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    Thunder Over Vietnam: The American Air War in Southeast Asia
    Thunder Over Vietnam: The American Air War in Southeast Asia
    Thunder Over Vietnam: The American Air War in Southeast Asia
    Ebook250 pages1 hour

    Thunder Over Vietnam: The American Air War in Southeast Asia

    By Alejandro Villalva

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    About this ebook

    The popular conception of the Vietnam War focuses on the ground war—the soldiers and grunts who humped along jungle trails and fought the Vietcong face to face—but an important part of the war was waged in the skies over Southeast Asia, and indeed many of the war’s most well-known figures were pilots, from John McCain and James Stockdale to the unknown men who unleashed napalm hell and who carried out Curtis LeMay’s “bomb them into the Stone Age” doctrine, Lyndon Johnson’s Rolling Thunder, and Richard Nixon’s Linebacker. This photo book chronicles the U.S. Air Force’s operations in Vietnam, covering the aircraft, munitions, battle damage, and uniforms of Vietnam in the air.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRowmanLittlefield
    Release dateFeb 6, 2018
    ISBN9780811767460
    Thunder Over Vietnam: The American Air War in Southeast Asia

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      Book preview

      Thunder Over Vietnam - Alejandro Villalva

      PREFACE

      The passage of more than fifty years since the beginning of US Air Force combat operations in Southeast Asia has not at all diminished the service’s profound contributions, advancements, impact, and influence produced during the Vietnam War. It was in this conflict that legendary USAF units, missions, call signs, and combat occupations were birthed, tested, and matured, to include Spooky, Misty, Jolly Green, PJ, and FAC. And in proud testament to their distinguished combat lineage from Vietnam, many historic missions and units endure in today’s USAF, such as Spectre, Sandy, Pedro, and CCT.

      And perhaps unlike any modern conflict before or since the Vietnam War, US Air Force combat operations in SEA from 1961 to 1975 witnessed a tremendous transformation and modernization in virtually all the service’s operational aspects, to include aircraft types, aerial missions, tactics, munitions and armaments, and flight equipment, among many others.

      The US Air Force’s massive air war in SEA also produced a combat tempo, depth, and scope that have not been matched by any US conflict since. Airmen of all ranks were actively engaged in hundreds, if not thousands, of daily aerial and ground sorties throughout the SEA combat theater for well over a decade, ranging from striking numerous enemy targets, to maintaining thousands of aircraft and vehicles, to providing all manner of support to friendly ground forces, to ferrying vast quantities of war materiel, and to transporting and caring for American casualties.

      The coming of age of the US Air Force in SEA cannot be overstated, and as such, a substantial portion of the legacy and heritage borne by the modern US Air Force lies with, and is the direct product of, the service’s proud and distinguished combat record demonstrated in the Vietnam War.

      —Alejandro Villalva

      Dayton, Ohio

      US AIR FORCE AIRCRAFT TYPES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

      The very broad and lengthy air war in Southeast Asia (SEA) saw the United States Air Force (USAF) deploy a terrifically wide range of aircraft types from all eras to perform a multitude of aerial missions throughout the entire combat theater. Using 1930s- and 1940s-era aircraft (such as the propeller-driven C-47 Skytrain, A-1 Skyraider, O-1 Bird Dog, A-26 Invader, and HU-16 Albatross) alongside modern airframes (like the F-4 Phantom II, A-7 Corsair II, and OV-10 Bronco) in the same conflict was unprecedented. Further, the sheer number of the various USAF aircraft types used in SEA, both fixed wing (propeller and jet engine) and rotary wing, was astoundingly well over forty. But this technological diversity and the wide variety of airframes underscored the USAF’s necessity to employ whatever aircraft would effectively prosecute each of its vital missions in the extremely demanding and hostile SEA combat theater. These missions included tactical and strategic bombing, fighter escort and patrol, close air support, forward air controlling, search and rescue, ground force support, transport, utility, and many more. The result was a vibrant, rich, and diverse group of USAF aircraft types that saw wide and protracted action in the SEA theater of operations.

