Previously Held NEC IC-0000-Interior Communications Electrician
IC-4774-MK NC-2 MOD 2/2A Plotting/MK 9 MOD 0/2 DRAI Technician
IC-4721-Gyrocompass Systems Maintenance Technician
NC-9502-Instructor
Retired from Active Service in 1994. Went to work with the American Red Cross Disaster Services in Port St. Lucie, Florida as a Disaster Coordinator. Transferred to Shrewsbury, New Jersey as a Disaster Director later that year. In 2000 transferred to San Bernardino California as an Emergency Services Director and then finished my career in 2005 in Palm Springs, California. One of my childhood dreams was to drive a big-rig truck, so went to truck driving school in Fontana, CAl and got my commercial drivers license. Went to work with SWIFT Transportation as an over-the-road trucker covering all 48 states and Canada. Moved to Shreveport LA in 2006 and transferred my dispatch yard to Dallas TX (Still driving with SWIFT). In 2007 had to quit doing that due to medical problems. Finally, retired for good that year. In 2013 went back to work as a Building Supervisor for Electsolve INC. The company was sold to IPKeys and I began working as a Facility Manager for Excentul Facilities and Services, where I am still working today.
Other Comments:
I was a "kiddy cruizer" so was discharged the day before my 21st birthday (19 April 1967). Worked for Pacific Gas and Electric in Hayward, California. Went back into the service in October 1967. Requested Swift Boats and got the Kitty Hawk instead. In October 1969 left the Navy for civilian life. Got a job with Pacific Telephone in Livermore, California as a cable splicer. In 1971 transfered to Pacific Northwest Bell in Portland Oregon. Transfered back to Pacific Telephone in Fresno, California in 1974. Left the phone company in 1977. Pretty much rode my motorcycle and partied until 1980 when I went back into the Navy and finished my career.
Description 2 March 1965 - 2 November 1968. Operation Rolling Thunder was the title of a gradual and sustained US 2nd Air Division (later Seventh Air Force), US Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) aerial bombardment campaign conducted against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) from 2 March 1965 until 2 November 1968, during the Vietnam War.
In an effort to convince the North Vietnamese government to abandon its support of the insurgency in South Vietnam, President Johnson began a new bombing campaign in March 1965, known as Operation Rolling Thunder.
Lasting from 2 March 1965 until 1 November 1968, Rolling Thunder was the longest bombing campaign in United States history. It involved tactical aviation assets from the 7th Air Force in Thailand and South Vietnam, as well as aircraft from 7th Fleet and Marine Corps assets.
The campaign was marred by disputes between senior military leaders and the civilian administration from the outset. Military leaders argued for decisive strikes in order to isolate North Vietnam and to destroy their production capabilities and transportation systems.
President Johnson and Secretary McNamara sought the graduated use of force, choosing a cycle of bombing halts followed by escalation in an effort to persuade the North Vietnamese to negotiate for peace with the United States and South Vietnam.
During the three years of Rolling Thunder, Johnson and McNamara instituted seven bombing halts.
The three basic objectives of Operation Rolling Thunder under the Johnson administration were:
Strategically deter North Vietnam from supporting the insurgency in South Vietnam;
Raise the morale of military and political elites in South Vietnam;
Interdict North Vietnam’s support of the communist insurgency in the South.
Johnson and his staff continually sought a middle ground that would demonstrate American resolve without raising the ire of the international community. Ironically, by seeking this middle ground, the administration guaranteed that Rolling Thunder would fail to meet any of its objectives.
Rolling Thunder went through five phases.
During Phase I, from March to June 1965, a variety of targets were struck in an attempt to persuade North Vietnam to negotiate for peace. The air strikes served little purpose, other than to harden the resolve of North Vietnam and to solidify the sanctity of their cause. Most importantly, it led to the creation of the world’s most complex and lethal air defense networks.
Phase II from July 1965 to January 1966 was primarily an interdiction campaign aimed at roads, bridges, boats, and railroads. These attacks destroyed an estimated 4,600 trucks, 4,700 boats, and 800 railroad cars. At the urging of Admiral U. S. Grant Sharp, CINCPAC, the focus of Rolling Thunder shifted from interdiction to petroleum products.
Admiral Sharp realized that the interdiction campaign was not achieving the desired results and believed that by focusing the campaign on energy resources, North Vietnam might be forced to negotiate for peace.
Phase III from January to October 1966, focused on North Vietnam’s petroleum, oil, and lubricant (POL) resources. Before this phase began, North Vietnam required only 32,000 tons of oil a year to supply their needs. By the time Rolling Thunder began to target POL resources, North Vietnam had 60,000 tons of POL stocks in reserve.
While the attacks destroyed an estimated 70 percent of the North Vietnamese supply, the North dispersed the remaining stock in fifty-five gallon barrels throughout the country. This proved more than adequate to supply the infantry and guerrilla forces fighting in South Vietnam and did little to affect the war in South Vietnam.
Phase IV from October 1966 to May 1967, concentrated the campaign’s efforts on the industry and power-generating capabilities of North Vietnam. For the first time, targets in Hanoi were struck, but as with Phase III the new tactics failed to have much impact on a non-industrialized country. Because North Vietnam’s ports still remained off limits, the strikes did not impede North Vietnamese ability to receive and distribute supplies destined for South Vietnam.
Phase V, the final phase, from May 1967 to October 1968, concentrated on isolating Hanoi from Haiphong, and both cities from the remainder of the country, as well as the destruction of remaining industrial infrastructure. United States aircraft averaged over 13,000 sorties a month and destroyed over 5,600 trucks, 2,500 rail cars, and 11,500 boats during this final phase of Rolling Thunder.
As during earlier phases, the North Vietnamese air defense network grew. By 1967, pilots confronted the most comprehensive air defense network in the world. North Vietnam fired over 25,000 tons of AAA ammunition from 10,000 anti-aircraft guns and hundreds of missiles from over twenty-five SAM battalions during any given month of 1967.
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