Search and Destroy, or Seek and Destroy, or simply S&D, refers to a military strategy that became a notorious element of the Vietnam War. A strategy is a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal, as differentiated from tactics or immediate actions with resources at hand. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines Democratic Republic of Vietnam National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam People’s Republic of China Commanders William Westmoreland Ho Chi Minh Strength ~1,200,000 (1968) ~520,000 (1968) Casualties South Vietnamese dead...

The idea is to insert ground forces into hostile territory on a special mission to destroy enemy forces and withdraw them immediately afterwards, a strategy that seemed to be ideally suited for guerrilla / jungle warfare. The complementary, and more conventional, strategy, which entailed attacking an enemy position, conquering, fortifying and holding it indefinitely, was called Clear and Hold. Look up guerrilla in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Jungle warfare is a term used to cover the special techniques needed for military units to survive and fight in jungle terrain. ...

S&D missions entailed sending out a group of soldiers from a fortified position, generally into the jungle, to find and destroy the enemy. Most of the time, the S&D mission involved hiking out into the boonies and laying an ambush in the brush, near a suspected trail. A boondock is a slight rise in elevation found in vegetated sandy landscapes such as Colorados San Luis Valley. ... An ambush is a long established military tactic in which an ambushing force uses concealment to attack an enemy that passes its position. ...

The S&D mission ambush typically involved use of fixed Claymore antipersonnel mines, crossing lines of small arms fire, mortar support, and possibly additional artillery support called in via radio from nearby firebases. Parts of the M18A1 Claymore The M18A1 Claymore Antipersonnel Mine is a weapon often used by many countries around the world, named after the large Scottish sword, by the inventor, Norman A. MacLeod. ... US soldier loading a M224 60-mm mortar. ... A 155 mm artillery shell fired by a United States 11th Marine regiment M-198 howitzer Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... A fire support base (FSB or firebase) is an encampment designed to provide fire support to infantry operating in areas beyond the normal range of their main base camp cannon and howitzers. ...

"Search and Destroy" is also the name of a popular song by The Stooges. The Stooges are an American rock band that was first active from about 1967 to 1974, and then reformed in 2003. ...

The Sentinels in the Matrix Trilogy also have a Search and Destroy charicteristic. Sentinels are a bipedal primate mammal species related to humans by biological and behavioral similarities. ... Look up matrix in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...