This work examines the development of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces as a national institution, explores the historical origins of the political warfare system, and appraises the way that system developed military morale, encouraged popular support, and attempted to weaken enemy resolve. The system of political control over the military that was developed in Soviet Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution—and in Republican China in the 1920s where it influenced both the Nationalist and Communist movements—was embraced by North Vietnam in the 1940s and South Vietnam in the 1960s. The book assesses the overall effectiveness of political warfare activities in the Republic of Vietnam’s army, the advice and support offered by the U.S. military to the South Vietnamese political warfare establishment, and the consequences of the way the war ended for the members of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces who served in the political warfare system.

The late Robert A. Silano was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army in 1966, and was an instructor at the Army Special Warfare School in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He served in the Republic of Vietnam from 1969 to 1971 and continued his service in the Department of the Army until 1977. He was a faculty member of the Institute of Higher Defense Studies, National Defense University, from 1986 to 1992 and served as editor of The Joint Force Quarterly from 1992 to 2004, and as director of the National Defense University Press.

Robert A. Silano
Foreword by Lewis M. Stern
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages:
Bibliographic Info: photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6811-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5191-0
Imprint: McFarland