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Air Power's Lost Cause: The American Air Wars of Vietnam (War and Society) Hardcover – May 14, 2021

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 13 ratings

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The first comprehensive treatment of the air wars in Vietnam.

Filling a substantial void in our understanding of the history of airpower in Vietnam, this book provides the first comprehensive treatment of the air wars in Vietnam. Brian Laslie traces the complete history of these air wars from the beginning of American involvement until final withdrawal. Detailing the competing roles and actions of the air elements of the United States Army, Navy, and Air Force, the author considers the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war. He also looks at the air war from the perspective of the North Vietnamese Air Force. Most important for understanding the US defeat, Laslie illustrates the perils of a nation building a one-dimensional fighting force capable of supporting only one type of war.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

The various aspects of aerial warfare in Vietnam have been well studied, but historian Brian Laslie is the first to attempt an overall description and assessment of what he rightly calls the air "wars" of Vietnam. In the process, he thoroughly debunks a key aspect of the Lost Cause mythology that grew out of the American failure in Vietnam: the claim that air power, if properly employed, could have won the war. The book constitutes an excellent starting point for anyone seriously interested in the air wars of Vietnam.

Michigan War Studies Review

Air Power's Lost Cause is a key text for those interested in air power studies, or indeed the Vietnam War. Laslie’s work also opens up a number of vistas that should be of interest to anyone studying the influence of politics on military campaigns, the deployment of cutting-edge technology or the battle of the narrative. Air Power's Lost Cause has a lot to offer and is highly recommended.

Wavell Room: Contemporary British Military Thought

In Air Power's Lost Cause, Brian Laslie offers an important and provocative argument that invites readers to reexamine the role of air power in the Vietnam War. Laslie places the entire air war in an intriguing new frame, making this book a must-read addition to the literature on air power and the Vietnam War.

-- Michael W. Hankins, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

A long-overdue, sweeping chronicle of US air operations over Southeast Asia during the American war in Vietnam. Laslie excels in demonstrating the promise—and ultimate failures—of airpower solving political problems overseas. A penetrating account demolishing the myth that air advocates could have ‘won’ the war in Vietnam if only given the chance.

-- Gregory A. Daddis, San Diego State University, author of Withdrawal: Reassessing America’s Final Years in Vietnam

A concise, incisive account of the chaotic air wars that the United States military waged over Vietnam in the 1960s. Laslie deftly explains how ambiguity in mission, doctrine, and command left the United States without a coherent air strategy, leading different services to fight at cross-purposes over the course of the conflict. His book is an excellent starting point for all those interested in the conflict, as well as for scholars looking for an integrated approach to the air wars.

-- Robert Farley, University of Kentucky

Brian Laslie climbs into the rarified air of authors who provide a truly new perspective on the aerial conflict over Southeast Asia. Packed with insightful analysis, reliant on valuable sources, and penned with cogent prose, Air Power’s Lost Cause is a fresh look at how air power came of age during the Vietnam War, yet still never made it quite to full maturity either. Simply one of the best books on the subject.

-- John Terino, USAF Air Command and Staff College

Brian Laslie presents history in a formidable style that challenges the reader to evaluate facts and question the conclusions he derives from them. His latest book, Air Power’s Lost Cause, divides and analyzes the U.S. Air Force’s combat in the Vietnam War into six parts. The book is part of the War and Society Series, which investigates the history of the conduct of war, along with its social consequences.

The VVA Veteran

Book Description

The first comprehensive treatment of the air wars in Vietnam.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (May 14, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1442274344
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1442274341
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.22 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.39 x 0.84 x 9.4 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 13 ratings

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Brian D. Laslie
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Brian Laslie is an Air Force Historian and currently the Command Historian at the United States Air Force Academy. A 2001 graduate of The Citadel and a historian of air and space power studies, Dr. Laslie received his Masters' from Auburn University Montgomery in 2006 and his Doctorate from Kansas State University in 2013. He lives in Colorado Springs.

