The Royal Thai Navy (Abrv: RTN, . The training camps were in Thailand. Udorn also hosted three squadrons of F-4C/D & E Phantoms which flew escort, sweep, and Air Combat Patrol missions to protect other U.S. strike aircraft. The United States had welcomed the decision of the Thai government to contribute troops to South Vietnam and was willing to compensate it by logistical support and payment of certain allowances to Thai forces for duty out of the country. The United States ended its involvement in Southeast Asia by treaty and disengagement rather than by military victory. At the war's end, Thailand kept all military equipment and infrastructure left by the Americans, aiding in the country's modernization.[2]. The Southeast Asian kingdom, bordered on the east by embattled Cambodia and Laos, was home to major U.S. Air Force bases used to launch attack, escort, bombing and reconnaissance missions throughout the war zone. The hasty attempt to effect recovery of the vessel and her crew using only USAF resources was abandoned. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. In May 1975, the Royal Thai Government asked the United States to remove all of its combat forces (27,000 troops, 300 aircraft) by 1976. The Coast Guard sent the officer to. Location of U-tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield, Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152, Air Refueling Squadron (Provisional), 901, 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, International Commission of Control and Supervision, 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, "U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield Historical Brief", "EXCLUSIVE: Sources Tell ABC News Top Al Qaeda Figures Held in Secret CIA Prisons", , "Joint Task Force Caring Response brings help to Burmese citizens", "Where in the World Is the U.S. The North Vietnamese claimed that almost 1,400 civilians were killed. Sattahip (Thai: , pronounced [st.t.hp]) is a district in Chonburi province, 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. Chonburi Province. Sattahip Tomorrow's Thailand (1970) Nuclear Vault 245K subscribers Subscribe 212 21K views 9 years ago Construction Efforts Of U. S. Navy Civil Engineers And Construction Contractors In Building. Its origins lie in the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Agreement, nationalism and the Cold War. B-52 lifts off the field. The plane, which was carrying the air attach, was struck by .50 caliber rounds but was able to land safely. Under Operation Niagara waves of six B-52s, attacking every three hours, dropped bombs as close as 900 feet (270m) from the perimeter of the outpost. The "Military Assistance Group in South Vietnam" was renamed U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) on 6 February. All the crew were recovered safely. [citation needed] Attacks on US bases and personnel were suppressed and any personnel wounded during military action in Thailand did not receive recognition of or awards for their wounds. One attacker was apparently killed in the attack, while the other two managed to cause minor damage to three B-52s before fleeing the base. The circumstances surrounding the creation of these bases and the American deployment is a long and complex tale. At its peak in 1969 more airmen were serving in Thailand than were serving in South Vietnam. The 809 th Engineer Battalion (Construction) landed in Southern France on 15 August 1944. During Vietnam War Marines evacuated Saigon. Sattahip. No reference was made to the "mercenary" and "subsidy" charges of the previous few days. Military? By early-April the South Vietnamese made their last stand at Xun Lc on their final defensive line before Saigon. The US began construction of the runway and all facilities on 15 October 1965 and completed it on 2 June 1966. Little occurred until the following November when the Thai government announced it was planning to withdraw its forces from South Vietnam by 1972. The Royal Thai Government began flying reconnaissance missions over Laos on 19 December 1960 with some RT-33 photo jets. 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 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. Then in November 1961, four RF-101C reconnaissance aircraft of the 45th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron stationed at Misawa AB, Japan and their photo lab arrived at Don Muang. U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield is a military airfield of the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) approximately 140 kilometres (87mi) southeast of Bangkok in the Ban Chang District of Rayong Province near Sattahip on the Gulf of Thailand. These facts led to charges and countercharges regarding the expenditures of funds supporting the Thai division. US grant economic assistance totalled about US$500 million through the end of 1970. The vast nature of this enterprise enriched Thailand at every level of society, enabling a jump in indigenous heavy construction, communications, transportation, and defense. The following data is taken from what appears to be a working paper summary of the United States Operations Mission (USOM) in Thailand dated 1968, found at the Cornell University Library "Pamphlet HC Thailand 370" 3-1924-007-619-574. As many as 45,000 US military personnel were stationed in Thailand. This page was last edited on 27 March 2023, at 08:58. Specially trained Thai operators volunteered to join the Royal Laotian Army and complemented the facade with Laotian uniforms and ID cards. The Korean War saw the Corps expand from 75,000 regulars to a force of 261,000 Marines, mostly reservists. An estimated 21,000 Thais were operating in Laos by 1973. Thai operatives, trained by the CIA and U.S. Special Forces, entered Laos and engaged Pathet Lao units, driving them back and securing the northern part of the country against further encroachments. [28]:263. The CIA reported that all conditions for rapid development of a subversive mechanism were present in Thailand. CIA intelligence pointed out that the Chinese were actively working with the Pathet Lao and possibly with the Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand and Malaysia. But Thailands multifaceted support for U.S. combat operations in IndochinaVietnam, Cambodia and Laoswas a far more important contribution. Eventually, these countries would fall under communism in 1975. 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. 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. Fearing an all-out attack, Thailand sent thousands of troops to repel the attackers. [22], Detachment 12 of the 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron operating 2 HH-43s provided search and rescue at the base. Although technically Thailand-owned bases for the Royal Thai naval and air forces, the installations served as headquarters for U.S. Air Force units that used them for operations throughout Indochina. RLTrader udonmap.com Posts: 1994 Joined: June 3 . Royal Thai Forces fly F-16 Fighting Falcons, F-5E Tigers, and ground attack L-39s. Their primary mission was to fight North Vietnamese guerrilla forces taking refuge in Laos. The DOD efforts were under the direction of Joint Task Force Caring Response.[8]. Thailand was a constitutional monarchy and traditionally maintained a pro-western stance in foreign affairs. 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. In the late 1950s and the early 1960s, U.S. leaders in Washington, committed to a containment policy to stop the spread of Soviet-style communism, were deeply concerned about communist expansion in Southeast Asia. In June 1965, the B-52 was first used in the Vietnam War. Indeed, Thailand emerged as one of the regions strongest and most stable economies. 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. The 307th was the only regular Air Force SAC Wing stationed in Southeast Asia. [28]:2458 The crew which had been taken to the Cambodian mainland two days earlier were released unharmed by the Khmer Rouge. It was one of the first USAF aircraft shot down over Indochina, and marked the beginning of combat action by the USAF from bases in Thailand. The adjacent parking ramps and grassy areas were being filled to capacity with South Vietnamese helicopters and aircraft. At the height of the war, some 50,000 American military personnel (mostly Air Force) were stationed throughout Thailand. During 19541975 (the Vietnam War or Second Indochina War), the Thai Government allowed the Joint United States Military Advisory Group - Thailand (JUSMAG-THAI) to fund and manage the modernization of Royal Thai Air Force bases. The Communist Party of Thailand led an armed revolt in the northeastern provinces of the country. Glasser, Jeffrey D. (1998). Under Operation Arc Light, wing bombers flew over 35,000 strikes over South Vietnam from 1967 to 1970. Thailand was the third-largest provider of ground forces to South Vietnam, following the Americans and South Koreans. The USAF bases were closed and the last USAF personnel left Thailand in June 1976. Under Operation "Tight Reign," LORAN stations were established at Con Son Island and Tan My, in Vietnam, and at Lampang, Sattahip and Udorn in Thailand. During the Vietnam War, Thailand was one of the places where GIs on leave went for a much-welcome break from the fighting. Thai forces were very effective in their missions, and thus Thailand became the target of ever-increasing guerrilla attacks. 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. After the attacks on the air base, Thai counterinsurgency and covert missions increased. An estimated 8,000 U.S. and third-country nationals needed to be evacuated from Saigon and the shrinking government-controlled region of South Vietnam, along with thousands of "at-risk" Vietnamese who had worked for the United States during the war. Over the centuries, Thai governments had managed to avoid foreign domination with a policy of accommodation with the predominant power in Asia at the time. The North Vietnamese were using a network of routes that ran through the country, collectively known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, to smuggle arms and fighters into South Vietnam. Four of the intruders were killed, among them a North Vietnamese Army officer. Two days later there was an apparent reversal of policy. Particularly disconcerting, Thailand was home to 50,000 ethnic Vietnamese, many of them sympathetic to North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh and his communist ideology. [28]:252 Total US losses were 15 killed in action and three missing in action. 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]. President Johnson used the flawed information about the incident to order additional forces to the area to support the government of South Vietnam. Laos would not recognize any military alliance or coalition, such as. In Thailand, Agent Orange was used to clear the jungle around bases, as a means to enhance security. A U-Tapao based US Navy P-3 Orion was one of the first aircraft sent to locate the Mayaguez. It is serves as the home of the RTN First Air Wing. The Thai government then allowed the United States Air Force in Thailand to use its air and naval bases. The USAF would eventually use 8 airbases in Thailand: Don Muang, Korat, Nakhon Phanom, Nam Phong, Takhli, Ubon, Udorn and U-Tapao. The story is about US airmen who were based in Thailand in 1972, and the bars they habituated The story is told from the perspective of Rong who was a Thai journalist trying to describe to a Thai audience life in the bars that popped up around the airbases. The soldiers delighted in. The first B-52's arrived on 10 April 1967. Top. His countrys common borders with Laos and Cambodia, each threatened by communist insurgencies, put the kingdom in a dangerous position that endangered its own survival. On 19 December the Bangkok press reported that some twenty government party members of the Thai parliament had signed a letter to the prime minister urging the withdrawal of Thai troops from South Vietnam. [24]:6237 In addition Khmer Air Force C-123s also began flying supply missions from U-Tapao into bases in Cambodia. Some of the Vietnamese wanted to move to communist North Vietnam, but they were not necessarily communist sympathizers. The 307th SW ended all combat operations on 14 August 1973. The runway was built in eight months[13] and the base was completed slightly more than two years later. Thai Navy and Air Force units would withdraw sometime before January 1972. Dana Benner holds a bachelors degree in U.S. history and Native American culture and a master of education degree in heritage studies. These are the major bases the USAF operated from in Thailand: In addition Marine Aircraft Group 15 operated from Royal Thai Air Base Nam Phong from June 1972 to September 1973. Xun Lc fell on 20 April and South Vietnamese President Nguyn Vn Thiu resigned the following day, fleeing the country four days later. Sattahip Thailand 1966-1967. : r/VietnamWar hope34 Do you know these guys? The Thais understood that the only answer to this problem was to join forces with the United States. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. But Thailands multifaceted support for U.S. Tensions ramped up when the Pathet Lao attacked in spring 1962 and took control of the Nam Tha river valley in northwestern Thailand. This is a reading from the book "Sattahip" by Rong Wongsawan, translated by Siamrad Maher, and arranged by Tony Waters. Between 1961 and 1965 seven Thailand bases saw the arrival of American warplanes. The bomber's pilot managed to get the burning aircraft back to Thailand before the crew bailed out, leaving the aircraft to crash. The Nixon Administration had approved this expansion of the war not long after entering office in the spring of 1969. This made deception easier, as even crew members aboard the bombers did not have to know what country they were bombing. The RF-101s were sent to assist Royal Thai AF RT-33 aircraft in performing aerial recon flights over Laos. Small numbers of aircraft were drawn from each SAC B-52D unit to support the effort in Thailand. The report "Snakes in the Eagles Nest" gives a partial account of combat operations in Thailand during the Vietnam War. port, which was built at Sattahip in southeast Thailand. In addition, combat missions were flown aiding friendly forces in Laos and, starting in 1970, Cambodia were also flown. 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. In September 1966 2 radio relay KC-135A Combat Lightning aircraft and their personnel were ordered to deploy to U-Tapao to support air operations over North Vietnam.[12]. Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 19471977. At the height of the war, almost 50,000 American military personnel were stationed in Thailand, mainly airmen. Other Republic of Singapore Air Force aircraft types used on Cope Tiger include AS-532 Cougar and CH-47 Chinook helicopters Grumman E-2 Hawkeye AEW aircraft, and Lockheed C-130 Hercules tanker aircraft. On 23 March 1973 the USAF airlift control center at Tan Son Nhut Air Base moved to U-Tapao becoming the Pacific Transportation Management Agency, Thailand, responsible for all C-130 operations in Southeast Asia. [28]:124. Under Thailand's "gentleman's agreement" with the U.S., the bases were considered Royal Thai Air Force bases and were commanded by Thai officers. Thailand. Like the U.S., Thailand was concerned with events in Laos, which had been its buffer against intervention from both China and Vietnam. VC-47A 084 of Air America crashed on landing on a flight from Tan Son Nhut.[30]. More. American news agencies, such as United Press International and Associated Press, were prohibited from filing stories about American military activities. [10], In 2015, a Politico article reported that the United States Government rented space at U Tapao from a private contractor for use as a "major logistics hub for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars." By the late 1950s Pathet Lao forces, linked with the communists in North Vietnam and China, were gaining more and more control of territory in Laos, which was struggling to defeat the insurgents. The Kingdom of Thailand, under the administration of military dictator Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn, took an active role in the Vietnam War. From Takhli flew EB-66 electronic-warfare jets with special equipment that can detect the "fingerprints" of enemy radar in the sky and then send out a signal that fouls up the screen below. 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. Much of Americas Cold War leadership adhered to the domino theoryif even one Southeast Asian country fell, the rest would inevitably drop like tumbling dominoes. McFarland & Company. See all photos. Those forces were a way to confront the communists in Laos without the direct action of American troops. 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. To subscribe, clickhere. 27th Infantry* [25th Infantry Division] and supporting elements under a detachment of the 9 th Logistical Command. The USAF implemented Palace Lightning, the plan to withdraw its aircraft and personnel from Thailand. (During the deployment of the F-111s three crashed soon after arriving at Takhli and the F-111 fleet was grounded to investigate the problem). U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield is a military airfield of the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) approximately 140 kilometres (87 mi) southeast of Bangkok in the Ban Chang District of Rayong Province near Sattahip on the Gulf of Thailand. [17]:284. The rather large Vietnamese population also was still a great concern. In 1951, the CIA sent case officer Bill Lair to Thailand, James Parker, a CIA case officer in Laos 1971-73, said in a 2016 interview with the Bangkok Post. [25], In late March 1972, the North Vietnamese launched a full-scale offensive across the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone, supported by tanks and heavy artillery. The fighting in Laos was of great concern to the Thai government. 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. [citation needed].

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