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Going Downtown: The US Air Force over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, 1961–75
This vivid narrative history tells the full story of the US Air Force’s involvement in the wars in the air over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
The involvement of the US Air Force in the Southeast Asian Wars began in 1962 with crews sent to train Vietnamese pilots, and with conflict in Laos, and finally ended in 1972 with the B-52 bombing of Hanoi, though there were Air Force pilots unofficially flying combat in Laos up to the end in 1975. The missions flown by USAF aircrews during those years in Southeast Asia differed widely, from attacking the Ho Chi Minh Trail at night with modified T-28 trainers, to missions “Downtown,” the name aircrew gave Hanoi, the central target of the war.
This aerial war was dominated by the major air operations against the north: Rolling Thunder from 1965 to 1968, and then Linebacker I and II in 1972, with the latter seeing the deployment of America’s fearsome B-52 bombers against the North Vietnamese capital Hanoi. These operations were carried out in the face of a formidable Soviet-inspired air defense system bristling with anti-aircraft guns and SAM missile sites. Beyond this, the US Air Force was intimately involved in secret air wars against Laos and Cambodia – one cannot speak of a war only in Vietnam regarding US Air Force operations. The war the Air Force fought was a war in Southeast Asia.
Following on from the same author’s The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club, which told the story of the US Navy’s involvement in the Vietnam War, Downtown completes the picture. Featuring a wide range of personal accounts and previously untold stories, this fascinating history brings together the full story of the US Air Force’s struggle in the skies over Southeast Asia.
The involvement of the US Air Force in the Southeast Asian Wars began in 1962 with crews sent to train Vietnamese pilots, and with conflict in Laos, and finally ended in 1972 with the B-52 bombing of Hanoi, though there were Air Force pilots unofficially flying combat in Laos up to the end in 1975. The missions flown by USAF aircrews during those years in Southeast Asia differed widely, from attacking the Ho Chi Minh Trail at night with modified T-28 trainers, to missions “Downtown,” the name aircrew gave Hanoi, the central target of the war.
This aerial war was dominated by the major air operations against the north: Rolling Thunder from 1965 to 1968, and then Linebacker I and II in 1972, with the latter seeing the deployment of America’s fearsome B-52 bombers against the North Vietnamese capital Hanoi. These operations were carried out in the face of a formidable Soviet-inspired air defense system bristling with anti-aircraft guns and SAM missile sites. Beyond this, the US Air Force was intimately involved in secret air wars against Laos and Cambodia – one cannot speak of a war only in Vietnam regarding US Air Force operations. The war the Air Force fought was a war in Southeast Asia.
Following on from the same author’s The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club, which told the story of the US Navy’s involvement in the Vietnam War, Downtown completes the picture. Featuring a wide range of personal accounts and previously untold stories, this fascinating history brings together the full story of the US Air Force’s struggle in the skies over Southeast Asia.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published May 10, 2022
About the author
Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
23 books33 followersMost of my non-fiction writing is in the field of aviation, primarily the history of people, units and events, though I am also interested in technological developments and their influence on events.
I first ran across "serious" aviation writing when I was 10 and found William Green's "All The World's Aircraft, 1954" - the first book I read that seriously dealt with aircraft development beyond picture books. Over the years I read many books by Bill (as I came eventually to know him), and 25 years later he was the first editor to professionally publish an article by me about an aviation topic (a feature about people in California who restored, owned and operated antique airplanes). Not only did he publish the article, he used my photograph for the cover of that issue of Air Enthusiast Quarterly! In the years that followed, Bill became a friend through the mail, a source of valuable insight about writing, and an enthusiastic supporter of my efforts. I've had a lot of success that way with fellow authors.
My interest in the field of aviation must be genetic. My mother's favorite tale about me was that my first word, spoken around age 1, was "o-pane!" when we were in a park in Denver, and I pointed up at a P-38 as it flew overhead.
