page_title: NLF and PAVN battle tactics
section_title: Learning and adaptability
hierarchical_section_title: NLF and PAVN battle tactics / NLF/PAVN tactics in battle / Learning and adaptability
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of communist troops meeting in base camp- 1967 Archives of United States Joint U.S. Public Affairs Office (JUSPAO), Republic of South Vietnam: 1967
context_page_description: NLF and PAVN battle tactics comprised a flexible mix of guerrilla and conventional warfare battle tactics used by the Main Force of the People's Liberation Armed Forces and the NVA to defeat their U.S. and South Vietnamese opponents during the Vietnam War.
  The NLF was an umbrella of front groups to conduct the insurgency in South Vietnam. The NLF was affiliated with independent groups and sympathizers. The armed wing of the NLF was regional and local guerrillas, and the People's Liberation Armed Forces. The PLAF was the "Main Force" – the Chu Luc full-time soldiers of the NLF's military muscle. Many histories lump both the NLF and the armed wing under the term "Viet Cong" in common usage. Both were tightly interwoven and were in turn controlled by the North. Others consider the Viet Cong to primarily refer to the armed elements. The term PAVN identifies regular troops of the North Vietnamese Army. Collectively, both forces – the southern armed wing and the regulars from the north were part of PAVN, and are treated as such in official communist histories of the war.
context_section_description: The VC/NVA battle philosophy placed great stress on learning and adaptability, and systematically strived to improve battle techniques at the lowest levels. Units and individuals were expected to be problem solvers, making creative use out of what might be fleeting opportunities and scarce resources. After engagements, detailed after-action reports were conducted, and detailed analyses of various problems in the field were carried out. After an action, both individuals and units examined their performance through widespread "criticism and self-criticism" sessions, and even commanders were taken to task at the appropriate levels. The lessons learned were continually incorporated into NVA/VC operations. Experiments were also carried out by different units, and the results were disseminated via conferences, field manuals, memoranda and new procedures.
  This capability to adapt was crucial when facing new technology, such as US helicopters. Several studies were conducted on how to combat the menace from above, and aiming and firing procedures were worked out for a variety of weapons, such as heavy machine guns. In one Viet Cong publication, shooting 1½ lengths ahead of the aircraft was deemed satisfactory for striking vital engine parts. Firing tables were also constructed and disseminated for different types of US aircraft. Countermeasures, including use of trenches and mines were also published for such armored vehicles as the M113 armored personnel carrier, which was often devastating to VC formations when first introduced.
  The NVA/VC forces did not only study the technology of their enemies but their operations as well, looking for weaknesses to exploit. American activities were sometimes left unmolested so vulnerable patterns could be identified and analyzed. American "surround and pound" tactics for example could sometimes be predictable. At the Battle of Ong Thanh for example, heavy American airstrikes were called in to hit a bunker complex, which was then predictably followed by US "mop up" operations the next day. The American "mop up" forces fell into a deadly prepared ambush, with Viet Cong fighters inflicting heavy casualties. Excessively hovering helicopters were also a tip-off as to possible landing zones. Taking predictable routes and trails also opened up ARVN/American opponents to casualties via booby traps, mines and ambushes. American air strikes were sometimes ground-marked several minutes in advance, giving People's Army units enough time to evacuate an area or prepare for ambushes. American smoke marking practices were also studied, and communist troops sometimes became adept at imitating the color-coded smoke grenades the Americans used to signal air strikes or helicopter landings. This intensive study and exploitation never ceased, and lessons learned were disseminated to other PAVN/VC formations.
caption: Criticism and self-criticism sessions and continuous study helped communist forces effectively adapt lessons learned on the battlefield
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