Early Flight to World War I - University of Central Florida
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Transcript Early Flight to World War I - University of Central Florida
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Administration
• DoDMERB Physical Check with SSgt Sutton
• Thursdays – See SSgt Sutton until you sign
Form 16 saying you have an approved
physical…GOT IT!!!
• CHECK DET EMAIL TWICE A DAY!
• Form 35 Civil Involvement Process
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SAMPLES OF BEHAVIOR
• # 3. Describe how airpower was used in Southeast Asia to
interdict the Ho Chi Minh Trail (N. Vietnamese supply routes into
S. Vietnam)
• #4. Describe Rolling Thunder, Linebacker I & II (strategic
bombing campaigns against N. Vietnam)
• #5. Describe the uses and effectiveness of the B-52 in the
Vietnam conflict.
• #6. Describe and give an example of the tactical airlift mission
flown during Vietnam conflict
• #8. Describe the US Air Force’s Search and Recovery mission in
Vietnam
• #9. Identify the lessons learned from the Vietnam conflict.
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Uses of Airpower
Background
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Vietnam conflict was primarily a land war
• Most air power was used in conjunction with
ground ops
North stayed above DMZ, so air superiority over the
South was never a concern
In-country operations centered around
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Interdiction
Close Air Support (CAS)
Airlift
Reconnaissance
Search and Rescue (SAR)
Air-to-Air Refueling
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In-Country Air Operations
1964-73
• After Gulf of Tonkin, air units built up rapidly
• USAF occupied 10 major air bases
• All were built and defended by the Air Force
• Huge logistical effort
• USAF also flew from 6 bases in Thailand
• Navy flew from carriers in Gulf of Tonkin
• B-52s flew from Guam; at times even from the US
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Uses of Airpower during Vietnamization
Train the South
Vietnamese Air Force
(VNAF)
Support the South
Vietnamese Army
Forestall suspected
enemy attacks against
withdrawing American
units
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Uses of Air Power
Interdiction
• A major mission during SEA war
• Aircraft used: F-4 Phantom, F-100 Super Sabre, F105 Thunderchief (Thud), AC-130 Gunships
• B-52 was the best known interdiction aircraft: a
nuclear bomber modified to carry conventional
weapons
• Arc Light - Name for B-52 interdiction missions
F-100 Supersabre
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Uses of Air Power
Close Air Support (CAS)
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Missions to support forces of the ground
Aircraft used: A-4 Skyhawk, F-4, F-100, A-37
Dragonfly, A-1 Skyraider, and AC-47 Gunships (Puff
the Magic Dragon)
Gunships (cargo aircraft armed with rapid-fire
machine guns) were very effective
Forward Air Controllers (FACs) were used to locate
the enemy and mark targets for faster flying jets
A-4 Skyhawk
A-1 Skyraider
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Uses of Air Power
Close Air Support (con’t)
B-52 Arc Light aircraft were occasionally used for
close air support
• Used extensively in close air support at Khe
Sanh
• Flew 2,548 sorties
• Dropped bombs within 300 yards of of US Marine
perimeter
• Credited with saving Khe Sanh and repelling the
Tet and Easter Offensives
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Uses of Air Power
Tactical Airlift
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Vital to successful US operations because of poor
security on roads
Aircraft used: UH-1 Hueys, C-7 Caribous,
C-123 Providers, C-130 Hercules
Missions often flown while under attack
Supplies often air-dropped because of enemy fire and
poor landing facilities
A major factor in keeping Khe Sanh alive
C-123 Provider
C-7 Caribou
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Uses of Air Power
Reconnaissance
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Aircraft used: RF-4C, RB-57 Canberra, and RB-66
Destroyers
Aircraft were equipped with variety of cameras
and sensing devices
Missions: locating lucrative targets and
assessing battle damage
A valuable part of repelling Tet and protecting
Khe Sanh
RB 57 Canberra
RB 66 Destroyer
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Uses of Air Power
Search and Rescue (SAR)
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An extremely important part of the air support
mission throughout Southeast Asia
Buttressed aircrew morale; fliers knew every
effort would be made to save them if shot
down
Aircraft used: HH-3 Jolly Green Giants and
HH-53 Super Jolly Greens
By 1973, USAF had rescued 3,883 Americans
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Uses of Air Power
Air-to-Air Refueling
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Indispensable - extended the range of combat aircraft
and enabled many aircraft to return safely
C-130s refueled helicopters, KC-135s refueled fixed
wing aircraft
SAC tankers flew 195,000 sorties, unloaded 9 billion
pounds of fuel, and took part in 814,000 individual
refuelings
C-130 Refueling
KC-135 Tanker
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Major Campaigns
Rolling Thunder
• Officially began 2 March 1965
• Objectives
• Interdict the flow of supplies from the North
• Force the North to stop supporting the
Vietcong and quit the war
• Raise South Vietnamese morale
RF 4 Phantom
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Major Campaigns
Rolling Thunder (con't)
• Strategic bombing and interdiction
campaign
• Strategic because it was aimed at the North’s will to wage
war
• Interdiction because the North had few large industries and
got most of their material from China and the Soviet Union
• Employed mostly tactical aircraft: F-105, F-4,
and F-111. In 1966, B-52s were used in the
Southern part of North Vietnam
F-111
F-105
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Major Campaigns
Rolling Thunder Restrictions
Johnson administration controlled
campaign tightly
Targets declared off limits by
civilians included:
• Targets in Hanoi, Haiphong, China
border area
• MIG bases and non-firing SAM sites
• Dams, dikes, hydroelectric plants
White House selected targets,
weapons and flying routes with
little military input
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Major Campaigns
Rolling Thunder: Effect of Restrictions
Graduated increases in bombing intensity
worked to advantage of North Vietnamese