My father was involved in aviation in the 1930s, and knew most of the Major Names of the era, like Jimmy Doolittle, Roscoe Turner, and even Ernst Udet. (As an aside, I met General Doolittle myself in 1976. Upon hearing my name, he looked me up and down, then shook his head and said "Nope, too young and too tall." Taken aback for a moment, I realized he was thinking of my father, also a Tom Cleaver. Once I identified myself, he told me a story about my father I had never heard before. I later discovered he had near-perfect recall of names and events.) I grew up looking at my father's photo albums of the old airplanes he had been around, which is probably why I most enjoy airplanes from those years.
In addition to writing about airplanes, I take pictures of them in flight. As a result of both activities, I have flown in everything from a Curtiss Jenny to an Air Force F-4E Phantom (definitely the best rollercoaster ride ever), and have additionally been up in World War II airplanes - the P-51 Mustang, P-40 Warhawk, SBD Dauntless, B-25 Mitchell, and many many many times in a T-6. As a pilot myself, I have about 200 hours in a Stearman biplane trainer as a member of a club back in the 1970s. I am certain my personal knowledge of flying as a pilot has helped me put a reader "in the cockpit" in my writing.
While I have advanced college and university degrees, I consider myself an autodidact, and I see the involvement with airplanes as my key to the world of self-education, as I would ask myself "what was that airplane used for?" which led to such questions as "how did that war happen?" I was also fortunate to grow up in a home with lots of books and a father who enjoyed history; between that and forays to the Denver Public Library (a Saturday spent in the stacks at the Main Library was a day in heaven), my education was very eclectic in subject matter.
My "film school" education came on Saturday afternoons spent at the old Park Theater on South Gaylord Street in Denver, where I went every Saturday from age 7 to age 15 when the theater closed, and watched everything that played on-screen. Somewhere along there, I learned the meaning of "good movie."
I first ran across "serious" aviation writing when I was 10 and found William Green's "All The World's Aircraft, 1954" - the first book I read that seriously dealt with aircraft development beyond picture books. Over the years I read many books by Bill (as I came eventually to know him), and 25 years later he was the first editor to professionally publish an article by me about an aviation topic (a feature about people in California who restored, owned and operated antique airplanes). Not only did he publish the article, he used my photograph for the cover of that issue of Air Enthusiast Quarterly! In the years that followed, Bill became a friend through the mail, a source of valuable insight about writing, and an enthusiastic supporter of my efforts. I've had a lot of success that way with fellow authors.
My interest in the field of aviation must be genetic. My mother's favorite tale about me was that my first word, spoken around age 1, was "o-pane!" when we were in a park in Denver, and I pointed up at a P-38 as it flew overhead.
My father was involved in aviation in the 1930s, and knew most of the Major Names of the era, like Jimmy Doolittle, Roscoe Turner, and even Ernst Udet. (As an aside, I met General Doolittle myself in 1976. Upon hearing my name, he looked me up and down, then shook his head and said "Nope, too young and too tall." Taken aback for a moment, I realized he was thinking of my father, also a Tom Cleaver. Once I identified myself, he told me a story about my father I had never heard before. I later discovered he had near-perfect recall of names and events.) I grew up looking at my father's photo albums of the old airplanes he had been around, which is probably why I most enjoy airplanes from those years.
In addition to writing about airplanes, I take pictures of them in flight. As a result of both activities, I have flown in everything from a Curtiss Jenny to an Air Force F-4E Phantom (definitely the best rollercoaster ride ever), and have additionally been up in World War II airplanes - the P-51 Mustang, P-40 Warhawk, SBD Dauntless, B-25 Mitchell, and many many many times in a T-6. As a pilot myself, I have about 200 hours in a Stearman biplane trainer as a member of a club back in the 1970s. I am certain my personal knowledge of flying as a pilot has helped me put a reader "in the cockpit" in my writing.
While I have advanced college and university degrees, I consider myself an autodidact, and I see the involvement with airplanes as my key to the world of self-education, as I would ask myself "what was that airplane used for?" which led to such questions as "how did that war happen?" I was also fortunate to grow up in a home with lots of books and a father who enjoyed history; between that and forays to the Denver Public Library (a Saturday spent in the stacks at the Main Library was a day in heaven), my education was very eclectic in subject matter.
