why did operation rolling thunder fail

As a result, President Johnson declared that a complete bombing halt over North Vietnam would go into effect on 1 November 1968, just prior to the U.S. presidential election. Without them, there was little that could be done over the north in response to Tet, since bad weather minimized fighter operations until the beginning of April. [89] Only central Hanoi, Haiphong, and the Chinese border area remained prohibited from attack. Thesis: The ROEs that were in place for the Rolling Thunder . [a], U.S. policy was for a time dictated by its perception of improvement in the Saigon government. The North Vietnamese guerrillas knew the jungle and made use of elaborate underground bases and tunnels to shelter from US bombs, and often re-used unexploded American bombs against US soldiers. 171177. [49], Rolling Thunder exposed many problems within the American military services committed to it and tended to exacerbate others. [n], Once air-to-air combat began over North Vietnam, the Air Force was again found lacking. There was also little consultation between Johnson and the military chiefs during the target selection process. But in encounters with lighter VPAF's MiG-21, the F-4 began to suffer defeats. The North Vietnamese guerrillas knew the jungle and made use. The daily target selection meetings were soon replaced by weekly sessions and finally by the creation of bi-weekly "force packages. However, what most people don't know or simply fail to recognize is that despite the massive scale of Rolling . [93] McNamara claimed that he and others within the administration continuously opposed the Joint Chief's recommendations for an increased tempo of bombing and the loosening of target restrictions. VanDeMark, p. 69. From beginning to end, Rolling Thunder was hampered by a policy of gradual escalation, which robbed air strikes of their impact and gave North Vietnam time to recover and adjust. [66] Though considered antiquated by the Americans when compared to their supersonic jets, the North Vietnamese turned their aircraft's weaknesses into strengths. On 2 January 1967, the Americans sprang a surprise on the MiGs when they launched Operation Bolo. On the morning of 27 July, 48 F-105s were to participate in the strike, designated Operation Spring High. Naval aircraft, which had shorter ranges (and carried lighter bomb loads) than their air force counterparts, approached their targets from seaward with the majority of their strikes flown against coastal targets. "[45] Six of the strike craft were destroyed (two of the pilots were killed, one missing, two captured, and one rescued) during the ambush. Operation Rolling Thunder was a gradual and sustained aerial bombardment campaign conducted by the United States (U.S.) 2nd Air Division (later Seventh Air Force), U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) from 2 March 1965 until 2 November 1968, during the Vietnam War. But the Vietnamese knew that U.S. aircraft were coming and set up many 23mm and 37mm anti-aircraft guns at the site. [95][v] The limited goals entailed in American foreign policy and the military's goal of total victory were simply not reconcilable. This dilemma was further compounded by an Air Force policy which dictated universal pilot training while proscribing involuntary second combat tours, which combined, had the effect of rotating personnel to different aircraft. losses. [65], Since gaining air superiority over U.S. forces was out of the question, the northern leadership decided to implement a policy of air deniability. Motivated by politics alone, the United States interfered with a smaller states' freedom from . The correct answer, at least from a military point of view, is that Operation Rolling Thunder failed because it was poorly planned and poorly executed. The airmen were already upset that Westmoreland was ordering "the greatest strategic bomber ever built" into a ground support role, but then to have a naval officer (CINCPAC) pick their targets was simply unbearable. [3] Figures on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps casualties were harder to come by. why did operation rolling thunder fail. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". One of them was to point the radar to the side and then turn it off briefly. Airborne early warning aircraft had difficulty detecting the fighters at low altitudes and the aircraft themselves were difficult to see visually. Sometimes these communal areas are peaceful and successful. Operation Rolling Thunder was a gradual and sustained aerial bombardment campaign conducted by the United States (U.S.) 2nd Air Division (later Seventh Air Force), U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) from 2 March 1965 until 2 November 1968, during the Vietnam War.. [3][4] During the operation, of the 745 crewmen shot down, the USAF recorded 145 rescued, 255 killed, 222 captured (23 of whom died in captivity) and 123 missing. Another 370,000500,000 civilians worked part-time. why did operation rolling thunder fail. After input from the State Department and the CIA, the requests then proceeded to the White House, where the