Operation Rolling Thunder was the codename for an American bombing campaign during the Vietnam War. I was at Cam Ranh when the first C-5 mission came in. The detachment was from the newly formed 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron at Eglin AFB, Fla., but the unit nickname, Jungle Jim, was more indicative. Under cover of secrecy, the training mission turned to advice in combat and then into combat training sorties.. It was believed these forces were going to take action in Laos. Those invited to volunteer were asked, Would you volunteer to serve in a foreign country under extreme hardship conditions for extended periods? Gleason said. [3]:59, At the start of Operation Rolling Thunder in March 1965, U.S. aircraft were forbidden to go within a radius of 40 nautical miles of Hanoi, which included Phc Yn, although these restrictions were gradually reduced as the campaign continued. 1967-68 Tuy Hoa Viet Ham. A sign on a building frame reads 'Welcome to Pleiku Air Base'. Today, Most air bases and military airports in Vietnam were originally built by the French or Japanese. The Jungle Jim fighter-bombers were T-28D Nomads, a modification of the single-engine T-28A Trojan the Air Force had used previously for primary undergraduate pilot training. In December 1960, North Vietnam created the National Liberation Frontthe Viet Congto wage guerrilla warfare in the south, directed, equipped, supplied, and reinforced from the north. The 555th "Triple Nickel" Tactical Fighter Squadron out of Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base scored 39 MiG kills during the Vietnam Warand six of those kills were credited to one pilot. [14][15] Based at Phan Rang Air Base in . The Johnson administration cited a number of reasons for shifting U.S. strategy to include systematic aerial assaults on North Vietnam. The B-26 Invader was a twin-engine light bomber and ground attack aircraft. Phc Yn, constructed in 1963, was North Vietnam's first modern, jet-capable air base. I got orders to Charleston to the 3rd MAS on C-5s. By the time I left Vietnam they had built the unit into 20 people. two officers four technical Sargents or better and the rest younger enlisted Sargents. THIS IS A FULL Collection of 4 pages of FIRE BASES, AIR FORCE BASES, Naval and Medical, BROWN WATER Naval, and any and all bases DOD during the Vietnam War 1963 to 1975. The fighting in Laos was of great concern to the Thai government. In the city, I met 30-year-old Huyen whose family believe that she is one of the living casualties of the war. In 1962, the American military initiated limited air operations within South Vietnam, in an effort to offer air support to South Vietnamese army forces, destroy suspected Viet Cong bases and spray herbicides such as Agent Orange to eliminate jungle cover. The struggle in South Vietnam was underway in earnest. The Secret Vietnam War: The United States Air Force in Thailand, 19611975. Kennedy came to office in January 1961, spring-loaded for action in Vietnam. Copyright 2023. The first combat training sortie was Dec.19. In a range of diverse missions, they dropped Vietnamese paratroopers, conducted night flareship operations, and resupplied U.S. Army Special Forces. This article was originally published Oct. 1, 2020. The 35th was responsible for leaflet missions over North Vietnam and North Korea. Glasser, Jeffrey D. (1998). The military assistance and advisory group could not direct combat operations, so an advanced echelon, the 2nd ADVON, was established by 13th Air Force in Saigon and put in charge of Farm Gate. Nicknamed the bou, the C-7 could land on extremely short runways (1,000 feet) and maneuver at low altitudes and slow airspeeds. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), America Launches Operation Rolling Thunder, https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/operation-rolling-thunder. Command and control was awkward. The national Welcome Home event was planned by the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration, and the opening ceremony begins May 11 at 11, The 555th Triple Nickel Tactical Fighter Squadron out of Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base scored 39 MiG kills during the Vietnam Warand six of those kills were credited to one pilot. In 2011 diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. US involvement in Laos was considered necessary because North Vietnam had effectively conquered a large part of the country and was equally lying in public about its role in Laos. Nobody ever imagined it would escalate to that level when the first USAF unit deployed to Vietnam. Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan, Matt Mullen and Christian Zapata. Two milestones occurred early in 1962. [7], On the morning of 9 May 1972 as US Navy aircraft were conducting Operation Pocket Money, the mining of Haiphong harbor, radar on the USSChicago detected three MiGs departing Phuc Yen and heading directly towards the mining aircraft. An alleged attack by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on American destroyer, USS Maddox DD-731]. During the war, when Agent Orange was used to destroy dense foliage used by communist forces as cover, it was sprayed at up to 50 times the concentration the manufacturers recommended for killing plants. Stationed at Ubon RTAFB Thaiand, early 70's during the Vietnam war. The Air Force proposed replacing the T-28s and B-26s with jet aircraft, but McNamara approved A-1E Skyraiders instead, propeller-driven attack bombers that nevertheless represented a substantial increase in capability and effectiveness. The United States elected to abide by the agreement even though it was not a signatory. On 19 January 1961, PACAF had identified 25 airfields, 49 communications routes, and 19 urban targets. The airforce personnel in Vietnam did a lot more than was ever reported but we enlisted men. He subscribed to the Domino Theory and was determined to demonstrate U.S. credibility and commitment to preventing the spread of Communism in Asia. President John F. Kennedy, asked in February 1962 whether Americans were engaged in combat in Vietnam, said not in the generally understood sense of the word.. His PCP @ the VA listed CHF as cause of death. But North Vietnam continued moving heavy weapons into Laos to support the communist rebel Pathet Lao. Cope Tiger involves air forces from the United States, Thailand, and Singapore, as well as U.S. Marines deployed from Japan. I made my first C-5 trip into Cam Ranh in October or November 1970. On 23 March 1961 Pathet Lao anti-aircraft artillery opened fire on an American C-47 as it flew over the eastern portion of the Plaines des Jarres, shooting the plane down. Waiting on those at this time. He was dropped @ LZs with a counterpart (native interperter) and a ROC to listen to radio traffic and local chatter to report back about traffic on the HoChiMin trail. Online Access: Download Search. Data specific to Air Military Operations and Activities, Records of U.S. Military Casualties, Missing in Action, and Prisoners of War from the Era of the Vietnam War, Data specific to Land Military Operations and Activities, NMCS Information Processing System 306 Formatted File System (NIPS 360 FFS) Volume I Introduction to File Concepts, Essay on the Potential Research Value of the OPSANAL System Files, Computers, Electronic Data, and the Vietnam War, Electronic Records of Korean and Vietnam Conflict Casualties, Records Relating to American Prisoners of War and Missing in Action from the Vietnam War Era, 1960-1994, How to File a FOIA Request for Archival Records, Hamlet Evaluation System (HES) / Viet Cong Infrastructure (VCI) Gazetteer, 1971-1973, Hamlet Evaluation System (HES) Gazetteer Source File, 1971-1973, Hamlet Evaluation System (HES) Gazetteer, 1971-1973. In operation "Farm Gate," USAF pilots wore plain flight suits and flew aircraft, such as these T-28s, painted with Republic of Vietnam Air Force markings. As a result, pilots and aircraft weapon systems operators accounted for the majority of the American prisoners of war who were captured and held by North Vietnam. Along the way, Farm Gate mixed in some training with the combat, but it was not the on-the-spot training of South Vietnamese pilots declared by the informed source in November 1961. The United States Embassy in Vientiane was burned to the ground and fighting raged in and around the city. It also carried the brunt of the air war against the Viet Cong for two years and demonstrated the value of employing air power in less conventional modes. As ground combat increased, so did airlift requirements. This is the first in a three-part series on their talks. Richard Secord was a deputy assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); My father was a flight engineer on C124s and flew out of Japan and Hawaii in the early and mid 1960s throughout the south Pacific and SE Asia, including Vietnam. Republic of Vietnam Air Force use Tan Son Nhut Air Base in 1962. 2023 BBC. Binh Thuy Air Base is a former air force base in Vietnam, It was constructed by the United States in 1965 and used by the South Vietnamese Air Force (SVNAF) and the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War in the IV Corps Tactical Zone of South Vietnam. Laos would not allow any foreign interference in its internal affairs. Neither South Vietnam nor the U.S. signed the accords, and South Vietnam declined to participate in the reunification elections. The Geography and Map Division holds a map from the war that was printed and created by the 66 th Engineer Company . Shortly after the operation began in 1965, Johnson committed the first U.S. ground troops to the Vietnam War. The administration also wanted to reduce North Vietnams ability to produce and transport supplies to aid the Viet Cong insurgency. The Thai government prohibited photographing of American personnel and military aircraft, with the exception of official archive photography taken for documentation and official release. They also assert that U.S. leaders failed to coordinate the bombing campaign in North Vietnam with the ground operations in South Vietnam. [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. I was involved in jp 4 drops on tunnel systems and what we were told was year has. 