http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/195780239

Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report. LINEBACKER: Overview of the First 120 Days

Inevitably, comparisons will be drawn--and have been drawn--between Rolling Thunder, the bombing and interdiction campaign over North Vietnam between 1965 and 1968, and Linebacker, the campaign launched over the North on 9 May 1972. This study addresses the similarities and differences between the two campaigns, the concepts and rationale behind each, and the degree of success-of-aims achieved in the two overall plans. Ample documentation of Rolling Thunder exists in previous histories, operational reports, and Project CHECO Reports, as well as other sources, and these are drawn upon in this volume. Classified and unclassified statements by high-level officials of both periods are cited in an attempt to achieve the best possible perspective. This report documents the chronology of events, including the introduction of new tactics and technologies, their effect on the prosecution of the Linebacker campaign, and the concomitant reshaping of political constraints. It addresses the change in political climate, the significance of the GCI-ECM-MIG-SAM envelope, and briefly, the effect of Linebacker upon the North Vietnamese invasion of the South. The differing politico-military considerations and the changes in the Rules of Engagement are also mentioned because they contributed sharply to the differences of effectiveness of Linebacker and Rolling Thunder. Weather cannot be ignored, because it influenced large differences in tactics and weaponry. This study, however, cannot be construed as the final, in-depth analysis of any Rolling Thunder-Linebacker comparison, since it must concern itself primarily with the actions taken and immediate effects of the first four months of the latter campaign.

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