Operational Art and the Counterinsurgency Program in the Vietnam War.
Abstract
Operational art was applied during the American counterinsurgency campaign in the Vietnam War. The campaign reflected the employment of operational art in the coordination and conduct of a variety of programs designed to achieve the pacification of the rural population and the destruction of the enemy's means to make war both militarily and politically. Operational art was not uniformly applied to the pacification program, and it was only after the formation of the Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development and Support organization that it could be applied. The pacification program became effective only after this operational level coordinating body provided coherency to a program long plagued by a lack of focus and resources. U.S. efforts in the operational level planning of a comprehensive pacification program taught that the military must possess flexibility, a wide repertoire of skills, and an ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Strict reliance on firepower, mobility, and technology ignores the primacy of the political element of counterinsurgency and in so doing may yield the initiative to the enemy. (RWJ)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 13, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA293865
Entities
People
- Clayton S. Wilcox
Organizations
- Naval War College