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From late 1967 to mid 1968 306th BW bomber and tanker crews augmented Arc Light & Young Tiger operations by deploying for eight to twelve week TDYs. Bomber missions continued to be flown from Anderson AFB, Guam, but were also operating out of Kadena AB, Okinawa and U Tapao Royal Thai Airfield, Thailand. U Tapao became operational in April 1967 allowing B-52s to strike most targets and return within two to five hours. In January 1968 the North Koreans seized the USS Pueblo resulting in Operation Port Bow, where 11 additional B-52Ds were deployed to Anderson AFB and 15 B-52Ds to Kadena AB. On 15 February General Westmorland's request to make the Kadena B-52Ds a part of the Arc Light bomber force was approved. Bomber missions from Kadena averaged 7 1/2 hours. The addition of these two forward operating bases allowed increased bomber sortie rates to support the continuing US buildup of ground troops in Vietnam. Missions from these two bases did not normally require air refueling allowing the Young Tiger force to concentrate their support on bombers flying from Anderson AFB and tactical air support in Vietnam and Thailand, as well as strip alert throughout the theater. The sortie rate remained at 800 per month until September 1967. CINCPAC requested the B-52 sortie rate be increased to 40 per day or 1200 a month to keep pressure on the enemy’s supply and infiltration system, and expand the effort along the DMZ. In December 1967 the decision was made to increase the sortie rate to 1200 effective 1 February 1968. Before the end of February the sortie rate had increased to 1800 and was sustained at this rate until July 1969.
U Tapao was built in a remote area of Thailand on the Gulf of Siam near Sattahip. Bomber and tanker air crews slept in tents until permanent facilities and trailers were in place. Three B-52Ds were initially deployed to U Tapao in April 1967and immediately began flying Arc Light missions. Three more B-52Ds deployed in May and nine more by July for a total force of 15 aircraft. This force was increased to 25 B-52Ds by November 1967. Crews would fly from Anderson AFB, Guam on a bombing mission and land at U-Tapao for a specified tour, then return to Anderson after flying a bombing mission out of U-Tapao. Aircrew and aircraft rotation among the three operating bases allowed SAC to manage crew and airframe flight time. A tanker task force under the 4258th Strategic Wing was established at U Tapao to provide SAC and PACAF with air refueling support. The presence of B-52Ds at Kadena AB, introduced during Port Bow, caused many protests by the Okinawans including marching to the gates and perimeter of the flight line. These protests did not limit the operation of bombers from Okinawa.
Crew
members from the 306th BW TDY to support Arc Light at this time participated in
one of the most famous battles of the Vietnam war, the 77 day siege of Khe Sanh. Operation
Niagara, 18 January to 31 March 1968, resulted in two major innovations for B-52
operations: Bugle Note and close-in bombing (less than three kilometers from friendly
forces). Khe Sanh was a 2,500 man U S Marine base South of the DMZ close to the Laotian
border that had been steadily surrounded by 20,000 enemy forces. The B-52s strikes were
directed against enemy concentrations, control centers and storage areas in the Khe Sanh
area initially. The situation at Khe Sanh became more critical and on 26 February the
restriction on striking within three kilometers of friendly forces was rescinded at the
request of COMUSMACV, General Abrams. On that date the first "close-in" B-52
strike was conducted at a distance of 1.2 kilometers.
General Abrams later stated, this change in the basic Arc Light operation order "was quite possibly the deciding factor at Khe Sanh…. It was only after the B-52s dropped within 1,000meters of the fence …… that the enemy showed signs of crumbling."
In order to be more responsive to target requirements, SAC instituted Bugle Note. This plan called for a three ship cell to arrive at a pre-designated Pre-IP every one and a half hours to be picked up by MSQ, directed to one of a series of IPS and then directed to specific targets in the Keh Sanh area. On 15 February 1968, Bugle Note was initiated and later changed to have six B-52s over a target every three hours. SAC flew 2,612 sorties in 486 strikes in support of Operation Niagara, with 533 of these sorties within three kilometers of friendly forces, and 2,222 sorties were directed by Bugle Note. Bugle Note was so effective that it was expanded throughout the theater, replacing the Quick Reaction Force, and by March 1968 over 80 percent of sorties were Bugle Notes.
On 1 June 1968, Colonel Salvador E. Felices relieved Colonel Roberts as Commander, 306th Bomb Wing. The Wing continued its primary mission of deterrence through nuclear ground alert and prepared for its second unit Arc Light deployment. On 4 June 1968, hurricane Abby forced the Wing to evacuate its aircraft from McCoy. Bombers of the 367th BS were evacuated to Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Some B-52Ds were placed on alert as they arrived and alert crews were quartered in a hanger on cots. Tankers of the 306th and 919th ARS were evacuated Loring AFB Maine, Little Rock AFB, Arkansas and Wright-Patterson where some KC-135s were placed on alert. The Soviet Union’s increasing submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) threat forced SAC to develop plans to disperse its ground alert force to meet a six minute warning time. Under certain conditions, some bombers would be dispersed to Eglin AFB, Florida and some tankers would be dispersed to Cecil Field, Florida. In early July the 306th BW was directed by SAC to prepare the Wing to deploy nine B-52s and 15 KC- 135s to Arc Light.
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