Detailed first-hand accounts by U.S. Air Force fighter pilots who flew combat missions over North Vietnam. This is a reprint of a 1976 work. During the war in Southeast Asia, U.S. Air Force fighter pilots and crewmen repeatedly were challenged by enemy MIG fighters in the skies over North Vietnam. The ensuing air battles were unique in American history because U.S. fighter and strike forces operated under stringent rules of engagement and faced extremely formidable antiaircraft defenses. Despite these constraints, American airmen managed to emerge from their aerial battles with both victories...

Declassified study from 1979. From the foreword: "It is impossible to separate an aircraft from its pilots and support personnel since they constitute a team. Nor is it possible to describe that team without considering the organizational and operational developments which affected the teams performance. This volume is a narrative of the birth and growth of the RF-IOIC Voodoo, its entry into the conflict in Southeast ASia, the growth of the reconnaissance force~ the problems encountered, and the factors which eventually forced its withdrawal from combat".

During the war in Southeast Asia, U.S. Air Force fighter pilots and crewmen were repeatedly challenged by enemy MIG's in the skies over North Vietnam. The air battles which ensued were unique in American history because U.S. fighter and strike forces operated under stringent rules of engagement. With periodic exceptions, for example, MIG bases could not be struck. The rules generally forbade bombing or strafing of military and industrial targets in and around the enemy's heartland, encompassing the capital of Hanoi and the port city of Haiphong. These restrictions gave the North Vietnamese...