Operation Menu

Significance

Operation Menu was a covert Strategic Air Command bombing campaign targeting People's Army of Vietnam and Viet Cong sanctuaries in eastern Cambodia, running from March 1969 to May 1970. The sanctuaries served as resupply, training, and rest areas used between campaigns across the border in South Vietnam, making them a persistent operational concern for U.S. planners. The campaign's secrecy placed it outside public and congressional scrutiny at the time. Historians dispute its impact on PAVN and Viet Cong operational capacity, on Khmer Rouge guerrillas, and on Cambodian civilians in the affected areas, leaving its net effect on the broader war contested.