Air Power and the Ground War in Vietnam : Ideas and Actions

Contents......Page 6
DISCLAIMER . .......Page 3
FOREWORD......Page 10
ABOUT THE AUTHOR......Page 12
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 14
INTRODUCTION......Page 16
PART ONE EVERYBODY'S WAR, NOBODY'S WAR......Page 18
CHAPTER 1 Air Power Theories, Air Force Thinking, and the Conflict in Vietnam:The Past Was Prologue......Page 20
The Thrust of US Air Power Theories......Page 22
The Ascendancy of the Offensive......Page 24
Limited War as a Challenge to Doctrine......Page 30
Vietnam and the Burden of the Past......Page 34
NOTES......Page 41
CHAPTER 2 Interservice Differences, Command and Control, and the Conduct of War in Southeast Asia......Page 44
Interservice Differences in thePost-World War II Context......Page 46
The Search for Simplicity in theComplexity of Southeast Asia......Page 49
Pressures for Change......Page 55
Doctrine and Complexity......Page 61
NOTES......Page 63
CHAPTER 3 War Making and War Politics: Civilian Officials and the Uses of Military Power......Page 66
Political Action as a Counterguerrilla War......Page 67
Competing Visions of the Vietnam War......Page 69
Self-Defeating Aspects of the US Commitment to Counterinsurgency......Page 74
War as Politics......Page 79
The Continuation of War as Politics......Page 81
NOTES......Page 82
PART TWO "TWO, THREE . . . MANY VIETNAMS"......Page 86
CHAPTER 4 Rethinking Ground Warfare......Page 90
Mobility versus Autonomy......Page 91
Firepower and Firebases......Page 94
Supply, Support, and Security......Page 100
"Secret" Bombing and Hidden Warfare......Page 103
Half-Told Tales......Page 107
NOTES......Page 111
CHAPTER 5 Problems in the Performance of Traditional Roles......Page 116
Persistence and Pride......Page 118
Intelligence and Reconnaissance......Page 123
Search, Rescue, and Evacuation......Page 131
Supporting Ground Combat Forces......Page 135
NOTES......Page 137
CHAPTER 6 The Limits of Innovation......Page 140
Fixed-Wing Gunships: Square Pegs,Varied Holes, and the Penknife of Innovation......Page 142
War and the Environment......Page 149
Tactical Innovation and the B-52......Page 156
Ground Alternatives for Clearing and Interdiction......Page 162
NOTES......Page 165
PART THREE REFLECTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS......Page 170
CHAPTER 7 Air Power and the Ambivalence of Vietnam......Page 172
War as an Event and as a Process......Page 178
Limited War and Limited Commitment......Page 183
Complexity and Simplicit......Page 188
Managing War and Waging Diplomacy......Page 192
Between Rigidity and Vacillation......Page 197
The Illusion of Neutrality......Page 202
NOTES......Page 204
Index......Page 210
Table......Page 8
1 . Ratio of Enemy to Allied Casualties.......Page 97
2 . Impressionistic Representation of Decreasing Doubt/Difficulty of Gunship Fire-Support Role andIncreasing Doubt/Difficulty of Gunship Interdiction Role......Page 150
3 . Representation of Area of Uncertainty on "Interdictory"versus "Support" Role of Defoliation.......Page 154
1 Missions, Sorties, and Results of Shining Brass, Prairie Fire, and Phu Dung......Page 128
2 Missions, Sorties, and Results of Daniel Boone, Salem House, and Thot Not......Page 130