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. . The first airlift aircraft sent to Vietnam were C-47 Skytrains. Flying tactical airlift missions in South Vietnam and dropping flares on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and North Vietnam was the most exciting time of my life. The Royal Thai Government began flying reconnaissance missions over Laos on 19 December 1960 with some RT-33 photo jets. My first Vietnam operations was as a C-130E loadmaster on TDY to Kadena from Pope AFB, NC in the spring of 1965. Would you serve out of the U.S. uniform? It was understood that the government might deny knowledge of such measures. Did you know? RG 341, Records of the U.S. Air Force Staff. For example, administration officials believed that heavy and sustained bombing might encourage North Vietnamese leaders to accept the non-Communist government in South Vietnam. Also in March 1962, a small detachment of F-102 "Delta Daggers" from the 509th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, based at Clark AB, Philippines were sent to Don Muang under "Operation Bell Tone". There was the matter of who we reported to, King said, according to Air & Space Magazine. Answer (1 of 11): We let the Americans build a base in Cam Ranh during the Vietnam War. Northeast Thailand housed a community of Vietnamese mixed with Chinese. The U.S records showing 5,607 helicopter losses [2] In total, the United States military lost in Vietnam almost 10,000 aircraft, helicopters and UAVs (3,744 planes, [3] 5,607 helicopters [2] and 578 UAVs [1] ). By the time the last American combat troops left Vietnam in 1973, the U.S. military had dropped some 4.6 million tons of bombs on Vietnam, destroying a large percentage of the nations towns and villages and killing an estimated 2 million Vietnamese people. After 834th activated, we were assigned to 834th detachments. They are all aware of his service areas. I have pictures of the crew. It is a testament to the skill and determination of those crews proving that the USAFs greatest asset was and still is its people. Fire Control Specialist on AC-130A/AC-130H Gunships. Much of that information remains unavailable, being considered sensitive to the Thai government. In 1965, the Air Force and Navy launched Operation Rolling Thunder, the sustained air campaign against North Vietnam. At a news conference in March 1962, McNamara disclosed that, There has been sporadic fire aimed at United States personnel and in some minor instances theyve had to return fire. At Udorn, just from Hanoi supersonic, unarmed RF-101 and RF-4C photo-reconnaissance jets launched and flew missions over target areas immediately before and after a raid to photograph the damage so assessments of attacks could be made. RG 342, Records of U.S. Air Force Commands, Activities, and Organizations. Unexploded ordnance left over from Operation Rolling Thunder and other bombing campaigns of the Vietnam War has killed or injured tens of thousands of Vietnamese, by some estimates, since the United States withdrew its combat troops in 1973. In early 1968 U.S. intelligence noted that Il-28 bombers had returned to Phc Yn and three separate airstrikes were conducted against the base in mid-February. Singapore forces fly Northrop F-5s and F-16 Fighting Falcons. Tomes' F-105D, however Nguyen Ngat Chieu was unable to lock his R-3S AAMs against another F-105D making energetic evasive manuevers this was basically the first aerial victory by a MiG-21 over piloted American aircraft. "In some cases parents have passed away because of Agent Orange and their children who also suffer are left alone and eventually the family dies out. The Air Force tried to get the requirement for a Vietnamese commander rescinded, but the State Department and the Office of the Secretary of Defense would not relent. You dont need documentation of any particular flight. If you or anyone reading this has any information or could provide a statement of knowledge of these missions for my Husband, Glenn Baber, I would be very grateful. By mid-1966, American planes were attacking military and industrial targets throughout North Vietnam. Later that year, my crew was TDY to Mactan and made numerous flights into and within South Vietnam and Thailand. He was part of TAC and flew in and out of Clark TDY to Thailand, Laos & Cambodia. It was the time when North-South Vietnam divided And now? Thailand was a member of SEATO. Now that Farm Gate was no longer