[vladimir998]

“Air cover was promised but never arrived. The Fifth Air Force had no aircraft on strip alert, and estimated a two to three-hour delay in launching aircraft.”

Always caught with our pants down.

[Glennb51]

This sentence reminded me of Ben-Ghazi and the Bay of Pigs incidents.

It is almost as if the US command/White House never intended to prevent the capture of the Pueblo, and the crew were only collateral damage.

[vetvetdoug]

The State Department kept the USAF from sending aircraft from Japan which was close. General McKee in spite of State Department objections sent fighters from Okinawa to the Pueblo with orders to blow the NORKs out of the water if they could get to the Pueblo before it was in the NORK harbor. The Navy had closer aircraft from carriers but did not buck the State Department orders.