There are many reasons as to why counterinsurgency campaigns become a success or a failure for Soldiers and their leaders. This paper will compare and contrast two such campaigns and the reasons why each either succeeded or failed. Ideology of leaders, their ability to adapt to cultural changes and modify tactics, and the ability to integrate indigenous populations into the campaign are the three most critical of these. The counterinsurgency campaign used against the Apache Indians during the Plains Indian Wars was a greater success than the campaign used against the North Koreans during the Korean War due to the use of indigenous scouts, guerilla tactics, and collaborators used to infiltrate hostile groups. These were the critical factors leading to success against the Apache, and failure against the North Koreans.

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