by Leonard "Viking1" Hjalmarson December 22, 1999

  Jacksel Broughton graduated from West Point in 1945 with his wings and Army Air Force second lieutenant bars. He was assigned to Europe, and flew P-47s and P-51s until his return to the US in 1948.

He joined the jet set while participating in opening Nellis AFB and founding the Air Force fighter gunnery and bombing training and evaluation program. His multiple aircraft gunnery proficiency proved valuable in the hurry-up panic to prepare replacement pilots for combat in Korea, and to lead them in combat. He flew a tour in P-80s, and a second tour in F-84s that included combat testing the experimental Oerlicon anti-tank rocket.

He held various operational positions within the combat crew-training program before accepting command of the Thunderbird demonstration team in 1954. As the only leader to show in three different aircraft he led in straight wing F-84s, swept wing F-84s, and converted the group to the first supersonic aerobatic team in the F-100C.

After Air Command and Staff College and Air Defense Command weapons evaluations assignments, he served as an advisor to the Turkish Air Force. Back in the US, he coordinated west coast Air Force, Navy and Air Guard defense activities out of Hamilton AFB before heading for Minot, ND to spend three winters commanding the Spit'n Kittens of the 5th Fighter F-106 squadron. Upon National War College graduation he proceeded to Southeast Asia for two tours commanding and flying the F-105 during Rolling Thunder attacks against Hanoi.

Colonel Broughton retired from the Air Force in 1968 with 43 separate awards and decorations, including four Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Silver stars and the Air Force Cross, the Air Force's highest award for individual heroism in combat. His proudest accomplishment was being combat ready in every Air Force fighter from the P-47 to the F-106.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with us about your life and your books, Jack! I skimmed through Thud Ridge but found it less captivating than Going Downtown, so let's talk about this book and your experiences.

For those who don't know, "Going Downtown" was the pilot's term for air raids against Hanoi. You led American pilots from bases in Thailand into North Vietnam flying the F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bomber in conditions that were incredibly tough on pilots and aircraft. You did this with gusto, in spite of the appalling conditions and the appalling limitations on your ability to actually fight the war because of the prevailing political climate.

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Can you sketch briefly the political considerations that impacted those early years in Vietnam?

JB: President Johnson and Defense Secretary McNamara controlled the entire war in Southeast Asia very directly, and in minute detail, from Washington. Their air war approach was to authorize limited air strikes against North Vietnamese targets they personally selected from Washington. Those strikes were not to cripple the enemy, but to frighten the enemy. After limited strikes, the US would stop bombing and the enemy was supposed to stop fighting in South Vietnam and rush to make peace.

It didn't work that way. The North Vietnamese realized that Washington had established a maze of areas that were off limits to our fighters and prohibited our forces from crushing them. The enemy was not frightened by what they knew to be only symbolic effort, and they used the multiple pauses to bolster their efforts.

What amazes me is that you managed to maintain a fighting spirit under these circumstances. How do you account for that?

JB: That was partly due to the basic nature of a good fighter pilot. Give him a seemingly impossible task and he will go after it full throttle. We had highly skilled and dedicated pros whose primary goal was to get the job done - first class, regardless of the odds.

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