Operation Rolling Thunder, March 1965 to November 1968

Can you explain what the markings and divisions are on the map?

Off limits areas Zones 1,2,3,4 and 6B Navy and MACV Targets Zones 5 and 6A Air Force Targets

Operation Flaming Dart Instead of immediately bombing the North after The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, the U.S. launched more "tit-for-tat" airstrikes in retaliation for a 7 February 1965 NLF attack at Pleiku (Operation Flaming Dart) and for a bomb attack against an American enlisted men's billet at Qui Nhon on the 10th (Operation Flaming Dart II). 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.

First Wave of attacks in Flaming Dart Airstrikes were strictly forbidden within 30 nautical miles (60 km) of Hanoi and within ten nautical miles (19 km) of the port of Haiphong. A thirty-mile buffer zone also extended along the length of the Chinese frontier. According to 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. The North's airfields, which, according to any rational targeting policy, should have been hit first in the campaign, were also off- limits.”

Many military commanders and some politicians believed that Haiphong should be attacked to prevent supplies getting into the country. This did not happen until 1972.

Strategic Failure If Rolling Thunder were supposed to "send signals" to Hanoi to desist in its actions, it did not seem to be working. On 8 April, responding to requests for peace negotiations, North Vietnamese Premier Pham Van Dong stated that they could only begin when: the bombing was halted; the U.S. had removed all of its troops from the south; the Saigon government recognized the demands of the NLF; and it was agreed that the reunification of Vietnam would be settled by the Vietnamese themselves. Ominously, on 3 April the North Vietnamese Air Force made its first appearance when American aircraft were attacked by Soviet-built MiG-15s.

Mig 15

Mig 17

Mig 21

The nickname "Rolling Thunder" was assigned to all air strikes, armed reconnaissance, and photo reconnaissance against selected targets and lines of communication (LOC) in North Vietnam. North Vietnam was divided into route packages, numbered as shown on the map above, and aircraft were allocated to each package and did their jobs. Rolling Thunder was a graduated campaign which politicians had hoped would scare the North Vietnamese to the peace table. The strategic targets of Hanoi and Haiphong harbor, shown in the map by the two circles, were off-limits, viewed by many as a major Washington blunder in this war.

Can you explain what the markings and divisions are on the map?