The Mayaguez Incident: Near Disaster at Koh Tang

The Mayaguez Incident: Near Disaster at Koh Tang PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 54

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Book Description
The Mayaguez incident is a clear case in which the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of war merged. The strategic objectives as determined by the National Command Authorities were to recover the ship and crew and in doing so demonstrate U.S. strength and resolve. Discussions in National Security Council meetings clearly prioritized the objectives, the most important of which was to demonstrate to the world that the United States remained an international power willing and able to defend its overseas interests. Regrettably, poor operational command and control (C2) during planning created problems that would plague the operation until its conclusion. From an execution point of view, these problems were caused by a combination of several factors. First, a joint task force, composed of units from three different services, was hastily formed and tasked to rapidly conduct a complex operation with strategic implications. Second, C2 failures during planning were caused by the absence of centralized leadership, which would have unified the effort and resulted in a cohesive task force. Three, faulty dissemination of crucial intelligence to the tactical planners and operators resulted in a flawed scheme of maneuver. These factors created a planning environment characterized by chaos and confusion. During the operation the same problems of C2 that plagued it during planning were present to an even greater degree. At the operational level, there was little situational awareness, and no one was coordinating the battlespace. Throughout the fight, there were occasions when the Marines were nearly overrun by the numerically superior, well-trained, and disciplined enemy force. During the 14-hour battle seemingly minor tactical events influenced the outcome. In the end, it was the tactical leadership, initiative, and individual heroism of countless servicemen that overcame significant C2 obstacles to prevent tactical defeat and strategic failure.

The Mayaguez Incident: Near Disaster at Koh Tang

The Mayaguez Incident: Near Disaster at Koh Tang PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 54

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Book Description
The Mayaguez incident is a clear case in which the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of war merged. The strategic objectives as determined by the National Command Authorities were to recover the ship and crew and in doing so demonstrate U.S. strength and resolve. Discussions in National Security Council meetings clearly prioritized the objectives, the most important of which was to demonstrate to the world that the United States remained an international power willing and able to defend its overseas interests. Regrettably, poor operational command and control (C2) during planning created problems that would plague the operation until its conclusion. From an execution point of view, these problems were caused by a combination of several factors. First, a joint task force, composed of units from three different services, was hastily formed and tasked to rapidly conduct a complex operation with strategic implications. Second, C2 failures during planning were caused by the absence of centralized leadership, which would have unified the effort and resulted in a cohesive task force. Three, faulty dissemination of crucial intelligence to the tactical planners and operators resulted in a flawed scheme of maneuver. These factors created a planning environment characterized by chaos and confusion. During the operation the same problems of C2 that plagued it during planning were present to an even greater degree. At the operational level, there was little situational awareness, and no one was coordinating the battlespace. Throughout the fight, there were occasions when the Marines were nearly overrun by the numerically superior, well-trained, and disciplined enemy force. During the 14-hour battle seemingly minor tactical events influenced the outcome. In the end, it was the tactical leadership, initiative, and individual heroism of countless servicemen that overcame significant C2 obstacles to prevent tactical defeat and strategic failure.

A Very Short War

A Very Short War PDF Author: John Francis Guilmartin (Jr.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
A Very Short War is a unique and compelling account of the Mayaguez-Koh Tang crisis by soldier-historian John F. Guilmartin, Jr. A former air rescue helicopter pilot stationed in Thailand in May 1975, Guilmartin revisits Mayaguez and Koh Tang - and the chaotic events leading up to the affair. He sheds new light on the politics, the tactics, the orders, the high-level decision makers, and the fighting men entangled in a crucial military action that nearly ended in disaster for U.S. forces. Arguing that the Mayaguez-Koh Tang operation demonstrates war's essential unpredictability, Guilmartin deftly explodes many of the popularly held myths that surround the nature of war.

A Very Short War

A Very Short War PDF Author: John F. Guilmartin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781603441964
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
On May 12, 1975, less than two weeks after the fall of Saigon, Khmer Rouge naval forces seized the S.S. Mayaguez, an American container ship, off the Cambodian coast in the Gulf of Siam. The swift military response ordered by President Gerald Ford was designed to recapture the Mayaguez, held at anchor off the island of Koh Tang, to liberate her crew, and to demonstrate U.S. strength and resolve in the immediate aftermath of America's most humiliating defeat. Guilmartin, a former air rescue helicopter pilot stationed in Thailand, provides a unique and compelling account of the Mayaguez–Koh Tang crisis, shedding new light on the politics, the tactics, the orders, the high-level decision makers, and the fighting men entangled in a crucial military action that nearly ended in disaster for U.S. forces. ". . . a brilliant and exceptionally clear tactical study that offers a point of departure for broader reflections on the nature of contingency and uncertainty in all military operations."--Foreign Affairs "This is an exceptional book. . . [Guilmartin's] work transcends the events themselves, illustrating numerous aspects of men in war. His insights and observations are compelling."--Journal of Military History ". . . written with the flair and excitement of an adventure novel. Even those who know the outcome and the lessons of the Mayaguez incident will find this book hard to put down until finished."--Proceedings

Essential Guide to the 1975 Mayaguez Crisis: Mission Command and Civil-Military Relations, Near Disaster for Marines at Koh Tang, Poor Intelligence, P

Essential Guide to the 1975 Mayaguez Crisis: Mission Command and Civil-Military Relations, Near Disaster for Marines at Koh Tang, Poor Intelligence, P PDF Author: U. S. Military
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN: 9781796935608
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
Two comprehensive reports about the 1975 Mayaguez ship incident involving Cambodia are included in this reproduction: The Mayaguez Crisis, Mission Command, and Civil-Military Relations * The Mayaguez Incident: Near Disaster at Koh Tang.President Gerald R. Ford's 1975 decision to use force after the Cambodians seized the SS Mayaguez merchant ship is an important case study in national security decision making. It was the first test of the War Powers Act and the only time a president ever directly managed a crisis through the National Security Council. Significant differences existed between the military and the White House over the use of force during the crisis. While often viewed as the last battle of the Vietnam War, the Ford administration was mainly driven by concerns in Korea. The Mayaguez crisis is one of the best documented but least-understood crises in U.S. history. Copious documentation, including declassified White House meeting minutes and notes from private conversations, has not produced a good, consensus explanation for U.S. behavior. The event is still explained as a rescue mission, a defense of freedom of the seas, an exercise in realpolitik, a political gambit to enhance Ford's domestic political fortunes, and a national spasm of violence arising from frustration over losing Vietnam. Widespread confusion about what happened and why it did contributes to equally confused explanations for U.S. behavior. Even President Ford never understood the exact roles his two strongest advisors, Henry A. Kissinger and James R. Schlesinger, played during the crisis. Now, however, with new sources and penetrating analysis, Christopher J. Lamb's The Mayaguez Crisis, Mission Command, and Civil-Military Relations demonstrates how three decades of scholarship mischaracterized U.S. motives and why the allegation of civilian micromanagement is wrong. He then extracts lessons for current issues such as mission command philosophy, civil-military relations, and national security reform. In closing he makes the argument that the incredible sacrifices made by U.S. servicemen during the crisis might have been avoided but were not in vain.From the second book: Chaotic, confused, and incomplete planning based on faulty intelligence proved to be a recipe for disaster. During the operation, the same problems of command and control that plagued it during planning were present to a greater degree and accentuated the fog and friction of the battle. At the operational level, there was little situational awareness, and no one was in command or coordinating the battlespace. Throughout the fight, there were occasions when the Marines were nearly overrun by the numerically superior, well-trained, and disciplined enemy force. During the fourteen hour battle seemingly minor tactical events influenced the outcome. The tactical leadership, initiative, and individual heroism of countless servicemen overcame significant command and control obstacles to prevent tactical defeat and strategic failure. Superior technology and firepower did not dominate the battlefield at Koh Tang. The fighting ability, courage, and steadfast determination of Marines and airmen prevailed to achieve strategic objectives. Technology cannot replace the intangible factors that influence all levels of war.

The Mayaguez Crisis, Mission Command, and Civil-military Relations

The Mayaguez Crisis, Mission Command, and Civil-military Relations PDF Author: Christopher Jon Lamb
Publisher: Office of Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff
ISBN: 9780160945038
Category : Cambodia
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
Preface -- Abbreviations -- Key figures in the Mayaguez Crisis -- Introduction -- Day one: Monday, May 12 -- Day two: Tuesday, May 13 -- Day three: Wednesday, May 14 -- Day four: Thursday, May 15 -- Critical crisis decisions -- Explaining decisions, behaviors and outcomes -- Refining the explanation: rationality, bureaucracy and beliefs -- Findings, issues, prescriptions -- Conclusion.

A Knavish Piece of Work

A Knavish Piece of Work PDF Author: Ejner Fulsang
Publisher: Aarhus Pub
ISBN: 9780977810802
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
Through ghostly visits to the past, former army helicopter pilot learns of the government betrayal that led to the death of his friend. Fact-based novelization of the Mayaguez Incident, the last battle of the Vietnam War.

Seizure of the Mayagüez: May 14 and 15, 1975

Seizure of the Mayagüez: May 14 and 15, 1975 PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on International Relations
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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Book Description


The Last Battle

The Last Battle PDF Author: Ralph Wetterhahn
Publisher: Da Capo Press
ISBN: 9780786708581
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
Examines the final military contest of the Vietnam War, relating the hijacking of the U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez, the deadly marine raid on a remote Cambodian island to free the ship and its crew, and the fate of three marines left behind after the battle.

The Mayaguez Incident

The Mayaguez Incident PDF Author: Lisa Waller Rogers
Publisher: Lone Star Journals
ISBN: 9780896727205
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
"Investigates the four-day international crisis after the 1975 seizure of the SS Mayaguez, which involved both American and Cambodian forces during the Vietnam War. Documents intelligence failures that took place during the Mayaguez incident and reveals how these failures were overcome. Utilizes previously unavailable primary sources"--Provided by publisher.

Facing Death in Cambodia

Facing Death in Cambodia PDF Author: Peter H. Maguire
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231120524
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
This book is the story of Peter Maguire's effort to learn how Cambodia's "culture of impunity" developed, why it persists, and the failures of the "international community" to confront the Cambodian genocide. Written from a personal and historical perspective, Facing Death in Cambodia recounts Maguire's growing anguish over the gap between theories of universal justice and political realities. Maguire documents the atrocities and the aftermath through personal interviews with victims and perpetrators, discussions with international officials, journalistic accounts, and government sources.