Download or read book Combined Action Platoons In The Vietnam War written by Major Ian J. Townsend and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 93 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Vietnam, the III Marine Amphibious Force used Combined Action Platoons (CAPs) as one part of its operational level counterinsurgency campaign. These platoons provided security assistance to the South Vietnamese Popular Forces and civic action to the village based population. To measure the operational effectiveness and the current relevancy of this specific type of combined action their activities are evaluated against current Army counterinsurgency doctrine. This monograph demonstrates the value of the CAPs as one element in the context of a counterinsurgency campaign, and how this form of combined action may serve as a tool for Army commanders conducting operational art in future. Independent operations are not the future of American warfare in the 21st Century. Contemporary thought about the future of American warfare is that the “conventional forces of the United States Army will have an enduring requirement to build the security forces and security ministries of other countries.” Some form of combined action will be a required in American military operations for the foreseeable future. Given this truth, CAPs provide a practical historical example of a combined action technique that can serve as a tool for the future.
Download or read book The U S Marine Corps Combined Action Program CAP written by Curtis Williamson III and published by . This book was released on 2012-11-17 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Vietnam War was a war against an insurgency sustained by the resources drawn from the South Vietnamese peasant.The CAP offered a viable alternative to the strategy taken in Vietnam, challenging the sustaining infrastructure of the guerrilla, while providing security for the largely agrarian populace.Taking a lesson from Mao Tse-tung's insurgent rise to power in an agrarian setting, Ho Chi Minh and General Vo Nguyen Giap implemented a guerrilla-based strategy to liberate and unify Vietnam. Placing heavy reliance on the populace of South Vietnam to provide both men and food for the NVA and VC, the village represented a center of gravity for the Communist movement.Incapable of viewing Vietnam as anything but a conventional battleground, General William C. Westmoreland applied the unsuccessful strategy of "search and destroy," and wholly ignored the insurgent underpinnings of his enemy and their grip on the populace. Possessing a belief that the war was among the people, the Marines spawned combined action, that of combining a Marine rifle squad with a platoon of South Vietnamese Popular Forces who cohabitated together within a particular village.Never growing beyond 2,500 men and 114 platoons, the program achieved unsurpassed success towards providing security for the populace, threatening the guerrilla infrastructure, empowering the local and regional leaders to govern, and killing the enemy. Additionally, all attempts by senior Marine leaders to convince General Westmoreland of the CAP's validity as a fitting strategy for all ground forces failed to overcome his conventional inclination towards the nature of the war.The strategy proposed contains three elements: (1) separating the guerrillas from the people through combined action, (2) fighting the guerrillas as guerrillas, and (3) limited pursuit of large NVA units with "fix and destroy" forces.Accepting that the war was among the people, this alternative strategy strives to achieve first pacification through combined action, then destruction of enemy forces.The application of American military power in Vietnam failed to acknowledge the critical vulnerabilities inherent to an indigenous guerrilla force. Through the CAP, the Marines provided a model that if taken throughout South Vietnam would have likely preserved its sovereignty. Given the American inclination to play down the volatility of small scale wars and in particular guerrilla affairs, the Marines' combined action experiences in Vietnam present a viable alternative to unconventional utilization of conventional forces for the future. This book lays out the CAP strategy.
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- Release : 2002
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- Pages : 57 pages
The U S Marine Corps Combined Action Program CAP A Proposed Alternative Strategy for the Vietnam War
Download or read book The U S Marine Corps Combined Action Program CAP A Proposed Alternative Strategy for the Vietnam War written by and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 57 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Vietnam War was a war against an insurgency sustained by the resources drawn from the South Vietnamese peasant. The CAP offered a viable alternative to the strategy taken in Vietnam, challenging the sustaining infrastructure of the guerrilla, while providing security for the largely agrarian populace. Discussion: Taking a lesson from Mao Tse-tung's insurgent rise to power in an agrarian setting, Ho Chi Minh and General Vo Nguyen Giap implemented a guerrilla-based strategy to liberate and unify Vietnam. Placing heavy reliance on the populace of South Vietnam to provide both men and food for the NVA and VC, the village represented a center of gravity for the Communist movement. Incapable of viewing Vietnam as anything but a conventional battleground, General William C. Westmoreland applied the unsuccessful strategy of "search and destroy," and wholly ignored the insurgent underpinnings of his enemy and their grip on the populace. Possessing a belief that the war was among the people, the Marines spawned combined action, that of combining a Marine rifle squad with a platoon of South Vietnamese Popular Forces who cohabitated together within a particular village. Never growing beyond 2,500 men and 114 platoons, the program achieved unsurpassed% success towards providing security for the populace, threatening the guerrilla infrastructure, empowering the local and regional leaders to govern, and killing the enemy. Additionally, all attempts by senior Marine leaders to convince General Westmoreland of the CAP's validity as a fitting strategy for all ground forces failed to overcome his conventional inclination towards the nature of the war.
