ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED 14 MARCH 1967

RIPPLE SALVO… #374… FORTUNE ALSO FAVORS THOSE WHO STUDY HISTORY… but first…

Good Morning: Day THREE HUNDRED SEVENTY THREE immersed in the history of the 1960s…

14 MARCH 1967… HEAD LINES and LEADS from The New York Times on a cloudy, drizzly Tuesday in NYC…

Page 1: “U.S. Says Parley’s in Guam Will Bring No Policy Shift”...“The President’s trip is linked to intensification of pressure on North Vietnam–Raids are highest in four months”...”Administration spokesmen went out of their way to emphasize what they said was the routine nature of President Johnson’s meeting with his advisors on Vietnam next week in Guam. No major new decisions, strategy development or Presidential pronouncements should be expected, they said, because this is a regular meeting of the type that the President has tried to have about twice a year since the United States became deeply involved in Vietnam. However, some sources attached considerable importance to the high level conference and the President’s decision to fly 7,000 miles to talk with his chief advisors. The meeting is important as part of Mr. Johnson’s efforts to maintain a ‘forward movement’ in the war.”... Page 3: “A.W.O.L. Troops Found On Rise In Army’s Build-up for Vietnam”… “Pentagon figures showed today that the number of soldiers going Absent Without Leave has climbed steadily in the mid-1960s in the Army’s build-up for Vietnam. Last year the Army recorded 55,190 instances of servicemen failing to report back to their posts–a rate of 51 for each 1,000 based on the million-plus force for each 1,000 men in 1966. the rate was 42 for 1,000 in 1962; 49 for 1,000 in 1963; and 49 for 1,000 in 1965.”… Page 4: “Hanoi’s Air Force Being Trained at Chinese Bases”... “but U.S. sources report China air fields are not being used to attack American aircraft operating over North Vietnam.”…

Page 1: “Senate Panel finds Some of Poor Reject Guaranteed Income”...”Senators investigating the anti-poverty drive found today that some persons with a desire to escape poverty would not settle for a guaranteed annual income paid by the Government. The legislators discovered there are poor people who do not hesitate to talk back to a Senator when they think they are being called a rubber stamp. ‘Giving money to people for doing nothing of three who has a low paying job in the New Haven anti-poverty program. She was testifying at a Senate Sub-Committee on Employment, Manpower and Poverty.”… Page 1: “Nixon Authorizes Group Supporting Him for 1968″... “Former Vice President Richard M. Nixon has authorized the establishment of national ‘Nixon for President Committee’ with headquarters in Washington. The move, disclosed today while Mr. Nixon was traveling in Germany was stressed in political circles here in Los Angeles as a significant step in his putative bid for the Republican nomination in 1968.”... Page 1: “Supreme Court To Review State ‘Frisk’ Law”... “The Supreme Court agreed today to decide the constitutionality of the controversial New York ‘stop and frisk’ law that gives police the right to search suspicious looking persons in public places. In agreeing to review the conviction of a frequently arrested narcotics peddler who was searched on a Brooklyn side-walk, the justices set the stage for a possible landmark development in criminal law.”…

OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… IRON HAND for an ALPHA STRIKE…11 March 1967…

On 11 March 1967 Attack Carrier Air Wing ELEVEN, operating from the USS KITTY HAWK (CVA-63) made a Joint Chiefs of Staff directed “Alpha” strike on the Bac Giang thermal power plant located twenty-five miles northeast of Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam. The target was composed of a multi-story concrete boiler house with large smokestacks connected by three flue ducts, a multi-story concrete generator house, control building and covered transformers, a coal conveyor, coal preparation building, substation and coal wharf. The plant had an installed capacity of 12,000 KWH producing 9% of North Vietnam’s national capacity. In addition, it was the newest major power facility in North Vietnam.

The target and its approaches were heavily defended by 38 surface-to-air missile sites, over 180 anti-aircraft artillery concentrations and an incalculable number of automatic weapons. The extremely close proximity to Kep (North Vietnam’s second largest jet interceptor base) meant that enemy fighters were never more than seconds away. Destruction of the target would further deplete the electrical power resources of North Vietnam.

THE A-6 IRONHAND ( SAM suppression) ELEMENT of two A-6 Intruders from VA-85… Led by LCDR Fred Metz and B/N LTJG Dante Kolipano and #2 LT Frank Wagner and B/N LT Dick McKee…

In order to be in an advantageous position to counterattack the active SAM sites during the critical phase of the strike group’s approach, attack and retirement, the SAM suppression element led by LCDR Metz accelerated ahead of the main strike group when at a distance of 30 miles from the target. as the SAM Ironhand element individually approached the target area LCDR Metz/LTJG Kolipano stationed themselves to the southwest of the target area and Lt Wagner/Lt McKee to the northeast in close proximity to the target in advantageous although extremely  dangerous position to effectively protect the strike aircraft.

The first surface-to-air missiles were fired at the strike group when approximately 30 miles from the target. From that point there were almost constant firings all the way to the target and for 20 miles on the retirement. Ten missiles were ween and reported as fired, several bursting within the formation. as the target closed, intense AAA fire was encountered. Because of the stringent requirement to maneuver violently to evade missiles and to avoid flak it was only through rigid flight discipline and resolute determination in the face of a determined enemy that the strike group arrived in the target area. Courageously and very aggressively, CDR Ron Hays and his B/N LT Ted Been (see previous RTR for 10 March, Ripple Salvo #370), skillfully led the strike and flak suppression elements to the precise pre-planned roll-in points. Gaining entrance to the target without damage, all aircraft continued and executed effective dive bombing and flak suppression runs. Retirement from the area was orderly and as planned despite the loss of one engine of an F-4 aircraft due to battle damage. after 40 minutes over enemy territory the strike group coasted out and returned safely to USS Kitty Hawk.

The Ironhand element’s objective was to suppress the active surface-to-air missile sites during the strike group’s approach, attack and retirement. LT Wagner/LT McKee were active in the suppression of missile sites to the north of the target. Flying at medium altitude LT Wagner skillfully fired a SHRIKE missile “down the throat” at a known SAM installation which was radiating. Heavy anti-aircraft fire and several SAMs required constant evasive maneuvering as they positioned to attack another site. On retirement they returned to a previously noted active SAM site and bombed the site with all remaining ordnance.

Results of the strike were excellent with photo confirmation of the destruction of the transformer yard, substantial damage to the generator house and generator control building.

The EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENT and courage in the face of sustained enemy opposition resulted in the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross to both LT WAGNER and LT McKEE…     oohrah…

14 March 1967… Operation Rolling Thunder… New York Times (15 Mar reporting 14 Mar ops) Page 4: “In raids yesterday in the North, Thailand based Air Force pilots concentrated on truck convoys near Mugia Pass, the main North Vietnamese infiltration gateway into Laos and South Vietnam. Pilots reported hitting five trucks 14 miles northeast of the pass and said numerous trucks were destroyed or damaged in a convoy that stretched 10 miles in the area of the pass. Navy pilots from the carrier Ticonderoga in the Gulf of Tonkin reported damaging a North Vietnamese torpedo boat 40 miles east of Haiphong. Other carrier pilots claimed destruction or damage to 10 railroad box cars and 10 cargo barges.”… “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) One fixed wing aircraft was lost in Southeast Asia on 14 March 1967…

(1) An F-105D of the 469th TFS and 388th TFW out of Korat suffered a control problem on a test flight and the pilot was forced to eject. The test pilot survived.

RIPPLE SALVO… #374… Definitions: HASTE: Rash or headlong action; excessive eagerness. SPEED: Swiftness, rapidity, rate of motions or performance.  PATTON: “Don’t confuse haste with speed.” at the same time the great captains of military history have without exception, espoused the axiom: “Fortune favors the bold.” Patton preached and practiced, “Audacity, audacity, audacity.” Patton and the great military captains of history also practiced and preached a companion axiom: “History is the laboratory of a great commander.”Why do you suppose history is so important to a military leader, including Commanders-in-Chief? Because, “history is the teacher.” History is the logbook of lessons learned–what works and what doesn’t.

When considering a bold move–like sending the Marines into Syria– a wise leader might pause to consider the odds, the risks, the range of possible outcomes. He might ponder the adage, “haste makes waste.” He might want to ponder what Lee was thinking when he gave Pickett the order to charge up that long slope. He might ponder what Hitler and Napoleon were thinking when they, each in their own time, chased the Russians into the depths of a Russian winter. He might ponder the “Charge of the Light Brigade,” or just read Tennyson’s great poem. He might ponder the enormous gamble lost by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor or the Soviet Union’s adventure into Afghanistan, as well as our own ongoing 15-year disaster in that graveyard of invaders. And of course, he might ponder the catastrophic American experience we know as the Vietnam war.

History is the teacher. Why are our elected leaders and military advisors such poor students?… We had no business in Vietnam. We had no business in either Afghanistan or Iraq, and we darn sure don’t have any business fighting a war for Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who have cut and run to safe sanctuaries in Europe to let American troops fight their battles. The President is acting in haste. His generals have forgotten their history lessons. And our elected officials are silent and ever ready to abdicate their responsibilities to the Executive. We are going into another war without further discussion. The American people are about to get an another lesson in what happens when haste is confused with speed, and discretion is disdained for bold military action.

In the name of the 58,000 Vietnam warriors who gave their lives for little, if any, cause, give their sacrifice meaning now. Spare the sacrifice of more American lives on foreign shores in undeclared wars that are not ours, and for interests that are not ours. Where to next? Libya?…   That’s my opinion, what’s yours?…

CAG’s QUOTE: KARL VON CLAUSEWICZ: “Even in audacity there is certain prudence and foresight.”

Lest we forget…   Bear…