My "film school" education came on Saturday afternoons spent at the old Park Theater on South Gaylord Street in Denver, where I went every Saturday from age 7 to age 15 when the theater closed, and watched everything that played on-screen. Somewhere along there, I learned the meaning of "good movie."
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 22, 2024
I really enjoyed reading this book- and I learned a lot about the Vietnam air war as I did. Thomas McKelvey Cleaver, a noted aviation author and screenwriter, gives us a survey of the whole war the USAF fought over Vietnam. No Navy stories here- he wrote another book on that (The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club). This is all about the Bombing of "Strategic Targets" in North Vietnam, so sit back for F-100, F104, F105 (HashTagThud) and big doses of F-4 stories. The coolest part however is that Cleaver gives us access to the NVAF records(all but the elusive North Korean Squadron- who are still obscured by a cold war)- and so we know how it was to fly the MiG17, MiG19 and MiG21 in defense as well. . As the War widens- we understand the Laos and Cambodian air wars as well. The result is a very readable military history of one part of an air war-one that general readers and military history buffs alike will find educational.
As for me- I learned there was a lot more air to air combat in Vietnam than I had previously thought. I knew about the layered automatic weapons AAA and then the Missiles- but the amount of times the NVAF sent up its MiGs to interdict American Raids was bracing. And I do remember the frustration as the Aircraft moved from (Mostly) reliable Cannon to all too flighty Missiles- my father's friend circle contained both Air Force National Guard Veterans and Missile engineers so I recall many discussions of that transition. Cleaver shows Intelligence, Command, and Strategic Issues developing as the US learns from its expensive mistakes- weapons all designed for Nuclear War being repurposed for conventional warfare- and then the search for new solutions or compromises. There's enough seat of your pants aerial combat for the Top Gun fan- but lots of good history of the real backbone of American Vietnam War itself to keep the mainstream reader involved.
There are some adult themes, and a little bit of graphic injury description, so this is best kept for the Junior Reader over 14/15 years . For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast, this is a great mixed potion. The gamer gets a lot of sortie/scenario/campaign information- as well as a much better feel for the period. The Modeler gets a lot of great technical information- as well a cool photo section with mixed colour and b/w shots from the era- many build and diorama ideas. The Military enthusiast gets a interior view of an air war as it was lived - to go with all the other information around these days. I think the inclusion of Vietnamese information makes this a great addition to the Vietnam Air war canon....
As for me- I learned there was a lot more air to air combat in Vietnam than I had previously thought. I knew about the layered automatic weapons AAA and then the Missiles- but the amount of times the NVAF sent up its MiGs to interdict American Raids was bracing. And I do remember the frustration as the Aircraft moved from (Mostly) reliable Cannon to all too flighty Missiles- my father's friend circle contained both Air Force National Guard Veterans and Missile engineers so I recall many discussions of that transition. Cleaver shows Intelligence, Command, and Strategic Issues developing as the US learns from its expensive mistakes- weapons all designed for Nuclear War being repurposed for conventional warfare- and then the search for new solutions or compromises. There's enough seat of your pants aerial combat for the Top Gun fan- but lots of good history of the real backbone of American Vietnam War itself to keep the mainstream reader involved.
There are some adult themes, and a little bit of graphic injury description, so this is best kept for the Junior Reader over 14/15 years . For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast, this is a great mixed potion. The gamer gets a lot of sortie/scenario/campaign information- as well as a much better feel for the period. The Modeler gets a lot of great technical information- as well a cool photo section with mixed colour and b/w shots from the era- many build and diorama ideas. The Military enthusiast gets a interior view of an air war as it was lived - to go with all the other information around these days. I think the inclusion of Vietnamese information makes this a great addition to the Vietnam Air war canon....
May 21, 2024
For many of us, the Vietnam War conjures up images of ‘grunts’ wading through paddy fields or hacking through the jungle. When the air war is mentioned, we picture B-52 strikes at a distance or Phantoms dropping napalm onto the aforementioned jungle. But, as Thomas McKelvey Cleaver illustrates in Going Downtown, the air war over Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1961 to 1975 was a complex and ever-changing combat environment that in many ways echoed the struggles on the ground yet in others differed little from by then traditional methods.
