National War College Alumni Association

The case study examines how B-52 crews in Vietnam dealt with Clausewitz’s notion of friction—chance, uncertainty, danger, and stress—and is largely based on survey data that collected from 85 crew members who flew Arc Light and/or Linebacker sorties.  The work argues that while friction can never be eliminated, it can be increased or decreased depending on the decisions made by political and military leaders—and by far, the most ominous elements of friction that the BUFF crews faced stemmed from US leadership.  Accordingly, those leaders must take the likely repercussions of their decisions for those on the “pointy tip of the spear” into consideration when issuing orders, especially in today’s era of long-term limited war.