AFA grad, retired Vietnam fighter pilot, survived 377 combat missions, one close call
Retired Air Force Col. Hank Hoffman was flying an A-37 light attack plane over the Mekong River firing holes into the center of an enemy boat when his plane started Retired Air Force Col. Hank Hoffman survived 377 combat missions in Vietnam during his career, including a near-death during a close encounter over the Mekong River. Hoffman's plane was lifted off the surface due to ground effect and the impact of his own bullet ricocheting off the boat. During the war, over 2,200 U.S. planes were lost and about 5,600 helicopters. The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017 was signed into law by then-President Donald Trump to recognize the sacrifices of those who served and died in the conflict. Hoffman believes that if America had been more aggressive in Vietnam, a more aggressive strategy would have resulted in a shorter war.
게시됨 : 4주 전 ~에 의해 MARY SHINN [email protected] ~에
Retired Air Force Col. Hank Hoffman was flying an A-37 light attack plane over the Mekong River firing holes into the center of an enemy boat when his plane started falling.
He was going too slowly for the weight of the plane plus the napalm, cluster bombs and bullets he was carrying.
The plane barely missed the boat's mast and was about to hit the water when the ground effect buoyed him some 15 feet from the surface and the plane started to climb.
It was the closest he would come to death during his 377 combat missions in Vietnam between 1967 and 1971.
"Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good and I was definitely lucky," Hoffman wrote about his close call in his autobiography, which recounted his career and was published in 2016.
His plane was also hit by one of his own bullets ricocheting off the boat — the only damage any of his aircraft would sustain during 1,605 combat flying hours.
Many others were not so lucky. During the war, more than 2,200 U.S. planes were lost and about 5,600 helicopters. During the extended conflict, about 58,000 American troops and 4 million Vietnamese were killed.
The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017 was signed into law by then-President Donald Trump, officially designating March 29, the day American combat troops left the country, as National Vietnam Veterans Day to honor the sacrifices of those who served and died in the conflict. Combat troops left Vietnam in 1973, although the war stretched to April 30, 1975, when Saigon fell.
In a formal talk for Air Force Academy cadets a few years ago, Hoffman highlighted the sacrifices of graduates, including 18 of his classmates who were killed in action. In total, 151 graduates died in the conflict and 33 graduates were prisoners of war.
The Colorado Springs resident also shared his own story and thoughts on the overall air strategy.
"We were not prepared for this war in the jungle. We were in the business of delivering nuclear bombs and trying to survive afterward," he told cadets in a speech available on YouTube.
Hoffman started his career focused on the Soviet Union as a B-52 pilot who would have dropped nuclear bombs if the call ever came. An assignment that meant living on-call for a week at a time.
"The alarm would go off anytime day or night," he recalled, and the pilots would go out to the bombers to start the engines. But usually that was it.
So he welcomed the chance to fly B-52s in Vietnam. He was even more excited when he transitioned to A-37s and he could provide close air support to troops in the field.
"When my buddies were dying over there, I wanted to end that war and get it done right," he said in an interview with The Gazette.
Dropping more than 100 bombs from B-52s sometimes from 40,000 feet over suspected enemy locations was largely ineffective, he said, in part because they were often acting on intel that was at least five days old based on orders from Strategic Air Command in Omaha, Neb.
Using the bombers to hit dirt paths to stop the flow of supplies through the jungle also didn't work because they could easily be rebuilt.
In contrast, troops on the ground could call in A-37s for close support and sometimes you could hear the bullets going over their heads on the radio, he recalled.
In those moments, "you really feel like you're doing your job," he said.
Army captains could call in and ask for pilots to put "napalm on the wire," referring to barbed wire put up to defend their position, Hoffman said. Since A-37s could drop down to 500 feet, they could hit such a precise target.
It's work that Hoffman doesn't regret, even if he no longer agrees about the Vietnam War.
"I was pro war and I was wrong and it took me quite some time to figure that out," he said.
The Pentagon Papers, published in 1971, showed that four consecutive administrations had lied about the war and that bothered him. But by that time, he had left Vietnam to get his master's degree and attend test pilot school and he owed the Air Force more time, so he decided to stay and retire from the military.
He does believe that Vietnam could have been far shorter, if America had been more aggressive earlier with a set objective.
He now promotes the Powell Doctrine, developed by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, which teaches:
"Define the objective. You go big, overwhelming force, and then you go home," he explained.
The strategy was followed during the first Gulf War but not in later conflicts including Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hoffman said the doctrine could also apply to conflicts now if America chose to get involved in another foreign conflict, such as Russia's war in Ukraine or the war in Gaza.
Not that he wouldn't fight again if called upon, but he no longer believes the U.S. can be the world's savior because of the high fiscal and human cost.