National Experiences - British Commission for Military History

348 ai r p o w e r in 20 t H Ce n t u ry do C t r i n e s a n d em p l o y m e n t - nat i o n a l ex p e r i e n C e s
In 1965 and 1966 the Americans embarked on a major bombing campaign of
North Vietnam that generally followed the Rostow/Bundy strategy. At the same time,
large American ground combat forces were sent to South Vietnam. The air campaign
against North Vietnam that was expected to have quick and decisive effects failed
to cripple the North Vietnamese military capabilities. 38 However, North Vietnamese
forces fighting in a low-level war in the south required relatively little in the way
of logistics. Even a massive interdiction campaign by the U.S. could not stop the
flow of supplies from North Vietnam to the south. By 1966 the “Rolling Thunder”
bombing campaign had knocked out 60% of North Vietnam’s oil storage facilities.
Yet the North Vietnamese quickly adapted their logistics system and dispersed fuel
throughout the country in 55 gallon drums. Attacks that would have crippled a highly
industrialized economy or mechanized armed forces had little effect against a low
tech country and military. 39
The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy carried on an intermittent strategic bombing
campaign against North Vietnam and an interdiction campaign against the supply
routes along the Ho Chi Minh trail from 1965 until 1973 when the U.S. forces left South
Vietnam. In many respects, the Vietnam war was an important learning experience
for the American airpower. The US military employed many new technologies in
the Vietnam War. Remote electronic sensors were deployed to collect targeting data
along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Many new aircraft were tested in combat. Laser-guided
precision bombs saw their debut in bombing North Vietnam. The US Air Force also
had to contend with highly sophisticated and extensive air defense systems in the
skies over North Vietnam—and the aircraft losses throughout the whole of the war
were heavy. Even though American airpower could claim significant tactical victories
and accomplishments, as in Korea, the war for the Americans ended in a negotiated
truce and not in anything resembling victory. This allowed for American withdrawal
and final North Vietnamese victory over South Vietnam two years later. 40
From the Cold War to Desert Storm
After the very disappointing experience of Vietnam the U.S. military turned its
attention to the more serious and immediate question of how to face the vast Soviet
and Warsaw Pact conventional forces in case of an open confrontation between East
and West on a European battlefield. In the case of the Cold War turning hot, the United
States could not count on numerical superiority, or even fighting with air superiority.
38 A good overview of the U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam is found in Mark Clodfelter,
The Limits of Air Power: The American Bombing of North Vietnam (New York: The Free Press,
1989).
39 Budiansky, pp. 382-383.
40 See Kenneth Werrell, Chasing the Silver Bullet: U.S. Air Force Weapons Development from Vietnam
to Desert Storm (Washington: Smithsonian Books, 2003) On US aircraft in Vietnam see pp. 9-35; on
USAF munitions and sensors in Vietnam see pp. 36-54.