Cleaver sets the background of the Vietnam War with its deep roots and a foreboding about the inevitability of US involvement. A sense of ‘mission creep’ is also there from the beginning in his account, as with so many others, when initial clandestine involvement developed quickly into an all out war that the US had not planned for as a Cold War scenario. They didn’t need to, or so they thought, because the North Vietnamese would fold against superior US technology and numbers. It would not take long for the US planners to discover their ‘deficiencies’ and ‘failures’. Cleaver narrates the various operations the US launched, such as Rolling Thunder, Barrel Roll, and Steel Tiger. Most early actions took place over South Vietnam, but it was missions in North Vietnam where the SAMs, AAA, and MiGs would take the greatest toll on American planes and pilots.
President Johnson escalated the air war, but as Cleaver notes, most USAF pilots were not initially trained for air-to-air combat. North Vietnam had its issues too, and Cleaver covers those, though his focus is on the US Air Force. He also describes and assesses the various warplanes and missiles that flew through Vietnam’s lethal skies. Much of Cleaver’s narrative is set in 1967, which makes sense because of the increasing level of combat, and by the end of that year, he notes, the US was running out of targets in North Vietnam. The tail-off in bombing North Vietnam came in November 1968, with some clandestine bombing in Cambodia and Laos continuing until 1972 when fighting ramped up again to counter the threat of invasion from North Vietnam. Then Nixon unleashed the Christmas bombing campaign over North Vietnam in 1972, which brought the North Vietnamese to the peace table. US drawdown was already underway by then and continued until very few USAF units remained. The last US action Cleaver describes took place in May 1975.
That summary is not the whole book, however. What lifts Cleaver’s work from other nuts-and-bolts histories are his frequent accounts of combat told mostly by the pilots that fought in them. What becomes clear is that while the technology of aerial warfare had advanced in leaps and bounds from previous wars, what combats often came down to were individual duels between courageous men that combat pilots of all eras could attest to. Cleaver has a real knack for telling pilots’ often hair-raising stories (the rescue of two downed pilots in 1969 should be a movie!) At the higher level of operations, Cleaver is often scathing of the US command and bureaucracy. There is an argument that US forces fought with one arm tied behind their backs, and Cleaver does little to dispel that. His Vietnam heroes were the ones doing the fighting, perhaps as it should be. Overall, this is an outstanding account of the USAF in southeast Asia, and one that every student of the war should read.
Cleaver sets the background of the Vietnam War with its deep roots and a foreboding about the inevitability of US involvement. A sense of ‘mission creep’ is also there from the beginning in his account, as with so many others, when initial clandestine involvement developed quickly into an all out war that the US had not planned for as a Cold War scenario. They didn’t need to, or so they thought, because the North Vietnamese would fold against superior US technology and numbers. It would not take long for the US planners to discover their ‘deficiencies’ and ‘failures’. Cleaver narrates the various operations the US launched, such as Rolling Thunder, Barrel Roll, and Steel Tiger. Most early actions took place over South Vietnam, but it was missions in North Vietnam where the SAMs, AAA, and MiGs would take the greatest toll on American planes and pilots.
President Johnson escalated the air war, but as Cleaver notes, most USAF pilots were not initially trained for air-to-air combat. North Vietnam had its issues too, and Cleaver covers those, though his focus is on the US Air Force. He also describes and assesses the various warplanes and missiles that flew through Vietnam’s lethal skies. Much of Cleaver’s narrative is set in 1967, which makes sense because of the increasing level of combat, and by the end of that year, he notes, the US was running out of targets in North Vietnam. The tail-off in bombing North Vietnam came in November 1968, with some clandestine bombing in Cambodia and Laos continuing until 1972 when fighting ramped up again to counter the threat of invasion from North Vietnam. Then Nixon unleashed the Christmas bombing campaign over North Vietnam in 1972, which brought the North Vietnamese to the peace table. US drawdown was already underway by then and continued until very few USAF units remained. The last US action Cleaver describes took place in May 1975.
