War from Above the Clouds: B-52 Operations During the Second Indochina War and the Effects of the Air War on Theory and Doctrine—As a Fairchild Paper
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The Fairchild Papers are monograph-length essays of value to the Air Force. The series is named in honor of Muir S. Fairchild, the first commander of Air University and the university’s conceptual father. General Fairchild was part visionary, part keen taskmaster, and “Air Force to the core.” His legacy is one of confidence about the future of the Air Force and the central role of Air University in that future. AIR UNIVERSITY LIBRARY WAR FROM ABOVE THE CLOUDS B-52 Operations during the Second Indochina War and the Effects of the Air War on Theory and Doctrine WILLIAM P. HEAD, PhD Robins Air Force Base, Georgia Fairchild Paper Air University Press Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama 36112-6615 July 2002 Air University Library Cataloging Data Head, William P., 1949- War from above the clouds : B-52 operations during the Second Indochina War and the effects of the air war on theory and doctrine / William P. Head. p. cm. — (Fairchild paper, ISSN 1528-2325). Includes bibliographical references and index. Contents: Airpower theory and doctrine in the 1950s — Development of the B-52 Stratofortress — Air Force theory and doctrine in the 1960s — Keeping a historical account — Menu bombing — Commando hunt operations — Air Force theory and doc- trine in the early 1970s — Air Force doctrine after Vietnam. ISBN 1-58566-107-4 1. Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 — Aerial operations, American. 2. B-52 bomber. 3. United States. Air Force — History. 4. Air warfare. 5. Air power — United States. I. Title. II. Series. 959.704348—dc21 Disclaimer Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied within are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Air University, the United States Air Force, the Department of Defense, or any other US government agency. Cleared for public re- lease: distribution unlimited. This Fairchild Paper and others in the series are available electron ically at the AU Press Web site http://aupress.maxwell.af.mil and the Air University Research Web site http://research.maxwell.af. mil under “Books & Papers” then “AU Press Publications.” ii Contents Page DISCLAIMER . ii FOREWORD . v ABOUT THE AUTHOR . vii INTRODUCTION . 1 AIRPOWER THEORY AND DOCTRINE IN THE 1950s . 6 Airpower Enters the Vietnam War . 8 America Is Drawn in Deeper . 10 DEVELOPMENT OF THE B-52 STRATOFORTRESS . 12 Insurgency War and Doctrine in the Early 1960s . 15 Arc Light (B-52 Raids, 1965–68) . 17 Modifying the B-52 Fleet . 22 Arc Light Expands and Airpower Controversies Grow . 23 Arc Light Operations Continue . 27 AIR FORCE THEORY AND DOCTRINE IN THE 1960s . 32 KEEPING A HISTORICAL ACCOUNT . 35 Project CHECO . 35 Corona Harvest . 36 Summary . 38 MENU BOMBING . 40 COMMANDO HUNT OPERATIONS . 42 AIR FORCE THEORY AND DOCTRINE IN THE EARLY 1970s . 61 Linebacker I . 65 Linebacker II . 72 iii Page AIR FORCE DOCTRINE AFTER VIETNAM . 87 CONCLUSIONS . 93 NOTES . 97 GLOSSARY . 113 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY . 115 INDEX . 131 Photographs B-52D Dropping a Load on the Enemy . 2 B-29 Superfortress . 5 Gen Curtis E. LeMay . 10 B-52D and B-52G . 14 Arc Light Target Box after a Raid . 20 B-52Ds at U Tapao Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand . 22 Porters Transporting Supplies . 50 AC-119G over Tan Son Nhut Air Base, RVN . 59 F-105 Thunderchiefs over Thailand . 67 Lt Gen Gerald W. Johnson . 77 Crew Members in Linebacker II . 80 B-52Ds . 82 SA-2 . 86 iv Foreword Dr. William P. Head’s War from above the Clouds: B-52 Opera tions during the Second Indochina War and the Effects of the Air War on Theory and Doctrine is an examination of B-52 operations in Vietnam and how the air war affected airpower doctrine and theory. His study examines the evolution of this awesome manned strategic weapon in Vietnam to see how the design of the B-52s originally intended mission altered—if at all—the the ories of airpower first put forward by Giulio Douhet and William “Billy” Mitchell. Dr. Head also analyzes how this same opera tional alteration affected official United States Air Force (USAF) doctrine first formulated by Army Air Corps and Army Air Forces leaders before and during World War II—later modified in the 1950s after the USAF became a separate service. In the aftermath of World War II, airmen had to reevaluate the old theories. Would the bombers always get through? The lessons of the war seemed to indicate that the answer to this question was no, not without long-range fighter escorts such as the P-47 and P-51. Airpower leaders also rightly noted that bombing technology and the quantity of bombers had not been sufficient in World War II to allow airpower to be decisive. Dr. Head contends that the lack of a definitive test for the theory that airpower decisively affects the outcome of war continued during the