Editing Vietnam War (section)

===ARVN taking the lead and U.S. ground force withdrawal===
[[File:ARVN and US Special Forces.jpg|thumb|ARVN and US Special Forces, September 1968]]
Beginning in 1969, American troops were withdrawn from border areas where most of the fighting took place and redeployed along the coast and interior. US casualties in 1970 were less than half of 1969, after being relegated to less active combat.<ref name="upi1970">{{Cite web |title=Vietnamization: 1970 Year in Review |url=http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1970/Apollo-13/12303235577467-2/#title |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110831125343/http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1970/Apollo-13/12303235577467-2 |archive-date=31 August 2011 |website=UPI.com}}</ref> While US forces were redeployed, the ARVN took over combat operations, with casualties double US ones in 1969, and more than triple US ones in 1970.<ref name="Wiest">{{Cite book |last=Wiest |first=Andrew |title=Vietnam's Forgotten Army: Heroism and Betrayal in the ARVN |date=2007 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-9451-7 |pages=[{{GBurl|id=r3dez4JhXUQC|p=124}} 124]–140}}</ref> In the post-Tet environment, membership in the [[South Vietnamese Regional Force]] and [[South Vietnamese Popular Force|Popular Force]] militias grew, and they were now capable of providing village security, which the Americans had not accomplished.<ref name=Wiest/>

In 1970, Nixon announced the withdrawal of an additional 150,000 American troops, reducing US numbers to 265,500.<ref name=upi1970/> By 1970, VC forces were no longer southern-majority, nearly 70% of units were northerners.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Porter |first=Gareth |title=Vietnam: The Politics of Bureaucratic Socialism |date=1993 |isbn=978-0-8014-2168-6 |page=26|publisher=Cornell University Press }}</ref> Between 1969-71 the VC and some PAVN units had reverted to [[small unit tactics]] typical of 1967 and prior, instead of nationwide offensives.<ref name=Nguyen/>{{Rp|}} In 1971, Australia and New Zealand withdrew their soldiers and US troops were reduced to 196,700, with a deadline to remove another 45,000 troops by February 1972. The US reduced support troops, and in March 1971 the [[5th Special Forces Group (United States)|5th Special Forces Group]], the first American unit deployed to South Vietnam, withdrew.<ref name="StantonVOB">{{Cite book |last=Stanton |first=Shelby L. |title=Vietnam order of battle |date=2003 |publisher=Stackpole Books |isbn=978-0-8117-0071-9}}</ref>{{Rp|240}}{{Refn|On 8 March 1965 the first American combat troops, the [[3rd Marine Division (United States)#Vietnam War|Third Marine Regiment, Third Marine Division]], began landing in Vietnam to protect the [[Da Nang Air Base]].{{Sfn|Willbanks|2009|p=110}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010 |title=Facts about the Vietnam Veterans memorial collection |url=http://www.nps.gov/mrc/reader/vvmcr.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528032742/http://www.nps.gov/mrc/reader/vvmcr.htm |archive-date=28 May 2010 |access-date=26 April 2010 |publisher=[[National Park Service]]}}</ref>|group="A"}}