That summary is not the whole book, however. What lifts Cleaver’s work from other nuts-and-bolts histories are his frequent accounts of combat told mostly by the pilots that fought in them. What becomes clear is that while the technology of aerial warfare had advanced in leaps and bounds from previous wars, what combats often came down to were individual duels between courageous men that combat pilots of all eras could attest to. Cleaver has a real knack for telling pilots’ often hair-raising stories (the rescue of two downed pilots in 1969 should be a movie!) At the higher level of operations, Cleaver is often scathing of the US command and bureaucracy. There is an argument that US forces fought with one arm tied behind their backs, and Cleaver does little to dispel that. His Vietnam heroes were the ones doing the fighting, perhaps as it should be. Overall, this is an outstanding account of the USAF in southeast Asia, and one that every student of the war should read.
June 7, 2024
A thorough and well-researched work.
The title suggests a focus on the bombing campaign (particularly Hanoi), but the book actually focuses more on air-to-air engagements. Cleaver does a good job describing the aircraft used, the evolution of technology, the strategies behind the bombing, the evolution of tactics, the sophistication of North Vietnamese air defenses, and the introduction of smart bombs. He begins with the Air Force advisory missions in 1961, and seems particularly interested in this topic, which readers may appreciate, since it’s often relegated to more specialist studies dealing with special operations.
Cleaver also tells the stories of the North Korean air force units in North Vietnam, the experiences of North Vietnamese pilots, as well as the story of the Mayaguez in 1975, where, Cleaver notes, the services managed, in a short period of time, to repeat many mistakes they had made over the course of a long war.
Some readers may wish for more maps. There’s little information on search-and-rescue operations. I thought the book would cover the soldiers involved in North Vietnam’s air defenses, or their Soviet advisers, but there is little about them. At one point Edward Lansdale is called “Edwin.” Kissinger is also referred to as “secretary of state” during a section covering the Easter Offensive.
Still, a comprehensive and well-written work.
The title suggests a focus on the bombing campaign (particularly Hanoi), but the book actually focuses more on air-to-air engagements. Cleaver does a good job describing the aircraft used, the evolution of technology, the strategies behind the bombing, the evolution of tactics, the sophistication of North Vietnamese air defenses, and the introduction of smart bombs. He begins with the Air Force advisory missions in 1961, and seems particularly interested in this topic, which readers may appreciate, since it’s often relegated to more specialist studies dealing with special operations.
Cleaver also tells the stories of the North Korean air force units in North Vietnam, the experiences of North Vietnamese pilots, as well as the story of the Mayaguez in 1975, where, Cleaver notes, the services managed, in a short period of time, to repeat many mistakes they had made over the course of a long war.
Some readers may wish for more maps. There’s little information on search-and-rescue operations. I thought the book would cover the soldiers involved in North Vietnam’s air defenses, or their Soviet advisers, but there is little about them. At one point Edward Lansdale is called “Edwin.” Kissinger is also referred to as “secretary of state” during a section covering the Easter Offensive.
Still, a comprehensive and well-written work.
November 7, 2022
Cleaver provides an overview of the US Air Force efforts during the Vietnam War in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. He covers the evolution of strategy and tactics, how the air campaigns fit into the greater strategic and political efforts, and discussed a number of the tactical actions. Cleaver also brings in archival research from Vietnamese sources, so he's able to provide fuller context on a number of the actions.
Cleaver covers a number of topics including leadership challenges, the target selection process and the political influence on it, aircraft POWs, the effectiveness of air to air missiles, training in plane to plane combat (or lack thereof), impact of changes in Vietnamese and US tactical approach, the introduction of guided bombs and many more.
Cleaver covers a lot of ground, which is one of the strengths of the book - he seeks to not only cover the air war, but also provide the context of how it tied with broader strategic, political, and diplomatic efforts. Cross referencing with Vietnamese sources provides valuable context.
