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The Ideal and Reality in Employing and Operating ROKFV's Company Level Tactical Base during the Vietnam War - Focusing on the Battle of Ducco(1966) -

Hosub Shim 1

1육군사관학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Based on ROK’s actual conduct during the Vietnam War, employing company level tactical bases was not a strategical feature in itself, rather it was a tactical one that followed ROKFV’s strategic emphasis on its conduct of the pacification(stabilization) operations and the reality of the war. Although this tactical strategy was not always employed following its original ideal, which focused more on a strategic or operational level of the pacification, the company base as ROK’s most important and unique tactical method remained so unabated for as long as ROKFV remained an active participant in the war. ROKFV had to pursue success in both unconventional and conventional war by adopting company tactical bases. However, it was not that easy for the troops to maintain a balance between the company base’s main function of supporting pacification operations while at the same time conducting defensive operations centered on the tactical base. Despite the brilliant victory at Duc Co battle between Tiger Div. and North Vietnamese army, ROKs, internally, realized a limitation and risk of the self-defense of the company base. Considering the ROKFV's internal goal of maximum results with minimum casualties, not causing unnecessary casualties by defending the base well was more realistic and sensitive to the Korean troops than achieving maximum results by successfully pacifying local populations. As a result, a successful defense became a more important and realistic matter than a success in pacification efforts in terms of operating company bases. This tendency became more prevalent as the Vietnam War progressed and bases, indeed, became permanent fortifications in this period.

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