An Institutional Profile of the South Vietnamese Officer Corps

Abstract

An analysis is presented of the social origins, career patterns, and political structure of the officer corps to determine its ability to assume responsibility for the war, which is central to the success of Vietnamization. The ethnic homogeneity of the officer corps, coupled with the urban orientation that the educational requirement fosters, isolates the RVNAF officer from the society he is charged with defending and from the men he commands. Professionalism has not been developed, and political loyalty--not battlefield performance--has dominated the promotion system. Unless this system is regularized and given immunity to the vagaries of general officer politicking, President Thieu may well be opposed by a growing coalition of 'fighting' officers. The military has the materiel but lacks the skill to effectively govern South Vietnam. A professional rather than a political army is required, and the question is whether professionalism can be stimulated by reform.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1970
Accession Number
AD0514242

Entities

People

  • Allan E. Goodman

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Cyber
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • General Officers
  • Governments
  • Instructors
  • Military Education
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Personnel
  • Military Science
  • Military Training
  • Minority Groups
  • National Governments
  • National Politics
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Systems
  • Service Academies
  • South Vietnam
  • Students
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Library and Information Science/ Studies, Southeast Asia Studies, Bibliography of Vietnam and Lao Studies.
  • Naval Personnel Management
  • Strategic Security Studies