News>Arc Light marked beginning of B-52 involvement in Vietnam
Photos
B-52 aircrew returning from an ARC LIGHT mission over Southeast Asia. Just as in earlier wars, the bombs painted on the fuselage showed the number of missions flown. (U.S. Air Force photo)
from Air Force Global Strike Command History Office
12/18/2012 - BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. (AFNS) -- Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of articles highlighting the B-52's involvement in the Vietnam Conflict up to Operation Linebacker II. The 40th Anniversary of Linebacker II takes place Dec. 18-29.
By 1972, the war in Vietnam had persisted for more than eight years, characterized by a gradual, but massive buildup of U.S. forces. That massive buildup began in April 1965, with the highly-publicized event of U.S. Marines wading out of the sea and onto the beaches of Da Nang, South Vietnam. Concurrent to this, and to support those ground forces, the Air Force deployed a portion of its tactical fighter-bombers to air bases located in South Vietnam and later Thailand. However, prior to this and in a less publicized move, Strategic Air Command deployed its first contingent of B-52 Stratofortresses to the tiny island of Guam in support of what became known as Operation Arc Light.
Strategic Air Command had always harbored a residual conventional capability with its bombers, but it was not until the early 1960s that its leaders began planning for limited war capabilities, a capability that called for conventional weapons rather than nuclear. After several tests in the spring of 1964, SAC declared a small portion of its B-52F fleet ready for conventional combat and in February 1965, deployed 30 of the conventionally-laden bombers to Andersen Air Base, Guam. The crews, who hailed from Mather and Barksdale Air Force Bases, planned to strike targets located in North Vietnam.
Despite preparation, after arrival, SAC quickly relegated the crews to six-hour alert commitments rather than sending them into combat. For the next few months, those crews continued to study contingency strike folders that contained both Phuc Yen airfield and Haiphong harbor as targets. But, as the United States delayed using the B-52, the North Vietnamese improved air defense systems. With the addition of sophisticated Russian-made surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) the probability of using the B-52 against targets in North Vietnam diminished. In the meantime, the 2nd Bomb Wing rotated home replaced by the 7th Bomb Wing.
However, Gen. William C. Westmoreland, commander of U.S. Forces in South Vietnam, was convinced that the B-52 could fill a void that the tiny, tactical fighter-bombers could not. In the same month that the B-52s arrived at Andersen AB, he began lobbying for the big bombers to pattern-bomb the Viet Cong who had been operating in South Vietnam. After much debate, that included strong hesitation on SAC's part, on June 18, 1965, the B-52 entered combat as part of Operation Arc Light.
On that day, 30 bombers (15 from the 7th BW and 15 from the 320th BW) took off from Andersen AB, headed for a target located in South Vietnam and measuring about one mile by two miles square. Earlier, weapons technicians had loaded twenty four of the B-52s with 51 750-pound general purpose bombs while the remaining six carried 27 1,000-pound semi-armor piercing bombs internally and the normal 24 750-pounders externally. In all, the 30 bombers carried 1,530 bombs into combat.
Unfortunately, that first mission was fraught with difficulty. It began with tragedy when two of the B-52s collided, killing eight of the crew while another was declared as missing-in-action. Next, another bomber with mechanical malfunctions could not receive fuel from an orbiting KC-135 Stratotanker and had to return to Guam. Lastly, prior to arriving at the target, several aircrews realized they would not be able to release their weapons due to mechanical malfunctions. Nonetheless, the remaining B-52 crews entered the target area and released 1,299 bombs.
A quick survey by allied recon teams found little to no damage in the target area and few dead. The press immediately focused on the unorthodox use of a strategic bomber drawing the analogy of "using a sledge hammer to kill gnats." But, while the criticism tended to focus on the costly B-52 air-to-air collision, the military considered the mission a success. Historians later wrote, "that the B-52's mission was to harass the VC, to disrupt his normal activities, to permit him no respite from danger even in his jungle redoubts, and to wear him down psychologically."
However, in the months that followed, while B-52 crews continued to harass the Viet Cong, they eventually accepted a new mission, a mission to directly support the allied ground forces. This began in November 1965 during the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, the first major encounter of the war between U.S. Troops and the North Vietnamese Army. But later in December, B-52 crews also supported the Marines during Operation Harvest Moon.
By the end of 1965, SAC's 30 bomber force had increased its monthly sortie rate to roughly 300 and by the end of 1966 more than half the B-52 strike requests came from field commanders. The Air Force had convinced ground commanders that the Cold War nuclear bomber could be used as a conventional juggernaut. So it came as no surprise when General Westmoreland requested that the Air Force produce 800 B-52 sorties per month and to reduce the time it took to get to the target.
