How effective was the American Army? Objective: to compare the Vietcong and US army to start making decisions about US army effectiveness 10 July, 2016

1. Low moral and inexperience The USA began the war with professional soldiers who had chosen to join the army. By 1967, this had changed: – Many soldiers were recruits who had just left school, their average age was % of Americans killed in Vietnam were between – The soldiers knew little about Vietnam and cared little for either democracy of communism, they just wanted to survive. In comparison the Vietcong were fighting for a cause they believed in. – There was tension between officers and soldiers. One estimate suggests 3% of officer deaths were caused by their own troops. – Many soldiers turned to drugs. Around 18% of US casualties were caused not a direct result of the conflict. There were over 500,00 cases of desertion. – A policy of troops only spending a one year term in Vietnam was introduced – but then just as the soldiers gained experience, they went home.

2. Vietnam’s neighbours Counties next to Vietnam (Cambodia and Laos)were sympathetic to the Vietcong. The Vietcong could retreat to these countries to get new equipment, ammunition and re- inforce against their losses. Political considerations meant the USA could not send their forces into these countries, although unofficial missions did happen. This gave the Vietcong and NVA an advantage.

3. Hearts and Minds President Johnson spoke about the importance of winning ‘hearts and minds’ in Vietnam. But US tactics were based upon attrition – killing large numbers of the enemy, which in turn meant huge civilian losses, leading Vietnamese peasants to turn to the Vietcong.

Read the info boxes, code them with colour into those related to the USA and those related to the Vietcong to help you sort the information. Then use this info and your work on the two armies to: Complete your chart to show how far each side had each quality You can add other rows if you want. Don’t be afraid to leave some blanks – focus on the rows you think are really important. Write comments in each cell not just yes or no When you have finished complete your overall conclusions…… – I think that the armies were / were not finely balanced because….. – The most important quality in determining who won the war in Vietnam was…. – This is because………