Download or read book Vietnam s Forgotten Army written by Andrew Wiest and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2009-10 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: War.
Download or read book U S Marines and Irregular Warfare 1898 2007 written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Product Description: Since the tragic events of 9/11 and the consequent advent of the Global War on Terrorism, there has been a remarkable surge of interest in counterinsurgency. This anthology presents 27 articles on counterinsurgency and irregular warfare, particularly highlighting and examining the U.S. Marine Corps' roles in conflicts from 1898 through 2007. It also includes an extensive bibliography of works on these conflicts. Continuing discussion and study of these subjects is of critical importance to the ongoing efforts of the United States and its allies in the Global War on Terrorism. The anthology is divided broadly into two halves: the first half presents historical examples of counterinsurgency involving the United States-from the Philippines and the "Banana Wars" up through Vietnam-while the second half addresses the nation's contemporary efforts in this regard. Articles cover the situations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa. The selected bibliography addresses a broad range of subjects: on higher-end operational/strategic level of war considerations, on geopolitical context, and on a varied array of related topics-political theory, historical case studies, failed states, cultural studies and analysis, and many others-that all provide context or play a role in conducting a counterinsurgency and achieving success in the realm of irregular warfare. Colonel Stephen S. Evans, USMCR, researched and compiled this work as a field historian with the Marine Corps History Division. He has experience at various operational levels, both joint and multinational, in CONUS and overseas, and has performed duty with all three MEFs, MARFORLANT, MARFOREUR, and U.S. forces in Korea. He has also held a range of positions in administrative and educational roles at Quantico and the Pentagon. Colonel Evans holds a doctorate in history from Temple University and has published two historical monographs.
Download or read book U S Marines In Vietnam The Landing And The Buildup 1965 written by Dr. Jack Shulimson and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2016-08-09 with total page 666 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the second volume in a series of chronological histories prepared by the Marine Corps History and Museums Division to cover the entire span of Marine Corps involvement in the Vietnam War. This volume details the Marine activities during 1965, the year the war escalated and major American combat units were committed to the conflict. The narrative traces the landing of the nearly 5,000-man 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade and its transformation into the ΙII Marine Amphibious Force, which by the end of the year contained over 38,000 Marines. During this period, the Marines established three enclaves in South Vietnam’s northernmost corps area, I Corps, and their mission expanded from defense of the Da Nang Airbase to a balanced strategy involving base defense, offensive operations, and pacification. This volume continues to treat the activities of Marine advisors to the South Vietnamese armed forces but in less detail than its predecessor volume, U.S. Marines in Vietnam, 1954-1964; The Advisory and Combat Assistance Era.
Download or read book At War with Women written by Jennifer Greenburg and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2023-02-15 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At War with Women reveals how post-9/11 politics of gender and development have transformed US military power. In the mid-2000s, the US military used development as a weapon as it revived counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan. The military assembled all-female teams to reach households and wage war through development projects in the battle for "hearts and minds." Despite women technically being banned from ground combat units, the all-female teams were drawn into combat nonetheless. Based on ethnographic fieldwork observing military trainings, this book challenges liberal feminist narratives that justified the Afghanistan War in the name of women's rights and celebrated women's integration into combat as a victory for gender equality. Jennifer Greenburg critically interrogates a new imperial feminism and its central role in securing US hegemony. Women's incorporation into combat through emotional labor has reinforced gender stereotypes, with counterinsurgency framing female soldiers as global ambassadors for women's rights. This book provides an analysis of US imperialism that keeps the present in tension with the past, clarifying where colonial ideologies of race, gender, and sexuality have resurfaced and how they are changing today.