president and his "Tuesday Cabinet" made decisions on the strike requests on a weekly basis. The Air Force noted that most of their air-to-air losses were due to unseen attacks from the rear, and thus the problem could be addressed through additional technology that would provide early warning of such attacks. [74] When the nation's lines of communication came under attack, railroad supply trains and truck convoys were split into smaller elements which traveled only at night. Operation Rolling Thunder is considered by many Americans to have been a failed mission. The Air Force doubled the number of sorties sent into Route Package One to more than 6,000 per month with the campaign concentrated on interdiction "choke points", road closing, and truck hunting. Failure of Operation Rolling Thunder The bombing campaign failed because the bombs often fell into empty jungle, missing their targets. This also meant the SAM site's tracking radar could be turned off, which prevented Shrikes from homing in on it. [94] The generals found themselves on the horns of a dilemma of their own making. As the bombing campaign approached its final stage during 1967 and 1968, its chief purpose had slowly transformed from psychological and strategic persuasion to the interdiction of supply and material flows in North Vietnam and the destruction of military infrastructure. In total, the USAF lost eleven aircraft to air and ground forces, while the VPAF lost three of their fighters. But matters came to a head with the attack on Camp Holloway on 7 February 1965, which demanded immediate action, and resulted in a reprisal raid known as Operation Flaming Dart. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. American air power doctrine was based on the concept of strategic bombardment, a concept based on two fundamental assumptions. There were 2 main reasons the bombing tactics of Operation Rolling Thunder failed: Supplies continued to get through to the Vietcong via the extensive tunnel system and the Ho Chi Minh Trail . Unlike the single bombing raid in August 1964, this time the raids were to take place on a regular basis. The Americans, however, fell for an elaborate trap when the sites turned out to be dummies surrounded by anti-aircraft artillery defenses. How much did Operation Rolling Thunder cost the US? [41] The mission of the ground forces was expanded to combat operations, and the aerial campaign became a secondary operation, overwhelmed by troop deployments and the escalation of ground operations in South Vietnam. However, not infrequently American aircraft fiercely bombed dummy positions that were equipped with fake missiles made of bamboo. - Lack of support back home. [d] This did not, however, satisfy the military chiefs, who demanded a wider and more aggressive campaign.[18]. [113] They also estimated that by April 1967, 52,000 casualties including 21,000 deaths had occurred as a result of the operation. [112], The CIA privately estimated that damage inflicted in the north totaled $500million in total damage. [86], While F-105s did score 27 air-to-air victories, the overall exchange ratio was near parity. These small-scale operations were launched against the southern region of the country, where the bulk of North Vietnam's ground forces and supply dumps were located. The system proved to be durable, well built, easily repaired, and practically impossible to shut down. Click the card to flip . North Vietnamese MiGs entered the battle en masse, as their capital was threatened and kill ratios fell to one U.S. aircraft lost for every two MiGs. SAM crews could briefly illuminate a hostile aircraft to see if the target was equipped with a Shrike. As an interdiction rather than strategic bombing campaign, Rolling Thunder had three broad objectives: to reduce the flow of external assistance being provided North Vietnam; to reduce those military and industrial resources that contributed most to the support of North Vietnamese aggression against South Vietnam; and to harass, disrupt, and If China reacted to our slow escalation by threatening to retaliate, wed have plenty of time to ease off the bombing. [117] The US government has estimated that 30,000 civilians were killed in total as a result of the operation. Some new tactics were developed to combat the Shrike. [h], On 3 April the Joint Chiefs persuaded McNamara and Johnson to launch a four-week attack on North Vietnam's lines of communications, which would isolate the country from its overland sources of supply in China and the Soviet Union. MiG-21 intercepts of F-105 strike groups were effective in downing US aircraft or forcing them to jettison their bomb loads. [33], Navy strikes were launched from the aircraft carriers of Task Force 77, cruising off the North Vietnamese coast at Yankee Station. After shooting down a few American planes and forcing some of the F-105s to drop their bombs prematurely, the MiGs did not wait for retaliation, but disengaged rapidly. The North Vietnamese and their allies had proven a formidable match in the air for the U.S. and South Vietnamese. Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History. On 13 February a new plan was approved and given the name Rolling Thunder, merging targets and priorities from the lists produced by the Bundys and the JCS. According to U.S. Air Force historian Earl Tilford: Targeting bore little resemblance to reality in that the sequence of attacks was uncoordinated and the targets were approved randomly even illogically. In its public defense of its policies, the State Department argued that South Vietnam was "fighting for its life against a brutal campaign of terror and armed attack inspired, directed, supplied, and controlled by the communist regime in Hanoi. Failure of Operation Rolling Thunder The bombing campaign failed because the bombs often fell into empty jungle, missing their targets. [55] The new campaign exposed years of neglect in conventional tactics, while aircraft capabilities and armament were ill-suited to the task at hand. The North Vietnamese guerrillas knew the jungle and. [88] During the war, 13 VPAF's flying aces attained their status while flying the MiG-21 (compared to three in the MiG-17). why did operation rolling thunder fail. The process of the campaign became an end unto itself, with sortie generation as the standard by which progress was measured. What were the results of Operation Rolling Thunder? OTHER WORDS FOR dearth 1 shortage, want, paucity, insufficiency. In fact, Attrition strategy in general and Zippo missions, together with the " Operation Rolling Thunder " bombing campaigns, in particular failed to achieve its desirable goals that could lead to a turning point in the war. It was started in an effort to demoralise the North Vietnamese people and to undermine the capacity of the government in North Vietnam to govern. [102] McNamara's position, however, was almost immediately taken up by Secretary of State Dean Rusk, until then an ardent advocate of the bombing campaign. [66] That estimate was later revised downward from a high of 7,000 in early 1967 to less than a thousand by 1972. The North Vietnamese signals intelligence staff of 5,000 "proved adept at exploiting traffic analysis as NSA was. The chief purpose of the American air effort in the higher Route Packages of North Vietnam was slowly transformed into that of interdicting the flow of supplies and materiel and the destruction of those segments of the north's infrastructure that supported its military effort. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Both SAM sites were devoid of missiles and equipment, as the Vietnamese had substituted white-painted bundles of bamboo for the fake SA-2s. why did operation rolling thunder fail. To persuade the North Vietnamese to negotiate, President Johnson restricted the bombing of North Vietnam to the southern part of the country on 31 March 1968, in effect, bringing Operation Rolling Thunder to an end. Bridges, rail yards, docks, barracks and supply dumps were all targeted, and selected based on a criterion system considering: (a) reducing North Vietnamese support of communist operations in Laos and South Vietnam, (b) limiting North Vietnamese capabilities to take direct action against Laos and South Vietnam, and finally (c) impairing North Vietnams capacity to continue as an industrially viable state.[19]. [11] Events in South Vietnam, however, outpaced this plan. "[53][k] To complicate matters, the U.S. ambassadors to Thailand (Graham Martin) and Laos (William H. Sullivan) exerted undue influence over operational and command arrangements. These consisted of F-105 Wild Weasel hunter/killer teams configured with sophisticated electronic equipment to detect and locate the emissions associated with SAM guidance and control radars. [54][m], Another problem exposed by Rolling Thunder was the unpreparedness of the Air Force for the operations it was undertaking. This massive bombardment was intended to put military pressure on North Vietnams communist leaders and reduce their capacity to wage war against the U.S.-supported government of South Vietnam. [25] The military was still not satisfied, since, for the time being, the bombing campaign was to be limited to targets below the 19th parallel, each of which would have to be cleared individually by the President and McNamara. During the 44-month time frame, 454 naval aviators were killed, captured, or missing during combined operations over North Vietnam and Laos. Communal Living: Communal living is not a new concept. It was started in an effort to demoralise the North Vietnamese people and to undermine the capacity of the government in North Vietnam to govern. "By denying Momyer, they were really denying Westmoreland and keeping air operations against the DRV under their control. The rift between the administration and military leaders created an The POL attacks were halted on 4 September, after U.S. intelligence admitted that there was "no evidence yet of any shortages of POL in North Vietnam. [37] Eventually, armed reconnaissance missions constituted 75 percent of the total bombing effort, in part because the system through which fixed targets were requested, selected, and authorized was so complicated and unwieldy. Sometimes the opposite is true and these communities turn into all-out cults. Among these