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The Navy used maritime patrol aircraft such as the P-3 Orion to track suspicious North Vietnamese vessels moving south. In this photo, a P-3 tracks a small freighter off the coast of South Vietnam in 1971. (Naval History and Heritage Command image)
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Naval aircraft played a critical role by photographing enemy positions and monitoring enemy activity. Reconnaissance aircraft such as the RA-5 Vigilante photographed supply routes, harbors, air defense sites, fuel depots, shore batteries, and troop movements. (Naval History and Heritage Command)
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A photo interpreter examines aerial photographs aboard USS Midway (CVA 41) in 1968. Analysts reviewed photographs to select targets and to evaluate the effectiveness of air strikes. Many aircraft carriers included an Integrated Operational Intelligence Center (IOIC) to develop photos from reconnaissance aircraft. Analysts in the IOIC greatly improved the effectiveness of bombing missions. The information they examined provided evidence of North Vietnamese infiltration into South Vietnam using the Ho Chi Minh Trail. (National Archives and Records Administration)
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An aerial view of a section of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos shows two camouflaged enemy trucks and a destroyed vehicle after a bombing mission. (Naval History and Heritage Command)
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Boatswain's Mate First Class William Stirling, Jr., advisor to Coastal Group 25, monitors the radio during a joint US and RVN mission on Hon Heo Peninsula near Nha Trang in April 1968. (National Archives and Records Administration)
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Reconnaissance planes captured the damage after attack planes from USS Constellation (CVA 64) nearly leveled the thermal power plant in Uong Bi, North Vietnam in August 1966. (Naval History and Heritage Command)
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Crewmen stand by their RA-3 aircraft fro reconnaissance squadron VAP-61 in 1965. Cameras and other photo equipment is lined up in front of them. (National Archives and Records Administration)
