Editing Sapper (section)

=== PAVN and Viet Cong ===
[[File:sapperorg.jpg|thumb|right|Sapper formation- PAVN/Viet Cong]]

[[Vietnam People's Army|PAVN (People's Army of Vietnam)]] and [[Viet Cong]] sappers, as they were called by US forces, are better described as [[commando]] units. The Vietnamese term ''đặc công'' can be literally translated as "special task". Thousands of specially trained elite fighters served in the PAVN and Viet Cong commando–sapper units which were organized as independent formations. While not always successful due to lack of appropriate personal weapon types for combat and assault like other [[special forces]], they were still capable of inflicting heavy damage with their non-firearms arsenal. During the Vietnam War, they were armed with various types of bombs, mines, explosive charges, grenades and even steel-pellet mines which proved especially devastating. These are still the main weapons of the ''đặc công''.

These elite units served as raiders against American/[[Army of the Republic of Vietnam|ARVN]] troops, and infiltrated spearheads during the final [[Ho Chi Minh Campaign]] in 1975, where they seized key road and bridge assets, destroyed installations, attacked command and control nodes located deep inside enemy territory, planted explosives on U.S. water craft, and otherwise helped the PAVN's rapid mobile forces advance. A typical PAVN/VC ''đặc công'' organization is shown in the diagram. The raiding force was usually grouped into assault teams, each broken down into several 3–5-man assault cells. Overall, there were generally four operational [[Echelon formation|echelons]].<ref>Ott 1975, pp.1–42.</ref>

An instance of a successful sapper attack conducted by the Viet Cong was the during the Battle of [[Battle of FSB Mary Ann|Fire Base Mary Ann]]. A small number of sappers, through surprise and deft coordination, conducted a successful attack on a superior US force. The battle was described as a "rampage of VC who threw [[Satchel charge|satchels]] at the command bunker, knifed Americans in their sleep and destroyed all communications equipment.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e9wUAQAAIAAJ|title=Sappers in the Wire: The Life and Death of Firebase Mary Ann|last=Nolan|first=Keith William|date=2007|publisher=Texas A & M University Press|isbn=9781585446438|language=en}}</ref>