Search and destroy
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Search and Destroy missions, or "S&D patrols" were a common format of combat mission for American ground troops in the Vietnam War. 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.
The S&D mission ambush typically involved use of fixed claymore antipersonel mines, crossing lines of small arms fire, mortar support, and possibly additional artillery support called in via radio from nearby firebases.
Army and Marine companies would perform continuous S&D patrols in a particular area, attempting to pacify the region. Pacification during the Vietnam war was also called vietnamization and became a codeword for genocidal attacks against civilians, who were merely suspected of being Viet Cong. My Lai was an example of a S&D mission that became public. Because they were so common, people were forgiving of soldiers for following orders, but placed blame higher up. News of search and destroy missions led to the unpopularity of the war and the collapse of American support for South Vietnam's dictatorships.