Aces and Aerial Victories: The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia 1965-1973

During the war in Southeast Asia, U.S. Air Forcefighter pilots and crewmen were repeatedly challenged by enemy MIG's in the skies over NorthVietnam. The air battles which ensued were uniquein American history because U.S. fighter and strikeforces operated under stringent rules of engagement. With periodic exceptions, for example, MIG bases could not be struck. The rules generally forbade bombing or strafing of military and industrial targets in and around the enemy's heartland, encompassing the capital of Hanoi and the port city of Haiphong. These restrictions gave the North Vietnamese substantial military advantage. Free from American attack and helped by its Soviet and Chinese allies, the enemy was able to construct one of the most formidable antiaircraft defenses the world has even seen. Itincluded MIG forces, surface-to-air missile (SAM)batteries, heavy concentrations of antiaircraft artillery (AAA) units, and an array of early warning radar systems. These elements sought to interdictand defeat the U.S. bombing campaign againstNorth Vietnam's lines of communication and itsmilitary and industrial base. The primary mission of U.S. fighter pilots was to prevent the North Vietnamese MIG's from interfering with U.S. strikeoperations. This book tells how American airmen-assisted by an armada of other USAF aircraft whose crews refueled their planes, warned of approaching enemy MIG's and SAM's, and flew rescue missions when they were shot down managed to emerge from their aerial battles withboth victories and honor.