Operation Tiger Hound

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Operation Tiger Hound
Part of Second Indochina War

Barrell Roll/Steel Tiger/Tiger Hound areas of operations
Date 5 December 1965 - 11 November 1968
Location Southeastern Laos
Result
Belligerents
United States
Republic of Vietnam		 Democratic Republic of Vietnam
v • d • e
Vietnam War
Ap Bac – Binh Gia – Pleiku – Song Be – Dong Xoai – Starlite – Gang Toi – Ia Drang – Hastings – Masher/White Wing – A Shau – Xa Cam My – Duc Co – Long Tan – Attleboro – Cedar Falls – Tra Binh Dong – Bribie – Junction City – Union – Hill 881 – Union II - Ong Thanh – Dak To – 1st Tet – Khe Sanh – 1st Saigon – Hue – Lang Vei – Lima Site 85 – Kham Duc – Speedy Express – Dewey Canyon – 2nd Tet – Hamburger Hill – Binh Ba – Cambodia – Snuol – FSB Ripcord – Tailwind – Chenla I – Son Tay Raid – Lam Son 719 – Chenla II – Ban Dong – FSB Mary Ann – Easter '72 – 1st Quang Tri – Loc Ninh – An Loc – Kontum – 2nd Quang Tri – Phuoc Long – Ho Chi Minh – Ban Me Thuot – Xuan Loc – Truong Sa – 2nd Saigon – SS Mayagüez
Air operations
Ranch Hand – Pierce Arrow – Barrel Roll – Pony Express – Flaming Dart – Rolling Thunder – Steel Tiger – Arc Light – Tiger Hound – Bolo – Igloo White – Commando Hunt – Menu – Freedom Deal – Linebacker I – Linebacker II – Shed Light

Operation Tiger Hound was a covert U.S. 2nd Air Division, later Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 aerial interdiction campaign conducted in southeastern Laos from 5 December 1965 till 11 November 1968, during the Vietnam War. The purpose of the operation was to interdict the flow of People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) supplies on the Ho Chi Minh Trail (the Truong Son Strategic Supply Route to the North Vietnamese) from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), through southeastern Laos, and into the northern provinces of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). The missions were originally controlled by the 2d Air Division until that headquarters was superseded by the Seventh Air Force on 1 April 1966.

The geographic boundary of the operation was carved from the area of Laos already under bombardment under Operation Steel Tiger. This was done at the behest of the American commander in South Vietnam, General William C. Westmoreland, who saw the area of Laos that bordered the five northernmost provinces of South Vietnam as an extension of his area of operations. The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed. Unlike Operation Barrel Roll and Steel Tiger, however, the bombing in the new area would be conducted by aircraft of the South Vietnamese Air Force and by U.S. Air Force units based in South Vietnam (aircraft participating in Barrel Roll and Steel Tiger were generally based in Thailand).

By the end of 1968 and the absorption of Tiger Hound operations by Operation Commando Hunt, 103,148 tactical air sorties had been flown over Laos. These missions were supplemented by 1,718 B-52 Stratofortress Arc Light strikes. During the same time period, 132 U.S. aircraft or helicopters were shot down over Laos.[1]

Sorties by type
Sorties by type

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Jacob Van Staaveren, Interdiction in Southern Laos, 1960-1968. Washington DC: Center for Air Force History, 1993, p. 287.

[edit] References

  • Littauer, Raphael and Norman Uphoff, eds, The Air War in Indochina. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972.
  • Schlight, John, A War Too Long. Washington DC: Center of Air Force History, 1993.
  • Van Staaveren, Jacob, Interdiction in Southern Laos: 1960-1968. Washington DC: Center for Air Force History, 1993.