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

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SECRET FOREST FIRE AS A MILITARY WEAPON The battle was fought in the forest of E'phraim; and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword. II Samuel 18: 6,8 Forests were a haven and refuge for bandits, insurgents, and rebel bands long before Absalom took up arms against King David in the forest of E'phrain. Leaders as diverse as Robin Hood., Marshall Tito, Chief Croatan of the Seminoles. and Fidel Castro. learned to conduct successful military operations from forest havens. The Vietnamese insurgency has placed heavy reliance on forest bases since the first stirrings of rebellion during the Japanese occupation. The Viet Cong is not really Chairman Mao's -fish who swims in the sea of peasants'. he more closely resembles a jungle cat who lives hidden in the forest but preys on the surrounding villages. Large forest havens along the border, such as Dong Thapmutdi. U Minh and War Zone C. serve as training and supply bases for the VC and North Vietnamese Main Force, as well as secure infiltration and escape routes (Fig. I). Forests in the interior such as War Zone D, Do Xa. and Chu Pong contain major supply depots and operational base complexes. Innumerable small forest, like Boi Loi Forest, the Iton Traingle, and Ho Bo Woods, all lying between Tay Ninh City and Saigon, are used as temporary staging areas.- Although considerations cf communications, food supply, strategic location and availability of support all enter into the selection of a particular area as an insurgent base or safe haven, the major requirement is dictated by the need for concealment from above. Dense forest growth offers the best possible overhead concealment for base operations of company size or larger. A recent study of VC bases showed that 83 percent were located in dense forest and only I percent were further than one-half kilometer from dense forest (Cambodian R and R areas excluded). It An Australian study of changes inVC installations over a 9-year period showed that when selecting a new base site, the VC chose areas in which vegetative cover offered the most effective concealment at that time. 3/ One additional characteristic of a forest haven is so obvious that it has gone unmentioned in most studies of the problem. The forested area must be large enough that it cannot be surrounded'nor effectively swept by conventional forces. Consequently, any successful counterinsurgency effort against such bases must depend on extremely accurate. j/ Breit, J. M. and others. Neutralization of Viet Cong Safe Havens. Research Analysis Corp. Technical Paper RAC- TP-191. September 1965, 74 pp., illus. SECRET. _1 Narten, P. F. and E. E. Kraus. Area analysis techniques in insurgent base location. CIRADS III Proc. Vol. 2, pp. 1-59. December 1968. CONFIDENTIAL 3J Holt, E. S. Prediction of the location of insurgent installations. CIRADS III Proc. Vol. 2, pp. 59-76. December 1968. CONFIDENTIAL SECRET
SECRET FIG. 1 VIET CONG FOREST BASES I DO XA I I ~~CHU PONG -•• , ~ Z ZNC•j ~DONG ZONE D ISG I I I THAPMUOY U MINH S SECRET2
Page 1: VIETNAM WAR Forest Fire as a Milita
Page 4 and 5: Forest Fire as a Military Weapon A
Page 6 and 7: OF7 A iD5S Hil'---0 __ = IIIII- _w
Page 8 and 9: SECRET FOREST FIRE AS A MILITARY WE
Page 10 and 11: SECRET INDEX (Continued) Page Weath
Page 14 and 15: SECRET detailed and timely intellig
Page 16 and 17: SECRET I I I i it FI.I FIG. 2 I I B
Page 18 and 19: I SECRET I I I I I S....... '•FIG
Page 20 and 21: SECRET FI.I TYIAIRONFR BEOR FIG.FIG
Page 22 and 23: SECRET REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL
Page 24 and 25: I I SECRET heating adjacent unburne
Page 26 and 27: I SECRET FUEL TYPE 8o e1 82 83 84 I
Page 28 and 29: I SECRET I ii 11 I S~FIG. 17 | GRAS
Page 30 and 31: I I SECRET I I FIG. 18 SHRUB TYPE I
Page 32 and 33: Relative Humidity SECRET Table 2 "S
Page 34 and 35: I U I I I I I SECRET I FIG. 21 CONI
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Page 40 and 41: SECRET In developing recommended pr
Page 42 and 43: U SECRET The yearly sums of (+) val
Page 44 and 45: I Fireclimate Classification SECRET
Page 46 and 47: SECRET TABLE 5 KEY TO IDENTIFICATIO
Page 48 and 49: SECRET SHumid, long bum season (HUL
Page 50 and 51: I SECRET Table 6 Surfac,,/Volume Ra
Page 52 and 53: I SECRET FIG. 29 AVAILABLE FUEL WEI
Page 54 and 55: SECRET 100 80 FIG. 31 FLAME HEIGHTS
Page 56 and 57: I SECRET I Table 7 Precipitation Ef
Page 58 and 59: I SECRET FIG. 32 EQUILIBRIUM MOI$TU
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I I SECRET I Ii I II I g I FIG. 34
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Technique"s for Kdlin, D•rming an
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SECRET I t '4Pi I I FIG. 35 * AERIA
