Official Records Unless otherwise indicated, all documents cited in this work are located in the Operational Archives of the Naval Historical Center. As stated in the foreword a number of these sources retain a security classification at the time of publication. Within the Operational Archives, the Post 1946 Command, Report, and Plan files are lucrative resources for the naval history of the war. Arranged by their originating command, and thereunder chronologically, these record groups contain pertinent documents originated by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Defense Intelligence Agency, JCS, and unified commands, such as CINCPAC and MACV, and other government agencies. By far the largest portions of these groups are materials generated by the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, the numbered fleets, other naval operating forces, shore-based commands, and individual ships. The records include yearly command histories, annual reports, cruise reports, action reports, operation plans and orders, combat studies, and statistical compilations. Of particular worth are separate collections in the Archives accessioned from the Navy Secretariat of the JCS, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Seventh Fleet, Naval Forces, Vietnam, and the Naval Advisory Group, Vietnam. The last group contains information that is especially valuable for study of the Vietnamese Navy. This documentation is supported by the microfilmed message traffic of the Pacific Command, the Pacific Fleet, and Naval Forces, Vietnam. Additional records created by naval combat and support units, ships, training centers, and research organizations are housed at the Washington National Records Center in Suitland, Maryland, but remain under the cognizance of the Naval Historical Center. Executive and Congressional Documents Among the most important sources for study of American strategy and policymaking during the Vietnam era are the twelve-volume Pentagon Papers series, more formally identified as Department of Defense, United States-Vietnam Relations: 1945-1967 (Washington: GPO, 1971); and the companion Senator Gravel Edition of the Pentagon Papers (Boston: Beacon Press, 1971). Equally rich is the Joint Chiefs of Staff, History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: The Joint Chiefs of Staff and the War in Vietnam, 1960-1968 (Washington: Historical Division, Joint Secretari |