Vietnam or Second Indochina War. Dr. Head initially conducted his research for a shorter pres entation at the Air Force’s Fiftieth Anniversary Conference in Washington, D.C., during the summer of 1997. Air University Press is pleased to present the expanded essay—War from above the Clouds: B-52 Operations during the Second Indochina War and the Effects of the Air War on Theory and Doctrine—as a Fairchild Paper. SHIRLEY BROOKS LASETER Director Air University Library/Air University Press v About the Author Dr. William P. Head William P. Head (PhD, Florida State University) is chief, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center Office of History, Robins Air Force Base (AFB), Georgia. His prior positions include an assistant professor of history at the University of Alabama, Hunstville, and an adjunct instructor for Florida State Univer sity, Mercer University, Georgia Military College, and Macon State College. Dr. Head’s publications include Every Inch a Sol dier: General Augustine Warner Robins and the Development of American Air Power (1995), Weaving a New Tapestry: Asia in the Post–Cold War World (1999), and Case Studies and General Trends (1999). He coauthored Time Capsule: A History of Robins AFB, Georgia, 1935–1995 (1997) and Crown Jewel of Georgia: A History of the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB, Georgia (1998). This latter work was winner of the 1998 Air Force Heritage Publications Award. Dr. Head is also coeditor of Looking Back on the Vietnam War: A 1990s Perspective of Deci sions, Combat, and Legacies (1993), Eagle in the Desert: Look ing Back on US Involvement in the Persian Gulf War (1996), and The Tet Offensive (1996). He has published more than 24 arti cles and book reviews in the Journal of American History, Jour nal of Military History, and Air Power History journal. His arti cle titled “Air Power in the Persian Gulf: An Initial Search for the Right Lessons” was the outstanding article for 1992 and was published in the spring issue that year of Air Force Jour nal of Logistics. Dr. Head received the 1994 Air Force Most Outstanding Historian Award. He has been included, since 1996, in Who’s Who in America, American Education, the South vii and Southwest, and Who’s Who in the World. Dr. Head con tributed numerous articles to the 1999 ABC–Clio Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War, the 2000 ABC–Clio Encyclopedia of the Ko rean War and the Encyclopedia of Aerial Warfare, as well as the forthcoming ABC–Clio Encyclopedia of Naval Warfare and Facts On File Encyclopedia of Military History. viii Introduction This paper examines the B-52 Stratofortress operations in Vietnam and how the air war affected airpower doctrine and theory. It also examines the evolution of this awesome- manned strategic weapon in Vietnam to see how the structure of the B-52’s originally intended mission altered—if at all—the theories of airpower first put forward by Giulio Douhet and William “Billy” Mitchell. This paper analyzes how this same op erational alteration affected official United States Air Force (USAF) doctrine first formulated by Army Air Corps and Army Air Forces (AAF) leaders before and during World War II and later modified in the 1950s after the USAF became a separate service. In defining airpower doctrine, Dr. Dennis M. Drew as serts that “doctrine has many functions, but it can adequately be defined as a ‘framework for understanding how to apply military power. It is what history has taught us works in war, as well as what does not.’”1 The 1992 Air Force Manual (AFMAN 1-1), Basic Aerospace Doctrine of the United States Air Force, defines Air Force doc- trine as “what we have learned about aerospace power and its application since the dawn of powered flight.” It also states that Air Force doctrine is “a broad conceptual basis for our understanding of war, human nature, and aerospace power.” The manual declares that doctrine is “the starting point for solving contemporary problems.”2 The September 1997 document—which appeared in late 1997—reaffirmed these points and the growing emphasis in the USAF on combat in space.3 In the very first chapter it states, “Air and space doctrine is a statement of officially sanc tioned beliefs and warfighting principles that describe and guide the proper use of air and space forces in military opera tions.”4 This document emphasizes that “air and space doc- trine is an accumulation of knowledge gained primarily from the study and analysis of experience, which may include ac tual combat or contingency operations as well as equipment tests or exercises.”5 At the same time, this document declares, “it must be emphasized that doctrine development is never complete.”6 Dr. Drew concludes that “although doctrine may 1 FAIRCHILD PAPER not fulfill all of the requirements of a formal academic definition of theory, it fulfills most of the same functions and in that sense forms a ‘poor man’s’ theory of airpower.”7 These definitions and their core components are not com pletely new.