Vietnam War: Forest Fire as a Military Weapon - Paperless Archives

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SUMMARY
In 19)•, the Joint Chiefs of Staff requested that the Secretary of Defense initiate research to determine the feasibilitý
of measuring the Ilaminjbilitý characteristics of forests and jungle growth, modifying flammability so that vegetation
would readily support combustion. and developing measures to destroy large areas of forest or jbnglc growth by fire. This
research has been conducted by the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, under sponsorship of the Advanced
Research Projects Agency through ARPA Order 818.
Primary research attention has been given to the flammability characteristics of jungle growth in tropical and monsoonal
climates where forest fires seldom occur naturally. Major consideration has been given to developing operational
guidelines that utilize input data readily available to military commanders under field conditions. The following conclusions
are directly pertinent to the JCS request:
Forest flammability depends on the amount of dead vegetation on or near the ground surface, the moisture content
of this ground level materia%. and the weather at the time of burning.
Forest flammability can be greatly increased by killing all shrub vegetation, selecting optimum weather conditions for
burning, and igniting fires in a preselected pattern.
Removal of ove: cad tree canopy requires the initiation of high intensity crown fires. In many climates, crown fires
are unlikely to be achieved by any environmental modification technique. However, significant military damage can be
produced by forest fires of lesser intensity.
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