Download or read book Defend and Befriend written by John Southard and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2014-07-11 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Defend and Befriend is the first comprehensive study of Americans assigned to Combined Action Platoons in Vietnam. Tracing the development as well as the implementation of the program, author John Southard intertwines the experiences of enlisted Marines and corpsmen with an examination of the colonels and generals in charge.
Download or read book The Vietnam War written by DK and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2017-04-04 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive telling of one of the longest and most controversial wars in US history. Delve into the compelling history and impact of the Vietnam War in reverting detail. This authoritative visual guide unpacks accounts of struggle, sacrifice, and bravery, making this a perfect read for any military history enthusiast. Inside the pages of this retelling of America's bloodiest conflict, you'll discover: - A vivid, moving, and informative read written in an engaging style. - A clear and compelling account of the conflict, in short, self-contained events from the Battle of Ia Drang to the Tet Offensive and The Khmer Rouge. - Biography pages highlight major military and political figures such as Henry Kissinger, President Nixon, General Thieu, and Ho Chi Minh. - Features on everyday life in the war offering additional context. - Stunning image double page features display weapons, spy gear, and other equipment that defined the war. - Maps and feature boxes provide additional information on significant events during the conflict. Created in association with the Smithsonian Institution, this history book for adults is an authoritative history of both the first televised war and its lasting impact through the lenses of both sides of the conflict. The Vietnam War explores all aspects of the conflict and the wider political landscape using compelling text, maps, and archive photography of collections of weapons, aircraft, and armored vehicles. The military techniques and conduct employed against the inferior technologies of the Viet Cong remain controversial and intriguing to date. Eyewitness accounts and iconic photographs bring events to life - from the background of the conflict to the incidents that drew America into Vietnam, the chronological event
Download or read book Small Wars Big Data written by Eli Berman and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-07-14 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How a new understanding of warfare can help the military fight today's conflicts more effectively. The way wars are fought has changed starkly over the past sixty years. International military campaigns used to play out between large armies at central fronts. Today's conflicts find major powers facing rebel insurgencies that deploy elusive methods, from improvised explosives to terrorist attacks. Small Wars, Big Data presents a transformative understanding of these contemporary confrontations and how they should be fought. The authors show that a revolution in the study of conflict--enabled by vast data, rich qualitative evidence, and modern methods--yields new insights into terrorism, civil wars, and foreign interventions. Modern warfare is not about struggles over territory but over people; civilians--and the information they might choose to provide--can turn the tide at critical junctures. The authors draw practical lessons from the past two decades of conflict in locations ranging from Latin America and the Middle East to Central and Southeast Asia. Building an information-centric understanding of insurgencies, the authors examine the relationships between rebels, the government, and civilians. This approach serves as a springboard for exploring other aspects of modern conflict, including the suppression of rebel activity, the role of mobile communications networks, the links between aid and violence, and why conventional military methods might provide short-term success but undermine lasting peace. Ultimately the authors show how the stronger side can almost always win the villages, but why that does not guarantee winning the war. Small Wars, Big Data provides groundbreaking perspectives for how small wars can be better strategized and favorably won to the benefit of the local population.
Download or read book U S Marines in Vietnam written by Jack Shulimson and published by U.S. Government Printing Office. This book was released on 1997 with total page 828 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book was donated as a part of the David H. Hugel Collection, an archival collection of the Special Collections & Archives, University of Baltimore.
