Controlling the Population: A Study of the Civilian Irregular Defense Group

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Controlling the population in any counterinsurgency is critical to the success of the counterinsurgent. Three historical theorists, Sir Robert Thompson, David Galula, and Robert Trinquier all agree on this pertinent issue. Success in Malaya hinged on controlling the population in New Villages. Security in Algeria depended on sectors or districts. In both examples, the raising of local security forces to control the population was essential. Two major counterinsurgency efforts were used in Vietnam in controlling the population. The Strategic Hamlet Program, led by the Republic of Vietnam, aimed at controlling the population and winning popular support to the RVN. The second, and the focus of this thesis, was the Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG). The CIDG program raised local security forces in the highlands of South Vietnam to protect the villages from Viet Cong influence and intimidation. Initially, the program was defensive in nature. As ground forces moved into Vietnam in 1965, the CIDG program lost its defensive focus and became offensively focused through the Mobile Strike Forces (MSF). The MSFs initially were designed to reinforce CIDG camps, but quickly became additional infantry battalions. This transition ultimately led to the degradation of the CIDG program and ultimately its disbandment.