classified, some attempts were made to drop the code name, but it had become so well-known throughout the USAF that it was finally decided to keep it.. We strive for accuracy and fairness. But Da Nang is also known for having one of the highest contaminations of dioxin from the use of Agent Orange by US forces during the Vietnam war. We flew C-130As. During the Vietnam War, about 80% of all USAF air strikes over North Vietnam originated from air bases in Thailand. Of the 10,000 North Vietnamese troops in Laos at the time of the agreement, 6,000 remained in the country in violation of the accords. After the communist victory, Vietnam turned against the U.S. and the Soviet took charge this base. The T-28s and the SC-47s went by way of Clark Air Base in the Philippines where they were re-painted with South Vietnamese markings and underwent some modification. USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration Endicott, Judy G. (1999) Active Air Force wings as of 1 October 1995; USAF active flying, space, and missile squadrons as of 1 October 1995. We were very poor so we had to use the water from the well near the airport.". The USAF bases were closed and the last USAF personnel left Thailand in June 1976. We were in charge of all forward airlift operations. This marked the beginning of large scale United States military operations in Southeast Asia. Periodic Sets, containing fields that can be repeated as needed; there can be more than one type of Periodic Set. American news agencies, such as United Press International and Associated Press, were prohibited from filing stories about American military activities. Some of these missions required major aircraft modifications and were performed by specially trained personnel. President Lyndon B. Johnson expanded American air operations in August 1964, when he authorized retaliatory air strikes against North Vietnam following a reported attack on U.S. warships in the Gulf of Tonkin. 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. Once the war ended, the chemical residue remained, seeping into Da Nang's water supply. The Operation Rolling Thunder campaign gradually expanded in both range and intensity. In 1978 Noi Bai International Airport was established immediately south of the base to replace Gia Lam Airport as the main commercial airport servicing Hanoi. [2]:156 Post-strike assessment indicated that nine MiGs had been destroyed on the ground and one in the air and that the runway was severely cratered.[6]. Americans are under instructions not to fire unless fired upon.. Read about our approach to external linking. Unfortunately, not all were mentally attuned to teaching members of other cultures, or in fact to perform a training missionthey were combat-oriented.. It was established by the South Vietnamese Air Force (SVNAF) in 1962 at an undeveloped airstrip, and was used by the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War in the II Corps Tactical Zone of South Vietnam. I took my orders from two lieutenant colonels in the bottom of the Pentagon building.. In February 1962, the ADVON became subordinate to the newly created Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. One of the MiGs was destroyed while the other two returned to base. Indeed, attempts by North Vietnamese communists to organize the Vietnamese in Thailand were dealt with strongly by the Thai government. The involvement grew from there, gradually and increment by increment, more often as a matter of mission creep than from any comprehensive analysis of overall strategy. Catecka Base Camp. Military installations of the United States in South Vietnam (3 C, 19 P) Military installations of the United States in Thailand (1 C, 3 P) This page was last edited on 27 November 2021, at 13:20 (UTC). Read about our approach to external linking. These small detachments received logistical support from their home bases outside of Southeast Asia. . These entries are quoted verbatim from the source documents which allow the reader to "hear" the unit representatives of the 1960s speak from their view point at a time when the outcome of the war was still a great . The roads are broad and inviting, the boulevards that run along the riverfront are clean and filled with quaint little riverside cafes. Throughout the 1950s, Laos had been embroiled in civil war, and by the early 1960s, the conflict was threatening to spread to Thailand. During Kennedys tour in office, the number of US military advisers in Vietnam rose from about 700 to more than 16,000. [3]:1434, By late March 1966 U.S. intelligence indicated that more than 60 MiG-15s and MiG-17s and 15 MiG-21s were based at Phc Yn while crates containing an estimated 5 MiG-15s and 25 MiG-21s were also at the base. By 1965, the increasing number of American aircraft deployments to Thailand was jeopardizing policy. His most recent article, Rise of the Air Corps, appeared in the September