Download or read book Combat at Close Quarters written by Edward J. Marolda and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work describes riverine combat during the Vietnam War, emphasizing the operations of the U.S. Navy’s River Patrol Force, which conducted Operation Game Warden; the U.S. Army-Navy Mobile Riverine Force, the formation that General William Westmoreland said “saved the Mekong Delta” during the Tet Offensive of 1968; and the Vietnam Navy. An important section details the SEALORDS combined campaign, a determined effort by U.S. Navy, South Vietnamese Navy, and allied ground forces to cut enemy supply lines from Cambodia and disrupt operations at base areas deep in the delta. The author also covers details on the combat vessels, helicopters, weapons, and equipment employed in the Mekong Delta as well as the Vietnamese combatants (on both sides) and American troops who fought to secure Vietnam’s waterways. Special features focus on the ubiquitous river patrol boats (PBRs) and the Swift boats (PCFs), river warfare training, Vice Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., the Black Ponies aircraft squadron, and Navy SEALs. This publication may be of interest to history scholars, veterans, students in advanced placement history classes, and military enthusiasts given the continuing impact of riverine warfare on U.S. naval and military operations in the 21st century. Special Publicity Tie-In: Commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War (Commemoration dates: 28 May 2012 - 11 November 2025). This is the fifth book in the series, "The U.S. Navy and the Vietnam War." TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction The First Indochina War The Vietnam Navy River Force and American Advisors The U.S. Navy and the Rivers of Vietnam SEALORDS The End of the Line for U.S. and Vietnamese River Forces Sidebars: The PBR Riverine Warfare Training Battle Fleet of the Mekong Delta High Drama in the Delta Vice Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. Black Ponies The Swift Boat Warriors with Green Faces Suggested Reading
Download or read book War in the Villages written by Ted N. Easterling and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2021-03-15 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Much of the history written about the Vietnam War overlooks the U.S. Marine Corps Combined Action Platoons. These CAPs lived in the Vietnamese villages, with the difficult and dangerous mission of defending the villages from both the National Liberation Front guerrillas and the soldiers of the North Vietnamese Army. The CAPs also worked to improve living conditions by helping the people with projects, such as building schools, bridges, and irrigation systems for their fields. In War in the Villages, Ted Easterling examines how well the CAPs performed as a counterinsurgency method, how the Marines adjusted to life in the Vietnamese villages, and how they worked to accomplish their mission. The CAPs generally performed their counterinsurgency role well, but they were hampered by factors beyond their control. Most important was the conflict between the Army and the Marine Corps over an appropriate strategy for the Vietnam War, along with weakness of the government of the Republic of South Vietnam and the strategic and the tactical ability of the North Vietnamese Army. War in the Villages helps to explain how and why this potential was realized and squandered. Marines who served in the CAPs served honorably in difficult circumstances. Most of these Marines believed they were helping the people of South Vietnam, and they served superbly. The failure to end the war more favorably was no fault of theirs.
Download or read book U S Marines In Vietnam The Advisory And Combat Assistance Era 1954 1964 written by Capt. Robert H. Whitlow and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2016-08-09 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first of a series of chronological histories prepared by the Marine Corps History and Museums Division to cover the entire span of Marine Corps involvement in the Vietnam conflict. This particular volume covers a relatively obscure chapter in U.S. Marine Corps history—the activities of Marines in Vietnam between 1954 and 1964. The narrative traces the evolution of those activities from a one-man advisory operation at the conclusion of the French-Indochina War in 1954 to the advisory and combat support activities of some 700 Marines at the end of 1964. As the introductory volume for the series this account has an important secondary objective: to establish a geographical, political, and military foundation upon which the subsequent histories can be developed.
Download or read book U S Marines In Vietnam The Bitter End 1973 1975 written by Maj. George Ross Dunham and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2016-08-09 with total page 788 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication represents the ninth volume in an operational and chronological series covering the Marine Corps’ participation in the Vietnam War. This particular volume details the final chapter in the Corps’ involvement in South-East Asia, including chapters on Cambodia, the refugees, and the recovery of the container ship SS Mayaguez. Although largely written from the perspective of the III Marine Amphibious Force, this volume also describes the roles of the two joint commands operating in the region: the Defense Attaché Office, Saigon, and the United States Support Activities Group, Thailand. Thus, while the volume emphasizes the Marine Corps’ role in the events of the period, significant attention also is given to the overall contribution of these commands in executing U.S. policy in South-east Asia from 1973 to 1975. Additionally, a chapter is devoted to the Marine Corps’ role in assisting thousands of refugees who fled South Vietnam in the final weeks of that nation’s existence.
Download or read book Military Review written by and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 656 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book New Interpretations in Naval History written by William R. Roberts and published by US Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Held every two years at the U.S. Naval Academy, the Naval History Symposium draws together top naval historians and analysts from around the world to exchange research and theories about far-reaching topics in naval history. These volumes contain the best papers presented at the symposiums.