Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base (NKP) is a Royal Thai Navy facility. During the Vietnam War it was a front-line base of the United States Air Force.
Contents |
[edit] Location
Nakhon Phanom RTAFB (Commonly known as "NKP") is located approximately 365 miles (584 kilometers) northeast of Bangkok and 9 miles west of Nakhon Phanom city in Nakhon Phanom Province in the Northeastern Region of Thailand. The Mekong River makes up NKP's border against Laos.
[edit] USAF Use During The Vietnam War
NKP was a front-line facility of the United States Air Force (USAF) during the Vietnam War from 1963 through 1975. The USAF forces at NKP were under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). NKP was the location of TACAN station Channel 89 and was referenced by that identifier in voice communications during air missions.
The APO for NKP was APO San Francisco, 96310
USAF Aircraft stationed at NKP were: A-1E/G/H/J, A-26A, AC-119K, AU-23A, C-47, CH-3C, CH-53, EC-47, C-123K , HH-3E, T-28, O-1, 0-2A/B, OV-10A, U-10
[edit] 507th Tactical Control Squadron
The first American military personnel to arrive at NKP in 1963 were the U.S. Navy's Mobile Construction Battalion Three (Seabees) who undertook the task of constructing the runways and raising the first buildings as part of a United States commitment under SEATO. In early 1964 the 507th Tactical Control Squadron became the first USAF unit assigned to the base, with the 5th Tactical Control Group being the host unit.
Nakhon Phanom originally housed search and rescue forces and maintained a communications capability in support of U.S. Air Force objectives in Southeast Asia.
In May 1965 the 6235th Air Base Squadron was formed and assumed host command responsibilities. On 8 April 1966 the 6235th Air Base Squadron was discontinued and the 634th Combat Support Group along with its subordinate squadrons was activated.
[edit] 56th Special Operations Wing
The Air Base at Nakhon Phanom (NKP), was fundamentally different than the other Thai Air Bases used by the United States Air Force in Thailand. The other bases had host organizations such as Tactical Fighter Wing or Strategic Wing, however Nakhon Phanom was the home of the 56th Special Operations Wing, activated on 8 April 1967. The mission of the 56th SOW was to assist forces friendly to the United States in Laos and other parts of Indochina.
Attached squadrons of the 56th SOW were:
- 602d Special Operations: 8 April 1967 - 31 December 1970 (A-1E/H/J Tail Code: TT)
- 22d Special Operations: 27 November 1967 - 30 June 1975 (A-1E/G/H/J Tail Code: TS)
- 1st Special Operations: 20 December 1967 - 15 December 1972 (A-1E/G/H/J Tail Code: TC)
- 606th Special Operations: 8 April 1967 - 15 June 1971 (C-123B, T-28D Tail Code: TO)
- 609th Special Operations: 15 September 1967 - 1 December 1969 (A-26A/K, T-28D, UC/C-123K Tail Code: TA)
- 18th Special Operations: 25 August 1971 - 31 December 1972 (AC–119)
- 21st Special Operations: 27 November 1967 - 30 June 1975 (CH-53E, CH-53)
- 460th Reconnaissance: 15 December 1970 - 30 September 1972 (EC-47N/P)
- 554th Reconnaissance: 15 December 1970 - 30 September 1972 (QU-22B)
- 361st Tactical Electronic Warfare: 1 September 1972 - 30 June 1974 (EC-47)
- Observation Squadron Sixty-Seven ( VO-67 ) Navy November 1967 - June 1968 (OP-2E) Modified Neptune
Among the tenant units assigned at NKP were Det. 1, 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron (later Det. 1, 40th ARRS) operating HH-3E aircraft and a detachment from the 38th ARRS operating HH-43 aircraft. Also assigned at NKP was a unique Naval Air Squadron ( VO-67 ). The unit consisted of 12 heavily modified armed OP-2E aircraft operating in support of the Igloo White mission. The squadron implanted eletronic sensors along the Ho Chi Minh Trail at very low levels. There were no tactical fighters at NKP, nor strategic bombers. Only old propeller driven aircraft, some going back to World War II. Some of the aircraft at NKP had civilian markings, some had no markings. This was because the mission of Nakhon Phanom RTAFB was that of an Air Commando Unit. Operations from the base were to support ground personnel, with the support of indigenous personnel in Laos. In addition, the 56h SOW also worked closely with the U.S. embassies in Laos and Thailand to provide training for special air warfare units.
