1/11 Infantry, 1st Bde, 5th Infantry Division 1970
The 1st Battalion, 11th Infantry was part of the 1st Brigade Task Force of the 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) in Vietnam. It arrived on 28 July 1968 and departed on 5 August 1971, with an authorized strength of 920 personnel. It served in the I Corps Tactical Zone, and its HQ was located in Cam Lo, Quang Tri, Dong Ha, and Khe Sanh (when it supported the ill-fated South Vietnamese incursion in Laos in April 1971, Lam Son 719).
This photo series shows members of the Recon Platoon of the Battalion relaxing in front of the hooch in 1970. The appearance standards of the troops were more lax in the later stages of the war, especially for elite units. The uniforms shown include the common jungle jackets with name tapes sewn parallel to the pockets, as instructed by 1969 regulations. Although metal pin-on ranks have been officially adopted at this stage, many men prefer to keep their cloth shoulder chevrons. Some of them wear the Battalion pocket patch on their pockets. Camouflaged uniforms are also worn, in a field mode (ERDL jungle jacket without patches) or in a camp/party mode (tiger stripe shirt in the awful "splotch pattern", adorned with highly unauthorized patches, including a South Vietnamese flag patch). The headgear worn is a combination of US and Vietnamese made camouflages.
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