, 2018
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OMG. 8th RRU 1966-1967. Finally I have found my fellow ASA brothers contribution awards to the Hell that was Vietnam told as it was.
OMG. 8th RRU 1966-1967. Finally I have found my fellow ASA brothers contribution awards to the Hell that was Vietnam told as it was.
January 28, 2016
I rarely give five stars to a book, but I gave this one five if for no other reason I am very familiar with the subject. I am a veteran of the ASA and I can vouch for everything in this book. I really took me back to an earlier time in my life. Some people may have a hard time understanding this book due to the use of military acronyms. But if you can get past that it is a fantastic read and an accurate portrayal of the ASA in Vietnam. I have read that some do not like the editorializing at the then end of the book. I did not see it as editorializing since every quote or statement was referenced and documented. The left really did marginalize the troops and their accomplishments. If nothing else this book shows us how very little our government has changed. The politicians still snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Just a look at our recent conflicts should be ample proof of that.
April 28, 2015
I enjoyed this book from start to almost finish. I wasn't crazy about the editorializing at the end, but I suppose I can write my own book if I want things my way all the time.
The thing I really liked about this book is more personal - I spent 20 years in Army MI, and many of my mentors were ex-ASA folks. Not always the most 'soldierly' guys you could meet, but they provided good intel under austere conditions, even if tactical commanders didn't know what to do with it.
The thing I really liked about this book is more personal - I spent 20 years in Army MI, and many of my mentors were ex-ASA folks. Not always the most 'soldierly' guys you could meet, but they provided good intel under austere conditions, even if tactical commanders didn't know what to do with it.
October 7, 2015
I Served in The 175th Radio Research
I worked as an 05H in Bien Hoa. I was also long time friend of Sp5 Gray C. David who was Kia on a Left Bank choppers. I enjoyed the book. Somethings I was familiar with during my time in Vietnam and at 7th RRFS Det J in Ubon, Thailand. We were sometimes working with the USAFSS plane that was shot down in Laos. I Served over 6 years in SE Asia in ASA. Familiar with quite a few missions. Copied lots of dits and dahs.
I worked as an 05H in Bien Hoa. I was also long time friend of Sp5 Gray C. David who was Kia on a Left Bank choppers. I enjoyed the book. Somethings I was familiar with during my time in Vietnam and at 7th RRFS Det J in Ubon, Thailand. We were sometimes working with the USAFSS plane that was shot down in Laos. I Served over 6 years in SE Asia in ASA. Familiar with quite a few missions. Copied lots of dits and dahs.
May 19, 2019
From 1971-72, I worked a detached mission out of the 175th RRC (later RRFS) at the river patrol base in Ben Luc, about 40 clicks south of Saigon on the north edge of the Delta as a 98G2LVN (radio intercept operator/linguist-North Vietnamese) intercepting primarily tactical traffic. Prior to that I worked missions in Japan and Taiwan intercepting more strategic Vietnamese traffic.
This "history" is accurate as far as it goes, though it focuses primarily on those who worked "airborne platforms" as, it seems, did one of the authors. The majority of us worked on the ground however. Again, I had no problem with the actual fact-based if incomplete parts of the book and it was good to see some of what my brothers and I did, often under quite adverse circumstances, memorialized at last.
However, when the authors descended into an unsubstantiable political screed that contradicts the Pentagon's own mid-60s assessment of the war as unwinnable and when they praised a security school instructor who proceeded to screw over fellow soldiers with whom he disagreed politically, it pretty much fell apart for me. In defense of the authors, one was out of the service by 1965 before the massive troop buildup, most of the fighting, and the '68 Tet Offensive; the other wasn't in the army or Viet Nam and was discharged from the air force in '64.
That criticism aside, a good rendering when they stick to talking about the soldiers and the work itself.
This "history" is accurate as far as it goes, though it focuses primarily on those who worked "airborne platforms" as, it seems, did one of the authors. The majority of us worked on the ground however. Again, I had no problem with the actual fact-based if incomplete parts of the book and it was good to see some of what my brothers and I did, often under quite adverse circumstances, memorialized at last.
However, when the authors descended into an unsubstantiable political screed that contradicts the Pentagon's own mid-60s assessment of the war as unwinnable and when they praised a security school instructor who proceeded to screw over fellow soldiers with whom he disagreed politically, it pretty much fell apart for me. In defense of the authors, one was out of the service by 1965 before the massive troop buildup, most of the fighting, and the '68 Tet Offensive; the other wasn't in the army or Viet Nam and was discharged from the air force in '64.
That criticism aside, a good rendering when they stick to talking about the soldiers and the work itself.
July 8, 2021
The Top 10 Percent!
This is an important narrative describing the critical achievement of members of a unique military organization few are aware even existed. It also describes the heroic sacrifices of the ASA soldiers who gave up their lives while accomplishing their vital missions and protecting their fellow soldiers. As a fellow ASAer myself (1972-1980), I found the story informative and enlightening. I am sure you will too.
This is an important narrative describing the critical achievement of members of a unique military organization few are aware even existed. It also describes the heroic sacrifices of the ASA soldiers who gave up their lives while accomplishing their vital missions and protecting their fellow soldiers. As a fellow ASAer myself (1972-1980), I found the story informative and enlightening. I am sure you will too.
January 1, 2019
It should be noted that this book is not a novel but a historical account. It will be best understood by those of us that actually lived it. Kind of light in some areas and heavy in others but obviously very well researched. We were a relatively small community and I very much enjoyed reading it and knowing and recognizing a lot of the people.
April 23, 2022
ASA Vet
I was part of ASA for three years in the early 1960's, stationed in the Far East for two of those years. A near miracle I never spent time in Vietnam. Very familiar with the mission described in this book and learned a lot about my fellow ASA soldiers that I never realized. Very interesting book!
I was part of ASA for three years in the early 1960's, stationed in the Far East for two of those years. A near miracle I never spent time in Vietnam. Very familiar with the mission described in this book and learned a lot about my fellow ASA soldiers that I never realized. Very interesting book!
December 16, 2023
I doubt that I can produce a proper review of this book as it is long and detailed about an arcane subject, and I feel an urge to include something of a personal memoire in this review as my experiences parallel the topic of electronic spying so closely. However, I did not serve in Vietnam, but rather in Germany during the Cold War Era, so I can only rely on my time with the now defunct Army Security Agency (ASA).
This book hit me hard in the nostalgia department. One of the authors, Lonnie M. Long, went into the Army in 1962 several months after I did in 1961, and after Basic Training at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, we both were sent into the Army Security Agency, which was the military extension of the civilian National Security Agency dealing with communication intelligence. Like me, Long was a North Carolina boy.
He was sent to Ft. Devens, Massachusetts, the main ASA school, while I was sent first to the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio of Monterey, California, to become a Hungarian linguist, and then to Ft. Devens to earn the same classified job code as he did, 058 Manual Morse Interceptor. I later served as a Special Forces Radio Operator on A and B teams, in which I employed my skills in sending and receiving Morse Code.
He and I must have been at the ASA school at about the same time for several months. But then I went to Germany assigned to the 402nd ASA Special Operations Detachment in the 10th Special Forces Group. He wound up in Vietnam after a tour in Nationalist China (Taiwan), while my experience in Southeast Asia came after the Army when I worked for the CIA proprietary, Air America, in Laos. My feelings after the so-called "Secret War" in Laos ended were every bit as negative as his feelings about the Vietnam War, although perhaps for different reasons. However, despite these differences in career paths I knew a good bit about the ASA operations in Vietnam from some of my Germany comrades who later served there. And I heard their stories at the Special Forces reunions at Ft. Bragg.
As for the book itself, it is an interesting and exhaustive work, very well done with lots of photos, and it relies on a lot of military-speak that might not be readily understood by everybody. Certainly, the book will be fulfilling for those who had experience in Vietnam and wish to see those experiences recorded, and I recommend this book highly for those having such interests.
