U.S. Air Force In The Vietnam War

The U.S. Air Force provided tremendous and diverse contributions in Vietnam, beginning as advisors in the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group in the 1950s and ending with large bombing operations in the early 1970s.
Initially, the USAF helped train and equip the growing South Vietnamese Air Force, while also building up radar, reconnaissance, air control, and counterinsurgency capacities. After the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, a major military buildup began and many new types of aircraft arrived in country. At this point in the war U.S. leadership emphasized restraint and gradual escalation, so the USAF mission was at first limited, even as forces grew.

Không quân Hoa Kỳ (Bảo tàng Chứng tích chiến tranh tại TP Hồ Chí Minh, Việt Nam) — U.S. Air Force (War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

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L'armée de l'air américaine dans la guerre du Vietnam — US Air Force in the Vietnam War

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US-Luftwaffe im Vietnamkrieg

UH - 1H Huey Helicopter used in the Vietnam War by the United States army — UH – 1H Huey Helicopter used in the Vietnam War by the United States Army

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Force Aérienne des États-Unis dans la Guerre du Vietnam

Cessna U.17 Flugzeug (Krieg Remnants Museum in Ho-Chi-Minh-Stadt, Vietnam) — Cessna U.17 Plane (War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

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The USAF served in close air support operations with modern fighter-bombers like the F-4s and F-100s as well as older A-7 Skyraiders and the AC-47 Spooky, and B-52 bombers from Guam. This close air support proved crucial to the defense of the Marine base at Khe Sanh, which lay under siege for two and a half months during the Tet Offensive that began in January 1968. The effort also included a supply mission, an important but overlooked element of the war, since, along with aeromedical flights, pararescue, and air sea rescue, they proved essential to supporting and maintaining U.S. personnel and activities throughout the entire region. Between 1965 and 1973, the Military Airlift Command evacuated over 400,000 medical patients. To improve the military infrastructure that allowed all these operations, the Air Force also created new construction and engineering teams to construct, improve, and repair airfields, buildings, roads, and wells.