Of course the immediate answer to producing more sorties was to expand Andersen AB and increase the number of bombers to 70. However, the bombers would still be 2,500 miles away from the targets in Vietnam. In November 1966, SAC increased the B-52s at Guam to 50 and began producing 650 sorties per month. However, SAC later deployed an additional 11 B-52Ds and met the 800 sorties per month. This did not immediately solve the time on target issue, but eventually, the United States built a second Arc Light base at Thai Navy airfield at U-Tapao on the Gulf of Siam. It began initially as a shuttle bombing base where B-52 crews would take off from Andersen, fly their missions, recover and rearm at U-Tapao, and then fly another mission and return to Andersen.
In 1969, the Air Force upgraded U-Tapao to a main operating base. It was closer to the targets reducing the mission times by two thirds as those launched from Guam, and therefore reducing the time to get to the target. In addition to Andersen and U-Tapao, in February 1968 as north Vietnamese launched its Tet Offensive, SAC began staging bombers at Kadena Air Base, Japan.
During the Tet Offensive, two North Vietnamese divisions of about 20,000 men cut access to Khe Sanh and trapped 6,000 U.S. Marines and South Vietnamese rangers. To support the besieged ground troops, SAC increased its monthly sortie rate to 1,800 and on an average day, sent 60 B-52s to pound the enemy, carpet-bombing a 1.2-mile strip, which created havoc among the besiegers. Westmoreland later stated that "The thing that broke their backs was basically the fire of the B-52s."
In a short amount of time during the war in Vietnam B-52 crews transformed the aircraft from a Cold War nuclear bomber to a close-air-support juggernaut. B-52 crews provided support to ground forces, harassed the Viet Cong, and wrote a new chapter in the bomber's history.
Comments
1/1/2013 1:22:49 PM ET B52 jet engine mechanic 66 to 70 KI Sawyer MI Anderson Guam Ramey PR
Jim Cook, Whiting NJ
12/29/2012 9:31:20 PM ET I was an EWO on the B-52D with the 91BW322BS in this era. We had done ARC LIGHT twice. The staging of bombers from Kadena were the direct result of Operation PORT BOW our deployment to Kadena due to the capture of the USS Pueblo by North Korea. When we rotated back to the CONUS we arrived home to close the airbase at Glasgow AFB MT and spread to the four winds.
Jim Bradley, Westmoreland KS
12/21/2012 8:33:24 PM ET I worked B52 from 1978 til 1991 at MinotAFBND It is the plane of planes. We had all H models both nuke and conv. I worked on 60 and 61 models we flew from GuamDarwinMaineAlaska red flag anywhere they would let us land. Big ugly and can fly forever. did 36 hrs missions in Guam in the early 80's love the BUFF remember tail numbers like 00301024000310361035 we had a bunch at Minot loved the time in the BUFF. God love Boeing. Saw one fly with no tail made it home think the specs. are still classified.
ken jackson, wrightmn
12/20/2012 3:16:47 PM ET Proud to serve at Westover AFB.... MA former home of headquarters 8th AF before they left for Barksdale. Served at WAFB - June 1963-Sept. 1965. Loved watching the B-52 Crews zooming out to the flight line on 24 hr alert. We had the best seat. 814 Supply Sqdrn. next to the flight line
John, St. Augustine Fl
12/20/2012 2:42:38 PM ET I don't think that the B-52 can be replaced. It's old but it's still a work horse for this country. I realize it takes alot of man hours to keep it flying BUFf FOREVER
Donald Watkins, 29617
12/20/2012 11:14:23 AM ET My brother Rich Littleton worked on the bomb-nav systems at Loring and in Georgia in the 70's. He passed away this year but we have his manual - his Bible - and he got it - every page of it. He was a good tech and a good man. Long live the BUFF
D.L., Maine
12/18/2012 4:06:58 PM ET I remember as a tyke in the 60's playing in a mock-up BUFF at the day-care in Wright Patterson. Still an amazing plane.
Bruce, California
12/18/2012 11:09:20 AM ET My beloved B-52 I entered the USAF just after Vietnam and became a Crew Chief on Acft 58-0191 at Blytheville AFB AR. I don't care what anyone says the BUFF is one great aircraft So great is still flys today even though the numbers are't what they used to be it's still flying. My hats off to this great bird.....
