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Overview
US Army Special Forces performed a wide variety of missions in Vietnam, many of them unique. From 1964, Mobile Strike Forces were formed to ensure reinforcement was immediately available to the fortified camps that protected local villages from Viet Cong exploitation, and also conducted border surveillance, infiltration interdiction, raids, and combat patrols in their assigned tactical area of responsibility. The MIKE units quickly grew in size, and later they also conducted large-scale independent offensive operations. This book provides the first organizational history of the MIKE Forces and special reconnaissance units that served in Vietnam.Synopsis
US Special Forces in Vietnam created and trained the Civilian Irregular Defense Group, a large paramilitary organization designed to operate out of fortified camps in remote areas and protect the local population from Viet Cong incursions, whilst conducting border surveillance, raids and combat patrols in the local area. Their fortified camps were often overrun by the Viet Cong and, having no spare manpower, the US Special Forces created dedicated reaction units which could act in a responsive and flexible manner - Mobile Strike (MIKE) Forces.
This book examines the MIKE units, which were formed from the CIDG, the parachute and airmobile training they were given, and the operations that they undertook, from relieving friendly camps to large-scale independent offensive operations. Written by Gordon L. Rottman, a former US Special Forces soldier in Vietnam, this title provides the first organizational history of the MIKE forces in this conflict.