Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air ...

AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS
the next year. The first US Navy loss, one of 60 American aircraft
lost in combat in Indochina in 1964, occurred in Laos in
June 1964.
The air war expanded in May 1964 as the United States
began a continuing program of Air Force and Navy reconnaissance
flights over Laos. Nevertheless, the Gulf of Tonkin incident
of August 1964 marked the “official” start of the American
air war in Vietnam, as it led to the first air strike against North
Vietnam. Two of the 80 attacking Navy planes involved in the
reprisal attack went down. Considering the meagerness of the
North Vietnamese defenses in terms of quantity and quality at
this point, these losses should have been a warning signal to
the decision makers of what was to come. The air war escalated
further with armed reconnaissance and fixed-target strikes in
Laos in December 1964. In February 1965, American reprisal
strikes on North Vietnam resumed on a tit-for-tat basis.
The full-scale bombing offensive against North Vietnam, codenamed
Rolling Thunder, began in March 1965. 4 On the first
mission, 2 March 1965, North Vietnamese gunners downed
four of the 130 attacking US and South Vietnamese aircraft.
The North Vietnamese lacked the most modern equipment—they
had no surface-to-air missiles and few jets—but they did have
numerous conventional AAA weapons. So, while they could not
stop the air attacks, they could make them costly (fig. 55).
From the start, America used air power against the north as a
political tool: first, during the reprisal raids and second, during
the Rolling Thunder campaign. The objectives of the latter were
to stiffen the morale of the South Vietnamese, interdict Communist
supplies, inflict punishment and cost on the North Vietnamese,
and demonstrate American will. 5 But many, then and
now, adamantly proclaim the operation was restricted, some say
decisively, by the civilian decision makers. Sortie levels were controlled,
areas of North Vietnam were put off-limits to air attack,
bombing halts were frequent, and targets were carefully selected
from Washington. For example, MiG airfields were off-limits until
1967, as were missile sites until they downed an American aircraft.
In addition, the campaign was graduated, robbing the Airmen
of the elements of shock and surprise and permitting the
North Vietnamese to build and adjust their defenses. 6
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