Signal intelligence has long occupied an exotic position in the intelligence establishment. The history of the National Security Agency/Army Security Agency itself is well worth learning. The ASA was important for its worldwide, strategically placed listening stations during the Cold War. However, a lesser-known mission was the provision of battlefield tactical intelligence, in my case with the Army Special Forces, but the presence of the ASA in the Vietnam theater is landmark case, as it was the main real-time, tactical intelligence source for air and ground combat units. And the use of signal intercept and direction-finding equipment in small, slow, low-flying airplanes was extensively used due to the mountainous terrain of Vietnam, which interfered with ground-based radio direction finding. This was obviously highly dangerous work carried out in utmost secrecy.
Chapter 19, "A Different Kind of Soldier," deals with ASA Special Operations Detachments, one of which I served with in Germany. The men of the SOD's were Airborne and Special Forces qualified. One paragraph reads, "The men of the SOD units were extraordinary soldiers who progressed to rate among the most highly trained and proficient enlisted men in the U.S. Army, and their records speak for themselves." The acting Sergeant Major of my 402nd SOD, was Master Sgt. Travis C. Bunn (I did not know him as I think he came along after I did). He was inducted into the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame in 1992. I was also gratified to see a photo of our then young XO, 1st. Lt. Ira C. Owens who went on to become a three-star general, and he too was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_C._...
The tactical intelligence provided included language translation, cryptanalysis, radio traffic analysis, voice and morse code intercept, and radio-direction finding, all of which was aimed at enemy unit identification, location, movement, buildup, and command structure. ASA and signal units of the other services were the main source of this essential intelligence on enemy movements across the entire battlespace in North and South Vietnam as well as on the borders of Laos and Cambodia. Due to the strict levels of secrecy inherent in this activity it was not publicly known nor acknowledged at the time, and still to this very day the ASA soldiers tend to stay silent on their service. The Army Security Agency was folded into Military Intelligence in the 1970's.
The heroic record of the ASA in Vietnam will stand for a long time, and we are lucky to have this book to tell us about these men, many of whom gave their lives in this service, which ended in great sadness, frustration, and bitterness.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...
https://www.armysecurityagencyveteran...
This book hit me hard in the nostalgia department. One of the authors, Lonnie M. Long, went into the Army in 1962 several months after I did in 1961, and after Basic Training at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, we both were sent into the Army Security Agency, which was the military extension of the civilian National Security Agency dealing with communication intelligence. Like me, Long was a North Carolina boy.
He was sent to Ft. Devens, Massachusetts, the main ASA school, while I was sent first to the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio of Monterey, California, to become a Hungarian linguist, and then to Ft. Devens to earn the same classified job code as he did, 058 Manual Morse Interceptor. I later served as a Special Forces Radio Operator on A and B teams, in which I employed my skills in sending and receiving Morse Code.
He and I must have been at the ASA school at about the same time for several months. But then I went to Germany assigned to the 402nd ASA Special Operations Detachment in the 10th Special Forces Group. He wound up in Vietnam after a tour in Nationalist China (Taiwan), while my experience in Southeast Asia came after the Army when I worked for the CIA proprietary, Air America, in Laos. My feelings after the so-called "Secret War" in Laos ended were every bit as negative as his feelings about the Vietnam War, although perhaps for different reasons. However, despite these differences in career paths I knew a good bit about the ASA operations in Vietnam from some of my Germany comrades who later served there. And I heard their stories at the Special Forces reunions at Ft. Bragg.
As for the book itself, it is an interesting and exhaustive work, very well done with lots of photos, and it relies on a lot of military-speak that might not be readily understood by everybody. Certainly, the book will be fulfilling for those who had experience in Vietnam and wish to see those experiences recorded, and I recommend this book highly for those having such interests.
