Air Power, Insurgency and the “War on Terror” - Prof. Joel Hayward's ...

<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror”
1967 <strong>the</strong> Laotians flew 2004 sorties, claimed 246 trucks, 47 gun positions <strong>and</strong> 27
boats. Losses were not high when considering <strong>the</strong> sortie rate: Communist AA fire
destroyed three aircraft, <strong>and</strong> one was lost to an accident.
510. A good overview of <strong>the</strong> early years of <strong>the</strong> US advisory mission to <strong>the</strong> VNAF is Robert
Futrell, The United States <strong>Air</strong> Force in Sou<strong>the</strong>ast Asia: The Advisory Years to 1965
(Washington, DC: Office of <strong>Air</strong> Force History, 1981).
511. My bro<strong>the</strong>r, 1LT Michael Corum, served in Vietnam in <strong>the</strong> delta region from 1967
to 1968. He called for close air support several times, <strong>and</strong> received support from
VNAF units flying A-1 Skyraiders.
512. James Willbanks, Ab<strong>and</strong>oning Vietnam (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas,
2004).
513. For an overview of this campaign <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> role of air power see James Corum, “The
<strong>Air</strong> War in El Salvador,” <strong>Air</strong>power Journal, Summer 1998.
514. FM 3-24 Counter-insurgency (December 2006) Annex E, paragraphs E-17-18,
E-31.
515. When using <strong>the</strong> words “Western” or “West” in this chapter I defined <strong>the</strong>se as <strong>the</strong>
states of Nor<strong>the</strong>rn America <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> western part of Europe; in short <strong>the</strong> member
countries of NATO prior to its expansion after <strong>the</strong> fall of <strong>the</strong> Berlin Wall.
516. Robert Pape, “The True Worth of <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 83, No. 2, 2004,
pp. 116-130.
517. For examples see: Off Target: The Conduct of <strong>the</strong> War <strong>and</strong> Civilian Casualties
in Iraq (Washington: Human Rights Watch, 2003 <strong>and</strong> Fatally Flawed: Cluster
bombs <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir Use by <strong>the</strong> United States in Afghanistan (Washington: Human Rights
Watch, 2002); Anthony Cordesmann, The Lessons of Afghanistan: War fighting,
Intelligence, <strong>and</strong> Force Transformation (Washington: CSIS Press, 2003), pp. 35-42.
A recent example is documented in Carlotta Gall, “British Criticize U.S <strong>Air</strong> Attacks
in Afghan Region,” New York Times, 9 August 2007 <strong>and</strong> Charles Havil<strong>and</strong>, “US
probes Afghan civilian deaths,” BBC News, 30 June 2007.
518. Headquarters of Department US Army / Headquarters Marine Corps Combat
Development Comm<strong>and</strong> Department of <strong>the</strong> Navy (2006): FM 3-4/ MCWP 3-33.5,
Counter-insurgency. Fort Leavenworth, p. E-1 – E-2.
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<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror”