SALSA

[zuluzerosix]

The first on is the one I have somewhere.

About CSM Behr, I have a great story to tell. I will write it up and post in a new thread. You know, sometimes you meet people that just change your life. He was one of those people. I know he is still alive, and working sercuity at Ft Bragg, last I heard. I wish he was one here.

He will always be a legend to me. Firm but fair, and his tradecraft in the bush was of enclyclopedic quality. He knew everything, what the book said, what worked and what didn't. During inspections, he looked for serviceability and combat readiness. "Son, the standard is for that piece of equipment to be like your girlfriend, clean, lubed and ready to go."

[Brasso]

That's the difference between a Professional Career Soldier & A LIFER!
I always tried to Lead By Example, if it was in garrison or in the field.
When I was a Drill, Recondo Inst & a 1SG, I was always out with the troops TRAINING them or with them.

Anyone can raise hell, yell and be a prick, however, the troops become use to that and when you do need to get in their shit...it has little effect since they are always being treated like shit, if your hard, fair and approachable and maintain that posture, then when you need to get into their shit, they will most definitely know it!! BE, KNOW, DO!

[zuluzerosix]

That's the difference between a Professional Career Soldier & A LIFER!
I always tried to Lead By Example, if it was in garrison or in the field.
When I was a Drill, Recondo Inst & a 1SG, I was always out with the troops TRAINING them or with them.

Anyone can raise hell, yell and be a prick, however, the troops become use to that and when you do need to get in their shit...it has little effect since they are always being treated like shit, if your hard, fair and approachable and maintain that posture, then when you need to get into their shit, they will most definitely know it!! BE, KNOW, DO!

WEll..... HE WAS, KNEW AND DID!

[Ops NCO]

Anyone can raise hell, yell and be a prick, however, the troops become use to that and when you do need to get in their shit...it has little effect since they are always being treated like shit, if your hard, fair and approachable and maintain that posture, then when you need to get into their shit, they will most definitely know it!! BE, KNOW, DO!

Absolutely. Agree 100%.

[Brasso]

I found this sometime ago but was recently asked again, (not many have the balls to ask) what was the meaning of "SALSA" which means in our world 45 year ago was "STAY A LRP...STAY ALIVE" Anyone who served in a grunt unit new you had a lot of men & firepower, however, from the time ALL them choppers dropped you off you were being watched and at any given time if you wandered to close or there was a bunch of them...you were going to get hit...it was just a matter of WHEN?

Now it is a brain twisting, nerve wracking, ass kicking job being a LRRP/LRP or RGR in the Nam ...you had to be better than the man whose back yard you were in or you wasn't coming back....you got good by having good men constantly working together which was hard to maintain sometimes but small changes that did occur usually were the same within a platoon so like in my case I worked with 2 different teams but at least 3 of us were on both teams so the other 2 sometime 3 men were always the same so it was a constant thing so you really LIKED and TRUSTED one another and it does not get know better than that.

Every man was good enough to handle any position on them teams and even though we had TL's and ATL's most of the plans and conducting the mission was a team effort so nobody HAD TO tell anyone what or how to do something everyone did what they were suppose to and more when needed....we all knew it was mentally and physically challenging just being on a team and conducting a mission the last thing that was needed was somebody breathing down your neck or barking orders...NEVER HAPPEN.....Which is why I was glad we had no officers on the teams, our PLT LDRS were responsibile (sp) for providing support by coordinating Air & Arty and they flew in the FAC;s

NOW a GOOD PLT LDR would go out on 2 or 3 missions so he could feel what it was like and what the teams had to actually do, this also led to the men in the platoon having more respect for the PLT LDR and IMO it should have been mandatory for them to go on 2 missions within the first 30 days they were there....it was not mandatory and not every single PL went on a mission...NUFF SAID the bottom line was the PLT SGT was an E-7 and while I was there we only had 2 E-6's and one of them left the average rank was E-4 sometimes they would make a good man an acting jack but more likely what would happen was he made SGT E-5 quick....I made E-4 in 10 months ....and E-5 in 23 months and when I made SGT E-5 my MOS changed from 11B2P to 11F4P Inf Ops & Intel Sgt (E-7) slot, because I was a MACV RECONDO GRAD and it was an automatic change when you made E-5

If you added an "S" on the end it would be an SF O & I SGT....

If we had a FNG we all pitched in to help hime out the entire tie we were out on the mission, when we got back if he was good or had the motivation, discipline and aggressivness to learn and become a good LRP, he stayed...if there were ANY DOUBTS or PLENTY of doubts, he was gone never to be seen again...it was not a harsh removal, he was told by the PLT SGT to pack his stuff adn he was sent to th rear and told he was being reassigned and he left.

So IMO I'd be a LRP over any other job within the Infantry World "SALSA"

[VoTrooper99]

Brasso, I read that book in 95-96 when I was in high school. It further inspired me to join the Airborne Infantry. My copy was paperback and had the second cover on it (the wrong one).

I'll admit that I never knew why you signed off with SALSA all the time. I assumed it must have been an inside term.

[Bell]

I found this sometime ago but was recently asked again, (not many have the balls to ask) what was the meaning of "SALSA" which means in our world 45 year ago was "STAY A LRP...STAY ALIVE" Anyone who served in a grunt unit new you had a lot of men & firepower, however, from the time ALL them choppers dropped you off you were being watched and at any given time if you wandered to close or there was a bunch of them...you were going to get hit...it was just a matter of WHEN?

