General, An example where a combatant commander sought additional bomber airpower that impacted on Headquarters Eighth Air Force.

10 April 1967, American bomber aircraft move to Thailand during the Vietnam War: On this date, the Strategic Air Command (SAC) accomplished the bed-down of three B-52 Stratofortress bomber aircraft at U-Tapao Royal Air Force Base in Thailand. Later on the same day, these B-52s conducted the inaugural air combat mission from Thailand as part of Operation Poker Dice. During this time, the ramp space at U-Tapao was limited to seven large aircraft so construction began to enlarge the ramp.

Operating bomber aircraft out of Thailand had an advantage of reducing the flight time to targets in North Vietnam from 12 hours (when launching from Guam) to three hours. Correspondingly, this shorten flight time also reduced the air-to-air refueling requirements by aerial tanker aircraft as well as provided less stress on B-52 air and ground crews operating from U-Tapao.

Rest of the Story: Beginning early 1965, B-52s with their aircrews stationed in the United States began rotating on temporary duty tours to Southeast Asia. On 15 February 1965, fifteen B-52s from 2d Bomb Wing at Barksdale AFB, deployed to Okinawa as a contingency and expeditionary force. By April 1965, General William Westmoreland, United States Army and Commander U.S. Military Assistance Command headquartered in South Vietnam, received approval from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to employ B-52s in air combat missions over South Vietnam.

The inaugural B-52 air combat mission in the Vietnam War - as well as the first time for a B-52 bomber aircraft to drop conventional munitions in wartime occurred on 18 June 1965. This inaugural bomber mission was conducted from Andersen AFB, Guam by deployed B-52s from both the 7th Bomb Wing and the 320th Bomb Wing. This first air combat mission by B-52 bombers was not against a strategic target but a tactical support mission providing Close Air Support to friendly ground forces engaged with enemy ground forces within South Vietnam.

From June to December 1965, B-52s with their assigned aircrews began rotations from their home stations in the United States to Southeast Asia. To accommodate the need to carry additional conventional munitions for Southeast Asian targets, some B-52s underwent a retrofit called Project Big Belly, to carry additional conventional munitions up to 30 tons. With the increase in available B-52D Big Belly aircraft and their forward stationing especially on Guam, cadre units were established on Guam and augmented by support personnel and aircrews on a rotational basis from bomber wings in the United States.

Escalating Bomber Sorties: Beginning in March 1966, the number of air combat sorties by B-52s increased to a monthly rate of 450. By November 1966, bomber sorties had increased to 650 a month on its way to 800 B-52 monthly sorites by February 1967. By early February 1967, SAC anticipated a support request for 1,200 bomber sorties a month. This seemingly constant increase in conventional bomber sorties became a concern to senior leaders of SAC on the possible adverse impact to SAC's primary mission for its bomber fleet of global nuclear deterrence. Therefore, the increasing number of conventional bomber sorties in Southeast Asia essentially caused the move of B-52s to Thailand as a way to stabilize the number of deployed B-52s in theater and provide shorter flight time for missions to support American forces in South Vietnam.

In early 1968, General Westmoreland requested an increase in theater of not only more B-52 bomber aircraft but as well an increase in aerial tankers. This request resulted in the actual number of B-52 bomber aircraft to increase from 97 (January 1968) to 105 (by February 1968) resulting in nearly 18 percent of SAC's bomber fleet dedicated to a single combatant commander.

For the 68 months when B-52s conducted air operations in theater during the Vietnam War, scheduled bomber sorties totaled 126,663 with actual sorties flown for an operational rate of 99.96 percent. Bombers were credited with dropping 6,162,000 tons of munitions with strikes conducted in South Vietnam (55 percent), Laos (27 percent), Cambodia (12 percent), and in North Vietnam (6 percent). Losses of B-52s numbered 31 - with 18 due to hostile counter-air fire with the remaining due to in-flight accidents.

Move of Headquarters Eighth Air Force: As the pace of B-52 bomber operations increased in the Vietnam War, Eighth Air Force received a new mission to plan and then command and control bomber operations throughout Southeast Asia, On 1 April 1970, in a flag move from Westover AFB, Massachusetts, the Eighth's headquarters was established at Andersen AFB, Guam. It should be noted while in Guam supporting a combatant commander, the Eighth remained assigned to Strategic Air Command. Nearly two years after the Vietnam War ended in January 1973, the Eighth's headquarters conducted another flag move returning to the Continental United States where on 1 January 1975, The Mighty Eighth Air Force took up operations and resumed nuclear alert at a new duty station - Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.

Recognizing History-Heritage: To mark the 50th Anniversary of Headquarters Eighth Air Force being at Barksdale AFB, a Congressional citation was presented along with the U.S. Flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The presentation was made by Ms. Kathy Babers, the Community Liaison for Congressman Johnson (LA-4) to then Major General Jason Armagost, Commander (#57) of Eighth Air Force. The presentation ceremony was conducted on 4 February 2025 in Doolittle Hall, the Eighth's headquarters building. The ceremony was attended by civic leaders of both Shreveport and Bossier City.