Editing Strategic Air Command (section)

== Vietnam War and latter half of the Cold War ==

===SAC's air war in Vietnam===
After [[Robert McNamara|the Secretary of Defense]] rejected LeMay's November 1964 proposal for a "...strategic air campaign against 94 targets in North Vietnam...", thirty SAC B-52Fs were deployed to [[Andersen AFB]], Guam on 17 February 1965, representing the first increment of SAC aircraft forward deployed for the [[Vietnam War]].{{r|Worden}}<!--{{rp|174}}--> The following month, in March 1965,<!--{{r|Worden}}--> the [[Strategic Air Command Advanced Echelon]] (SACADVON)<ref>{{citation |format=Oral History Interview tape—21 minutes |date=1968-11-15 |title=IRISNUM 00904050 |url=http://airforcehistoryindex.org/data/000/904/050.xml |location=SACADVON, Tan Son Nhut Air Base |volume=Project CORONA HARVEST Collection, Part of |access-date=2013-08-30 |publisher=abstract at Air Force History Index.org |quote=Operational Concept of BUGLE NOTE}}</ref> was established as a "...liaison unit for CINCSAC [was] located at MACV Headquarters to assist with the B-52 effort."{{r|Menu}}

On 23 May 1965, SAC B-52Fs began unarmed missions for radar mapping "...and later to test bombing with the assistance of ground homing beacons..."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Drenkowski |first=Drew |date=September 1977 |title=Operation Linebacker II |journal=Soldier of Fortune 2, No. 3 |pages=15–20}} (cited by Worden p. 174)</ref> SAC began [[Carpet bombing|saturation bombing]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Part Three: Countering the Communist Threat During the Cold War |url=http://www.airforce.com/learn-about/history/part3/ |work=Air Force History |publisher=AirForce.com |access-date=28 November 2011 |archive-date=29 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111129102417/http://airforce.com/learn-about/history/part3/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> on 18 June 1965{{r|SAC1969}} (8000 tons per month in 1966)<ref>{{cite book |last=Yenne |first=Bill |year=1992 |title=SAC, A Primer of Modern Strategic Airpower |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mYvfAAAAMAAJ&q=vietnam |format=Google books |publisher=Presidio Press |isbn=9780891411895 |quote=By June [1966], after a year in the war zone, B-52s were dropping 8000 tons of bombs monthly in saturation raids on South Vietnam}}</ref> and conducted [[Operation Arc Light]] missions from 1965 until the end of hostilities involving U.S. forces in 1973.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Correll |first=John T. |date=January 2009 |title=Arc Light |url=http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2009/January%202009/0109arc.aspx |format=transcript of article |journal=[[Air Force Magazine]] |access-date=2013-08-16}}</ref>

All B-52F missions in 1965 were against targets in [[Republic of Vietnam|South Vietnam (RVN)]] except for the December<!--p. 121-2--> "...Duck Flight mission [that] hit a suspected [[Vietcong|VC]] supply storage area [for which] part of the target box was in Laos."{{r|SAC1966}}{{rp|121}} In April 1966, Vietnam operations began with the B-52D model, a 1956 model designed to use the [[AGM-28 Hound Dog]] [[cruise missile]] and the [[ADM-20 Quail]] aerial decoys for low altitude operations and modified in late 1965 by Project Big Belly<ref>[[Boeing B-52 Stratofortress]]</ref> to increase conventional bomb capacity.{{r|Baugher}}

[[Radar Bomb Scoring Division|SAC's RBS Squadrons]] were discontinued when most detachment personnel transferred to Vietnam from 1966 to 1973 for [[Combat Skyspot]] [[ground-directed bombing]] operations. The first "[[Combat Skyspot|Quick Reaction]]" bombing was the "Pink Lady" mission on 6 July 1966 using SAC B-52D/Fs to support the U.S. Army's [[1st Air Cavalry Division]].<ref name=SAC1966>1966 SAC history https://www.scribd.com/doc/47549447/SAC-History-1966-Study-102 [SAC1966 http://dougkeeney.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/pages-from-sac_history_1966_study_102-laos-targets1.pdf (pp. 121–122 on 1965-6 bombings)]</ref>{{rp|186}} The 1972 [[Operation Linebacker II]] also used Skyspot for Hanoi/Haiphong bombings in North Vietnam which resulted in the loss of 25 SAC aircrew members.{{r|factsheets}}

