Joint warfare in South Vietnam, 1963–1969 the election of Richard Nixon, and the change of U.S. policy to Vietnamization, or giving the main combat role back to the South Vietnamese military. The North Vietnamese term for the large-scale introduction of U.S. ground forces, in 1965, is the "Local War", according to Gen. Trần Văn Trà, the [North Vietnamese] " Party concluded, the "United States was forced to introduce its own troops because it was losing the war. It had lost the political game in Vietnam...the situation allows us to shift our revolution to a new stage, that of decisive victory." The Party issued a resolution to
1961 in the Vietnam War of the U.S. Army to respond to Kennedy's emphasis on developing a greater capability in counterinsurgency, although the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group began providing counterinsurgency training to the South Vietnamese army (ARVN) and other security forces. The Kennedy Administration debated internally about introducing U.S. combat troops into South Vietnam, but Kennedy decided against ground soldiers. The CIA began assisting Montagnard irregular forces, American pilots began flying combat missions to support South Vietnamese ground forces, and Kennedy authorized the use of herbicides (Agent Orange) to kill vegetation near roads threatened by the Viet Cong. By the end of the year,