Signal intelligence has long occupied an exotic position in the intelligence establishment. The history of the National Security Agency/Army Security Agency itself is well worth learning. The ASA was important for its worldwide, strategically placed listening stations during the Cold War. However, a lesser-known mission was the provision of battlefield tactical intelligence, in my case with the Army Special Forces, but the presence of the ASA in the Vietnam theater is landmark case, as it was the main real-time, tactical intelligence source for air and ground combat units. And the use of signal intercept and direction-finding equipment in small, slow, low-flying airplanes was extensively used due to the mountainous terrain of Vietnam, which interfered with ground-based radio direction finding. This was obviously highly dangerous work carried out in utmost secrecy.
Chapter 19, "A Different Kind of Soldier," deals with ASA Special Operations Detachments, one of which I served with in Germany. The men of the SOD's were Airborne and Special Forces qualified. One paragraph reads, "The men of the SOD units were extraordinary soldiers who progressed to rate among the most highly trained and proficient enlisted men in the U.S. Army, and their records speak for themselves." The acting Sergeant Major of my 402nd SOD, was Master Sgt. Travis C. Bunn (I did not know him as I think he came along after I did). He was inducted into the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame in 1992. I was also gratified to see a photo of our then young XO, 1st. Lt. Ira C. Owens who went on to become a three-star general, and he too was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_C._...
The tactical intelligence provided included language translation, cryptanalysis, radio traffic analysis, voice and morse code intercept, and radio-direction finding, all of which was aimed at enemy unit identification, location, movement, buildup, and command structure. ASA and signal units of the other services were the main source of this essential intelligence on enemy movements across the entire battlespace in North and South Vietnam as well as on the borders of Laos and Cambodia. Due to the strict levels of secrecy inherent in this activity it was not publicly known nor acknowledged at the time, and still to this very day the ASA soldiers tend to stay silent on their service. The Army Security Agency was folded into Military Intelligence in the 1970's.
The heroic record of the ASA in Vietnam will stand for a long time, and we are lucky to have this book to tell us about these men, many of whom gave their lives in this service, which ended in great sadness, frustration, and bitterness.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...
https://www.armysecurityagencyveteran...
May 27, 2018
As an ASA Vietnam Vet, I was very interested in this. I was there 72-73, until the "PeaceTreaty" was signed, so was particularly interested in the activity of the RR groups earlier in the war. The editorial comments at the end of the book pretty much match our thoughts at the time.
July 9, 2023
I am a USAFSS veteran and found this a fascinating history of ASA (and a little USAFSS) in VN, as well as the war itself. It was very detailed with many individual stories, making it very relatable. Well researched, IMHO, and I feel I am much more knowledgeable about the Vietnam Era.
October 13, 2024
I liked the tribute to ones that did not return plus the situation in which it happened. Also the mission details. The opinions at the conclusion could have been left out I guess all of us have opinions and have our right to them. Thank you for the book. All ASAs should read it.
September 21, 2021
Having been stationed with the 101st RRC @Bien HOA 68 & 69, I found it a very interesting book.
February 28, 2020
Just one area of the explanation of A-4 and the hill being deserted; this actually happened months before. The south vietnamese were being swapped for the 3rd arvn division. The marines left on time however the batallion heading for evidently missed the start and arrival time. SSG Rex Millspaugh reported one straggler left on the hill picking through the remains. I happened to be in Quang Tri and had relieved the RTO for chow, so I had a first hand account. On 29 March about 7pm the artillery had taken a break and walked out to the south side of the ops bunker and a an right in frint of me laying down helmet liners and sticks along the last trenchline, now that is when I began to lose my faith in seeing Friday. Not the authors fault. I believe a 3rd party was involved in some of this portion. I appreciated this book greatly. I have not been the same since...if you know what I mean. Chuck Martin
August 9, 2013
A great story about the people of the ASA and the role they played in Vietnam.
Want to read
March 19, 2014I was a member of ASA and in Vietnam from December of 1970 until December of 1970. I had a first-hand experience of what the book is about.
September 1, 2014
As a former member of the ASA I can say that this book is very factual and also a great read.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews