European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 10, 1967, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Editor s note How have american military tactics changed in the 39 months that . Ground Force shave been committed to the War in Vietnam How has enemy pressure on the Borders affected the . Military Effort Here is a thoroughgoing appraisal of current tactics by an associated press correspondent who frequently visits All major american fighting units and who won the Pulit Zer prize for his reporting from Viet Nam and Southeast Asia. A by Peter Arnett a staff writer the majority of american troop sin Vietnam Are now fighting local Viet Cong guerrillas rather than major communist units. This change in emphasis in the .military Effort is becoming apparent throughout the country. It exists de spite the conventional North vietnamese infantry thrusts across the demilitarized one and the cambodian Border. What it Means is that american troops Are now required to shoulder not Only the Burden of destroying the North Viet namese battalions and regiments that roam the Borders and the communist War zones but they must now also fight at the grass roots. They must fight around the Village Sand hamlets where the enemy is often a Farmer by Day and a guerrilla by night where women and children dig mines into roads and Lay out Booby traps. This was a part of the War that the South vietnamese themselves were expected to handle while the . Force launched campaigns against major ene my forces lurking at the edges of the populated regions. Of the 25 american infantry regi ments now deployed in Vietnam 14 Are committed to the guerrilla War getting Little notice because they Seldom engage in headline making Battles. These american pacification units Are suffering a steady toll of casualties. A brigade of the 9th div operating inthe Northern Mekong River Delta has had More than 150 men killed and 1,000wounded since february. Jul except at the demilitarized zone where the North vietnamese could launch a conventional invasion of the South supported by artillery the .comd now rates the main enemy Divi Sions and regiments less a threat than the guerrillas. We keep on Desti dying them yet they always come Back. And in the meantime nothing changes in the enemy position among the population. That is Why we Are now at the grass roots a senior american officer responsible for pour making commented. We hoped at one time that the Viet namese army would handle the guerrillas and thereby destroy the Militar Yarm of the communist political organization. That was part of our misconception. Few realized the depth and the scope of this  did t think the threat was As bad or that Sailor or example was a close to being strangled or that the enemy was so deeply embedded in the fabric of the  the commitment of american Force in strength to the guerrilla War is a calculated risk one senior com Mander said. The threat of major North vietnamese units is As real As  divisions of enemy troops Are sunday september 10, 1967 up official communist photo shows Viet Cong guerrillas in boats waiting to ambush american and South vietnamese troops. Organization kind of War. Does t fit it army . Troops using dogs join vietnamese unit in searching Village for communists. The big Battles in the communist War zones and along the Borders seem to have had no Impact on the virulent guerrilla political and military Structure in the populated  least half the population is under communist control yielding taxes an Young men to the cause. American pol icy now is to move into this Arena sort of fending off the major North Viet namese units with one hand and swiping at the guerrillas with the other. The whole thing is so unconventional that we Are having a hard time under standing it a senior american officer  . Military does t fit itself to this our military terminology  s difficult to paint a word picture of what is happening even to military men skilled in the  one principle of War is that the aim is to destroy the enemy s main ground forces whining control of the population. In Ier Muny we did t consider the hearts and minds of the people while we fought there this officer  in Vietnam this Triangle is turned upside Down. We destroy divisions couple of times Over and yet the effect on the population is negligible. We still lose them. The objective in Vietnam is obviously not the destruction of the divisions. It is the control of the  known to be in the communist War zones North of Saigon. The bloody fight ing at the demilitarized zone and along the cambodian Border has shown the kind of Price that has to be paid to Stop them. But the United states has fought that kind of War before. American troops have stopped cold every conventional North vietnamese thrust into the Interior pushing the enemy Back across the Borders. Limitations placed upon them prevent american Field command Era from giving Chase across the bord ers so eventually the communists re turn and the Cycle begins again. U.,s l  is the third   original purpose of in the  step in an involvement l a. Roots Ever n the Jiu but the stars and stripes Puja