One challenge in discussing the tactical actions is that there is a lot of information to cover, and Cleave is a little uneven at times, sometimes leaving the reader disoriented in some of the particular actions.
Overall, a good, thorough, detailed and enlightening look at the Vietnam War from the US Air Force perspective.
Cleaver covers a number of topics including leadership challenges, the target selection process and the political influence on it, aircraft POWs, the effectiveness of air to air missiles, training in plane to plane combat (or lack thereof), impact of changes in Vietnamese and US tactical approach, the introduction of guided bombs and many more.
Cleaver covers a lot of ground, which is one of the strengths of the book - he seeks to not only cover the air war, but also provide the context of how it tied with broader strategic, political, and diplomatic efforts. Cross referencing with Vietnamese sources provides valuable context.
One challenge in discussing the tactical actions is that there is a lot of information to cover, and Cleave is a little uneven at times, sometimes leaving the reader disoriented in some of the particular actions.
Overall, a good, thorough, detailed and enlightening look at the Vietnam War from the US Air Force perspective.
June 6, 2022
This is a thorough listing of every mission flown by the US Air Force and Navy from the beginning of the American involvement to the final flights in 1975. Literally Cleaver describes every bombing mission, it's effect and each dog fight and shoot out between the jets of the North Vietnamese Air Force (some flown by North Koreans and Red Chinese).
Cleaver's descriptions are so specific that he mentions the type of air-to-air missiles that the planes fired at each other. He makes the point (from comments by the actually pilots) of the weakness of the US fighter jets and the weapons they were forced to use. Some hardware continued to be used even after the pilots complained of it's ineffectiveness because of pressure from the different military contractors through their congressional delegations.
For me all this data was overkill (pun intended) but there will be those who will revel in it.
Cleaver's descriptions are so specific that he mentions the type of air-to-air missiles that the planes fired at each other. He makes the point (from comments by the actually pilots) of the weakness of the US fighter jets and the weapons they were forced to use. Some hardware continued to be used even after the pilots complained of it's ineffectiveness because of pressure from the different military contractors through their congressional delegations.
For me all this data was overkill (pun intended) but there will be those who will revel in it.
March 27, 2022
An amazing look at the air war conducted in Vietnam from the start to the finish. I was astounded at the ineptitude of the generals and politicians conducting the war. It was heartbreaking to see how badly they let our troops down and the needless casualties that were inflicted on them. It is an eye-opening book that is sure to please the history fan.
Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
June 3, 2023
The author goes into detail about aerial fighting during the Vietnam War, dog fights, and bombing runs. The advantages of our planes, jets against the enemy, and so forth. He has interviews with pilots as well and their take on everything. Once again you can see that our lack of back and forth between Washington, and the Generals made this extremely difficult for the men and women fighting whether on land or in the air. A good book. I received this book from Netgalley.com
September 8, 2022
Mr. Cleaver has titled this book aptly. "Going Downtown" is exactly right. North Vietnam was the most highly protected air space in the world. The pilots and aviators who went "downtown" were highly skilled. Mr. Cleaver does a fine job of conveying the history of the air campaign in South East Asia.
November 16, 2022
Viet Nam was lost in Washington DC
The truth hurts. I know my husband was at Da Nang in 1965 when we could have won. However, DC refused to win and establish gradual escalation till we could never win.
The truth hurts. I know my husband was at Da Nang in 1965 when we could have won. However, DC refused to win and establish gradual escalation till we could never win.
August 6, 2024
In truth, in 1965, there were neither “air superiority fighters” in the Air Force inventory, nor pilots with skills to fly them.
I expected more of a campaign diary style of book, so it was a pleasant surprise when Cleaver went into significant detail on strategy and equipment.
In the five years between 1950 and 1955, $2 billion in 1950s dollars was spent merely to create an industry that could produce supersonic fighters. It was the second most-expensive research program after the Manhattan Project.
