Hybrid Warfare In Vietnam War Analysis

The Vietnam War fought by America is easily one of the most complicated. The United States faced many different complexities. Karl Lowe describes the complexities in the beginning of his essay “Hybrid Warfare in Vietnam”. He talks about how there were many “layers” politically between the different civil wars being fought along with the Cold War implications. He says “With that layering, the war in Vietnam was inherently a hybrid conflict in which state-of-the-art conventional arms and tactics commingled with the tools and techniques of guerrilla and counterinsurgency warfare.” This makes the Vietnam War a very complicated tactical war, but it is also very complex operationally. His essay goes in depth discussing the hybrid warfare of Vietnam and how it was handled by the Americans. This essay will analyze Karl Lowe’s essay. He writes a very good account of the history of the Vietnam War, but there are some problems with it. …show more content…
He quickly describes it operationally in the first few pages, but it is not clear and concise. He goes on to describe how the global politics, training of the military, and other security obligations made it a hybrid war that was very complex. Hybrid warfare at the operational level was the overall strategy of the U.S. government and how it handled its resources. He clearly defines tactical hybrid warfare later describing how in the North the war was fought with modern air forces and anti-aircraft guns, while in the South it was fought with low technology utilizing conventional and guerrilla tactics. His definition of hybrid warfare involves the use of different tactics and different technologies combined in a single effort. Another good aspect of Lowe’s essay is the use of his