Decorations bestowed on the 56th SOW were:
- Presidential Unit Citation (Southeast Asia): 1 Nov 1968-1 May 1969; 1 Oct 1969-30 Apr 1970; 1 Apr 1972-22 Feb 1973.
- Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device: 1 Dec 1970-30 Nov 1971: 1 Dec 1971-29 Feb 1972; 23 Feb 1973-28 Feb 1974.
- Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm: 8 Apr 1967-28 Jan 1973.
[edit] Special Operations In Laos
|
|
|
|
The Thai government approved the establishment of an Air Commando unit in Thailand on 2 February 1966. Using the existing USAF facilities at NKP would make it appear that the United States was not introducing another unit into Thailand. Also, irregular warfare operations were already being conducted from the base and NKP was physically in a known subversive area.
The 56th SOW was activated on 8 April 1967 and sent about 40 to 50 pilots and maintenance teams a month to the Air Attache office in Laos to work as Raven Forward Air Controllers (FACS). Their mission was to support friendly fores in northern Laos - known as the Barrel Roll area. The Ravens wore civilian clothing and were not addressed by military rank.
Attached to the 56th SOW was the 602nd Figher Squadron, whose mission was to provide armed escort for Search and Rescue (SAR) operations. The 602nd kept Korean War era Douglas A-1E "Skyraiders" on call for immediate departure as needed. Other missions flown by the 602nd was providing armed reconnaissance along enemy lines of communication in Laos and along Route Package III (RP III) in central North Vietnam, FAC and strike missions and to provide helicopter escort for missions involving the clandestine insertion and extraction of personnel in Laos and North Vietnam.
The A-1E "Skyraider" was heavily armed and could carry a combination of conventional bombs, rocket pods, cluster bomb units and marker rockets, enabling it to perform the various missions called upon.
The other aircraft squadron assigned to the 56th SOW was the 606th Air Commando Squadron, which flew the T-28 "Trojan", the C-123 transport and World War II vintage Douglas A-26 Invaders. Its mission was to serve as an irregular aerial strike force with a rapid reaction capability that could hold the communist Pathet Lao elements in check and develop and improve special aerial warfare and air commando tactics.
[edit] The Son Tay Raid
See Main Article: Operation Ivory Coast
NKP was a staging base for a POW rescue mission inside North Vietnam in November 1970. Its objective was the rescue of approximately 90 American Prisoners of War from the Son Tay prison camp.
Shortly after midnight 21 November, A-1 Skyraiders and MC-130 Combat Talons lifted off from NKP to support a 56-man force of U.S. Army Special Forces aboard USAF HH-53 helicopters that launched from Udon RTAFB to carry out the rescue.
One team, in a Jolly Green HH-3, crash landed at 0218 into the center of Son Tay prison, the only casualty a crew member with a broken ankle. The 13-man team conducted a violent assault of the prison guards and began a cell by cell search. Another group, led by Army Col. Arthur Simons, mistakenly landed 400 meters off its objective outside the administrative barracks for the North Vietnamese guards. It attacked the location, detonated charges on its walls and buildings, and set off a 5-minute firefight in which an estimated 100 to 200 NVA soldiers were killed. A third group landed outside Son Tay prison and executed the contingency plan for such an error.
After a thorough search troops discovered that the prison held no POWs. Between 0236 and 0245 the raiders were extracted by helicopter. One SF trooper wounded in the leg was the only casualty to enemy action. Five hours after launch the force landed back at Udon.
The Son Tay Raid is one of the more nebulous aspects of the Vietnam War. There is no consensus as to exactly why the POWs were moved out of the camp, why they were moved out, or whether or not the raid was a success. There had not been any POW's at Son Tay since July but at the time of the raid, intelligence did not know this fact. About 20 hours before the raid a reliable intelligence source informed American officials that all the POW's from Son Tay had been moved to Dong Hoi, however the mission was still carried out.
By 1970 there were five operational squadrons attached to NKP. They are: 1st, 21st., 18th Special Operations Squadrons, 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron and the 554th Reconnaissance Squadron.
The major operational associate units stationed at NKP were the 1987th Communications Squadron (AFCS), Det 5, 621st Tactical Control Squadron, 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron and Task Force Alpha (PACAF).
