Operation Plan 34A
Operation Plan 34A was a classified US program of covert military actions against North Vietnam. It called for raids to be carried out by South Vietnamese commandos inserted deep withing enemy territory, operating under American orders, and sabotage against North Vietnamese coastal and island installations. Operation Plan 34A was officially initiated in 1961 by the Central Intelligence Agency, but, in 1964, the program was transferred to the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group (SOG) during Operation Parasol/Switchback. The SOG was the cover name for a multi-service unconventional warfare task force under the direct guidance and control of the Pentagon.
After a series of operations, in which South Vietnam commandos were captured after insertion into North Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group shifted the emphasis of its activities to maritime operations. A small fleet of fast patrol boats was acquired for use in the landing of small action teams and the offshore bombardment of small North Vietnamese military facilities, such as radar installations. The pace of these operations accelerated between June and July 1964.
During the time Operation Plan 34A was being implemented, the US Navy carried out electronic surveillance called Operation Desoto. It was conducted by destroyers operating along the coast of North Vietnam. Although the two sets of operations were at least nominally independent of one another, the attacks carried out by the patrol boats provoked responses by the North Vietnamese military that were monitored by the American destroyers, thus providing very useful intelligence on DRV military capabilities.
On August 2, 1964, the USS destroyer Maddox came under attack by North Vietnamese naval patrol boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. This attack, and the ensuing naval actions, came to be known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. President Lyndon Johnson seized the opportunity to secure passage by the U.S. Congress of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution on August 7, 1964. This resolution led to a dramatic escalation of the Vietnam conflict.
