Hist 26 Final: Military Terms

Operation Arc Light

1965-1973 USAF bombing targeted on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos and Cambodia

Operation Market Time

1965-1973 USN patrols of the entire Vietnamese coast intercepting and searching ships, preventing North Vietnam from smuggling supplies by boat

We Were Soldiers

2002 film focusing on the Battle of Ia Drang, primarily the events of LZ X-Ray

Battle of Ia Drang

November 1965 battle between PAVN and U.S. forces in the Central Highlands that both sides view as validating their strategies. Leads both sides to seek out more and bigger battles without any real change in the strategic situation. Made famous by We Were Soldiers.

Operation Enhance Plus

October 1972, massive military supply transfer from the U.S. to South Vietnam

Operation DUCK HOOK

Planned strategy against North Vietnam if they did not acquiesce to Nixon's ultimatum to negotiate. Called for resumed bombing, an invasion of North Vietnam, and tactical nuclear weapons. Never implemented.

CINCPAC (Commander in Chief, Pacific)

The military command between JCS and MACV, in theory controls all military operations in the Pacific, including Vietnam. In practice, deferred to MACV.

JCS (Joint Chiefs of Staff)

Top U.S. military leaders, just under the President in the chain of command. Made up of the senior commanders of each service, plus an additional Chairman. In practice, the Chairman doesn't have too much power over the internal politics, it's a four-way free for all for priority and funding.

Studies and Observation Group (SOG)

Top secret, small groups U.S. special forces and non-Vietnamese ethnic minorities sent to Laos and Cambodia for reconnaissance and sabotage purposes.

Agent Orange

Toxic defoliant used by the United States to kill plant life in Vietnam with the aim of eliminating cover and concealment used by the Viet Cong.

Khe Sanh

U.S. Marine base right at the DMZ . Attacked by massive PAVN force in January 1968 until March 1968. Viewed by the U.S. as another Dien Bien Phu, making it a top priority, or alternatively as a diversion before Tet. Also possibly targeted due to its strategic position on Highway Route 9,.

Battle of Hue

Most successful part of the Tet Offensive, Communists occupy much of the city for a month, forcing bloody urban warfare

The Cambodian "incursion"

April 1970, joint U.S.-South Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia designed to increase pressure on Communist bases

Xuan Loc

April 1975, elite ARVN units make a last stand about 40 miles East of Saigon, successfully delaying the PAVN advance by about two weeks before being overrun.

Operation Enhance

August 1972, massive military supply transfer from the U.S. to South Vietnam

Bach Mai hospital

Civilian hospital destroyed by accident during Operation Linebacker II, demonstrating the inaccuracy of strategic bombing

Hue Massacre

Communists execute 3000 pro-RVN people in Hue during their occupation as part of a preplanned terror strategy.

Phoenix Program

Controversial counterinsurgency program designed to have small U.S. and/or ARVN teams root out and eliminate the Viet Cong Infrastructure (VCI). Very effective in damaging VCI, but allegations of atrocities and possibly counterproductive

Operation Linebacker II ("Christmas Bombing")

December 1972, Nixon orders intense bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong. Designed to force the North Vietnamese back to the negotiating table on more pliable terms after Nixon broke off talks. Unclear impact. However, gives Nixon more leverage over Thieu, by lending credibility to his claim that he'll bomb North Vietnam if they break the agreement

7th Air Force

Detachment of the U.S. Air Force involved in Vietnam, especially Operations Rolling Thunder, Arc Light, Linebacker, and Linebacker II.

7th Fleet

Detachment of the U.S. Navy involved in Vietnam, especially Operation Market Time.

Operation Lam Son 719

February 1971, ARVN commandos invade the Laotian panhandle to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail with U.S. airpower.

Operation Rolling Thunder

February to October 1968 USAF and USN bombing of North Vietnam. Heavily informed by World War II experience of bringing the war home to enemy civilians.

Harassment and interdiction (H&I) fire

Indiscriminate, unobserved artillery fire designed to catch the VC unaware and without warning, but also killed many civilians

Napalm

Jellied gasoline used by the United States to firebomb dug-in Viet Cong and PAVN positions. Also used as a terror weapon

Route 9

Key East-West highway in Northern South Vietnam. Used to attack the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos.

Body count

Key component of Westmoreland's "search and destroy" strategy, involved Americans gathering Vietnamese dead after an engagement and counting them up. Designed to track how many Viet Cong killed, but immediately troubled with how to differentiate dead Vietnamese civilians from fights, especially under pressure to kill Viet Cong and report high kill rates.

Operation MENU

March 1969, secret U.S. bombing of Communist bases in Cambodia to signal to North Vietnam that Nixon was serious and willing to expand the war as part of his initial strategy of intimidation.

1972 Spring Offensive ("Easter Offensive")

March 1972 North Vietnamese offensive. Massive push down South Vietnam directly over the DMZ with a big number of USSR-supplied tanks and artillery. Make huge gains, almost taking Hue. Gen. Abrams reports to Nixon that the situation is critical and that South Vietnam may fall, leading to Operation Linebacker.

"Convoy of Tears"

March 1975, ARVN soldiers and their families flee Central RVN to the South in the face of the PAVN advance and Thieu's disastrous order to retreat back to Cochinchina

Ho Chi Minh Campaign

March-April 1975, the last North Vietnamese offensive. Opens with a huge advance through the Central Highlands, quickly taking key cities and routing ARVN forces. Originally planned as the first offensive of a strategy intended to win the war by the end of 1976, ends up taking Saigon in less than 2 months.

Operation Linebacker

May 1972, massive U.S. campaign of bombing North Vietnam and North Vietnamese forces in South Vietnam, as well as mining North Vietnamese harbors for the first time. Has a major impact, allowing ARVN to retake key cities. Nixon touts it as a triumph of Vietnam-ization and that it forced the North Vietnamese to take the Paris negotiations seriously.