He can be reached at http://brianlaslie.com/ or at goodreads.com

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
13 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2021
Brian D. Leslie's book details how air power enthusiasts, led by senior members of the US Air Force from the Vietnam war era, tried pushed the notion that "air power did all it was asked to do and more in Vietnam." That's true but at an enormous cost that incuded losing half its F-105 fighter bomber force ( 47 percent shot down) over North Vietnam and hundreds of other aircraft to mostly World War II era defenses over Vietnam and Laos. The author builds on scholarship by two former Air Force officers, Lt. Col. Mark Clodfelter and Maj. Earl H. Tilford, who carried forth the same theme iin books published in the years following the war. "Air Power's Lost Cause" maintains air power leaders reacted to their defeat like many Confederates did after the "Glorious Cause" went down to defeat in 1865. "We won all the battles even if we lost the war." Not so in either case. For instance, it cost $6.60 for every $1.00's worth of damange inflicted by bombing North Vietnam: costs in lost aircraft, trained aircrew, munitions and fuel costs, etc. Furthermore, the flow of war materials and soldiers doubled each year of the bombing from 1965 to late 1968 when bombing shifted from North Vietnam to the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. Then, little more than two years later, Hanoi launched a major ground campaign into South Vietnam that air power blunted but did not entirely contain. The myth that 12-days of bombing North Vietnam in December 1972 led to any kind of victory is also debunked. In the end, compelling an aggressor nation to allow a final withdrawal of US forces and returning American airmen shot down and held captive did NOT constitute victory if it did accomplish a limited objective.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2021
Laslie provides a new spin on the Vietnam air war in two ways. First, he breaks up the air war into the multiple independent air wars (air war over S. Vietnam, over N. Vietnam, in Cambodia & Laos, the Navy Air War, the strategic bombing campaign, and the air-to-air conflict). Second, he indicts the argument that unrestrained bombing during Rolling Thunder would have won the war in the late ‘60s, a theory he calls air power’s “lost cause.” One of the best books I’ve read on the Vietnam air war, highly recommend it
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Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2021
Defenders of the U.S. air war in Vietnam claimed that civilian political oversight led to the handicapping of airpower. But Laslie adds to the countervailing argument that inadequate tactics, service rivalry, and the use of aircraft designed for other missions was the larger reason for airpowers "lost cause." The book is carefully researched and well documented. Sometimes it is repetitive, but overall it is well written and argued.
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2024
This is actually a rather shallow review of the air war rather than the comprehensive review claimed by the advertising copy. Its thesis is that the USAF lost the war because it tried to fight a conventional war rather than adapt to a new kind of war, and then laid unwarranted blame on the political leadership for imposing restrictions that prevented successful application of airpower. The author does not in any way prove this thesis.

His vague assertion that the U.S. incorrectly applied airpower is not even supported by suggestions of how airpower could have been more successfully applied. For example, he claims that General Momyer contributed to the failure because did not recognize that Vietnam was not a conventional air war. But if you read Momyer’s book you will find he thought the mistake in Vietnam was in seeing and prosecuting it as nonconventional war. He thought airpower would have been more successful if applied in a more conventional manner. The author and Momyer obviously disagree, but you can’t say that Momyer was asleep at the switch and simply did not recognize and adapt to the nature of the war. The author doesn’t specify what he thinks Momyer should have actually done differently, he only says that he was inflexible and unable to adapt. It's as if Momyer is at fault for not having a magic wand.

The author’s claim that airpower was not even decisive in the south is a ridiculous conclusion given that he himself details how airpower was decisive when applied to enemy troop concentration in the field. He apparently thinks air support should have magically won the war by doing more than just helping defeat enemy formations in actual battle. You can’t blame USAF for the failure of the ARVN to win the ground war against the invasion by North Vietnam. He doesn’t even credit Linebacker II with bringing North Vietnam back to the negotiating table.

