Hanoi to Baghdad

Over the past thirty years the legacy of the Linebacker air campaigns of the Vietnam War has influenced the employment of modern airpower. Operation Linebacker I ushered in a new era in airpower with the first major operational use of Precision Guided Munitions (PGM). Linebacker II's devastating strategic bombardment demonstrated that massive force could directly influence an enemy's actions. Operational art forged from both campaigns, precision attack and strategic coercion, have been foundational elements in every air campaign since 1972. This influence was clearly evident in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) with an air campaign dominated by the use of PGMs and the strategic objective of regime change. This paper will analyze both Linebacker I and II and their influence on today's airpower doctrine.