1. EOA 218: The Early Years in Vietnam Operational Approach (Broad Actions) Bombing campaign to force capitulation, send in ground troops when that doesn’t work (Very Incomplete) Commander’s Intent Contain communism???? Tenants of ULO Flexibility: None, once the bombing campaign failed to achieve its objectives. Integration: Infighting within the services created significant issues in terms of utilizing programs that complemented oneanother. (i.e. Westmoreland never comprehended how well the CAP and CIDG programs were working to quell the violence) Lethality: Body count strategy did not work in this instance because while the PRC were pulled out of Korea, this was a different operational environment. The will of the people was stronger in this instance because they were fighting and dying on their own land. Combat Power Intel: The VC had the edge because they were able to move freely within the local populace and thereby relay this information back to the NVA. Fires: The information operations worked against the US for one thing they had misled the American people as to the success of the war and the NVAs Tet Offensive demonstrated at the appropriate times (election timeframe) how the US was not achieveing what they stated they were achieving. NVA and VC influenced the American will far better than the US was able to influence the American people. Additional point of contention here is that Pres. Johnson is approving target packets which meant that military leadership had lost the confidence of their political leaders. Leadership: As noted above, additionally, look at the section of personalities under Key Concepts of Clausewitz. Elements of Operational Art/Design End state: Never had a strategy that set conditions to determine military endstates. COG: Issue was whether the local populace was the COG or the NVA or the VC. OP Approach: Hampered when the bombing campaign did not achieve its effects and as such only led the leadership to introduce ground troops who were unclear as to the endstate. Culmination: Once again this is a case study in understanding that the bombing campaign had culminated because it failed to achieve its objective of forcing the ENY to capitulate. Risk (strategic, operational, tactical): Strategically it forced the USG to spend excessive loot in order to contain communism while the Soviet union sat back and watched. Key Concepts of Clausewitz Moral: The American people felt they were misled with regards to the success of the war especially after the Tet Offensive. Geographical: US Military never understood the importance of seperatring the VC from the local populace while also pursuing the VC without ostersizing the local populace. Trinity Analysis: USG intervention in military operations illustrates how both the statesman and the military leader must know what type of war they are entering into as well as how to end the war. Hubris, Personalities: Infighting within the US military service lead inappropriate war aims (Body count). McNamara, Johnson, Westmoreland. Conventional thinking v Irregular Warfare Key Concepts of other Theorists Linn – Following the Vietnam War we see the Managers assume command. They seek to reorganize administrative structures and tactical units. During the war we see Heroes everywhere. They are utterly focused on the conventional fight. Looking for that Mahanian decisive battle which the NVA and VC avoid. Paret – Cultural preconceptions and institutional self-interest may block understanding. The infighting in the services, the thought that air power can achieve all aims only clouded the actual operational environment.

