Operation Rolling Thunder Analysis: Objectives, Tactics And The Lessons Learned

Strategic and Tactical Factors

Discuss about the Operation Rolling Thunder Analysis.

Operation rolling thunder refers to the continuous attacks which were done by the United States Navy, second air division in collaboration with the Republic of Vietnam Air force (VNAF) against North Vietnam. The operation went on for about three years, March 1965 to November 1968.  This was during the Vietnam War. The army used aircraft to drop bombs on North Vietnam. Several people were killed and others injured. Property worth huge amount of money was destroyed in the process. The operation, later on, changed its name to Seventh Air Force. The then US president, Johnson, was against communism which was supported by the union of the Soviet. He wanted South Vietnam which was under the control of the US to remain under capitalism. During the war, North Vietnam received material and military aid from the Union of Soviet and the China Republic. The aim of the US was to preserve the South Vietnam into the non-communist society by stopping the influence of the North. (Ellsworth, 2014).

The operation came into action when the US and South Vietnam were defeated in the cold war to persuade North Vietnam to end the support which it gave to the Communists in South Vietnam. The primary objectives of the operation were to stop communism in Vietnam which was supported by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Secondly, it aimed at destroying transportation infrastructure in North Vietnam which facilitated its activities in the South.  Nevertheless, the US needed to destroy weapons and the air defenses of the enemy.

The Vietcong’s, who were the Vietnamese communists who were the military branch of for NLF (National Liberation Front) used a combination of skills to attack the US military. Because they were well familiar of the landscape, they easily attacked and killed the armies in the forest one by one, a tactic known as guerrilla warfare. This tactic helped them in killing so many US soldiers.TheHo Chi Minh trail which was located near the Cambodian border enabled them to get access to ammunition, fire arms and special equipment to use in the war. This was an important strategy in fighting the US who had good modern weapons.

The guerrillas were given training and this was a useful skill as it enabled them to fight the enemy for long. By the mid-1960s, the Vietcong soldiers had got access to short arms and AK-47 submachine guns.  Despite all this, they avoided battles with the Americans in open fields because their trained personnel was outnumbered. They had to hide in the forest and attack few troupes.  This proved to be successful.They had got knowledge from the Chinese in the previous wars, they had created hiding bases which they gave the first priority.The NLF gave orders to each community to dig tunnels in each region which were used as hiding places as well as attack bases. They would hide in the tunnels from where hey monitored the operations above

Political and Military Objectives

Strategic Planning is of the essence in any operation. For success, significant as well as satisfaction to be attained plan is an essential component. The US, with the help of its allies, used the cold war against North Vietnam. This involved shutting down material as well as ideological aid from other nations from reaching the country.  The US planned to end the communist's leaders' power since it was afraid that they would wage war against South Vietnam which was the United States supported government.  They had a strong military base with large weapons which the US leaders feared.  Political instability in South Vietnam after assassination of their leader formed a basis for the US to come to Vietnam. It feared that the North was going to dominate the south. Political instability served as a strategy for the US to introduce capitalism.

The US, with the aid of the South Vietnam people whose president, Ngo Dinh Diem had been assassinated was able to keep the war on for more than two years. Guerrilla war tactic was used to attack their enemy.  It involved the killing of leaders who led the opposition.  The United States began by bombing the demilitarized zone which was in between South as well as North Vietnam with the intention of applying continuous pressure as well as make the bombing activities as activators to holding negotiations with the North Vietnam. On 24th February 1965, operation rolling thunder was given approval by the US government to commence its business in Vietnam after a US naval vessel was attacked by the patrol boats of North Vietnam. The first attacks were launched at Xom Bang. The bombing campaign was meant to last for not more than eight weeks; however, it went on for three years due to the strong resistance from Vietnam.

At first, the US took caution on what to bomb to avoid provoking the Soviet as well as Chinese response. It feared that they would form friendship with North Vietnam. Eventually, this is what happened to make the operation fail in attaining its objectives. During this war, the US had soldiers who were well experienced in using weapons. Their experience came from the world wars I and II as well as others wars they had fought.

The US, being the leading in technology during this time was an added advantage because they had access to a variety of weapons which the enemies did not have. To counter this, the Vietnamese soldiers had a good understanding of their land terrain than the Americans. They knew their hiding places, and this made it difficult for them to be found. They killed the American soldiers in the guerrilla warfare tactic. (Bishop, 2013)

Lessons that Political and Military Leaders should Learn from the Operation

The involved nations failed to agree on finding a better way to resolve their conflict, and as a result, the use of the military force became a necessity in order to trigger for a better way to solve the existing problem. The United States president, Johnson believed that a military force demonstration would make Russia as well as China to back down. He also hoped that the war against North Vietnam would make it retreat and hold peaceful negotiations.

The US military had soldiers who had better knowledge on war. They had fought in several wars including the world wars. They had won wars against Japan and Germany during World War II. They had the required skills in the field. They knew the land terrain in Vietnam, and due to this, they knew the areas to attack. Their expertise in using aircrafts to drop missiles was an advantage they possessed.  

The US had planned to bomb army barracks, docks, rail yards, bridges and supply dumps in order to weaken the Vietnamese army. This was a good tactic to use, without supplies, they could not last for long in the war.

Objectives of the operation rolling thunder.

After the assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem, the South Vietnam president, the North started to introduce its communist policies to the south due to political instability. The US did not like this, and it wanted it to remain an independent capitalist state. The US wanted to remain the only nation with the strongest military by destroying weapons in Asia.