issue. Currently, except for some pure air bases, the airports in Vietnam are used by a mixture of civilian and military aircraft, or seen as military airport standby. Starting in 1994, the USAF returned to Korat RTAFB for "Cope Tiger", an annual, multinational exercise conducted in two phases in the Asia-pacific region. Schlight, John (1996), A War Too Long: The History of the USAF in Southeast Asia, 19611975, Office Of Air Force History, United States Air Force, Futrell, Robert F. with the assistance of Blumenson, Martin (1991), The United States Air Force In Southeast Asia: The Advisory Years to 1965, Office Of Air Force History, United States Air Force, Van Staaveren, Jacob (2002), Gradual Failure: The Air War over North Vietnam, 19651966, Office Of Air Force History, United States Air Force, This page was last edited on 17 March 2023, at 08:15. His loadmaster was Mike Huzinko. Industrialised nations have much lower levels of dioxin contamination in soil, on average, less than 12 ppt. The Airmen were primarily a fighting force, not trainers or advisers. Allied commanders insisted that it was necessary because of a huge buildup of military supplies in North Vietnam for possible offensive operations against South Vietnam and Cambodia. The Airmen initially slept in tents set up for them by an advance party. The Geneva Accords of July 1954 temporarily divided Vietnam into two parts along the 17th parallel, pending all-Vietnam elections in 1956. The report "Snakes in the Eagles Nest" gives a partial account of combat operations in Thailand during the Vietnam War. The fighter variant carried rockets, bombs, and machine guns. In addition, MAC increased its number of cargo and passenger routes between the US and South Vietnam and established many interconnecting routes between the US, numerous Pacific stations, and bases in Vietnam. Retired Col. Charles Chuck DeBellevue flew nearly 100 combat missions in 1972, becoming the wars highest-scoring ACE. Assigned to beef up defense of an air base, they were the first U.S. combat . Farm Gate carried the air war to the Viet Cong throughout Vietnam. Da Nang airport was the main US airbase during the war and where huge stock piles of Agent Orange were stored. Command of the American units, however, remained with U.S. wing commanders and their Seventh Air Force/Thirteenth Air Force headquarters. [citation needed]. By U.S. rules for combat engagement, there was always a Vietnamese national aboard the airplane, sometimes a pilot, sometimes not, but either way, his function was to legitimize the mission. We were instructed to contact National Archives to see if any records are there. The other being a joint communication from Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Thai Foreign Minister Thanat Koman on 6 March in which the United States "firm intention to aid Thailand, its ally and historic friend in resisting communist aggression and subversion". Ca Vit Base. Vietnam - Airfields. the United States Air Force (USAF) during the early stages and buildup of the Vietnam War, until it was stabilized in 1968. The existing airlift aircraft (C-124s and C-133s) werent suitable for the movement of cargo and personnel over those long distances because they lacked adequate speed, range, or cargo capacity. As the demands for strategic airlift continued to increase, MAC turned to contract leasing of commercial aircraft. It was built about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of an airstrip that had been abandoned in the 1950s. More than 1,100 people participate, including approximately 500 U.S. service members and 600 service members from Thailand and Singapore. Lt. Col. Gene Smith (Ret.). FO System Data Files, ca. Some claim that the bombing campaign came close to crippling North Vietnams capacity to wage war. John T. Correll was editor in chief of Air Force Magazine for 18 years and is a frequent contributor. 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]. Volume 1 - The Situation in Southeast Asia, Volume 3 - Viet Cong - North Vietnamese Operations, Volume 4 - Allied Ground and Naval Operations, Volume 6 - Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces (RVNAF), Volume 7 - Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces (RVNAF), Volume 10 - Pacification and Civil Affairs, Volume 11 - Economics: War Costs and Inflation, Volume 12 - Construction and Port Operations in South Vietnam. Schlight, John (1988), The Years of the Offensive, 19651968, Office Of Air Force History, United States Air Force. 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. Some of the Vietnamese wanted to move to communist North Vietnam, but they were not necessarily communist sympathizers. When I landed in Vietnam in 1968, as a loadmaster on c-130s we were part of the 8th airal port in tan sonut air Base there were to other loadmaster s stationed there.
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