Night Hunters: The AC-130s and Their Role in US Airpower

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Night Hunters Number 145 Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series Copyright © 2014 by William P. Head Manufactured in the United States of America All rights reserved First edition This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992 (Permanence of Paper). Binding materials have been chosen for durability. Cover: AC-130 painting by James Balletto. Unless otherwise indicated, all photographs courtesy 78 Air Base Wing, History Office Archives. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Head, William P., 1949– Night hunters : the AC-130s and their role in US airpower / William P. Head.—First edition. pages cm — (Williams-Ford Texas A&M University military history series ; no. 145) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-62349-118-5 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-62349-119-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-62349-150-5 (e-book) 1. Spectre (Gunship)—History. 2. Air power—United States— History—20th century. 3. Air power—United States—History— 21st century. 4. Vietnam War, 1961–1975—Aerial operations, American. I. Title. II. Series: Williams-Ford Texas A&M University military history series ; no. 145. UG1242.G85H426 2014 358.4'283—dc23 2013040102 from whence cometh the hunters that fly by night? And the enemy gathered among the trees and thickets hiding from our eyes. They waited for what was to come as the sun set and darkness enveloped the world. They looked to the heavens hoping to see a glimpse, but nothing could they foretell. All around them the silence of the night, and then it struck and all was wreckage. Where had it come from? What had it been? Was this a bolt from heaven or fire from hell? As the chief gathered the survivors, he looked into their eyes and spotted only terror, And, so, cried out, “From whence cometh the hunters that fly by night?” Once more the phantom spit fire, and at last there was nothing, only the silence of the night. —Bill Head, July 2011 ...