WarinNorthLAOSUSAF.pdf

(U) The War in Northern Laos, 1954-1973, is one of three volumes concerned with the war
in Laos that will be published in the Center for Air Force History's United States Air Force in
SoutheastAsia series. Two volumes, Aerial Interdiction in Southern Laos, 1960-1968, by Jacob,
Van Staaveren, and Aerial Interdiction in Southern Laos, 1968-1972, by Bernard C. Nalty,
describe Air Force activities in southern Laos; this.volume covers the north over the total
period. The two areas of Laos, north and south, had vastly different types of conflicts.
Interdiction of supplies and personnel flowing down the Ho Chi Minh Trail from North to South
Vietnam took precedence in the south, while the Air Force, in the north, directly aided the
government of Laos with training and military assistance, as well as with missions supporting
ground forces engaged in conflict.
(U) The war in northern Laos was complex and confusing, with three separate factions contending
for power and territory. The 1954 Geneva Agreements on Laos recognized Laos as a
neutral state but prohibited it from forming military alliances with other governments. The
Royal Laotian Army in 1955 numbered around ten thousand, but the French, who trained the
army before 1955, had not allowed Laotian officers in positions of authority. The Laotian Army
Air Force, an air force in name only, was a small section of two hundred. As the United States
struggled to overcome these deficiencies, because the Geneva accords prevented establishment
of bases or even advisory groups, subterfuge and deception became common, and the irregular
forces often were the most effective and determined. Finally, because ofthe Geneva restrictions,
the U.S. ambassador in Vientiane evolved as the final authority on any overt Air Force action,
an inefficient and difficult situation that persisted throughout the entire period of U.S. assistance
to Laos. This book describes the triumphs, frustrations, and failures of the Air Force in northern
Laos between January 1955, when the United States Operations Mission began to coordinate
military aid, and April 1973, when B-52s and F-llls flew the last bombing sorties over
northern Laos.
(U) Two officers assigned to the Office of Air Force History wrote The War in Northern
Laos. Maj. Victor B. Anthony, author of the Introduction and first eight chapters, is a graduate
of the Citadel and has an MA in history from Duke University. Major Anthony also wrote the
study "Tactics and Techniques of Night Operations in Southeast Asia" during his assignment
to the Office of Air Force History. Lt. Col. Richard R. Sexton, a graduate of the Air Force
Academy, authored the final eight chapters and the Epilogue. He has an MA in history from the
University of California, Davis, and an MA in International Relations from the University of
Southern California. Both authors are Master Navigators and both were instructors in the History
Department at the Air Force Academy. Following Colonel Sexton's departure in 1979, Col. John
Schlight, then Chief.of the Special Histories Branch, Office of Air Force History, combined the
two manuscripts and organized the book into its present form.