Vietnam

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, at the time of the conflict, Vietnam was divided into two opposing nations, similar to Korea today; the territory of the former French colony of Vietnam was occupied by two opposing armies: North Vietnamese, armed by the Soviets, and South Vietnamese, backed first by the French and later by the Americans. The author points out that a lesser publicized aspect of the analogies of World War II and the Vietnamese conflict is the use of the carpet bombing, which was so successful in trampling the remnants of Nazi Germany, but proved to be ineffective in Vietnam. The paper relates two major lessons learned in the Vietnam conflict: (1) When using techniques such as carpet-bombing, the loyalty of ground forces must be understood because the strategy can have an opposite effect upon morale and cohesiveness of the populace, and (2) carpet-bombing must be timed specifically so as not to permit the enemy time to regroup.

Table of Contents
Strategic Setting
Opposing Forces
Command Relationships/Adjustments Made to Doctrine
Employment Concepts
Joint/Coalition Operations
Command and Control of Air Assets
Lessons U.S. Forces Learned in Vietnam

From the Paper:

"From the beginning, the White House was criticized as exercising undue influence over the waging of the war. For instance, during the first major air offensive known as "Operation Rolling Thunder," the White House, it was alleged selected targets designed for public relations rather than real strategic value. It did not focus on advice from military leaders from the actual theater of operations. "President Johnson and Secretary McNamara maintained detailed tactical control of the missions. President Johnson and his advisors chose the targets from an Armed Forces' suggested list." "

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