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Viet Cong: South Vietnam
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An enemy in the shadows, the Viet Cong was the military arm of the National Liberation Front, the Communist Party of the Republic of Vietnam. Often generally thought of as local guerrillas, they were ... an important part of the North Vietnamese Army regular cadres.
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The Viet Cong (VC) was an insurgent organization fighting the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. They were funded, equipped and staffed by both South Vietnamese and the army of North Vietnam.
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In comparison, the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese troops had very little firepower at their disposal. With the US air-force in complete command of the skies, the use of convoys of trucks to transport artillery and to resupply them inside South Vietnam was very difficult. Such large scale resupply was restricted to the border areas of the north and west. Inside South Vietnam most of the ordinance resupply was done on foot.
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This extraordinary installment of WGBH Educational Foundation's "American Experience" juxtaposed concurrent 1967 events -- the ambush of an American battalion by Viet Cong and a student protest in Wisconsin -- to illuminate a turning point in the Vietnam War. Robert Kenner Films, WGBH Educational Foundation, Wisconsin Public Television, Playtone, BBC.
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Despite its American training and weapons, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, usually called the ARVN, was in many ways ill-adapted to meet the insurgency of the Viet Cong, or VC. Higher-ranking officers, appointed on the basis of their family connections and political reliability, were often apathetic, incompetent, or corrupt—and sometimes all three. The higher ranks of the army were ... thoroughly penetrated by Viet Cong agents, who held positions varying from drivers, clerks, and radio operators to senior headquarters officers. With its heavy American-style equipment, the ARVN was principally a road-bound force not well configured to pursuing VC units in swamps or jungles. U.S. military advisers responsible for helping to develop and improve the force usually lacked knowledge of the Vietnamese language, and in any case they routinely spent less than 12 months in the country.
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The first three phases of BINH TAY were directed against Base Areas 701, 702, and 740, long utilized to support Viet Cong and North Vietnamese units operating in the central highlands of the II Corps area. There was little activity by armored units during these operations; South Vietnamese commanders preferred to use their armor for security and transportation. Enemy resistance was light and poorly organized. These first phases, although successful, showed clearly that the South Vietnamese commanders in II Corps Tactical Zone did not fully appreciate the possibilities for maneuver and firepower that armored units possessed. The II Corps cavalry regiments were not given the freedom of action afforded similar units in the III and IV Corps areas.
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South Vietnam