issues was the question of who would command and who the defeat. The USAF's 2nd Air Division (replaced by the Seventh Air Force on 1 April 1966) was ostensibly responsible for aerial operations over North and South Vietnam. Operation Rolling Thunder failed on both accounts. [77], North Vietnam's deployment of SAMs forced American pilots to make hard choices: either approach targets at higher altitudes (to avoid anti-aircraft fire) and become prey to SAMs, or fly lower to avoid the missiles and become the target of anti-aircraft batteries. [20], For a time, no overt action was taken, and the plans continued to evolve. Why Operation Rolling Thunder Failed. How much did Operation Rolling Thunder cost? [16] The civilians and the military were divided, however, on the manner of affecting Hanoi's will to support the southern insurgency. Audio recordings and transcripts with comments of actual Wild Weasel combat missions over Vietnam. [82], The nature of the targets and the risks involved in striking (and re-striking) them began to take a toll. scarcity and dearness of food; famine. It could then turn its attention (and its more modern weapons) against the greater threat posed by the Soviet Union. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. The Tet Offensive concluded as a military disaster for North Vietnam and the VC, but it also adversely affected U.S. public opinion, which in turn affected the will of Washington. "[100], It had now become clear to President Johnson that McNamara had become a liability to the administration. The Air Force simply could not effectively interdict North Vietnams supply routes to the South. Westmoreland referred to "an almost paranoid fear of nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union" and a "phobia" that the Chinese would invade. [36] Other targets included the extensive North Vietnamese radar system, barracks, and ammunition depots. achieve them. "Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Vietnam", " "", "", - - - ", "Vietnamese Aces - MiG-17 and MiG-21 pilots", "Vietnamese Aces MiG-17 and MiG-21 pilots", "An Appraisal of the Bombing of North Vietnam 1 July - 31 October 1968", "Estimated Casualties in North Vietnam Resulting From the Rolling Thunder Program", "Civilian Casualties Resulting from ROLLING THUNDER Program in North Vietnam", "Effects of the Rolling Thunder Program: Bomb Damage, Civilian Casualties, And Morale in North Vietnam", "An Assessment of the Rolling Thunder Program Through December 1967", "414Th Combat Training Squadron "Red Flag", United States Army Center of Military History, "Declassified CIA documents concerning Operation Rolling Thunder". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Why was Operation Rolling Thunder was a failure? The air force and navy then filed a joint appeal to Washington for permission to strike the sites, but they were refused since most of the sites were near the restricted urban areas. U.S. military aircraft attacked targets throughout North Vietnam from March 1965 to October 1968. [124] The Navy concluded that the primary problem was that their pilots had not been given proper air combat maneuvering training, and were forced to rely on missiles that were not performing as expected. During the Operation Rolling Thunder, U.S. aircraft had flown more than 300,000 sorties and dropped about 643,000 tons of bombs on North Vietnam. Morocco, p. 153. Complaints from the armed services had sparked the interest of some of the most vocal hawks on Capitol Hill. Title: The Effects of Restrictive ROEs on the Rolling Thunder Air Campaign. Its aircraft had been designed and its pilots trained for strategic operations against the Soviet Union for nuclear, not conventional war. Operation Rolling Thunder. It matters not whether the perceptions were accurate or inaccurate. Described by historians as an anatomical failure, Operation Rolling Thunder seemed almost destined to fail. They directed flak suppression strikes and carried AGM-45 Shrike anti-radiation missiles (another Navy development), which homed in on the radar systems of the SAMs. McNamara, pps. Operation Rolling Thunder, a 1965 bombing on North Vietnam, was the inspiration for the group's name. Under the doctrine of "gradualism", in which threatening destruction would serve as a more influential signal of American determination than destruction itself, it was thought better to hold important targets "hostage" by bombing trivial ones. Three days later, a one-time strike was authorized against the two offending missile sites. Operation Rolling Thunder was a demonstration of America's near total air supremacy during the Vietnam War. Since the AGM-45 Shrike was a relatively primitive anti-radiation missile, it would follow the beam away from the radar and then simply crash when it lost the signal (after the radar was turned off). By comparison, air-defense guns brought down 60% and 9% were shot down by MiG fighters. It lasted much longer than expected and resulted not only in the loss of military significance for the United States but also damaged the reputation of its leaders as the protectors of democratic values and freedoms in general.