Guy Alcala wrote:
KDR wrote:

Thanks a million for your detailed reply.

Was there any big difference in tactics between the F-105 and A-4?
Ingress altitude, delivery profile, etc.

That is a subject with far too many details that varied with time and
circumstance to explain in a post that wasn't book length. So let me
recommend several books:-) First, find a copy of "Clashes: Air Combat
over North Vietnam 1965-1972" by Marshall L. Michel III. This covers
the US side of the air war, USAF and USN, showing how tactics,
technology and training varied and changed during the war. I'd also
recommend "On Yankee Station", by John B. Nichols and Barrett Tilman,
for an good overview of purely navy ops (Nichols' comments are based
on personal experience as an F-8 pilot and eventual Squadron CO). For
a collection of personal accounts from the navy side, I recommend
"Alfa Strike: Vietnam" as you'll find excellent descriptions of navy
strike ops with A-1s, A-4s, A-6s and A-7s there. For the USAF side of
things, there are numerous personal memoirs, mostly by Thud drivers.
I'd recommend Broughton's "Going Downtown" as being somewhat similar
in scope to "On Yankee Station", albeit being limited to the Rolling
Thunder period (as well as Korea) and being more personally-oriented.
His earlier book "Thud Ridge" was limited to a greater extent by what
he could say during the war, and I haven't read if for some years. Ed
Rasimus has of course written his own books, and while I haven't
gotten ahold of his Linebacker-era "Palace Cobra" yet, I can highly
recommend "When Thunder Rolled". I also liked Ken Bell's "100
Missions North" (Ed and I disagree about this one somewhat, or rather
about Bell's competence). I've yet to read Richard P. Hallion's book
"To Hanoi and Back"; I confess I've been disappointed in the past by
Hallion's pushing the official line a bit too obviously for my taste,
unsurprising as he's the USAF's chief historian. I could name a bunch
more, but the first two or three should be plenty to get you going.

I wonder if the small size of the A-4 could have made it a more
difficult target for AAA.

That was one of the things that Scooter drivers believed (or at least
told themselves they believed) gave theman advantage compared to
larger a/c during the war ;-) While it undoubtedly was a smaller
target and would thus be (slightly) less likely to be hit, any hit was
also likely to have more effect, AOTBE. Diving into barrage AAA,
whether you're hit or not is an exercise in probability; only size and
time (spent in the weapons envelope) will affect your chance of being
hit.

Guy

Many thank for recommendations. I already read "When Thunder Rolled" so
it looks like a good choice to pick "Alfa Strike: Vietnam" to know more
about the Skyhawk ops.