Now it is a brain twisting, nerve wracking, ass kicking job being a LRRP/LRP or RGR in the Nam ...you had to be better than the man whose back yard you were in or you wasn't coming back....you got good by having good men constantly working together which was hard to maintain sometimes but small changes that did occur usually were the same within a platoon so like in my case I worked with 2 different teams but at least 3 of us were on both teams so the other 2 sometime 3 men were always the same so it was a constant thing so you really LIKED and TRUSTED one another and it does not get know better than that.

Every man was good enough to handle any position on them teams and even though we had TL's and ATL's most of the plans and conducting the mission was a team effort so nobody HAD TO tell anyone what or how to do something everyone did what they were suppose to and more when needed....we all knew it was mentally and physically challenging just being on a team and conducting a mission the last thing that was needed was somebody breathing down your neck or barking orders...NEVER HAPPEN.....Which is why I was glad we had no officers on the teams, our PLT LDRS were responsibile (sp) for providing support by coordinating Air & Arty and they flew in the FAC;s

NOW a GOOD PLT LDR would go out on 2 or 3 missions so he could feel what it was like and what the teams had to actually do, this also led to the men in the platoon having more respect for the PLT LDR and IMO it should have been mandatory for them to go on 2 missions within the first 30 days they were there....it was not mandatory and not every single PL went on a mission...NUFF SAID the bottom line was the PLT SGT was an E-7 and while I was there we only had 2 E-6's and one of them left the average rank was E-4 sometimes they would make a good man an acting jack but more likely what would happen was he made SGT E-5 quick....I made E-4 in 10 months ....and E-5 in 23 months and when I made SGT E-5 my MOS changed from 11B2P to 11F4P Inf Ops & Intel Sgt (E-7) slot, because I was a MACV RECONDO GRAD and it was an automatic change when you made E-5

If you added an "S" on the end it would be an SF O & I SGT....

If we had a FNG we all pitched in to help hime out the entire tie we were out on the mission, when we got back if he was good or had the motivation, discipline and aggressivness to learn and become a good LRP, he stayed...if there were ANY DOUBTS or PLENTY of doubts, he was gone never to be seen again...it was not a harsh removal, he was told by the PLT SGT to pack his stuff adn he was sent to th rear and told he was being reassigned and he left.

So IMO I'd be a LRP over any other job within the Infantry World "SALSA"

This is exactly why I enjoyed my time at Ranger Bat. Once you hit the field it was like rank didn't matter. It was definitely a partnership. Captain Grange asking PFC Bell what the fuck would you do with this mess? I had a ball when I was there.

[Brasso]

Brasso, I read that book in 95-96 when I was in high school. It further inspired me to join the Airborne Infantry. My copy was paperback and had the second cover on it (the wrong one).

I'll admit that I never knew why you signed off with SALSA all the time. I assumed it must have been an inside term.

Nobody knows everything! I have been around a long time and i might know a little bit about a lot BUT if I do not know something I will ask, so I will know, there's no shame in that, it's a shame when you DO NOT ask for there will be many things that you will leave unanswered which will not help you further down the road. We all know things that someone else might not, and there are things that some know that we don't....I will ask if I don't know....were all brothers here and we NEED to help each other ...and sharing knowledge and experience should be our duty and honor ...for we are brothers...and we are not here to compete...we are here to share and help each other...that's what good men who are NOT on EGO trips do for their brothers...
"SALSA"

[shadowcop92]

PM inbound Brasso

[Brasso]

ROGER THAT...I GOT IT..."SALSA"

[skyshark91]

Brasso, I read that book in 95-96 when I was in high school. It further inspired me to join the Airborne Infantry. My copy was paperback and had the second cover on it (the wrong one).

I'll admit that I never knew why you signed off with SALSA all the time. I assumed it must have been an inside term.

I read first copy when I was in High Shool also. It did inspire me to go Airborne Infantry!!!

[yvette]

Ok , I was browsing around the forum and came across this thread. I seen something about unit rosters. Can a civilian get them and if so how?

[Brasso]

yvette, I do not think your registered for this group, however, I was the one who mentioned having unit rosters and as the former historian I would have to tell you NO a civilian or an active duty person could not have a copy of my unit rosters due to the privacy act. There is personal information in there that no one should be allowed to see. At least that's the way it is in my unit and I'm pretty sure you would get the same answer from any other unit...sorry.

[yvette]

Thats what I thought, but I figured I'd ask anyway. Thank you for responding.

[elincoln03]

yvette, I do not think your registered for this group, however, I was the one who mentioned having unit rosters and as the former historian I would have to tell you NO a civilian or an active duty person could not have a copy of my unit rosters due to the privacy act. There is personal information in there that no one should be allowed to see. At least that's the way it is in my unit and I'm pretty sure you would get the same answer from any other unit...sorry.

Brasso
Hello i had some questions i was hoping you can answer for me about the LRRP stories from the 101 ABN RAngers DIV I Corps. I ask because a friend of mines father was part of them and she asked me to do a little research for her so she can find out more about him. He was SGT Michael Karch in vietnam in 1968. If you have any information that you can give to me that would be a great help. I only ask you because you seem to be a expert in this subject matter. Please e-mail me with any info if you can elincoln03@yahoo.com. Thank you for your time.

Ethan