Martial Brilliance or Marine Corps Propaganda? The Combined Action Platoon in the Vietnam War

Authors

Beta Scarpaci, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Abstract

This paper examines the structure, concept of operations, and efficacy of the little-known USMC

Combined Action Platoon program as a means for the pacification of South Vietnam and an effort to suppress the NLF insurgency. This paper primarily examines primary source material documenting the conduct of the Combined Action Platoons in order to determine if the program was as effective as its Marine Corps proponents claim and if the US Military Assistance Command, Vietnam under Gen. William Westmoreland and Gen. Creighton Abrams made a military blunder in not implementing the program across the whole of South Vietnam.

First Page

145

Last Page

175

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Scarpaci, Beta (2019) "Martial Brilliance or Marine Corps Propaganda? The Combined Action Platoon in the Vietnam War," Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History: Vol. 9: Iss. 2, Article 8.
DOI: 10.20429/aujh.2019.090208
Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/aujh/vol9/iss2/8