      USAF Jet-Engine Aircraft in SEA

      The legendary and widely produced McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II jet fighter saw extensive service in SEA, spanning major USAF air operations from late 1964 until mid-1975. This F-4D (of the 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron [TFS], 8th Tactical Fighter Wing [TFW], Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base [RTAFB], circa 1968) is configured for a ground attack mission, and carries two LAU-3 rocket launcher pods on its left wing inboard pylon.

      As a highly versatile aircraft and weapons platform, the F-4 served as both a fighter and a bomber, in a multitude of roles that included combat air patrol (CAP), close air support (CAS), forward air control (FAC), reconnaissance, and Wild Weasel surface-to-air missile [SAM] suppression missions. The F-4E variant (of the 307th TFS, 31st TFW, Ubon, October 1972) featured an internal M61 20mm cannon situated under the nose, unlike all previous F-4 versions, which possessed no internal gun.

      In the dedicated reconnaissance role, the recce Phantom’s only weapons were an array of cameras situated in the nose and pure speed. Departing on a combat reconnaissance mission in August 1969, this RF-4C of the 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (TRS), 460th TRW, Tan Son Nhut Air Base (AB), carries a 450-gallon fuel tank on each wing and one 650-gallon centerline tank for extended range.

      The Republic F-105 Thunderchief jet fighter-bomber was the true workhorse conducting USAF tactical air strikes over North Vietnam from mid-1964 into 1970. With units stationed in Thailand, the Thud performed superbly in the fighter-bomber and surface-to-air missile (SAM) and anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) suppression roles over North Vietnam. An F-105D of the 357th TFS, 355th TFW, Takhli RTAFB, carries six 750-pound bombs on its centerline and a 250-pound bomb on its outboard pylon (both bomb types fitted with fuze extenders), circa 1968.

      By 1966 the two-seat F-105F (later upgraded to the G model with improved avionics) was selected as the dedicated USAF airframe to conduct the highly dangerous Wild Weasel mission against North Vietnamese air defenses. This F-105G (561st Wild Weasel Squadron, 388th TFW, Korat RTAFB) carries an AGM-45 Shrike anti-radiation missile and a 650-gallon centerline fuel tank, circa 1969. The F-105G’s distinctively long AN/ALQ-105 electronic countermeasure (ECM) pod embedded beneath the wing is also clearly visible.

      First arriving in SEA (in Thailand) as air defense assets in April 1961, the North American F-100D Super Sabre jet fighter-bomber operated until 1971, earning it the distinction as one of the longest-serving tactical jet aircraft in SEA. Stationed in bases in South Vietnam, the Hun ably executed CAS missions in the South, supporting US and South Vietnamese, or Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), ground forces. This F-100D of the 90th TFS, 3rd TFW, Bien Hoa AB, carries several 250-pound bombs and four internal 20mm cannons.

      The two-seat F-100F was the initial airframe chosen for the Wild Weasel mission in late 1965 and saw combat action into 1966. After being replaced by the F-105F/G, the F-100F was then selected for a new and classified mission, the Fast FAC role. In June 1967 the newly formed Misty FACs of Detachment 1, 416th TFS, 37th TFW, Phu Cat AB, Republic of Vietnam (RVN), pioneered the Fast FAC concept by flying over the hostile airspace of Route Package 1 in North Vietnam and Laos, targeting enemy activity along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and also assisting in search-and-rescue (SAR) missions.

      An old veteran of the air war in SEA was the Martin B-57 Canberra, a US-built version of the British English Electric Canberra, which saw extended combat action in SEA from 1964 until 1972. Used exclusively as a ground attack platform, the B-57 was widely used as a night attack aircraft, and many were painted to perform nocturnal missions, like this B-57B of the 8th Tactical Bomb Wing, Phan Rang, RVN, circa 1969.

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