What was the schedule of a Vietnam soldier at war?

Answer 1

It all depended upon the serviceman's MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) and branch of service. If the serviceman was in the US Navy, then he, as a sailor might perform the routine duties of a Swift Boat crewman, such as cleaning his over and under mortar/.50 caliber machingun which was mounted aft (the rear) of the Swift Boat (Patrol Craft Fast-PCR). If he was in the US Army, and had the MOS of an Armor (tank) Crewman, he might have to pull maintenance on the roadwheels of his M-48 Patton tank, such as pumping grease into the hubs. If he was a helicopter crewman he might have to perform maintenance to the cloth webbing inside the chopper for crewmen to sit on. If he's a an infantryman, he'd have to make sure his feet aren't infected, and his rifle or machingun is in proper working order. Then, the above Swift Boat crewman would go on river patrol with his boat, and the tank crewman would drive his tank, and chopper gunner would fly his bird, and the grunt would go on patrol. In between those duties for the above described GI, all he did and really cared about was surving his 365 days...and eating and sleeping.

Answer 2

Most, if not all US servicemen had to pull "sentry duty", or "guard mount", meaning "guard duty". GI's in the field, on tanks, APC's, or patrols, and ambush patrols, etc. had to pull this duty. The more men you had, the less amount of time you would have to pull guard (stay awake), the hours of darkness were divided up between the amount of men the unit had. The manner in which the duty was done, and the surrounding circumstances of the duty, can be best described by a picture of it. An excellent "moving photo" exists in the film, by Oliver Stone, himself a Vietnam War veteran, with the 25th Infantry Division, directed the movie (film) "PLATOON". In the film (movie) "Platoon", actor Charlie Sheen (portraying the real role as experienced by director Oliver Stone), is sitting amongst a sleeping group of GI's in the rain; they are on ambush patrol. One man wake's up Charlie Sheen, it's his turn to pull guard (watch duty), an NVA patrol approaches, Sheen squeezes the "clacker" a few times until the claymore blows. "Contact!" small arms fire, casualties, etc. End of scene. That "scene" was historically correct. Every day and every night for 365 days (if in the field; for the Vietnam War, the field=the front lines) a GI had to rotate, alternate, one way or another, stay awake at night, for some period of time. That's why many returning GI's (especially army or marines) were always SEEN SLEEPING AT civilian Airports. They had INTERRUPTED sleep for the past year. GI's stationed in the rear (rear jobs) often worked days, at normal types of jobs, such as truck drivers, administration clerk, typists, male nurses, engineers, military policemen, supply personnel, food service personnel, mechanics, fuel personnel, etc. GI's in the field performed the duties described in the above paragraph.