This week, The Aerospace Advantage takes a break for Easter, but that doesn’t mean our listeners need to take a pause. In this week’s episode, we reach back to a previously recorded conversation where the Mitchell team reflects on the air war over Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War and speaks with combat pilot and POW Lt Col Gene Smith, USAF (Ret). Not only did Lt Col Smith fly and fight in some of the most heavily defended airspace in the history of aerial warfare, but he also spent over five years as a POW—facing conditions that pushed him to the brink. Despite these challenges, Lt Col Smith and his fellow POWs prevailed.

The Air Force lost 1,737 aircraft over Vietnam. That’s roughly 80% of the Air Force’s current fighter inventory. Those losses are hard to imagine today given the relatively permissive conditions that our airmen have operated in since the end of the Cold War. Tomorrow’s conflicts, however, promise to be far more costly, which is why it’s important to reflect on our history and learn from the past in order to properly leverage the effects of American airpower.

Guests

Lt Col Richard “Gene” Smith, USAF (Ret.)

Heather PenneyDirector of Research, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Maj Gen Larry Stutzriem, USAF (Ret.)Executive Vice President, The Air & Space Forces Association

Rob CollingsPresident & Financial Director, The American Heritage Museum

Host

John BaumCEO, The Baum Group

Credits