Overall, the author doesn't suggest how the war should have been prosecuted, yet he blames defeat on insufficient military adaptability rather than insufficient national commitment. He does not make his case at all with this book.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2021
Brian Laslie does a masterful job describing the facts of the American air wars of Southeast Asia. His detailed and comprehensive approach is a proverbial gold mine for anyone interested in the Vietnam War or the history of air power in general. Where Laslie falls short, in my opinion, is his attempt to interpret the raw information into an argumentative book. He tries to simplify a subject that is riddled with complexity and nuance with a reductionist thesis and a half-hearted historical comparison. The diligent and thorough research that Laslie demonstrates is enough for me to recommend this book to anyone but not without qualifying it with my misgivings about the overarching thesis. If one can look past Laslie's ill-proved theory and unsupported assumptions, they will undoubtedly enjoy this encyclopedic masterpiece.
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2021
The end of the war from 1971 on was a changed air war. The American fighting force won the war, but the politicians caved into prevailing political pressure and abandoned the Vietnamese, the Cambodians, the Hmong tribesmen and the Montenyards. Don’t buy into a slanted view of history.
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Top reviews from other countries

Kirk R. Lowry
5.0 out of 5 stars An Objective Overview Of "The American Air Wars Of Vietnam"
Reviewed in Canada on February 10, 2022
With Air Power's Lost Cause author Brian D. Laslie has written an objective overview of the "The American Air Wars Of Vietnam and written the book well. With the trenchant comment "the military services acted as if there were six separate air wars rather than a cohesive air war" he establishes an essential flaw that beset the aerial campaign over Vietnam. Laslie notes that these struggles were "1) the air-to-ground war in North Vietnam ... 2) the air-to-air war in North Vietnam ... 3) the air-to-ground war in South Vietnam ... 4) the US Navy's air-to-air and air-to-ground war in North Vietnam/South Vietnam ... 5) the "secret" air wars in Laos and Cambodia; and 6) the US Army's air mobile war".

The author makes plain the disparity between what was imagined possible and what was actually possible determining, for example, that while close air support to the forces operating on the ground in southern Vietnam proved achievable the interdiction of supply between north and south along the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was to remain a goal unfulfilled. Government direction is examined but not found to be the outright cause of failure as is so often stated by critics of policy both within and without the air forces. The command of the air forces believed in the capabilities of strategy applied and equipment possessed but, in fact, success was not attainable and Laslie provides proof in detail that, even if given free reign victory by means of airpower in Vietnam would not be achieved.

Laslie determines the conclusion held by many that, if only the air forces had not been restrained by a political leadership that lacked will, victory in Vietnam was possible was not grounded in reality. The tremendous efforts undertaken by the three principal services, USAF, USMC, USN, to develop efficient equipment as well as effective strategies and tactics while the conflict raged and following the withdrawal of American forces from Vietnam can be seen as evidence that, at the least, some of those in positions of authority knew changes had to be made. The improvement to the services that evolved can be seen as a success that developed from failure.

A complete history the aerial struggle in Vietnam is presented by Laslie. Respectful references are made regarding the Vietnamese foes who, the author relates, generally maintained a clear understanding of what was feasible though the use of American air power during "The Easter Offensive" was an exception as air strikes against Vietnamese forces were, if not decisive, successful in limiting the success of the attack. Weapons systems employed and tactics developed by the Vietnamese are examined with the pilots who flew in defense of the homeland give particular mention.

Laslie makes it clear that the American pilots and aircrew who flew to the attack, let it be said, a special breed. Tremendous exertions had to be made even before "strapping on" the aircraft. Maintaining the daily grind against a dedicated foe required both skill and courage and Laslie explains that, while those in command who theorized and predicted could be, those who took to the air could not be found lacking.

Air Power's Lost Cause is written in fine style, once picked up one does not want to put the book down, and supported with photographs, interesting and useful appendicies, detailed notes and a useful bibliography; an excellent work!