Rules of engagement and limited war across the Vietnam War chain of command

ROE Vietnam

Within the context of war fighting, the idea of limited war and the rules of engagement within that paradigm can often conflict if not counter act each other. The purpose of this essay is to correlate the understanding the rules of engagement (ROE) with limited war ideology as seen through the perspective and experiences of different levels of the chain of command.

Individual Soldiers

The Vietnam War was mosty a guerilla style war fought between young and aggressive soldiers on all sides of the conflict. For soldiers at this level, all war is total war. The perspective of the individual soldier transcends mission and war objectives and resides mostly in the survival mode of living, escaping death or capture.

Battalion Commander

As one progresses higher upon the chain of command, the Battalion Commander begins to participate in the more strategic aspects of the conflict. Even though this medium level commander is aware of the total war strategy, he was responsible for employing tactical level maneuvers in support of the total war. ROE from this standpoint are spelled out in SOP and daily experiences.

Gen Westmoreland

Westmoreland was the commanding General for the operations in Vietnam for most of the conflict. His perspective of total war must include governmental agencies, both American and foreign along with other geo-political interests. As the highest ranking person, specifically responsible for the mission in Vietnam, the ROE from this perspective must be a total war scenario where nothing can be omitted in understanding the conflict.

Sec of Def McNamara

As the Secretary of Defense during most of the Vietnam War, McNamara represented the representation of the elected executive branch of the government (the president). In order to reckon total war strategies with limited war strategies and developing ROE's that accompany this extremes was dealt by on a political level by McNamara. Political maneuvering becomes much more prevalent at this highly controversial position during the war.

LBJ

President Johnson, who took office when Kennedy was murdered, was strictly a political figure in the Vietnam Conflict. His aims represented the military industrial complex's ability to wield power and hold influence of the world. As a figurehead, his ideas of total war and rules of engagement were limited to his ability lead and maneuver politically from Washington DC. In retrospect, LBJ had very little power in controlling the Vietnam war.