Christmas ‘delivery’ through strategic airpower

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. , Dec. 16, 2008 — Team Barksdale entered December with many warriors deployed across the globe projecting power to provide loved ones at home the hope of a peaceful Christmas. America's heavy bomber force comprised of the venerable B-52H, speedy B-1B and stealthy B-2A provides the U.S. government a strategic capability to send a very deliberate message globally within a matter of hours. As we collectively reflect upon our blessings this Christmas season, we should look back to a historic example of how strategic airpower was used to sue for peace.

Thirty-six years ago and half a world away, 129 Strategic Air Command B-52s thundered down the runways at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam and U-Tapao Air Base, Thailand and headed for targets deep inside North Vietnam. It was Dec. 18, 1972 -- American warriors were commencing Operation Linebacker II -- an unrestricted campaign against the capital city of Hanoi and the strategic port of Haiphong - North Vietnam's strategic heartland. This area of Southeast Asia was critical to the Communist war effort as it contained the bulk of the country's industrial base. Significant operations in the area had been had been restricted up to this point in the war. Linebacker II was a massive sustained effort which ended on Dec. 29, 1972. While Christmas was a day of rest, Hell was unleashed on North Vietnam for 11 days of flight ops. On Dec. 26 alone, Hanoi was struck with 120 B-52s and 100 other aircraft within a 15 minute time span!

During the campaign, 729 B-52 sorties were flown. Additionally, Air Force F-4s and F-111s along with Navy and Marine Corps F-4s, A-7s, A-6 mounted a massive bombing offensive. Electronic aircraft jammed the radars and airways of the North. Daily operations were characterized with over 650 daylight fighter strikes followed by B-52 night strikes.

The operation was costly. The target area was heavily defended by surface-to-air missiles and anti aircraft artillery. The Air Force lost 15 B-52s, 2 F-4s, 2 F-111s and 1 HH-53. The Navy lost 2 A-7s, 2 A-6s, 1 F-4 and 1 RA-5. Of the 100 crewmen shot down during the offensive, 35 were killed, 26 were rescued and 39 became prisoners of war. The losses took a very personal meaning to the north Louisiana town of Gibsland as native son and B-52D tail-gunner Tech. Sgt. "Charlie" Poole was listed as missing in action after his aircraft was shot down by a surface-to-air missile just south of Hanoi Dec. 19, 1972. Thirty-one years later, following positive identification by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, Chief Poole's remains were interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Was Linebacker II worth the sacrifice? Retired Brig. Gen. Robbie Risner, a prisoner in the infamous Hanoi Hilton for nearly seven years, states in his book "The Passing of the Night," "What made us so enthusiastic about the bombing was the fact that the Vietnamese had been dragging their feet on the negotiations for years."

The campaign forced the enemy back to the negotiating table. On Jan. 27, 1973 a formal peace pact was signed.

Retired Col. and now Congressman Sam Johnson states in his book "Captive Warriors," "The Christmas bombing, Linebacker II effectively shut down the Hanoi war machine."

Linebacker II was the culminating point for major American operations in Vietnam. American POWs, many of whom had been held for up to seven years, sing praises to the B-52 like no other group of people can. They attribute their very freedom to the unrestrained horrific onslaught of strategic airpower. They saw their brutal captors cowering in absolute fear of devastation while American prisoners rejoiced with the full knowledge and faith that their fellow Americans knew exactly where the prisons were located. They knew that the bombers were going to utterly obliterate everything except the prisons to ensure captive Americans would be set free.

Linebacker II was indeed worth it! It is a vital part of our Air Force heritage. Today's Airmen should read accounts from other American POWs who were on the ground in the prisons around Hanoi and watched from their front row seats. In addition to the two books mentioned above, take some time to read: "Return with Honor," by Retired Col. George "Bud" Day, a Medal of Honor recipient and "When Hell was in Session," by Retired RADM Jeremiah Denton.

To the North Vietnamese leaders, Linebacker II was expensive in terms of its effects on them. The offensive struck 24 complexes including rail and ship yards, oil tank farms, supply depots, air bases, critical bridges, vehicle repair shops, Radio Hanoi, power plants and the storage and launching sites of the North's surface-to-air missile force. Some 1,600 military structures were damaged or destroyed, three million gallons of fuel was destroyed and an estimated 80 percent of the electrical generating capacity was also destroyed. The intense massing of airpower against strategic targets was decisive in bringing the North Vietnamese to the Paris Peace Conference to sign a previously negotiated cease-fire agreement.

This Christmas season, we pray for peace while engaged in a global war on terror. Remember Linebacker II veterans who paved the path we now walk as Airmen. Our mission today is to defend America and hand over to the next generation of Airmen an even stronger more agile Air, Space and Cyberspace power!