Describe the military tactics used by both the U.S.A and the Vietcong forces in Vietnam in the 1960's

The U.S.A and the Vietcong had different military tactics; The USA used modern technology such as the napalm bomb. Were as the Vietcong used guerrilla warfare. The USA was confident of success "America could simply not believe that it could be beaten by a bunch of guerrillas in black pyjamas" They thought this because they had the latest equipment and plenty of money. They also had the support of people "Television seems to have encouraged a majority of viewers to support the war. 64% said television had made them fell like backing up the boys in Vietnam. 26% felt moved to oppose the war" Also the USA felt confident as Vietcong were from a poorer country and had to use traditional ways of fighting, but they had the backing of other communist countries.

The USA

Operation Rolling Thunder was the codename for the bombing of North Vietnam. The operation started in February 1965. The operation lasted for 3 and a half years. The aims of this operation were:

Bomb railways, roads and bases in North Vietnam

Destroy the Ho Chi Minh trail, to stop supplies to the Vietcong.

This failed because the Vietcong were still fighting strong.

Search and destroy missions were used to flush out the Vietcong. These operations failed because:

The US soldiers found it difficult to cope with the climate, leaches and the surrounding terrain of thick, dense jungle.

It was difficult to tell who were innocent villages.

The USA tried another approach, win the hearts and minds. This was to get the South Vietnamese peasants to fight for them. They had projects to help them do this, which were:

Medical care ~ to help cure the sick Vietnamese peasants

Assistance with farming ~ Help the peasants grow food more efficiently.

This failed because the Vietnamese peasants thought the Americans were telling them how to run their country.

As military tactics were unlikely to win the support of the local population the US government felt that the way to win was to increase the number of combat soldiers and to use all available conventional technology.

Now the US decided to use chemical warfare. The idea of this was to destroy Vietcong hideout.

Agent Orange ~ 42 million litres dropped, destroying thousands of hectares of land.

Agent Blue ~ Sprayed on crops to prevent the Vietcong growing food

Napalm ~ contained petrol, chemicals and phosphorus. In contacts with skin, burnt to the bone.

The Vietcong's tactics of the guerrilla warfare made the US soldiers:

Tiredness ~ away and always looking out for the Vietcong as they never new when they would attack.

Drug taking ~ anti depressants to help cheer them up.

Madness ~ lack of sleep makes you start to go mentally insane.

The Vietcong

The Vietcong were a determined enemy of the US "Every aspect of life is dominated by this mood of siege... air raid shelters, rifles stacked at the corner of paddy fields, great posters, aircraft recognition charts, weapon identifications 'rocket', 'bomb'... When arms drills were signalled they were taken deadly serious"

The Vietcong used Guerrilla warfare to help them defeat the Americans. This was adopted to use the jungle to their advantage. The Vietcong made booby traps, carried out ambushes and sabotage US property, then they would just disappear back into the jungle. The booby traps consisted of using mines, mantraps, trip wires with punji sticks, and pits with sharpened bamboo canes. The idea was to make constant fear in the US soldiers minds so they couldn't relax. They also used tunnels for quick getaways and avoid capture from the US troops. The aim of the guerrilla warfare was to wear down the US forces and win over the peasants in the south. The Vietcong were supplied by the Ho Chi Minh trail, which the USA failed to destroy. They supplied weapons, food and anything the Vietcong could need. The tactics were a success as it killed many US troops, sent them insane, take drugs and made them tired. The Vietcong also got support from the peasants for clearing the US troops out of their villages and keeping them from using chemicals on there crops.

Other communist countries did not help in the day, as it would be too risky of being caught by the US. So at the night they sent in supplies to help the Vietcong and maybe kill off a few US soldiers.

The turning point of the war was the Tet Offensive. The Vietcong decided to go and attack the US embassy. They succeeded by driving 60,000 into South Vietnam. They were repulsed with heavy losses. The Vietcong surrounded the Embassy. There was an impact on Americans to see their embassy under attack. This happened in January 1968.

As you can see the tactics were very different, the US using all there money and might but getting nowhere and the Vietcong using the basics and succeeding. Sometimes bigger and stronger is not always better.