LESSONS FROM THE BATTLEFIELD

The experiences of U.S. infantrymen in Vietnam are told in many ways: through personal memoirs, media accounts, oral histories—and the government’s own reports. Historian Chris McNab mined those reports to produce The U.S. Army Infantryman Vietnam Pocket Manual, which reprints declassified primary documents such as field manuals, weapons manuals, intelligence analyses and after-action reports, including those with “lessons learned” sections. This article features two lessons-learned sections, with introductions by McNab.

The Vietnam War, and the diligent efforts of archivists, has left us with a vast archive of U.S. Army infantry after-action reports, many of which conclude with a “lessons learned” section that summarized the tactical knowledge acquired from the particular operation. The following report was part of a broader compilation of these reports. The explanatory document that introduces the report explains that it “is the first of the 1968 special series of numbered Operations Reports—Lessons Learned. It contains a summary of selected items based on information reported in Operational Reports—Lessons Learned and Combat After Action reports submitted during 1967.” Information collected in documents such as these would be distributed to front-line units and training formations back in the States, hopefully to improve the survivability of those new to Vietnam operations. In the extracts below, there are interesting discussions about various tactical challenges, particularly those relating to winkling out the enemy from rocky cave complexes (common in mountainous areas).

From “Operations Report—Lessons Learned 1-68: Summary of Lessons” (1968)

SECTION 1: MANEUVER TACTICS AND TECHNIQUES

1. ITEM: Pursuit, battlefield sweep and evacuation of the wounded. (670698)

The 4th Infantry Division reports that there is a built-in conflict as to what action should be taken immediately upon the enemy attempting to withdraw in the dense jungle near the Cambodian Border. The ideal situation would be to have a landing zone in the immediate proximity of the contact area through which reinforcements could be inserted to initiate an aggressive exploitation or pursuit. Simultaneously, the