OH+Research

Topic: Being in the Air Force Subject: Lieutenant General Micheal A. Nelson

During the War in Vietnam the U.S. had the strongest air force in the world. But even with this the U.S. had some difficulties in the start of the war. The Vietnamese fought in a different type of warfare then we knew, Gorilla warfare, they would dig tunnels, set booby traps, etc. Because of the tunnels, the U.S. could not attack them through land, so they began bombing northern vietnam. Creating the term and idea of suicide bombers and carpet bombings. This type of war, air war, would take over the majority of fighting in Vietnam and change the way wars will be fought in the future. Because of this new trend of fighting the SVNAF, South Vietnamese Air Force, was formed.

On August 2, 1964 when the USS Maddox was supposivly attacked. the US got permission to take all actions necessary, and with this permission the US had US jets take off and attack a oil storage area and patrolling boats. This was the airforce's first attack during "war." After a while, and after many bombings on Southern Vietnam President Johnson put together a bombing raid called Rolling Thunder. It took a while to get together and it went through many struggles. The US Air force had bombing on Northern Vietnam and tactical bombing over Northern Vietnam. Then what was secret then(during Vietnam) they began bombing over Cambodia and Laos. There were many types of aircrafts during those missions such as the F100 Supersabre jets; F101 Voodoo jets; F102 Delta Dagger jets; F104 Starfighters; F105 Thunderchiefs; A1 Skyraiders (propeller driven); A4 Skyhawks; A6 Intruders; A7 Corsair II's; F8 Crusaders; F4 Phantom II's; AC-130 Spectre Gunships; B57 Canberra bombers; B-52 Stratofortress's; SR71 Blackbirds; U2 Spyplanes; 0-1 Bird Dog observation planes; 0-2 Skymasters; 0V-10 Broncos; C-47 Puff the Magic Dragon gunships. All of these air crafts played an important role in the US air force and each had different aspects that helped them in combat.

Links about U.S. Airforce: [] http://www.military.com/Opinions/0,,Hayden_072905,00.html []

Here Is a Picture of a F100 Superbase Jet- this air craft was used during Vietnam.