Professionalizing the War
ABRAMS, ARNOLD
THE AIRMEN IN THAILAND Professionalizing the War BY ARNOLD ABRAMS Bangkok Now that America's battle burden in Southeast Asia has fully shifted from ground to air operations and, to a lesser...
...At the same time, American air strength was boosted from 450 planes to more than 800...
...forces in Thailand has peaked, but reports that more men and planes are in the pipeline persist...
...The same officials insist on calling the buildup a temporary "augmentation," although they concede when pressed that no time limits have been set for it...
...They denied accusations of dike bombing and described their efforts (each crew deposits 30 tons of bombs on enemy positions every other day) as "part of the job...
...There's nothing personal about this," said Major Stephen Levine, a 37-year-old Brooklynite who commands a B-52...
...At Takhli, some 30 miles further north, this same sense of detachment was displayed by jet fighter pilots, who have been flying less and enjoying life more since being shifted last spring from Vietnam's Danang air-base...
...now, because of Takhli's distance (over 400 miles) from target areas, they average less than one per day...
...The Thais, increasingly enmeshed in their own guerrilla insurgency, are particularly susceptible to Communist infiltration from neighboring Laos and Cambodia...
...The U.S...
...position is fraught with danger, though...
...They do not often travel the 100 miles to Bangkok, they said, and have not sampled the delights of the Thai capital's legendary massage parlors...
...Their descriptions of bombing runs were so bland and brisk, they could have been discussing insurance policies or shoe sales...
...Utapao, an orderly and antiseptic installation 100 miles north of Bangkok, has about 50 B-52 bombers...
...Moreover, Thailand's new importance in the Vietnam conflict increases the possibility of reprisal raids against the bases located here...
...Although their B-52 has been nicked by enough antiaircraft fire to be named "magnet ass," Levine's crew described their missions over North and South Vietnam as essentially dull affairs, largely requiring attention to routine mechanical details...
...And despite official confidence about security, those bases are highly vulnerable...
...forces from 49,000 in 1970 to 32,000 early this year...
...We are pros, and we do the job we are given...
...Most of the young, clean-cut servicemen sport deep tans from the considerable time they spend swimming or playing tennis and handball...
...The B-52 fliers presented to newsmen, mostly in their 30s, spoke in the quick, clipped manner characteristic of many military professionals...
...One female Thai reporter tried doggedly to extract admissions from the crew of more tangible—and to her, perhaps, more meaningful—affairs of the flesh...
...The augmentative forces will be here as long as they are needed," journalists are told...
...Levine, the men hold widely divergent views about America's involvement in Vietnam...
...As far as the Thais are concerned," says one man in a position to know, "the more we bomb North Vietnam, the better...
...Bowing to high-level U.S...
...He hopes that he won't soon find out...
...Pressure to leave is unlikely to come from Thai authorities, who welcomed the reinforcements and eagerly cooperated with Washington...
...We're not stupid, you know," he snapped...
...We're given target coordinates and flying information, we get the bombs, we go drop them...
...If we want to maintain a significant military presence on the Southeast Asian mainland, this is the only feasible piece of real estate available," a high-ranking American explained...
...We're professional Air Force personnel, and we have a job to do...
...The combination of geography and changing political factors leaves us little choice...
...We set them aside...
...In fact, I'm surprised it hasn't happened already...
...We spend most of our time sitting around the pool, soaking up that good Thai sunshine," said Major Joseph Griffin, who looked it...
...They've been urging us for years to bomb the dikes...
...they also are too high, and too well protected, to worry about interception by Communist aircraft...
...official...
...Personal feelings don't enter into this, however," he stressed...
...Embassy officials say the strengthening of the U.S...
...But the Americans stood firm on that, too...
...But," he added, "we're too far away for it to have any meaning for us...
...They were afraid that Vietnamization would be a smokescreen for a bug-out, but seeing us mine enemy harbors and resume the bombing of the North has reassured them...
...We don't talk much about the war beyond going over details of our jobs...
...They include 13,000 men rushed to Thailand after the start of North Vietnam's Easter offensive, reversing a gradual phase-out that had reduced U.S...
...We're bound to get some 'spectaculars' launched against the bases," concedes a top-level U.S...
...pressure, the Thais reluctantly permitted a guided tour of three bases and a series of encounters with fliers carefully selected for the occasion...
...Most Air Force officers are college graduates, and we are very much aware of the issues...
...patrols to guard the areas surrounding the installations—which would mean thrusting GIs into combat circumstances—or continuing to rely on Thai defenses and risk American lives...
...We think we do it well, and we're proud of that...
...With the continuing withdrawal of ground forces from Vietnam, the reversion of Okinawa to Japan and the mounting opposition to U.S...
...Few knowledgeable observers discount the situation's grim potential...
...Newsmen were recently afforded a rare glimpse of this weaponry and the men who operate it...
...We play a lot of handball, Ma'am," Levine offered...
...The fliers' remoteness from the effects of their Indochina missions was underscored in their remarks, all closely monitored by information officers posted nearby...
...They get no direct feedback about the havoc wrought on the ground by their deadly cargo...
...Still," the craft commander said, "the Air Force is a volunteer organization, and nobody has to participate in these operations if he feels strongly about them...
...Sometimes, on clear days, Levine's six-man crew can actually see the target, more than 40,000 feet below...
...linchpin...
...appears to have come full cycle in Vietnam: The war is back in the hands of a relatively small number of professionals, with the pilots of 1972 taking the place of the ground advisors of 1962...
...The sun-drenched surroundings and relative leisureliness of the personnel belie its reinvigorated military activity...
...Almost out of place are the menacing trappings of their work—giant bombers whose tail sections tower over concrete revetments like fins in shark-infested waters...
...After blurting out this admission, to the obvious discomfort of a listening information officer, Alden, a 37-year-old University of Oregon graduate, returned to the common refrain of the others...
...In addition to easing local doubts, the renewed build-up has illuminated this country's new role...
...In "Nam" they flew two to three missions per day...
...Some of those sessions get heated, too...
...THE AIRMEN IN THAILAND Professionalizing the War BY ARNOLD ABRAMS Bangkok Now that America's battle burden in Southeast Asia has fully shifted from ground to air operations and, to a lesser extent, naval bombardment, Thailand has become the U.S...
...We think a great deal about them, more than most people maybe, and we often get into discussions about them...
...Griffin's colleagues agreed, with the exception of Major Gary Alden, a jet commander...
...According to Arnold Abrams regularly reports in these pages from Southeast Asia...
...I don't know what the other side is waiting for...
...Some 45,000 troops, nearly all from the Air Force, are stationed at eight major military bases here, exceeding the number of soldiers remaining in Vietnam...
...A few successful sapper attacks in Thailand could present Washington with a grave choice: assigning U.S...
...foreign policy in the Philippines, Thailand has blossomed by default into the region's main American fortress...
...Thus the U.S...
Vol. 55 • October 1972 • No. 19