• Gave them time to recover from damage
• Enabled them to establish the world’s most intense
antiaircraft defense system
• Provided them the will to fight on and a sense they
could survive
By 1965, it was clear
that Rolling Thunder
didn’t work
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Major Campaigns
Rolling Thunder: Conclusions
Impacts
• South’s morale improved as the North suffered under
the bombing
• North used frequent halts and restrictions to repair
damage and resupply forces in South
• Criticism grew at home and internationally
Johnson ended Rolling Thunder prior to 1968
elections
Rolling Thunder campaign, America’s
longest, was a failure
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Major Campaigns
Linebacker I
• Easter Offensive (Mar 1972) made it
apparent the North was not willing to
negotiate
• Objectives of Linebacker I
• Initially a close air support effort to aid retreating
South Vietnamese forces
• Later, changed to an interdiction campaign against
B 52 Stratofortress
North Vietnam
• A systematic campaign
with little civilian control,
unlike Rolling Thunder
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Major Campaigns
Linebacker I (con’t)
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Civilian casualties a consideration but didn’t
determine how missions were flown
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Haiphong harbor mined for the first time to restrict
delivery of supplies to the North
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Strikes flown over Hanoi and Haiphong
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B-52 strikes on Haiphong began April 1972
“Smart bombs” used extensively
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Major Campaigns
Linebacker I Successes
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Linebacker I was the most successful US bombing
campaign of the war
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Had more impact on the North Vietnam in 9
months than Rolling Thunder did in 4 years
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Successful largely because Easter Offensive was a
conventional, mechanized attack
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Peace Talks resumed in July 1972
• Nixon restricted Linebacker I attacks to below the 20th
parallel
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Major Campaigns
Linebacker II
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Peace Talks stalled again in
Dec 1972
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Nixon ordered Linebacker II
to run concurrently with
Linebacker I
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Purpose of Linebacker II was
to force the North
Vietnamese to negotiate and
sign a peace treaty
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Ran from 18 Dec to 30 Dec
1972 - referred to as the
“Christmas Campaign”
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Major Campaigns
Linebacker II (con’t)
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Very intense and logistically complex
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Specific targets in Hanoi and Haiphong
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B-52s used for the first time over Hanoi
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By the end of Linebacker II, North
Vietnam was defenseless
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1,200 SAMs were fired
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80% of the North’s electrical
systems and 25% of their
POL facilities were destroyed
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Major Campaigns
Linebacker II Results
• North Vietnam returned to the bargaining table
on 30 Dec 1972
• All bombing ceased on 15 Jan 1973
• Peace treaty was signed on 27 Jan 1973
• Linebacker II was a success
• Some believe that if Rolling Thunder had
been conducted like Linebacker II, the
war would have ended in 1965 - unlikely
http://www.davka.org/what/theleft/peoplespeacetreatyvietnam.html
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Interim Summary
• Uses of Airpower
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Rolling Thunder
Linebacker I
Linebacker II
Vietnam Service Medal
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Post
Vietnam
Vietnam Conflict Results
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US reluctance to enter military conflicts that
don’t directly threaten national interests
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Congressional restriction on President’s
ability to commit US military forces
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Lowered public opinion of the government and
the military
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The all-volunteer military force
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Increased emphasis on military resources,
training, and weapons
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Results for Southeast Asia
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North Vietnam and South Vietnam joined into one
country dominated by the North Vietnamese
communists
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Saigon renamed Ho Chi Minh City
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Exodus of boat people, many to America
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Hundreds of thousands of US supporters sent to
"reeducation" camps
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Over 6.5 million displaced Vietnamese war refugees
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Expected postwar blood bath never materialized.
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The Vietnam Conflict
Lessons Learned
US can’t win a counterinsurgency war in another
country; only the people of that country can
Force and technology of limited value in a
“people’s war”
Realistic assessments by national leaders required
before forces are committed
“Know your enemy and know yourself”
“Graduated Response” is an ineffective way to
employ air power
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The Vietnam War
Lessons Learned (con’t)
In a democracy, congressional and
public support are critical and difficult
to get
Modern war is open to public scrutiny
Let those who understand war
conduct it
We need revolutionary technology, not
evolutionary
We need precision munitions
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Next Week
Questions?
Next Week: Chapters 16 & 17
Reminder: Memos are Due!
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