The combat mission descriptions are fine and well matched with North Vietnamese records, including quotes from North Vietnamese pilots. Part of the problem with the book is the the missions themselves – unlike in Dark Waters Starry Skies, where the various operations did convey a war of attrition in a goal orientated way, the bombing war in North Vietnam appears meaningless here, other than forcing the F-105s out of the USAF’s inventory. I guess it underlines why the United States did not achieve its long-term goals.
John Boyd’s energy manoeuvring theory gets credited several times by pilots. Considering the controversy over Boyd’s contributions generally (and occasional backhanders over his limited combat experience), it is interesting to read favourable quotes by those who in combat. Another point worthy of note is just how many missiles USAF pilots would fire in combat to bring down an enemy plane, firing in ripples or salvos not just in the hope one would hit, but that at least some of them would even launch! Cleaver also recognises that, for North Vietnam, forcing bombers to abort their strikes was more important than actual shootdowns.
For the Vietnamese, a bomber that didn’t hit its target was out of action as effectively as if it had been shot down. This also suited the VPAF pilots, since their training and experience level was far below that of their opponents.
One weakness is the limited commentary on how the USAF responded to the poor performance of its pilots in aerial combat (e.g. reports such as Project Red Baron) other than relatively brief references to there being resistance to engaging in Air combat manoeuvring training. It is not a massive issue but does take a little bit of depth out of the Going Downtown, which is made more noticeable with Cleaver’s efforts to provide context in other areas.
One other point is Going Downtown does not appear to deal at all with close air support of US Army forces in South Vietnam (e.g. the defence of Khe Sanh). I am not sure why this is, there may have been something I missed as to the scope of the book. There is a little bit of close support coverage over Laos but otherwise nothing of note.
It had an M61 “Vulcan” 20mm gun (which the Phantom did not) and sometimes carried a missile or two, but the fact that its pilots considered themselves "fighter pilots" did not make it one.
Otherwise, a surprisingly engaging (and more general) book than expected.
I expected more of a campaign diary style of book, so it was a pleasant surprise when Cleaver went into significant detail on strategy and equipment.
In the five years between 1950 and 1955, $2 billion in 1950s dollars was spent merely to create an industry that could produce supersonic fighters. It was the second most-expensive research program after the Manhattan Project.
The combat mission descriptions are fine and well matched with North Vietnamese records, including quotes from North Vietnamese pilots. Part of the problem with the book is the the missions themselves – unlike in Dark Waters Starry Skies, where the various operations did convey a war of attrition in a goal orientated way, the bombing war in North Vietnam appears meaningless here, other than forcing the F-105s out of the USAF’s inventory. I guess it underlines why the United States did not achieve its long-term goals.
John Boyd’s energy manoeuvring theory gets credited several times by pilots. Considering the controversy over Boyd’s contributions generally (and occasional backhanders over his limited combat experience), it is interesting to read favourable quotes by those who in combat. Another point worthy of note is just how many missiles USAF pilots would fire in combat to bring down an enemy plane, firing in ripples or salvos not just in the hope one would hit, but that at least some of them would even launch! Cleaver also recognises that, for North Vietnam, forcing bombers to abort their strikes was more important than actual shootdowns.
For the Vietnamese, a bomber that didn’t hit its target was out of action as effectively as if it had been shot down. This also suited the VPAF pilots, since their training and experience level was far below that of their opponents.
One weakness is the limited commentary on how the USAF responded to the poor performance of its pilots in aerial combat (e.g. reports such as Project Red Baron) other than relatively brief references to there being resistance to engaging in Air combat manoeuvring training. It is not a massive issue but does take a little bit of depth out of the Going Downtown, which is made more noticeable with Cleaver’s efforts to provide context in other areas.
One other point is Going Downtown does not appear to deal at all with close air support of US Army forces in South Vietnam (e.g. the defence of Khe Sanh). I am not sure why this is, there may have been something I missed as to the scope of the book. There is a little bit of close support coverage over Laos but otherwise nothing of note.
It had an M61 “Vulcan” 20mm gun (which the Phantom did not) and sometimes carried a missile or two, but the fact that its pilots considered themselves "fighter pilots" did not make it one.
Otherwise, a surprisingly engaging (and more general) book than expected.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews