In December, the U.S. air attach photographed a Soviet Il-14 cargo plane transporting supplies to communist forces near Van Vieng. For the next several years, a minimum of four F-102 interceptors were kept on alert at Don Muang. Laos would not allow any foreign interference in its internal affairs. U-Tapao then served as a staging point for U.S. Marines[34] to deploy aboard the remaining CH-53s of the 21st SOS and HH-53s of the 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron and assault Koh Tang Island some 195 nautical miles from U-Tapao, where the Mayaguez crew was believed to be held. The three LST's Landing Ship, Tank (LSTs) of the Sea Horse unit would be withdrawn in April 1972 and Victory Flight would be pulled out by increments during the period April-December 1971. This made deception easier, as even crew members aboard the bombers did not have to know what country they were bombing. 5 0 comments Best Add a Comment More posts from r/VietnamWar 16K subscribers hayden644 4 days ago Air Cav crew chief talks about his experiences Thailand was a member of the now defunct Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), formed in September 1954 under the direction of US President Dwight Eisenhower as an organisation for collective defence, with the express purpose of containing communist aggression in Southeast Asia. Even so, Thailand still feared the regions spreading communist movementthe Viet Cong in Vietnam, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and the Pathet Lao in Laoswhich proselytized an ideology that imperiled Thailands monarchial form of government, culture and dominant religion. CD-ROM. Three Thai special forces units joined with the U.S. 1st Special Forces Group, and by early May 1966 the joint forces began conducting 30-day missions into remote, undisclosed locations not just inside Laos, but throughout Indochina. "Why Thailand Takes Pride in the Vietnam War", "Guerrilla Attack Reported on a U.S. Base in Thailand, 2nd in 24 Hours", "Many Thais saddened by U.S. military withdrawals", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thailand_in_the_Vietnam_War&oldid=1122364262, Military history of Thailand during the Vietnam War, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 17 November 2022, at 05:42. Laos would not recognize any military alliance or coalition, such as. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. By 1972 there were 54 B-52 aircraft stationed in Thailand.[5]. However, by 1959 U.S. Army Special Forces, the Green Berets, had covertly entered Laos and begun training Meo tribesman to fight the Pathet Lao. The end of the war resulted in all US personnel and equipment being removed by 1976 at Thai request. Sattahip. The Royal Thai government's desire to avoid publicity led to the formation of a policy to downplay the United States' presence and not draw attention to its tactical air units in Thailand. [24]:644[31], On 12 May 1975, less than two weeks after the fall of Saigon, a unit of the Cambodian Khmer Rouge Navy seized the American-flagged container ship SS Mayaguez, taking the crew hostage. Air America, a U.S. government-owned airline secretly supporting CIA missions, flew from those bases into Laos and Vietnam, delivering supplies to covert groups working with anti-communist forces. The 4258th Strategic Wing (SAC) was activated in June 1966 at U-Tapao under the 3rd Air Division, Andersen AFB, Guam. Realizing this, the Thai government decided to halt its clandestine operations in Laos and asked the United States to remove American forces from Thailand. In 1968 the Cobras were replaced by the Royal Thai Army Expeditionary Division (Black Panthers). [36] The 3rd Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Group left on 31 January 1976,[23]:152 however the base remained under US control until it was formally returned to the Thai government on 13 June 1976.[37]. Additionally, there was the construction of 315km (196mi) of all-weather roads in the north and northeast, requiring 138 bridges and culverts, costing US$11 million (US$174,000 for maintenance equipment; requiring the training of 199 personnel (36 mechanics, 6 supply specialists, 97 equipment operators, 60 drivers)). On 29 April 1961, the Joint Chiefs of Staff instructed CINCPAC to move 5,000 troops and air elements to both Udon Air Base and Da Nang Air Base. The People's Army of Vietnam Special Forces infiltrated into Thailand several times to attack these airbases, with a 1972 raid on U-Tapao seeing three Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers being damaged with several sappers and a Thai sentry killed. bombers were not allowed to strike North Vietnam directly. Their mission was to bolster the defense capabilities of the Royal Thai Air Force. U-Tapao was built by the United States to accommodate B-52 bombers for missions in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during the Vietnam War. In 1967, guerrillas killed 138 people, including 78 government officials. Major fighting broke out in December 1960 and spread far enough to cause casualties among Thai civilians living along the Mekong River. An American expat, who served with the USAF in Udon Thani during the Vietnam War, is writing a book about the city's history during that conflict. Northeast Thailand housed a community of Vietnamese mixed with Chinese. [22], Detachment 12 of the 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron operating 2 HH-43s provided search and rescue at the base. During the Vietnam War, Thailand was one of the places where GIs on leave went for a much-welcome break from the fighting. It was the first American aircraft in Southeast Asia to be fired upon. About this ebook This book is a story of U. S. Army Engineers in Thailand (1962 - 1971) - At the request of the Royal Thai Government in 1962 the United States Army sent a Construction Engineer Battalion to build a road to divert traffic around the capitol city of Bangkok. He stated that "When the people feel very strongly about a situation, the government must do something to ease the situation." Under Operation Arc Light, wing bombers flew over 35,000 strikes over South Vietnam from 1967 to 1970. McFarland & Company. [28]:124. Meanwhile, Royal Thai air force planes and Royal Laotian planes based in Thailand were flying bombing missions over territory held by the Pathet Lao in both Laos and Thailand. As the Seventh US Army moved rapidly north from Toulon and Marseilles, the battalion reconstructed airfields that had been skillfully destroyed by withdrawing German forces. The decision was related to the deterioration of security in Laos and Cambodia and the growth of internal insurgency in Thailand, as well as the U.S. The APO for U-Tapao was APO San Francisco, 96330. The Kingdom of Thailand, under the administration of military dictator Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn, took an active role in the Vietnam War. The Thais understood that the only answer to this problem was to join forces with the United States. B-52 aircraft from the 7th and 320th Bomb Wings were sent to bomb suspected Viet Cong enclaves in South Vietnam, the operation being supported by KC-135As stationed at Kadena AB on Okinawa. U-Tapao and other USAF facilities in Thailand supported the evacuation. The American government negotiated a deal with Thailand which allowed them to build strategic air force and troop bases. U-Tapao was a front-line base along with . CD-ROM. A U-Tapao based US Navy P-3 Orion was one of the first aircraft sent to locate the Mayaguez. In case you didn't know the Ynks built Highway 2 to get fuel up to Udon from Sattahip for the aircraft. VC-47A 084 of Air America crashed on landing on a flight from Tan Son Nhut.[30]. [24], On 10 January 1972, three communist sappers attempted to destroy B-52s in a sapper attack using grenades and satchel charges. . Holt. The Royal Thai Government began flying reconnaissance missions over Laos on 19 December 1960 with some RT-33 photo jets. [28]:24862 Meanwhile, the abandoned Mayaguez was recovered by a boarding party from the USSHarold E. It is serves as the home of the RTN First Air Wing. During the 1960s Thailand experienced one of the most rapid growth rates among developing countries: more than 10% per year in GNP, and about 8% per year in real output. The USAF forces at U-Tapao were under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), with the Strategic Air Command (SAC) units being a tenant unit. A total of 2,548 B-52 sorties were flown in support of the defense of Khe Sanh, dropping a total of 54,129 tonnes (59,542 tons) of bombs. Ravenstein, Charles A. The flying portion of the exercise promotes closer relations and enables air force units in the region to sharpen air combat skills and practice interoperability with U.S. forces. The missions flown over Laos are today referred to as the Secret War. The wing was charged with the responsibility of supporting refueling requirements of USAF fighter aircraft in Southeast Asia, plus conducting bombing missions on a daily basis. By 1971, 15 percent of the Thai army was in South Vietnam, perhaps as many as 22,000 troops, not including those in covert actions. Those bombers were not allowed to strike North Vietnam directly. The First National Economic Development Plan (1961-1966) was successfully implemented. Laos would not allow foreign military forces to use or occupy its territory. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Small numbers of aircraft were drawn from each SAC B-52D unit to support the effort in Thailand. B-52 lifts off the field. In response, Thailand deployed 30,000 troops, wresting an uneasy control of the area, which lasted throughout the war. But Thailand's multifaceted support for U.S. combat operations in IndochinaVietnam, Cambodia and Laos was a far more important contribution. Training: 6,300 Thais sent abroad 1951-68 for study in the fields of: agriculture, 1,490; education, 1,341; health, 969; public administration, 824; civil policing, 435; community development, 501; transportation, 287; industry 202; labor, 28; Mekong and Pa Mong projects, 16; general, 218. In an unsigned agreement these airbases were to be operated by the United States Air Force for the specific purpose of attacking North Vietnam with some 500 airplanes. In the meantime, American technicians and engineers worked on improvements at Thai air bases. "[3]:489, The subject of a Thai troop withdrawal came up again in March 1970. On 21 December Thai Foreign Minister Thanat Khoman told newsmen that he had considered the withdrawal of Thai troops "because the United States recently issued another announcement regarding further withdrawals." By the end of the war, more than 40,000 Thai military personnel had served in Vietnam, suffering losses of 351 killed and 1,358 wounded. Pilots fly both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat training missions. Tight Reign continued until April 29, 1975, a day before the fall of South Vietnam, when the station at Con Son Island discontinued operations. A few weeks later, HQ USAF authorized the release of these photographs to the governments of Laos and Thailand. These facts led to charges and countercharges regarding the expenditures of funds supporting the Thai division. Despite these denials, however, the Secret War was actually the largest U.S. covert operation prior to the Afghan-Soviet War, with areas of Laos controlled by North Vietnam subjected to three million tons of bombing, representing the heaviest U.S.-led bombing campaign since World War II.[1]. Flying out of Takhli, F-105s armed with radar-guided Shrike missiles had the job of knocking out SAM sites. If Laos fell, the door was wide open for communism to infiltrate Thailand. This article incorporates public domain material from the .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#3a3;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}Air Force Historical Research Agency. He teaches history, political science and sociology on the university level. [3]:49, The withdrawal plans were based on a rotational phase-out. 27th Infantry* [25th Infantry Division] and supporting elements under a detachment of the 9 th Logistical Command. With the fall of both Cambodia and South Vietnam in April 1975, the political climate between Washington and the government of PM Sanya had soured. By this time, the US was no longer in the forefront of the ground war, with South Vietnamese units taking the lead. The USAF would eventually use 8 airbases in Thailand: Don Muang, Korat, Nakhon Phanom, Nam Phong, Takhli, Ubon, Udorn and U-Tapao. Thailand is an important element in The Pentagon's strategy of "forward positioning". Immediately after the news broke of the use of Thai bases to support the Mayaguez rescue, the Thai Government lodged a formal protest with the US and riots broke out outside the US Embassy in Bangkok. [17]:284. Immediately upon arrival, two of these planes were loaded with a full load (800 rnds) of 20mm ammunition and 4 x GAR-8s (AIM-9Bs) and placed on 5 minute alert. CIA operatives, under the guise of military advisers, began training Lao troops and pilots in Thailand, while Thai special forces continued their covert missions into Laos. In 2014, the district had a population of 157,000 in an area of 348,122 km 2 . The campaign was expensive, 16 B-52s were lost and nine others suffered heavy damaged, with 33 aircrew killed or missing in action. U-Tapao is the main flying base for the RTN. As a result, the "Military Assistance Command, Thailand (MACT)" was set up on 15 May 1962 at Don Muang. [28]:263. In addition, one of U.S. President John F. Kennedy's advisers indicated the need for deterring guerrilla action in northeast Thailand was more pressing than affairs in Vietnam, and Thailand should take precedence. Thai forces were very effective in their missions, and thus Thailand became the target of ever-increasing guerrilla attacks. In 2012, a proposal for the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to use U-Tapao to support weather research was rejected by the Thai government. Vietnam was the longest war for Marines. The North Vietnamese claimed that almost 1,400 civilians were killed. . In July 1968 three groups of Thai special forces were sent into Laos to conduct long-range reconnaissance missions. ", The RTAF contingent achieved its greatest strength in late 1970. Thai forces were generally respected by their American allies and inflicted on their PAVN opponents several times the losses they took; Thai media would often report on the war in terms of enemy killed, similar to American media. In 1968 I was taken on a school trip to visit U Tapao airbase near Sattahip and Pattaya. [28]:23942, At dawn on 15 May the assault on Koh Tang began. Both sides violated the Geneva Accords. [9] Units involved were the 36th Airlift Squadron (36 AS) of the 374th Airlift Wing (374 AW) from Yokota Air Base, Japan, flying C-130H Hercules; and Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152 (VMGR-152) from Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan, flying the Lockheed Martin KC-130R and the newer KC-130J. RLTrader udonmap.com Posts: 1994 Joined: June 3 . This system, approved by the Department of Defense in February 1966, comprised six links, capable of sixty voice channels each, connected to the major communications sites at DA Nang, Qui Nhon, Nha Trang, Cam Ranh Bay, and Vung Tau in Vietnam, and Sattahip, south of Bangkok in Thailand. The first B-52's arrived on 10 April 1967. Evacuation by civil and military fixed-wing aircraft from Tan Son Nhat International Airport had been taking place since early-March and continued until 28 April when PAVN artillery fire rendered the runways unusable. [24]:6156 The C-130s flew supply missions into Cambodia until May 1974 when these operations were taken over by BirdAir which operated under contract to the US Government. This was one of the key USAF bases used for the B52 bombing raids in Vietnam. The operation of Thai troops in South Vietnam is considered more advantageous than withdrawing them. Many American military specialists were assigned to JUSMAG-THAI in Bangkok. At this time a helicopter evacuation, code-named Operation Frequent Wind was implemented. From U-Tapao airfield on the Gulf of Siam, the largest airfield in Southeast Asia, came the Boeing B-52s and the four-engine Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker refuellers that took to the air and refueled the aircraft just before and after they hit North Vietnam. [12]:188, On 21 January 1970, the 4258th SW was redesignated as the 307th Strategic Wing. Sattahip Thailand 1966-1967. : r/VietnamWar hope34 Do you know these guys? More. Beginning in March 1969, B-52s were raiding not only South Vietnam and Laos, but Cambodia as well. Although Thailand was an active participant in the Vietnam War, with a token ground force deployed to the South Vietnam as well as involved in the largely secret civil war in Laos, the presence and the visibility of USAF aircraft near its capital city was causing a fair degree of political embarrassment for Thailand's military government. Several aircraft were lost, and five American and Thai personnel were injured. In 1953, Eisenhowers selection for a new ambassador to Thailand was William Donovan, who had led the World War II spy agency, the Office of Strategic Services, forerunner of the CIA, created in 1947.
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