2. Timeline: On 2 August 1964, the USS Maddox, on an intelligence mission along North Vietnam's coast, allegedly fired upon and damaged several torpedo boats that had been stalking it in the Gulf of TonkinUSS MaddoxGulf of Tonkin The second attack led to retaliatory air strikes, prompted Congress to approve the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution on 7 August 1964,signed by Johnson, and gave the president power to conduct military operations in Southeast Asia without declaring war.retaliatory air strikesGulf of Tonkin Resolution On 8 March 1965, 3,500 U.S. Marines were dispatched to South Vietnam. This marked the beginning of the American ground warU.S. Marines On 31 January 1968, the NVA and the Viet Cong broke the truce that traditionally accompanied the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday by launching the largest battle of the war, the Tet Offensive, in the hope of sparking a national uprising.Tết SEE VIETNAM 2 for additional timeline. Phasing: Operation Flaming Dart - Flaming Dart I targeted North Vietnamese army bases near Đồng Hới, while the second wave targeted Vietcong logistics and communications near the Demilitarized Zone.Đồng HớiDemilitarized Zone Operation Rolling Thunder – Major Bombing campaign (Warden’s Rings) Operation Arc Light - the code name and general term for the use of B-52D/F/G Stratofortress as a close air support (CAS) platform to support ground tactical operations.close air support Ground Operations Geographic Keys: Monsoon season drives operations in Vietnam. The hamlet program failed to achieve its purpose for the USG because they were conflicted as to whether protect the local populace from the VC or conduct movement to contact operations. The strategy for Vietnam in the first phases of the campaign was unclear to whether create space for the S. Vietnamese to achieve victory or target the VC and NVA. The countryside allowed the VC to succeed just as it had for the Spainish in the Navarrae. EOA 218: The Early Years in Vietnam

3. Assumptions: Technology Keys: Bombing campaigns. Body count would force the NVA to capitulate. Strategic bombing would force the N. Vietnamese people to tell the political leadership to capitulate. Context: Historical Context: The Cold War continues with instances such as the Cuban Misssile Crisis and the failed Bay of Pigs operation. Ho Chi Minh: During the First Indochina War, the French returned Bao Dai to power and set up the state of Vietnam (South Vietnam) in July 1949, with Saigon as its capital. Armed conflict between the two states continued until a decisive battle at Dien Bien Phu ended in French defeat by Viet Minh forces. The subsequent treaty negotiations at Geneva (at which Ho was represented by his associate Pham Van Dong) partitioned Indochina and called for elections for reunification in 1956. Once the French were ousted from Vietnam, the South Vietnamese elite returned to the countryside to exploit its tenants. To consolidate political control, Ngo Dinh Diem, President of the Republic of Vietnam, facilitated the reconsolidation of landholdings for the South Vietnamese elite. The land redistribution issue that centered on the Indochina War once again became the basis of contention for the agrarian population during the Vietnam War. Strategic Context: Infighting within the JCS as Taylor and LeMay were of exact opposites. President Johnson sent Taylor on a world-wide fact finding mission at which point LeMay sought to influence President Johnson and advocate for additional spending on the Air Force. The Cold War continues with instances such as the Cuban Misssile Crisis and the failed Bay of Pigs operation. The Soviet Union and the US were still embattled over Germany during this timeframe. Vietnam was a containment policy. US backed leader of South Vietnam, Diem is executed. Later Minh is removed from power and replaced by Khanh. The tranistions in power are supported by the USG which only leads to the instability in S. Vietnam. Wheeler is appointed Chairman of the JCS, Taylor appointed as the ambassador to S. Vietnam, and McNammara, and Westmoreland is in charge of the conflict. LeMay feels that Vietnam is an Army issue. Wheeler, LeMay, Johnson, and McDonald manage the military while Westmoreland and Taylor manage the war with McNammara working both. JFK had advocated for small scale forces conducting surgical operations. When he is assassinated in Nov 1963, Johnson assumes command and is very hands on with military planning. McNamara felt that IW was a wasted dream of JFK. He felt SF was a new gimmick and fugitives from responsibility. Illustrates how the White House took a more hands on approach to war planning and execution. Campaign Context: The US attempted to fight a limited war while the Vietnamese were engaged in an unlimited war. (Mismatch) USG felt the bombing campaign would force the N. Vietnamese to capitulate. The USG was focused on body counts as part of the Korean war which was mismatched because while it forced the Chinese out of Korea it only incited the Vietnamese. Westmoreland outlined a three-point plan to win the war: Phase 1. Commitment of U.S. (and other free world) forces necessary to halt the losing trend by the end of 1965. Phase 2. U.S. and allied forces mount major offensive actions to seize the initiative to destroy guerrilla and organized enemy forces. This phase would end when the enemy had been worn down, thrown on the defensive, and driven back from major populated areas. Phase 3. If the enemy persisted, a period of twelve to eighteen months following Phase 2 would be required for the final destruction of enemy forces remaining in remote base areas. [207] [207] EOA 218: The Early Years in Vietnam