Destroy and Build Pacification in Phuoc Thuy, 1966–72 Australian Army History Series

In 2002, Governor General Michael Jeffrey stated that 'we Australians had everything under control in Phuoc Tuy Province'. This referred not only to military control, but to the policy of 'pacification' employed by the Republic of Vietnam and external 'Free World' allies such as the US and Australia. In the hopes of stemming the tide of Communism, pacification aimed to win the allegiance of the populace through political, economic and social reform. In this new work, Thomas Richardson explores the 1st Australian Task Force's (1ATF) implementation of this policy in Phuoc Tuy between 1966 and 1972. Using material from US and Australian archives, as well as newly translated Vietnamese histories, Destroy and Build: Pacification in Phuoc Tuy, 1966?1972 challenges the accepted historiography of the Western forces' fight against insurgency in Vietnam.

Introduction; 1. Pacification: an introduction; 2. Phuoc Tuy, 1966; 3. Preparing the battlefield; 4. Tet 1968; 5. 'This month's faire story'; 6. Déjà vu, all over again; 7. 'The wolves were circling'; 8. 'Bereft of their Australian strongmen'.

Thomas Richardson is an Associate Lecturer in History, at the Australian Defence Force Academy at the University of New South Wales, Sydney.