A Program for the Pacification and Long-Term Development of Vietnam

The "Program for the Pacification and Long-Term Development of Vietnam" (PROVN) was a study commissioned by the U.S. Army Chief of Staff in 1966. It questioned the effectiveness of the U.S. military's attrition strategy in the Vietnam War.1

The study proposed that U.S. efforts should focus on providing security and stability for the rural population in South Vietnam. It suggested that an attrition strategy, which aimed to wear down the enemy through overwhelming firepower and "search-and-destroy" missions, would not be an effective counterinsurgency strategy.1

However, military commanders largely dismissed PROVN's recommendations at the time of its publication. The emphasis remained on firepower and attrition, effectively rejecting the study's proposals for a more population-centric approach to pacification. The Vietnam War itself was a protracted conflict from 1954 to 1975, pitting communist North Vietnam and its allies against the government of South Vietnam and the United States.12