Operation Arc Light
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Operation Arc Light was the 1965 deployment of B-52 Stratofortress heavy bombers to Guam. By extension, Arc light, and sometimes Arclight, became a popular term for B-52 Stratofortress bomber missions flown during the Vietnam War in support of ground operations.
The first use of these heavy bombers in Southeast Asia occurred on 18 June 1965. Flying out of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, twenty-seven aircraft used 750 and 1,000 pound bombs to attack a Viet Cong stronghold. During this mission two B-52Fs were lost in a mid-air collision; another was unable to conduct air refueling. Missions were commonly flown in three-plane formations known as "cells" and were also employed when ground units in heavy combat requested fire support.
Arc Light missions continued until the cessation of hostilities by all U.S. forces on August 15, 1973.
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