0 - The Black Vault

THE BDM CORPORATION
0 the South Korean government, fearing another invasion from the
North was imminer,.,
indicated that they wanted to withdraw their
furces from the RVN to help protect their homeland.,
0 there were increased communist violations of South Koyea's north-,
ern border.
* the US intell ;gence community forecasted a communist-instigated
crisis for West Berlin.35/
President Johnson, in his reflections on those crisis-packed
days, concluded that the communist-inspired acts, especially the capture of
the Pueblo, were premeditated. Moreover, he consideyed that the seizure of
the US
intelligence vessel eight days before Tet was orchestrated by the
DRV's North Korean supporters to divert US military resources, and it was a
tacti: calculated to pressure the South Koreans into recalling their combat
troops from Vietnam.
Those overt acts did cause South Korea seriously to
consider an immediate withdrawal of their military units from Vietnam in
order to build up defcnsive strength at home. The US %as forced to respond
quickly and decisively. 36/
Two
days after the Pueblo incident, President Johnson dispatched
more than 350 aircraft to air bases in South Korea and called up
more than 14,000 Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve and Navy personnel
to replace the depleted strategic reserve in the US,
The rationale behind
the decision to dispatch massive airpower to South Korea and the accompanying
partial mobilization was basad on the follcwing:
a • the Soutn Korean Army, with in-country US combat forces, was
considered capable of holding its own
against the North Korean
Army, therefore additional US ground combat deployments were not
deemed necessary.
* the North Koreans had a larger air force at the time, therefore
the US reinforcement of nrore than 350 aircraft put the balance
of airpower in favor of the South and served to signal US determinatioti
tn the North.
0 the rapid deployment of US airpower cut deeply into America's
strategic reserve forces, therefore the President decided to call
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