The US began Operation Rolling Thunder in 1966. This was the bombing of North Vietnam, mainly by F-105 fighter bombers. The Thunderchief (Thud) was a durable plane which came in handy because it was targeted by anti-aircraft guns, SAM missiles, and MiG-21’s. The North Vietnamese had most of the advantages, including restrictive rules of engagement imposed on the American pilots. Pres. Johnson was concerned allowing the Air Force to do its job properly would provoke the Soviet Union and China to intervene in the war. One of those rules was that the Air Force could not attack the MiG airfields. American pilots could see MiGs sitting on the runways, waiting for an advantageous situation to attack the F-105s and they could do nothing about it! In Dec., 1966, two F-105s were shot down and 20% of them had to jettison their bombs due to the threat of MiG attack. The Thuds usually used the same routes and same time of the day to reach their targets, which made them sitting ducks. The MiGs would shoot and scoot against the Thuds. It was wise for them and frustrating for the Americans. A total of 334 Thuds were shot down in the war by anti-aircraft, SAMs (surface to air missiles provided by the Soviet Union), and enemy fighters (17).
On Sept. 30, 1966, Col. Robin Olds took command of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing based in Thailand. Olds was the son of a Major General. He graduated from West Point. He was a WWII ace, having shot down 12 German fighters. He stayed in the Air Force, but despite his begging to fly in the Korean War, he was stuck in America. Finally, 22 years after his last victory in WWII, he was given the chance to fight in Vietnam. Olds, who was 44-years-old, started his tour with the 8th TFW by telling his young men that he was there to learn from them and then he would be the best pilot in the unit. Once he had the respect of his men, he was able to boost the morale and efficiency of the unit.
In December, 1966, Olds and his staff developed a plan to trick the MiGs into coming out to fight. The Vietnamese pilots had their own rules of engagement. They were to avoid clashing with the F-4 Phantoms and concentrate on the more vulnerable Thuds. The F-4 was America’s best fighter and although it was not as maneuverable as the MiG-21, it had the advantage in dogfights. Olds planned on luring them into a dogfight. The plan called for several flights (a flight is four aircraft in pairs) to mimic an F-105 route and time of the day. The Thuds were very predictable for enemy anti-aircraft and MiGs. Other flights of Phantoms would hover over the enemy airfields or block their escape to China. It was a classic “bait and switch” tactic.
The operation took place on Jan. 2, 1967. It worked like a charm. Almost all of North Vietnam’s fighters took off to intercept what was thought to be F-105s. Olds’ flight was the first to engage. The F-4s were armed with four Sparrow missiles (radar guided, but the ROE insisted the target had to be in visual range) and four Sidewinders (heat-seeking). Olds shot down one MiG and two others were downed by his mates. Another flight was led by Olds’ second in command, Daniel “Chappie” James. They shot down three also. James had been a Tuskegee Airman, but he had stayed stateside in WWII. (He eventually became the first African-American Major General.) A total of seven MiGs were downed that day, with two probables. Four days later, a similar operation downed two more. The North Vietnamese had lost more than half of their fighters. They grounded the remainder for four months.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bolo
https://www.historynet.com/bad-boy-commander-operation-bolo/
1 Comment
Anonymous · January 5, 2025 at 5:12 pm
President Johnson and SecDef McNamara should have been tried for treason. They got so many of our pilots killed by their stupid rules of engagement. They would actually tell the North Vietnamese what the targets would be on the next day. Their “reasoning” was that the North would evacuate civilians from the target area. Instead, they would move tons of SAM missles into the site to shoot down the Thuds.