Linebacker Ii a View from the Rock
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BRIG GEN JAMES R. McCARTHY and LT COL GEORGE B. ALLISON A VIEW FROM THE ROCK LINEBACKER II A VIEW FROM THE ROCK Brigadier General James R. McCarthy and Lieutenant Colonel George B. Allison With a new foreword by Major General Thomas Bussiere, Commander, Eighth Air Force NEW EDITION Air Force Global Strike Command Office of History & Museums Barksdale AFB, Louisiana i LINEBACKER II | A VIEW FROM THE ROCK This is a New Edition of the original 1976 book published by Air University. It has been reformatted for print and e-book, with new layout, illustrations, front-matter, and index. The main text of the book has not been altered from the original. New Edition, 2018 Cover art by Matthew C. Koser New Edition illustrations by Zaur Eylanbekov History & Museums Program Air Force Global Strike Command 245 Davis Ave East Barksdale AFB, Louisiana 71110 ISBN: 978-0-9993317-0-5 (Perfect-bound) ii FOREWORD TO THE 2018 EDITION By Major General Thomas Bussiere, Commander, Eighth Air Force In 1909, Henry H. “Hap” Arnold, the first and only Five-Star General of the Air Force, saw his first airplane in Paris. His adventurous spirit would not allow him to sit the bench while this new technology took off. In April of 1911, Hap Arnold began learning how to fly— his instructors: the Wright Brothers! A year later, while flying his Wright Model C airplane, he went into an uncontrolled spin. He was able to recover the aircraft, but this event so traumatized Hap that he didn’t know if he could ever convince himself to fly again. From that moment, Hap Arnold forged an unconquerable spirit on which our Air Force would be born. Hap Arnold not only continued to fly, but he built up American airpower to the global scale we recognize today. Thirty years following his brush with death, Brigadier General Hap Arnold was compelled to react to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The days that followed were dark, and while the nation was reeling from a brutal blow, President Roosevelt, with the help of Hap Arnold, designed a retaliation plan relying on a very capable Lt. Col. James Doolittle to carry it out. On the day of execution, Doolittle, along with his co-pilot, Lt. Dick Cole, launched their B-25 from a carrier not knowing for sure what their fate might be. Recently, when asked what it was like to execute Hap Arnold’s plan to fly a bomber off a carrier, now retired Lt. Col. Cole, the last surviving Doolittle Raider, shrugged, smiled, and said, “We just did it.” This same can do attitude and unbreakable spirit has been witnessed countless times from Bomber Airmen in the last 75 years. The Vietnam conflict’s Operation LINEBACKER II called on the Mighty Eighth to contest the densest air defense of its time. It has been more than 40 years since LINEBACKER II and yet the heroic actions of American Airmen on Guam, “the rock,” still echo in the minds, hearts, and history of today’s Bomber Airmen. To understand the blood shed, the brotherhoods forged, and the selflessness personified by the warriors on Guam is to understand a key piece of our Air Force and more specifically, our Bomber legacy. This monograph captures not just the actions taken and the decisions made, but recounts the personal stories from the Airmen who were there—the ones who did it. iii LINEBACKER II | A VIEW FROM THE ROCK LINEBACKER II has been analyzed numerous times, examining what it meant to our country, to our Air Force, and to our Airmen. To some, the operation served as our final bargaining tool, bringing the North Vietnamese back to the negotiating table. To others, it served as an undeniable proof of the vitality of airpower and as an example of the evolution of tactics, techniques, and procedures. Still, to all, this is history to be remembered, recounted, and honored because of the legacy left by the Warrior Airmen of The Mighty Eighth. To the Bomber Airmen of today, this book serves as a record of the hopes and dreams of every Airman that put his or her life and reputation on the (flight) line. LINEBACKER II restored hope to those locked away in the Hanoi Hilton and unlocked the chains of previous operations, allowing us to do what we were made to do, take the fight to the enemy. While negotiations for peace were in a stalemate, the nation called on the Mighty Eighth and we answered in force. This is the story about the Airmen who, with an aircraft designed and built 20 years prior, flew a wildly successful campaign against a highly capable enemy. If asked how each Airman committed himself or herself fully to complete that task, I’m sure the summary of their stories would state, “We just did it.” Today’s B-52s are more than 60 years old and yet it is still the indomitable