0 - The Black Vault

THE BDM CORPORATION
2. Rural Construction: A Push for a Social Revolution
(?See Figure 5-12)
The 1965-1966 timeframe saw more political instability in Saigon
1 pWhile
and a sharp increase in US involveilent in the war, In February 1965,
President Johnson ordered retaliatory air attacks against North Vietnam;
sustained bombing operations began one month later. US Marines landed at
Da Nang in March and by June 1965, both the marines and troops of the 173rd
Airborne Brigade had begun offensive combat operations in the vicinity of
Da Nang and Bien Hoa respectively.. The US troop buildup was underway.
It was not until the "Young Turk" generals (led by Nguyen Cao Ky
and Nguyen Van Thieu) had taken over Saigon, that the US was able to get
the GVN to focus again on pacification planning.. President Johnson reappointed
Ambassador
Lodge to the Saigon post with orders to press the new
GVN leaders for a "sncial revolution" of the countryside. In addition, a
handpicked group of about ten experienced countersubversion/counterterrorism
personnel,
under the direction of counterinsurgency expert General
Edward Lansdale, were sent to RVN to provide Lodge with a special
operating %Taff in the field of political action both at the central
government level and in connection with rural programs.
Lodge appointed Lansdale to be the Chairman of the US
Mission
Liaison Group to tae newly-created Vietnamese governmental body having
responsibility for "rural construction". Lodge saw pacification as the
GVN's most important single responsibilicy.lO0/ He sought to use the
growing US military presence as a means for pacifying the countryside and
in the process making the ARVN into a vital and active force in the Vietnamese
society, Lodge's fornula for a successful outcome of Rural Constructiun
was based on the absolute necessity of controlling th
villages -- first seek destruction of enemy mainforce elements and then
paci fy.
Lodge and Lansdale pressed the "Young Turks" to make
reforms, tne allied military buiid-up continued. The III MAF and ARVN
units took control of the combat effort from the Da N~ng area up tc the
Demilitarized Zone.
Zones.
US Army units moved into the II and III Corps Tdctical
Free World allies -- South Korean, Philippine, Australian and Thai
forces -- began to share tneir butden in she conflict., Each member nation
'2 _5_4a