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Da Nang Air Base, served by Operation Palace Alert, who used volunteers from the Hawaii Air National Guard for missions in Vietnam, ca. 1968.Photo courtesy Hawaii National Guard

Home : Features : 2016 : Vietnam War 50th Commemoration : 1968
1968

In January 1968, the capture of the U.S.S. Pueblo and the Tet Offensive caused President Johnson to reverse his policy on using the reserve components. The Air Guard mobilized eight tactical fighter groups that were a part of the Department of Defense’s Select Reserve Force (SRF), known in the Air Force as “Beef Broth” and later “Combat Beef,” and in late April four squadrons of Air Guard F-100C Super Sabres deployed to Vietnam. Meanwhile, the Army Guard prepared for deployment and sent eight units to Vietnam in the fall of 1968.