The US fear of nuclear weapon production in Asia led to the air force attacks on North Vietnam to stop its production with the aim of preventing the third world war. The effects of Nuclear bombs had earlier been witnessed during the Second World War when Hiroshima and Nagasaki were attacked, an event which led to the end the second world war with large effects on the people and soils. Up to the moment, the effects are still experienced. 

During the rolling thunder operation, so many innocent people were killed and others injured. Property worth billions of dollars were destroyed leaving so many citizens homeless. The refugee crisis increased in Vietnam which then became an unstable nation due to the war. Military leaders should know that solving issues the easy way is not always the best way. The US was not able to hold negotiations with North Vietnam because it proved difficult. Instead, President Johnson decided to wage a war on Vietnam which left many people suffering.

The Operation Failed

Patience is a virtue that political and military leaders should learn to have. Good decisions do not need a rush. The US wanted to end communism with immediate effect in order to implement their capitalism policy to South Vietnam. Following a long route seemed not to work, and they decided to take a shortcut which had so many adverse effects. Destroying another nation in order to make them adopt your policies is something which should be discouraged globally. So many nations have been destroyed in the world, many innocent people are killed in the process. Apart from Vietnam, The US with the assistance of Great Britain declared a military attack in Iraq and caused a huge destruction.

Ideological differences can lead to an eruption of animosity among nations. Leaders should find better methods of dealing with these differences and not declare war on other countries. The difference in ideas and believes results to cold war. During cold wars, nations will not develop because their trade partnership and support are weak. Citizens of the involved countries live in fear of moving to the affected nations.  A cold war is just like a dormant volcano whose results will be seen during its eruption. Forming advisory boards in military and political settings is a basic which should be given the first priority. Nevertheless, leaders should listen to their advisors before taking any action.

Coordination is of essence. Political leaders should interact and coordinate well with military commanders before making any decision. This will only work when good advisors are selected.

I think the operation was not successful. Despite the fact that the US was well equipped for the war with the aid of silent allies. (Frankum, 2013). North Vietnam was given a helping hand by the Republic of China and Russia (USSR).  The allies helped North Vietnam to overcome the US attacks. The civilian advisors of President Johnson never understood the implications which the air force would cause and thereby made their mission a failure, he did not understand the role of the military was to defend their nation and not just attacking anyhow other nations.  Several American aircrafts were destroyed in the operation making it difficult to continue with their attack. In the process several soldiers were killed. (Ausenda, 2012).

The operation rolling thunder leaders were not able to, change tactics and properly communicate their course of action through their civilian chain of command. I think if they had changed their tactic earlier they would have succeeded. They should not have waged war on North Vietnam yet their problem would have been solved.

In the operation the US lost more aircrafts compared to their enemy, more than nine hundred American aircrafts were destroyed while on the other hand less than two hundred Vietnamese aircrafts were brought down. (Austin, 2013).

From my standpoint, the operation was conducted with more of personal interest rather than helping all. Changing Asian nations to be capitalists like the US was just a way to have the US dominating the world. Most Asian countries are still communists. This can act as prove that the Operation Rolling Thunder's objectives were not attained as expected.

Conclusion

The American war over the Asian nations which support communism will not be solved over military attacks. The attacks just cause pain, destruction, deaths and bring development of the involved nations back.  Some of the objectives of the operation have failed to be achieved. There are other peaceful methods of problem solving. Political and military leaders should know this friendly methods of getting solutions. Violence is not the way forward to success.

Implementation of military action on a nation that is against the set laws of the world should be last thing to consider in problem solving. Even though the US Air Force started sending its advisory personnel to South Vietnam in the year 1961, it did not start the attacks. The Vietnamese attack in Tonkin Gulf in 1964 motivated the US to start the war. The US bombing campaign officially began in the year 1965.

The United States tried as much as possible to avoid influencing the china republic and the union of soviet from entering the war from the opposition. This was a difficult policy since the two nations of Asia were on the same front as North Vietnam, they were for communism. The US controlled its bombing activities to evade the possible entrance of Soviet or China to the conflict. The first US loss came in July 1965 when the Air force F-4 Phantom was shot down.

The US had four main objectives in the operation. These were:

• To end the support of North Vietnam in the South in order to stop communism.
• To destroy the nuclear weapons which it feared would be used in starting a third world war especially after the outcomes of the Second World War. Nuclear bomb was used by the United States in destroying two cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The effects were so severe that the US did not want another war.
• Destroying North Vietnam’s transport infrastructure, air defense system and industrial base because they made it powerful.
• To boost the Saigon regime in the South Vietnam.

To obtain these objectives was not an easy task. The communist’s nations provided military aid to North Vietnam, the People’s Republic of China and the USSR allied with North Vietnam.

So many people were affected in the war. The US used military trained people in the war. On the other side Vietnam used the Civilians who had no knowledge of war as well as the military. The citizens were forced to fight to defend their nation from the US attacks. Thousands of innocent people lost their lives trying to resist the war. (Frankum, 2015)

So many outcomes were experienced during and after the war. These include:

• The destruction of infrastructure slowed down the development of the demolished country. Roads and railway lines were the main targets during the war by the US in order to cut down the supplies of military weapons and other materials from other communist nations of Asia to North Vietnam.
• Innocent people were killed during the war
• The US lost so many Aircrafts and pilots in the war. Several Soldiers of both nations were killed and others injured during the war.
• Cold war intensified between the Asian nations and the US. Due to fear of attack by Asian nations the US has been employing military on them since then. For instance the attack of Iraq and the cold war between US and Russia( initially known as USSR

A peaceful method of conflict resolution should be employed by conflicting nations to avoid affecting innocent people.

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