This paper studies the lines of communications (the Ho Chi Minh Trail) which went from North to South Vietnam, through Laos, during the Second Indochina War. The purpose of this paper is to study the proposal that the United States, during the...
This monograph will present a critical analysis of all aspects of LAM SON 719 from the planning stage to the withdrawal from lower Laos. The document highlights the operational environment, planning/offensive/withdrawal phases, and critical...
At the time of this writing, it is May 2001. A new, strategically responsive, medium weight unit from Fort Lewis, Washington, designated the Interim Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) is being formed and tested. The IBCT’s organic intelligence...
Counterinsurgency and unconventional war have dominated both the intellectual focus and the operational employment of the U.S. Army for the last decade, and are expected to remain a prevalent challenge for the foreseeable future. One of the primary...
This paper examines the role played by sanctuaries as they relate to irregular warfare in two conflicts. The first case study looks at the United States' efforts to defeat the advantages gained by the Viet Cong (and later the North Vietnamese Army)...
From 1964 to 1973 the United States Air Force conducted bombing raids along the Ho Chi Minh trail. Approximately 2,000,000 tons of ordnance was dropped with about a 20 to 30% non-detonation rate. Nearly all 16 provinces of PDR Lao were affected by...
This study investigates the use of native forces in counterinsurgency (CI) operations in order to determine effective and ineffective employment roles. This study reviews the effective employment and the effective use of native forces in CI...
The battle at Dong Ap Bia (Hamburger Hill) occurred during Operation APACHE SNOW, a XXIV Corps directed operation in the Northern Ashau Valley. This operation was initiated on 10 May 1969 with the specific purpose of destroying North Vietnamese...
Shilling, James; Young, Glenda; Omundson, Eric; Husketh, William O.; Soldan, Marek
The political and domestic pressures exerted on the US Government for the Vietnamization of the war in Southeast Asia by minimizing or eliminating the use of U.S. Troops, especially ground forces, helped to ensure that the invasion of Laos by the...
This monograph seeks to determine the adequacy of current U.S. Army doctrine as it pertains to the planning and execution of attacks by an armored force in restrictive terrain. Many circumstances and possible threats will require the use of a...
Albright, John; Cash, John A.; Sandstrum, Allan W.
These accounts of fighting in Vietnam are based on official U.S. Army records- daily journals, journal files, after action reports, interviews conducted soon after the events by historical officers in Vietnam, and upon interviews and correspondence...
This study attempts to determine if the Vietnam experience may be used meaningfully in the development of the U.S. Army's assault helicopter doctrine for today and for the future. The study postulates that important lessons learned during Vietnam...
This is a study on the geographical and social background in French Indo-China. Subjects include information about the land (boundaries and frontier disputes, and territorial divisions), and the people (population statistics and cultural...
This is one of a series published by the U.S. Army Center of Military History. The monograph reviews and analyzes Royal Lao government military operations and activities in the Laotian panhandle. Special attention is given to the significance of...
This document is the first of two volumes that examine the Vietnam conflict from the perspective of the theater commander and his headquarters. It traces the story of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), from its establishment in...
With the development of the "long war," the U.S. military's focus has shifted dramatically from its traditional emphasis on conventional operations to irregular and indirect approaches to safeguard America's vital interests. One of the least...
"Presidential Study Directive on Mass Atrocities/PSD-10" and the 2010 National Security Strategy elevated mass atrocities to a core national security interest. This study argues that PSD-10 will be implemented in a world where international borders...