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The Vietnam War

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Rules of Engagement and Limited War Ideology in Vietnam War Perspectives

Summary:

During the Vietnam War, strict rules of engagement and limited war ideology shaped soldiers' perspectives. Soldiers faced frustration as these policies restricted actions, such as targeting the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which they believed would enhance survival and effectiveness. Battalion and division commanders felt conflicted, understanding the geopolitical rationale yet sympathizing with soldiers' desire for less restrictive rules. High-level leaders like Westmoreland and McNamara prioritized the "big picture," accepting limited warfare despite its impact on combat operations. Overall, these policies complicated soldiers' efforts and heightened risks.

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How do the rules of engagement and limited war ideology in the Vietnam War explain the perspective of soldiers?

During the Vietnam War, geopolitical considerations led the government to impose very strict rules of engagement on the soldiers and to carefully limit the scope of the war.  For example, the government officially banned any incursions into other countries even though the enemy was using the “Ho Chi Minh Trail” as a major supply route. 

From the perspective of the average soldier, this was very frustrating.  The soldiers were risking their lives and were being prevented from doing things that would have made survival more likely.  The soldiers would of course have liked less restrictive rules of engagement.  They would have liked to be able to interdict the Ho Chi Minh trail and thereby reduce the enemy’s capacity to fight.  But this was not possible due to the needs of the government.  Therefore, from the perspective of the solider, the rules of engagement and the idea of limited war were...

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just two more factors that made it harder for them to try to win the war and to survive it.

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How do rules of engagement and limited war ideology affect commanders in Vietnam?

Soldiers at these kinds of levels were among the most conflicted (along with the officers at the lower levels) in the Vietnam War.  They were high enough in the hierarchy, and removed enough from the actual battlefield, to be very aware of the importance of the limited war ideology.  At the same time, however, they were low enough in the hierarchy to feel a greater connection to the men who were fighting and a greater desire to preserve their lives than was felt at the higher levels.

Officers at this level were high enough to understand the “big picture.”  They knew that the war could not be prosecuted in an “all-out” fashion.  This made them feel that the rules of engagement had some legitimacy.  They were not like the soldiers at the lowest levels who were more likely to care only about survival.

On the other hand, these officers had generally been in combat units themselves not too long before.  They still felt the needs of the combat officers more viscerally than their higher ups likely did.  This led them to have more sympathy for the combat troops’ desire for unlimited rules of engagement.  In addition, they felt the need for military victories to enhance their career prospects.  These forces pulled them toward wanting less restrictive rules of engagement.

Thus, these officers understood the need for a limited war, but still felt the desire to have less restrictive rules of engagement.

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How do the rules of engagement correlate with the limited war ideology as seen through the experiences of General Westmoreland and Secretary McNamara in Vietnam?

At this level, attitudes towards the rules of engagement and limited war were much closer to those of the president than they were to the attitudes of the individual combat soldiers.  These men were at the highest levels of the military, where a clear understanding of geopolitics is typically vital. 

At this level, leaders are far removed from actual combat.  McNamara, of course, was not a soldier.  In order to get to such levels, leaders must have a grasp on the “big picture” and must be very political.  For these reasons, leaders like Westmoreland and McNamara were more focused on the ideas of limited warfare than were the officers below them.  This is not to say that they did not care about the combat soldiers, but it is true that they needed to be more focused on the big picture.

For this reason, these two men would have been more inclined to accept limited rules of engagement.  Westmoreland, of course, tended to want more soldiers and a broader war because he wanted to be able to win the war.  However, he still understood that it was important to pay attention to geopolitics.

In general, then, the farther up the ladder we go, the more we see leaders who are concerned with geopolitics and limited war.  McNamara and Westmoreland were only one or two steps from the top of the ladder and were therefore more cognizant of the importance of limited war than most soldiers and officers at the lower levels.

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How do rules of engagement relate to limited war ideology in Vietnam?

From the perspective of the individual, low-level soldier out in the field in Vietnam, the limited war ideology had little meaning.  Individual soldiers, particularly at the enlisted level, are typically more interested in doing the job right in front of them and in staying alive than they are in issues of grand strategy or world politics.  This makes a lot of sense.  To them, it is small consolation to know that there is a good geopolitical reason behind the fact that their friends are dying.

The limited war ideology caused the higher levels of the chain of command to institute rules of engagement that were rather limiting.  These rules made the job of the individual soldier rather harder.  They were forced to have to worry a lot about doing the right thing as they fought.  They also tended to feel as if they were not being allowed to fight as effectively as possible.  This would be problematic for individual soldiers.  The rules of engagement would make it harder for them to stay alive.  It would feel as if their lives were being put at risk to satisfy the geopolitical visions of people in the higher echelons of power.

Thus, the individual soldier would have experienced the rules of engagement dictated by the limited war ideology as a problematic set of policies that made their own lives harder and put their lives at risk.

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