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Vietnam War: The Individual Rotation PolicyBy Mark DePu | Vietnam | 4 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post The generals had their own reasons to support the rotation policies. They sought to maximize fairness and equity for individual soldiers, a rationale that inevitably placed a higher priority on individual soldiers at the expense of the soldier’s unit, and by extension, the nation those soldiers served. The generals’ support was also driven by the logic of the professional soldier. General Johnson was convinced that the rotation policy would actually reduce casualties in the long run, since it avoided the burnout factor that had proved so costly in World War II. Subscribe Today
In the final analysis those arguments were incidental, for the reality was that Congress dictated the nation’s draft policies, and those policies left the military few options. There simply were not enough units to enable units to be rotated through the war zone; this left the generals with no other choice than to rotate individuals. Ultimately, then, the military’s one-year rotation policy grew out of a powerful combination of factors. At the core were the nation’s Selective Service system and LBJ’s decision not to call out the Reserves and the Guard. Those factors plus the generals’ genuine concern for the welfare of their soldiers combined to create a policy that had remarkable resiliency despite its obvious flaws. In a democracy, it could hardly have been different. This article was written by Mark DePue and originally published in the December 2006 issue of Vietnam Magazine. For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Vietnam Magazine today. Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to
            Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Historical Conflicts, Vietnam War
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4 Comments to “Vietnam War: The Individual Rotation Policy”
The my grandpa was in the Vietnam War and he tells me storys about it all the time. My grandpa lost a lot of friends in the war, eventhough they died the are still heros and they will always be to me thanx for serveing in the military. God Bless!!!!!
By Aimee on Sep 17, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Although some individual replacements are useful and necessary to augment operational units, to rely only on such a system is not wise. Replacement Battalions, or “shadow battalions or companies” of troopers who have trained together and are then merged with a decimated unit provide the best solution. The Germans maintained divisional Field Replacement Battalions, which could replace a company or battalion as needed. Each military district had the job to build and train special branch “shadow” units for divisions from their district. The military districts even maintained “shadow divisions” to augment decimated divisions at the front. The unit rotation system used in Iraq and Afghanistan are a wise application of military management principles.
By A. von Baehr on Jan 2, 2009 at 5:58 pm
I was a Marine lieutenant in Kilo Company, Third Battalion, Ninth Marines. I arrived in Sept 1968 and took over a platoon whose lieutenant had been killed. I no sooner started getting to know my men than they started rotating out, one by one. I had three excellent squad leaders, and suddenly one went home. I got his replacement trained and snapped in and another one left. It was the same with the younger guys. And of course we took casualties who had to be replaced. There was very little unit cohesion, no time to bond, no time to learn to trust the guy on your left and right, FNG’s coming in regularly – the whole process was disastrous. At least today they are rotating units in Iraq and Afghanistan.
By Gordon Davis on May 25, 2009 at 1:43 pm
War is no fun at all and it continues well after you come back to ‘the world’ as we found out with Vietnam. There should be no rotations out unless wounded or worse. Knowing that you merely have to count the days makes everyone a bit cocky and you end up really not caring about the job, just getting out and going home. Then you fell the guilt and it is overwhelming.
By Tom Salter on Jun 29, 2009 at 10:03 am