American Rules of Engagement in the Vietnam War

¶ … rules of engagement established in the war against the Vietnamese by the United States of America. It highlights the way those who engaged in the war on the U.S. side perceived those restrictions starting from the top political leadership to the soldiers in the battlefield.

The United States of America's war against Vietnam came at the height of divisive world politics. This was the reason that led to the institution of the rules of engagement. The war was a political war fought by the military personnel. The Secretary of Defense usurped the powers of the General as well as the Commanders putting himself at the helm of the command chain only listening to the president. What followed was a broken chain of command that resulted in widespread suffering of the soldiers on the battlefield.

Rules of Engagements

In accordance to the rules of engagements during Vietnam War, the soldiers at the battlefield were not favored at all. They were not at liberty to shoot unless shot at, a situation that made them vulnerable to the enemy. There were instances where soldiers had to call for approval to shoot at the Viet Cong; many times this led to humiliation as they escaped while waiting for the approval. Apparently, the rules of engagement were restrictive and had a negative effect on the military activity lead to frustrations and lowered morale of the soldiers.

Battalion commanders during the Vietnamese War were against the rules of engagement they saw the unfavorable conditions of the war front. The commanders were ready to weaken the Vietnamese Air Force and they knew how to, but the political leadership restricted them forcing the U.S. Air force to engage the enemy in the air. According to Boyne (1997), various commanders repeatedly asked permission to attack the enemy's Surface to Air Missile sites (SAMs), but did not succeed.

During the Vietnam War, division commanders were responsible for everything that happened within their command, they were to adhere to the rules of engagement. However, that was not necessarily the case. According to Sullivan (2009), under Ewell's command, the 9th Infantry Division within the military conducted a widespread attack against the Viet Cong in an operation name "Operation Speedy Express" that was aimed at eliminating quickly and with brute force, the entire Viet Cong army. Ewell's actions reflected the feelings of other commanders and their reactions to the rules of engagement.

General William Westmoreland's policies during the Vietnam War showed little regard to the rules of engagements. These policies were aimed at obliterating the Viet Cong army. In this regard, the United States army used sophisticated firepower to attack the enemy forces while the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces protected their civilian population from those attacks. General Westmoreland engaged in activities that were in total disregard to the rules of engagements.

Secretary of Defense during the Vietnamese war, Robert McNamara was not keen on fighting aggressively in Vietnam. He sided with the president to make the war restrictive hence establishing the rules of engagement. He thought the Chinese and the Soviet would join the war deeming it a military campaign against the Communist Block (Dorschel, 1995).