spirit of the Bomber Airmen, not the aging equipment, that gets the mission done. For them, this book is not just bomber history—it is heritage. iv INTRODUCTION TO THE 2018 EDITION This is a new edition of Brigadier General James McCarthy and Lieutenant Colonel George Allison’s 1976 monograph, Linebacker II: A View from the Rock. Linebacker II: A View from the Rock was the Air Force’s first published official history of the 11-day bombing campaign that capped off the Vietnam War. Since it was published, it has been a target for harsh criticism. Readers should remember that this was written and published as an official Air Force account. The authors’ work was officially and unofficially circumscribed by a variety of factors, including the Air Force’s official position, security restrictions, and limited freedom to critically comment on higher headquarters and political leaders. Also, it is written from a commander’s perspective, which will always differ dramatically from the “crew dog’s” view of combat. Both perspectives, as well as the materials that have emerged from Vietnam in recent decades, are valuable for understanding the relevant history. A savvy reader of history knows that every source comes with embedded biases. As an official history, this book’s biases are more visible than many. Prior to the 1976 publication of Linebacker II: A View from the Rock, much of the official record was still classified. Air Force historians and members of the CHECO and Corona Harvest teams had spent years documenting the Vietnam War, but their histories and studies were compiled for internal use. Charles K. Hopkins, the Eighth Air Force Historian, and his two staff historians, MSgt Norman A. Kramer and SSgt Raymond L. Sifdol penned what would become the first cut of the Linebacker II story; McCarthy relied heavily on their work. Portions of that history remain classified today. Since 1979, new sources have become available to western researchers, including archives and oral histories from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. They have expanded the narrative and answered many questions, but even after 45 years, there is abundant room for further analysis and debate. For this New Edition, McCarthy and Allison’s work has been fully reformatted for print and e-book publication, with new front matter, new scans of almost all the original photographs, and re-drawn illustrations and maps by aviation illustrator Zaur Eylanbekov. However the content of the book was not altered or updated in any way from the original 1979 publication. Read this volume with an open mind and then continue to study the subject by exploring the publications in the expanded bibliography. Avoid a single-minded view and welcome debate. Yancy Mailes Director History and Museum Programs Air Force Global Strike Command v FOREWORD TO THE 1976 EDITION This is a narrative drawn from the era of the Southeast Asian conflict, detailing a unique event in that lengthy struggle. The event was called LINEBACKER II, a nickname like thousands of others, used to identify an operation, project, or mission associated with military affairs. It so differed from the many others, however, in its execution and outcome, that it stands alone. For the first time in contemporary warfare, heavy jet bombers were employed in their designed role to conduct extended strategic operations against the warmaking capacity of a hostile nation. This monograph tells part of the story of Strategic Air Command’s participation in LINEBACKER II. In so doing, it addresses the efforts of a complex mixture of Air Force and sister service operations, with all services working in concert towards a common goal. Rather than develop a complete chronology or blow-by-blow account, which are matters of record in other works, the campaign is pursued more from the personal perspective. Herein is described the impact of LINEBACKER II on those in command, plus those in operations, maintenance and support who undergirded the effort, and the crewmembers. The narrative tells how they successfully met a staggering challenge. There was no book to follow. In only eleven days of intense combat operations they wrote their own book as they supported and flew the missions. That book revealed an across-the-board ability to radically change complex procedures and tactics on short notice, and a commensurate ability of aircrew and support personnel to execute them to near perfection. In reviewing their story we find insight as to why the nation and the military need this caliber of people, who stepped forward when the need arose, demonstrated superior leadership, determination, and resiliency, did the job, and then dispersed into the more normal patterns of life. Many have since retired or separated from active service.