Military Review English Edition September-October 2014 | Page 48

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four-star general. Beyond all that, there was something very special and down-to-earth about Glenn
Otis; hence, my quest to find out more about this
great soldier whose character seemed so exceptional.

Lt. Col. Otis with the troops from 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry
Regiment, 1968.

I found proof of Otis’ character in his service as a
combat commander in 1967 and 1968 in Vietnam. In
my view, nothing exemplifies the personal attributes
of Glenn Otis more than his combat experiences in
Vietnam, where he commanded the 3rd Squadron, 4th
Cavalry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, and where
he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for
gallantry in action during the Tet Offensive in 1968.
25th Division Cavalry Squadron. Otis took command of the squadron in December 1967. The 25th
Division’s cavalry squadron was a mobile force consisting mostly of tanks and armored personnel carriers.
Each M48 tank had a powerful 90 mm gun, a .50-caliber machine gun mounted on top of the turret, and an
M60 machine gun mounted near the main gun. The
M113 armored personnel carriers carried troops, and
each carrier included a mounted .50-caliber machine
gun and one M60 machine gun mounted on each side
of the vehicle. In addition to three cavalry troops (A, B,
and C Troops), there was an aviation unit (D Troop),
consisting of light observation helicopters, troop carriers, gunships, and an aero-rifle platoon.
The 25th Division was located in III Corps, an area
including the capital city of Saigon. The squadron’s
mission was to secure the northwest main supply route
from Saigon to Cu Chi (the division’s base camp) and
then from Cu Chi to Tay Ninh, a span of some 80
kilometers. I knew the area well based on my first tour
in Vietnam in 1966. Moreover, my younger brother, a
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member of the division, was wounded in the area—at
a place called the Hobo Woods. The units that made
up the cavalry squadron were mobile, packed a lot of
firepower, and could operate independently.
The road from Saigon to Tay Ninh. When the
Vietnamese launched the Tet Offensive in January
1968, the elements of then Lt. Col. Otis’ squadron were
distributed at key points along the approximately 50
miles of highway from Saigon to Tay Ninh. In no way
were Otis’ fighting elements consolidated in a position to respond promptly to what turned out to be
a country-wide, major North Vietnamese offensive.
Nevertheless, 3-4 Cavalry played a vital role in preventing the air base from being overrun during the major
battle of the war.
In their book A Hundred Miles of Bad Road,
authors Dwight W. Birdwell and Keith William Nolan
narrate several stories that illustrate Otis’ leadership
style.1 Author Birdwell served in the 3rd Squadron,
4th Cavalry Regiment, under Otis. Some of the stories
recounted here come from Birdwell’s book and some
from interviews and correspondence with veterans of
the squadron.2 Some information comes from Otis’
account, recorded when he was a student at the Army
War College.3
Early in his assignment, it seemed Otis made a
personal impression on all the members of the squadron. A tank commander reported that he could not
remember the squadron commander they had before
Otis arrived. In fact, he could no longer picture the
former commander, but he said everyone knew and
remembered Otis because he was nearly always with
the soldiers checking to see how they were doing and
what they needed.
To secure the highway, the squadron was spread
out in smaller units at key points on the long, dangerous road. Otis would cruise up to their location in his
command track, without an escort, just to be sure they
were alert and okay. Otis’ frequent presence was unlike
that of a micromanager; he trusted his subordinates
and made sure they had what they needed to perform
their tasks.
The tank commander reported that as part of the
road security mission, there were places where the
main supply route passed through local villages. In
those cases, at night the infantry squads would dismount from their carriers and provide flank security
September-October 2014  MILITARY REVIEW