Anti-Infiltration Barrier Technology and the Battle for Southeast Asia 1966-1972

<p>Early in 1966 with American bombing efforts in Viet Nam achieving limited affect in stemming the flow of support to communist forces in the south the U.S. defense establishment began casting about for alternatives. By late summer this research had crystallized into a plan for a barrier that stretched from the Gulf of Tonkin into Laos across the 17 th parallel. Comprised of both physical and electronic components the idea caught the eye of Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara who established a Joint Task Force to implement the program. Given one year to have a system in place the Defense Communications Planning Group (DCPG) pulled out all the stops to bring the program to fruition. Gradually shifting emphasis from the physical barrier in the DMZ region to the electronic system further west DCPG oversaw all phases of the program from Washington D.C. to Eglin AFB to Panama to Southeast Asia. A detailed examination of the successes and failures of DCPG and by extension the barrier system was conducted utilizing all facets of the historical record.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p><br>