Good morning, Stroock's Books faithful.
Temps topped 85 yesterday and should hit 90 today. The new AC worked swimmingly and even went on temperature and shut down for brief periods.
Happy Operation El Dorado Canyon Day to all those who celebrate.
Those of a certain age will recall what a nuisance Momar Qadhafi made of himself in the 80s. Wild maritime claims, aerial skirmishes, and even a fairly serious battle with the USN in the Gulf of Sidra. By the spring of 1986, President Reagan had had enough and tried to take him out.
Ah...40 years on now. Where does the time go? Qadhafi directly inspired the 80s action movie Iron Eagle. A fantasy, Iron Eagle is a bit of well executed and fun 80s cheese. Sometimes you just gotta pop that Spencer Davis Group cassette into the player and kick some ass. We swear every time Doug says, 'This one's for you, Chappie,' we get emotional.
Anywho...readers will recall we had the US attack Libya in World War 1990: Battle of the Three Seas. An excellent subplot if we do say so ourselves.
In case younger reader(s) think European obstinance is recent, back in '86, President Francois Mitterrand wouldn't let F-111s out of Britain overfly French territory. We've banned Perrier ever since.
Here's what we wrote on Operation El Dorado Canyon in issue 266 the (Feb, 2011) of Strategy & Tactics Magazine:
In light of this intelligence and the constant nuisance that Kaddafi had been throughout his administration, President Reagan authorized a retaliatory airstrike against Libya. In fact, the Air Force had been planning for just such an operation for months.
On 14 April, an Air Force strike group composed of F-111 Aardvark’s from the 48th Tactical Air Wing took off from RAF Lachenheath, their target was Kaddafi’s headquarters in the Azzizyah barracks, the Sidi Bala terrorist training camp to the south, and the Tripoli Airport. As France had denied the use of its airspace, the strike group had to fly around the Iberian Peninsula and enter the Mediterranean via the Straits of Gibraltar, a route which required two in flight refueling missions per plan. While the F-111s were in transit, USS America and USS Coral Sea launched a strike force tasked with hitting the Jumahiriya Barracks in Benghazi and the nearby Benini airfield.
Under cover of EA-6B Prowlers which jammed Libyan radars, Navy A-6 Intruders and A-7 Crusaders began the attack with a barrage of 30 HARM and 12 Shrike anti-radiation missiles aimed at Libya’s air defense radars. Divided in strike groups of three, around midnight, the F-111s hit Tripoli. A pair of Aardvark’s scored direct hits on Kaddafi’s headquarters (rendering attacks by the other seven Aardvarks unnecessary). At the same time, a trio of F-111s hit the Sidi Balal camp. Tripoli airport was struck by six F-111s which cratered the landing strip and damaged half a dozen aircraft besides. At Benini airfield, Navy Intruders destroyed another six aircraft and two helicopters. The Jumahiriya Barracks was also struck. In all, American aircraft spent 11 minutes over their targets. One F-111 was shot down.
Tactically Operation El Dorado Canyon was a complete success proving the effectiveness of American smart weapons and the durability of the F-111. That being said, the use of bombers flying out of Great Britain was totally unnecessary and most likely a move taken to appease the Air Force bureaucracy. There was mixed reaction abroad. While the Soviet’s response was muted, El Dorado Canyon sparked outrage in Europe. The strike only deterred Kaddafi for a few years, as Libyan agents bombed Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie Scotland.
So yeah...yesterday afternoon we went over our magazine article and publication list. We haven't had anything in print since 2022 and have only written a piece from scratch three or four times since 2016. See these articles in Military History Matters. 2016 was also when we focused on Pershing in Command in earnest. Article writing had taken us as far as it could, and we figured why not write one big article, a history book.
We've published, we think, four articles on the American Revolution. One on the strategy & tactics of the war, one on William Washington, one on Bloody Banastre Tarleton, and one on Otho Holland Williams. To our surprise we're only sitting on a pair of publishable pieces, one on the Battle of Monmouth, one on Nathanael Greene's southern campaign. The latter has been submitted.
The leader of this blog's Confederate Contingent suggests we do an American Revolutionary War book. Na. Pershing in Command never really sold. In truth, we never really thought it would. But we are sorely tempted to get back into the magazine article writing fray what with America's 250th and all. We've been bored for a while. Why not?
