COMUSMACV was a U.S. military abbreviation during the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 standing for Commander, U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam

Military Assistance Command, Vietnam

The U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, MACV, , was the United States' unified command structure for all of its military forces in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.-History:...

. COMUSMACV was in one sense the top person in charge of the U.S. military on the Indochinese peninsula

Indochina

The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...

; however, in reality, the CINCPAC and the U.S. ambassadors to Vietnam

United States Ambassador to South Vietnam

After World War II, France attempted to regain control of Vietnam, which they had lost to Japan in 1940. Following the First Indochina War, the country was split into two parts, the north and the south. The southern part was named The State of Vietnam under the leadership of Bảo Đại...

, Laos, and Cambodia also had "top person in charge" status with regard to various aspects of the war's strategy.

Officers who served as COMUSMACV

General Paul D. Harkins Paul D. Harkins Paul Donal Harkins was Deputy Chief of Staff during World War II to George S. Patton Jr. and later became a U.S. Army General and the first Military Assistance Command, Vietnam commander from 1962 to 1964.-Early life:...	1962–1964
General William C. Westmoreland William Westmoreland William Childs Westmoreland was a United States Army General, who commanded US military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak , during the Tet Offensive. He adopted a strategy of attrition against the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and the North Vietnamese Army. He later served as...	1964–1968
General Creighton Abrams Creighton Abrams Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. was a general in the United States Army who commanded military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968–72 which saw U.S. troop strength in Vietnam fall from a peak of 543,000 to 49,000. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1972 until shortly...	1968–1972
General Frederick C. Weyand Frederick C. Weyand Frederick Carlton Weyand was a U.S. Army General. Weyand was the last commander of US military operations in the Vietnam War from 1972–1973, and served as the 28th US Army Chief of Staff from 1974-1976.-Early career:...	1972–1973