[edit] Operation Igloo White
Operation Igloo White was a military operation conducted by the United States Air Force from 1967 to 1972 during the Vietnam War that used computers and sensors to automate the bombing of North Vietnamese convoys on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in southern Laos.
[edit] Communist Offensive In Laos
By 1971 communist forces in Laos were fighting conventional battles as mobile, regular battalions rather than insurgent guerrilla units. The Laotian armed forces numbered about 95,000 and military expenses amounted to about 75% of the country's national budget. It's military forces were weak, hampered by corruption, with no real incentive for prospective recruits to join the army.
Eighty percent of the total number of strike sorties by the USAF were allocated for Laos. For both political and financial reasons, the Nixon administration reduced all air power assets in Southeast Asia to 10,000 tactical sorties and 1,000 B-52 Arc Light sorties monthly. This is about half of what is was in 1970.
Making matters even more complex was that on 4 March 1971 the first Surface-to-Air (SAM) site was confirmed in Laos, and on 26 April a USAF 0-2 Skymaster was the first aircraft to be shot down in Laos by a SAM.
The United States was also reappraising their overall objectives in Laos. Officials at MACV felt that the North Vietnamese could take over the country at any time they wished. The Pentagon placed greater emphasis on preventing the loss of Cambodia to the Khmer Rouge, as this would give the enemy easier access to the southern population areas of Thailand. It was believed that even if Laos was lost to the communists, the combined forces of Thailand, Cambodia and South Vietnam could still halt the North Vietnamese from taking over the three remaining countries.
[edit] Laotian Collapse
The US pulled out of Laos in 1973 as part of an overall peace and disengagement plan. As on every previous occasion, North Vietnam ignored the agreement and retained its army in Laos. The national government was forced to accept the Pathet Lao into the government.
In 1975, Vietnamese and Pathet Lao forces began attacking government strongholds. A deal was eventually brokered that gave power to the Pathet Lao to save the government from total destruction.
The communist's 1975 victory in Laos was pale compared to their victories in Cambodia and South Vietnam. Pathet Lao troops marched into Vientiane on 1 May and simply took over the government. There was no opposition by government defenders and no large use of force by the rebels.
Once in power, the Pathet Lao economically cut its ties to all its neighbors (including China) with the exception of Vietnam and signed a treaty of friendship with Vietnam. The treaty allowed Vietnam to station soldiers within Laos and to place advisors throughout the government and economy. For many years after, Laos was effectively ruled by Vietnam.
[edit] Palace Lightning - USAF Withdrawal
Nakhon Phanom had come a long way since the first American personnel arrived in the early 1960s. With the fall of both Cambodia and South Vietnam in the spring of 1975, the political climate between Washington and Bangkok had become very sour. Royal Thai Government wanted the USAF out of Thailand by the end of the year. Palace Lightning was the plan which the USAF would withdraw its aircraft and personnel from Thailand.
On 30 June 1975 the 56th Special Operations Wing was deactivated in place and the 656th Special Operations Wing was activated as a placeholder unit at NKP until the USAF could withdraw its personnel and equipment. The Search and Rescue people were among the last to leave the country. The 3rd Air Rescue and Recovery Group lowered its flag on 31 January 1976 and NKP was turned over to the Thai government.
[edit] Major Units
- 40th ARRS
- 361st TEWS
- Task Force Alpha
- 6994th Security Squadron
- 6908th Security Squadron
- 56th Combat Support Group
- 56th Special Operations Wing
- 1st Special Operations Squadron
- 554th Reconnaissance Squadron
- 18th Special Operations Squadron
- 1987th Communications Squadron
- 21st Special Operations Squadron
- 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron
- Det 4, 6 Aerial Port Squadron (MAC)
- Det 5, 621st Tactical Control Squadron
- Observation Squadron Sixty-Seven ( VO-67 ) Navy
[edit] Nakhon Phanom RTAF Today
The Royal Thai Navy uses the facilities at NKP today for riverine patrols along the Mekong River.
Nowadays the airport is also used for civilian purposes (domestic flights).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Glasser, Jeffrey D.: The Secret Vietnam War. The United States Air Force in Thailand, 1961-1975 (1995).
- Martin, Patrick, Tail Code: The Complete History Of USAF Tactical Aircraft Tail Code Markings, 1994
- Ravenstein, Charles A., Air Force Combat Wings: Linege and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Office OF Air Force History, United States Air Force, 1984
[edit] External links
- World Aero Data airport information for VTUW
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
