History Commons^™

Martial Brilliance Or Marine Corps Propaganda? The Combined Action Platoon In The Vietnam War, Beta Scarpaci

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This paper examines the structure, concept of operations, and efficacy of the little-known USMC

Combined Action Platoon program as a means for the pacification of South Vietnam and an effort to suppress the NLF insurgency. This paper primarily examines primary source material documenting the conduct of the Combined Action Platoons in order to determine if the program was as effective as its Marine Corps proponents claim and if the US Military Assistance Command, Vietnam under Gen. William Westmoreland and Gen. Creighton Abrams made a military blunder in not implementing the program across the whole of South Vietnam.

The United States In The Great War And The Alternate History Of The Twentieth Century, Matthew Anstatt

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

The events of the twentieth century were undoubtedly some of the most significant in human history. Exponentially increasing levels of military technology combined with antiquated methods of peacekeeping and archaic systems of government in Europe meant that by the middle of the century the world would see international conflict on an unprecedented scale. This paper aims to examine the role of United States in these events and to question, with the benefit of hindsight, whether the path taken by the Wilson administration was the most prudent.