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SECRET FIG.36 EFFECTS OF OVERSTORY
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SECRET FIG. 37 TYPICAL EFFECT OF CO
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I .SECRET Use of Systemic Desiccant
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SECRET 6. Effectiveness of foliar s
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SECRET Example of a Desiccation Pla
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SECRET If a lighted match is droppe
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SECRET 0 0 ----- 0" E I- -- z -- o
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SECRET The advantages of multiple i
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SECRET DISCUSSION The deliberate in
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1 SECRET U MINH FOREST FIRES PROLOG
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SECRET Spread Analysis: Spread to K
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SECRET HEADQUARTERS US ARMY ADVISOR
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I SECRET MACV-IVC-2 24 May 1968 SUB
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SECRET NAVAL GUNFIRE MISSIONS DATE
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SECRET Rach Gia - Kien Giang Hourly
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SECRET APPENDIX B Pertinent Incendi
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SECRET Major vegetation type: Tropi
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SECRET CLIMATE FF-HUSB FROSTFREE WI
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SECRET FIG. B2 CLIMATE FF-HUSB HANO
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SECRET Soil appiicat ion: Apply 20
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SECRET CLIMATE FF-NHLB FROSTFREE WI
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SECRET CLIMATE FF-DRYL FROSTFREE WI
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SECRET CLIMATE MI-HUYL MILD WINTER;
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SECRET FIG. B6 CLIMATE MI-HUYL NEW
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SECRET Soil application: Apply 15 p
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SECRET CLIMATE MI-HULB MILD WINTER;
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SECRET FCa. W8 CLIMATE MI-HULB RHOD
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SECRET FIG. B9 CLIMATE MI-NHSB AUST
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SECRET Dates for examl ocationAU.s
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SECRET CLIMATE MI-DRYL MILD WINTER;
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* climates& j SECRET CLIMATE CL-HUY
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SECRET FIG. 512 CLIMATE CL-HUYL COL
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SECRET Dates for example location (
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SECRET t (IIMATI (L HILD ('(X)I WIN
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SECRET (1lMAU- (L NH.% 41()1. *INTI
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I SECRET (IIM-AIF ( Hl•Nt1 ( Wl W
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SECRET FIG. 816 CLIMATE CL-NHLB GRA
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SECRET FIG. 817 CLIMATE CL-DRYL LAS
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Foliar sTray: Apply per acre: SECRE
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Warm continental climates SECRET CL
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SECRET FIG. B19 CLIMATE SC-HUSB MT.
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SECRET Dates for cxampre location (
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SECRET CLIMATE SC-NHYL SHORT COLD W
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SECRET FIG. B21 CLIMATE SC-NHYL PAR
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SECRET FIG. 522 CLIMATE SC-NHSB SAN
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SECRET FIG. 823 CLIMATE SC-NHLB REN
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SECRET Foliar Žpxa: Apply per acre
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SECRET CLIMATE LC-HUSB LONG COLD WI
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SECRET Foliar spray: Apply during t
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"SECRET CLIMATE LC-NHLB LONG COLD W
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SECRET CLIMATE VC-HUYL VERY COLD WI
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I SECRET FIG. 827 CLIMATE VC-HUYL D
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SECRET "CLIMATE VC-NHSB VERY COLD W
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SECRET I Publiction-,: Protect EMOT
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