Research Studies Series

RESEARCH STUDIES SERIES The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia CIVIC ACTION By Betty Barton Christiansen Air Force History and Museums Program WASHINGTON, D. C. 1998 ii CONTENTS Preface ................................................... v I. The Growth of a Concept ..................................... 1 Notes .............................................. 21 II. The Search for Definitions and Applications ...................... 29 Notes .............................................. 59 III. Nation-Building Amid Instability .............................. 71 Notes ............................................. 103 IV. Reviving Pacification and Civic Action Strategies ................. 111 Notes ............................................. 147 V. The Tet Offensive and Operation Recovery ...................... 155 Notes ............................................. 177 VI. Program Refinement ....................................... 183 Notes ............................................. 201 VII. Redefining Seventh Air Force Civic Action ...................... 207 Notes ............................................. 231 VIII. Summary Assessment and Conclusion ......................... 239 Notes ............................................. 261 Appendices .................................................. 267 1. Cost of Civic Action Activities ................................ 269 2. Statistical Breakdown of Projects ............................. 270 3. USAF Medical Civic Action Program .......................... 271 4. Vietnamese Contributions—Labor and Materiel .................. 272 5. Hamlet Evaluation System Trends, 1968 ....................... 273 6. Infrastructure Neutralization, 1968 ........................... 274 iii iv PREFACE This is the first in a series of research studies—historical works that were not published for various reasons. Yet, the material contained therein was deemed to be of enduring value to Air Force members and scholars. These works were minimally edited and printed in a limited edition to reach a small audience that may find them useful. We invite readers to provide feedback to the Air Force History and Museums Program. Capt. Betty L. Barton Christiansen, a member of the staff in the Office of Air Force History, researched and wrote this volume. She begins by establishing a framework of the civic action concept. Chapter II discusses the period corresponding to the Kennedy administration, when both government and military officials grappled with adjusting to a "new kind of war," the origins of counterinsurgency strategy (of which civic action was a part), and the efforts to apply this strategy in Vietnam. The nation-building period discussed in Chapter III, covers the period from November 1963 to July 1965, a time of great instability in South Vietnam, and the myriad efforts by the USAF to establish unity. Although he had promised to continue the policies of President Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson began to "lean away" from political and other non-military solutions to the crisis in Vietnam. This was reflected in the attitudes of the various services toward unconventional warfare and civic action. By 1966, while military solutions occupied center stage, some stability had been established in Vietnam. More attention was being paid to winning popular allegiance and USAF's Seventh Air Force formally organized its civic action activities. However, just as the program showed signs of success, the Tet offensive intervened. Thus, Chapter V demonstrates that instead of serving as advisers to the Vietnamese, the USAF civic action effort was compelled to revert to an earlier phase of its development, when humanitarian services were emphasized. Still, the program recuperated completely by July 1968. In Chapter VI, the South Vietnamese government embarked on an accelerated pacification program to extend its control throughout the country. Civic action constituted one part of this effort. Seventh Air Force sought to improve training civic action personnel, increase the number of civic action officers "in country," and obtain more resources for the program. These refinements provided a better understanding of civic action and showed the benefits of increased South Vietnamese participation. By the end of 1968, pacification had become a major part of allied strategy in Vietnam. The results of the various changes in the civic action program are discussed and assessed. Jacob Neufeld, General Editor January 1998 v vi CHAPTER I THE GROWTH OF A CONCEPT The new generation of military leaders has shown an increasing awareness that armies cannot only defend their countries—they can help to build them. John F. Kennedy 1 Military forces exist for the primary purpose of bringing both internal and external security to their respective countries. Of necessity they deal in the hardware of war: planes, bombs, tanks, and guns. Frontline troops are taught to kill. Soldiers are often idealized for their bravery and insensitivity at the scene of battle. With the aid of the mass media a stereotyped, dramatic image of the soldier in combat has emerged, with few giving him credit for more than bloodshed and destruction. History is replete, however, with examples of armed forces engaging in constructive endeavors, contributing not only to better civil-military relationships but also to the progress and socioeconomic development of entire nations. These non- military activities, although not known until recently as "military civic action," are as old as warfare itself. Nehemiah ordered ancient Israelite warriors to carry a sword in one hand and their implements to rebuild Jerusalem in the other. As early as 300 B.C. Alexander the Great created the first military engineering units, rebuilding and modernizing many conquered Persian cities. The ancient Roman legionnaire, deviating from the common practice of pillage, exploitation, and suppression of conquered peoples, built roads, located and secured cities, and dug waterways. By introducing superior Roman agricultural methods, legal system, and engineering and mining techniques, the Roman military served as a civilizing force coincidental with its military conquests.2 In more recent years, the engineering accomplishments of the British military were instrumental in transforming India and moving it into the modern era. Likewise nineteenth-century Russian Czars used military engineers to construct the great Trans-Siberian railroad, and since 1919 the Soviet Union has often employed the technical skills and manpower reserves of the Red Army to accomplish such diverse tasks as harvesting crops and building roads. Much the same was true in the United States where military civic action has a long tradition. The important role played by the armed forces in the development and expansion of the West is well-known. During the colonial period, a young militia officer, Col. George Washington, carried out surveying and mapping assignments for the civil government. Later, after independence had been gained, the American military engaged in numerous nation-building activities out of necessity for survival on the frontier, and as a result, encouraged the settlement of wilderness areas and stimulated the economic growth of the nation. Despite pessimistic warnings from settlers, frontier garrisons successfully introduced wheat to the prairie states to feed their troops. They brought in livestock herds to provide a regular beef ration. The Western lumber industry received its initial stimulus from sawmills erected to construct Army forts. The forts themselves became sites for many of the more prosperous Western and Midwestern cities. And military roads formed the basis for 1 the web of highways crisscrossing much of the nation today.3 In many areas Army doctors provided the only medical aid available to early settlements, and troop units stationed in sparsely populated areas often appeared as the only tangible manifestation of national authority. Other civic activities on the part of the military resulted from a conscious nation-building effort on the part of the United States government. Prompted by military necessity and economic considerations, Congress and the Secretary of War assigned the armed forces a succession of construction and exploratory tasks. These missions ranged from the famous expedition of Capt. Meriwether Lewis and Lt. William Clark to the construction of forts and posts to protect settlers from Indian attacks and to guard trails leading into the country's hinterland. In 1810 the War Department, even while on the verge of war with England and France, directed Army elements to build a "wagon road" from Fort Hawkins on the Georgia frontier through Indian country into the Mississippi Territory.4 Several years after the War of 1812, Secretary of War John C. Calhoun noted that such civic actions had not only proved "highly useful for military operations" but also contributed directly to the "industry and political prosperity of the community.5 In the decade following the War of 1812, settlers flocked into territories east of the Mississippi. Since the U.S. military academy at West Point produced the nation's only civil engineers for several decades, the federal government relied almost exclusively upon military specialists for reconnoitering and survey work6 The Engineering Corps cut trails through the forest and conducted surveys for the initial access roads as successive areas were opened for exploration and settlement. Later garrison troops made the necessary road improvements, drained

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