By May 1967,<ref>{{cite web |format=memorial webpage |title=title tbd |url=http://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=8139 |quote=The attack of February 24, 1968, killed 1 of the 1CEG personnel, while wounding 4 (myself among them.) Sgts Rose and Norman Thomas of SAC ADVON were also killed.}}</ref> SACADVON had moved to [[Seventh Air Force]] headquarters<ref>{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Wayne |title=To Hanoi and Back: The United States Air Force and North Vietnam 1966–1973 |year=2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lFODLIxqkWwC&q=%22SACADVON%22&pg=PA16 |format=Google books |access-date=2013-08-30}}</ref> at [[Tan Son Nhut Air Base]], South Vietnam to schedule and coordinate "...strikes for the 7th AF and MACV."{{r|ADA539675}} From a level of 161,921 military and 20,215 civilian assigned to SAC in June 1968, SAC lost 13,698 first term airmen from November 1968 to May 1969 in a three phase drawdown known as Project 693<!-- (including discharges up to 11 months early) enacted for new ceilings established by the DoD-->{{r|SAC1969}} to comply with Public Law 90-364.<ref>{{cite report |last=Drea |first=Edward J. |isbn=978-0-16-088135-0 |year=1984 |title=McNamara, Clifford, and theBurdens of Vietnam1965-1969 |url=http://history.defense.gov/resources/OSDSeries_Vol6.pdf |volume=VI, Secretaries of Defense Historical Series |publisher=Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense |access-date=2013-08-30 |quote=Strategic Air Command, denominated a [[specified command]] because...it came under the operational control of the JCS.<sup>24</sup> ... [[Clark Clifford|Clifford]] had previously appointed a group, known as [[Project 693]], to determine which programs to sacrifice when it became necessary.<sup>65</sup> ... In late July, a special committee devising scenarios for T-Day, the day hostilities in Vietnam ended, posited that, depending on timing assumptions, anywhere between 30,000 troops and a two-division corps (about 60,000 personnel) might have to remain in South Vietnam indefinitely. ... [[Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft]] (AMSA) ... McNamara test, 25 Jan 66, House Subcte No 2, HCAS, ''Hearing: Department of Defense Decision to Reduce the Number and Types of Manned Bombers in the Strategic Air Command'', 6084. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029201119/http://history.defense.gov/resources/OSDSeries_Vol6.pdf |archive-date=29 October 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

While conventional bombing, air refueling and strategic air reconnaissance operations in Southeast Asia increasingly occupied SAC's operational commitments, SAC's primary mission of nuclear deterrence continued to remain its primary focus.  In 1969, "...SAC's B-52s and B-58s could carry B28, B41, B43, B53, and BA53 nuclear weapons" (SAC had 311 nuclear [[AGM-28 Hound Dog]] missiles at the end of the year.){{r|SAC1969}}{{rp|6}}  This also coincided with the [[B-58 Hustler]]'s in-progress retirement from SAC's active inventory and its replacement with the [[FB-111]].

On 18 March 1969, along the South Vietnamese border, SAC first bombed Cambodia ([[Operation Menu]] through 26 May 1970 was controlled by Skyspot).{{r|Menu}} On 17 February 1970, SAC conducted the first "GOOD LOOK" bombing of Laos at the [[Plaine des Jarres]] after B-52 photorecon missions ("GOOD LOOK ALPHA" in August 1969 and "GOOD LOOK BRAVO" {{circa|lk=no|15 January 1970}}) and the observations of a [[Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base|Skyspot installation in Thailand]].{{r|Menu}}{{rp|19}} SAC transferred "...HQ 8th AF...to [[Andersen AFB]], Guam on 1 April 1970 to oversee B-52D/G operations and to complement SACADVON".<ref name=ADA539675>{{cite report |title=Lessons from Vietnam: Should SAC Perform Both Nuclear and Conventional Missions? |url=http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA539675 |access-date=2013-08-30 |date= |archive-date=1 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901182048/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA539675 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 8th AF took over from [[Air Division (United States)|Third Air Division]] the generation of [[Operations order|"frag" orders]] based on daily strike requests and amendments from [[COMUSMACV]].<ref name=Menu>{{cite report |date=10 September 1973 |title=...Selected Air and Ground Operations in Cambodia and Laos |url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/International_security_affairs/vietnam_and_southeast_asiaDocuments/27.pdf |format=presented during "Bombing in Cambodia" hearings before the [[Senate Armed Services Committee]] |publisher=US Department of Defense |access-date=2013-08-30 |quote=[[COMBAT SKYSPOT]] radar...controlled all [[Operation Menu|Operation MENU missions]]. |archive-date=13 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130713034525/http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/International_security_affairs/vietnam_and_southeast_asiaDocuments/27.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1970, SAC deployed the [[LGM-30G Minuteman III]] ICBM with [[multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle]] or MIRVs, for striking 3 targets, while concurrently retiring the [[B-58 Hustler]] supersonic bomber.

1972 saw the commencement of [[Operation Linebacker II]], a combined [[Seventh Air Force]] and [[U.S. Navy]] [[Task Force 77 (United States Navy)|Task Force 77]] aerial bombing campaign, conducted against targets in North Vietnam during the final period of US involvement in the Vietnam War.  Linebacker II was conducted from 18 to 29 December 1972, leading to several informal names such as "The December Raids" and "The Christmas Bombings". Unlike the previous Operation Rolling Thunder and Operation Linebacker interdiction operations, Linebacker II would be a "maximum effort" bombing campaign to destroy major target complexes in the Hanoi and Haiphong areas which could only be accomplished by SAC B-52D/Gs. It saw the largest heavy bomber strikes launched by the U.S. Air Force since the end of World War II.  Linebacker II was a modified extension of the Operation Linebacker bombings conducted from May to October 1972, with the emphasis of the new campaign shifted to attacks by B-52 Stratofortress heavy bombers rather than smaller tactical fighter aircraft.  During Linebacker II, a total of 741 B-52D/G sorties were dispatched from bases in Thailand and Guam to bomb North Vietnam and 729 actually completed their missions.<ref>[[Operation Linebacker II]]</ref> Overall SAC losses during Linebacker II numbered fifteen B-52s.  The U.S. government claimed that the operation had succeeded in forcing North Vietnam's Politburo to return to the negotiating table, with the [[Paris Peace Accords]] signed shortly after the operation.

By early 1973, offensive SAC air operations in Southeast Asia ceased and numerous SAC aircrewmen who had been shot down and captured as prisoners of war by North Vietnam were repatriated to the United States.

SAC aircraft used during the [[Vietnam War]] included [[B-52 Stratofortress|B-52D, B-52F, B-52G]], [[KC-135 Stratotanker|KC-135A, KC-135Q]], various versions of the [[RC-135]], [[SR-71]], [[Lockheed U-2|U-2]], and [[Boeing EC-135|EC-135]].

===Post-Vietnam, 1970s budget cuts, 1980s renewal, and the Cold War redux===
During the Vietnam War, due to the escalating costs of combat operations in Southeast Asia, SAC was required to close several SAC bases, consolidate other bases, or transfer several bases to other MAJCOMs, other services, or the Air Reserve Component in order to remain within budgetary constraints.  This included:
* [[Altus AFB]] (transferred to MAC, later to AETC)
* [[Bergstrom Air Force Base|Bergstrom AFB]] (transferred to TAC, then ACC until [[Base Realignment and Closure|BRAC]] closure in 1993)
* [[Columbus AFB]] (transferred to ATC, now AETC)
* [[Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base|Clinton-Sherman AFB]] (closed)
* [[Bangor Air National Guard Base|Dow AFB]] (closed; portion transferred to ANG as Bangor ANGB)
* [[Hunter Army Airfield|Hunter AFB]] (transferred to US Army as Hunter AAF)
* [[Larson Air Force Base|Larson AFB]] (closed)
* [[Lincoln Airport (Nebraska)|Lincoln AFB]] (closed; portion transferred to ANG as Lincoln ANGB)
* [[Little Rock AFB]] (transferred to TAC, later MAC, now AMC)
* [[Mountain Home AFB]] (transferred to TAC<!-- 1966 -->, now ACC)
* [[Naval Air Station Albany|Turner AFB]] (transferred to USN as NAS Albany in 1968, closed 1975)

With the Vietnam War draw-down following the Paris Peace Treaty in 1973, reduced defense budgets forced SAC to inactivate several more wings, close still more bases in CONUS and Puerto Rico, transfer still additional bases to other MAJCOMS or the Air Reserve Component, and retire older B-52B, B-52C, B-52E and B-52F aircraft:
* [[Davis-Monthan AFB]] (transferred to TAC, now ACC)
* [[Forbes AFB]] (closed; portion transferred to ANG as Forbes ANGB)
* [[Glasgow Air Force Base|Glasgow AFB]] (closed)
* [[Kincheloe AFB]] (closed)
* [[McCoy AFB]] (closed; portion transferred to USN as [[McCoy AFB|Naval Training Center Orlando McCoy Annex]] until its [[Base Realignment and Closure|BRAC]]-directed closure in 1999)
* [[Ramey AFB]] (closed; portion transferred to USCG as CGAS Borinquen)
* [[Rickenbacker AFB]] (closed; portion transferred to ANG as Rickenbacker ANGB)
* [[Westover Air Reserve Base|Westover AFB]] (transferred to AFRES, now AFRC, as Westover ARB)
* [[Wright-Patterson AFB]] (tenant SAC presence departed and transferred to Beale AFB; base remained with AFLC, now AFMC)

In 1973, the [[National Emergency Airborne Command Post]], or NEACP, aircraft entered SAC's inventory.  Consisting of four [[Boeing E-4]] aircraft, these highly modified [[Boeing 747]] airframes were assigned to the [[55th Wing|55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing]] at [[Offutt AFB]] and were forward deployed as necessary to support the [[National Command Authority (United States)|National Command Authority]].

[[File:Strategic Air Command Information cover 1975.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Cover of a 1975 SAC information booklet emphasizing its "Peace Is Our Profession" motto]]

By 1975, SAC's manned bomber strength included several hundred B-52D, B-52G, B-52H and FB-111A aircraft,{{r|Lloyd}} and "...SAC's first major exercise in 23 years" was Exercise Global Shield 79.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=O3NAAAAAIBAJ&pg=5934,942311&dq=global-shield+strategic-air-command&hl=en|title=Sunday Union - Google News Archive Search|access-date=15 May 2016}}</ref> As for the ICBM force, SAC reached a peak strength of 1000 Minuteman II and III and 54 Titan II ICBMs on active status before seeing reductions and retirements through a combination of obsolescing systems and various arms reduction treaties with the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hefner |first=[first name tbd] |year=2012 |title=The Missile Next Door: The Minuteman in the American Heartland |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674059-11-5}}</ref>

By 1977, SAC had been pinning its hopes for a new manned strategic bomber in the form of the [[B-1 Lancer|Rockwell B-1A Lancer]].  However, on 30 June 1977, President [[Jimmy Carter]] Carter announced that the B-1A would be canceled in favor of ICBMs, submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and a fleet of modernized B-52s armed with air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs).

On 1 December 1979, SAC assumed control of the [[BMEWS|ballistic missile warning system]] (BMEWS) and all [[Space Surveillance Network]] facilities from the inactivating [[Aerospace Defense Command]] (ADC).<ref name=Winkler>{{cite report |last1=Winkler |first1=David F |last2=Webster |first2=Julie L |date=June 1997 |title=Searching the Skies: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program |url=http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA331231 |location=Champaign, IL |lccn=97020912 |publisher=U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories |page=48 |access-date=2013-04-23 |archive-date=1 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121201202922/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA331231 |url-status=dead }}</ref> These activities would later be (transferred to [[Air Force Space Command]] (AFSPC) when the latter was established in 1982.  SAC also continued to operate the Air Force's entire KC-135 aerial refueling fleet, its EC-135 LOOKING GLASS and E-4 NEACAP command post aircraft, as well the entire strategic reconnaissance aircraft fleet consisting of the U-2, SR-71, RC-135, and WC-135.

In 1981, SAC received a new air refueling tanker aircraft to supplement the aging [[KC-135 Stratotanker]] force.  Based on the [[McDonnell Douglas DC-10]] commercial airliner, the [[KC-10A Extender]] was deployed equipped with improved military avionics, aerial refueling, and satellite communications equipment.{{r|factsheets}}  That same year, President [[Ronald Reagan]] reversed the 1977 Carter administration decision regarding the B-1, directing that 100 examples of a refined version of the aircraft, now designated the B-1B Lancer, be procured as a long-range combat aircraft for SAC.

The [[LGM-118A Peacekeeper]] ICBM reached SAC in 1986, and the 114 Peacekeepers had a total warhead yield of about 342 megatons.{{r|factsheets}}  This also served to offset the retirement of the obsolescent and maintenance-intensive [[LGM-25C Titan II]] ICBM, the last example of which was deactivated in May 1987.  An additional underground "16,000 square-foot, two-story reinforced concrete" command post for HQ SAC was also constructed at Offutt AFB from 1986 to 1989 from a design by [[Leo A. Daly]], who had designed the adjoining 1957 bunker.{{r|Weitze}} The first [[Rockwell B-1B Lancer]] was also delivered to SAC in 1987.{{r|Baugher}}

On 22 November 1988, the [[Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit]], under development as the Advanced Technology Bomber (ATB), a so-called [[Black project|"black program"]] since 1979, was officially acknowledged and rolled out for the first time for public display.  The first "[[stealth bomber]]" designed for SAC, the aircraft made its first flight in May 1989.