Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Navy Base

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Coordinates: 17°23′02″N 104°38′35″E / 17.38389, 104.64306

Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Navy Base


2008 Image of Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Navy Base

IATA: none – ICAO: none
Summary
Elevation AMSL 587 ft / 179 m
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
15/33 2,500 8,203 Asphalt
For the civilian use of the facility see Nakhon Phanom Airport

Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Navy Base (NKP) is a Royal Thai Navy facility used for riverine patrols along the Mekong River. It is located 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.

The airfield at NKP is jointly used as a civilian airport.

Contents

[edit] History

For more details on this topic, see Laotian Civil War.

During the Vietnam War, the facility was known as Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base and it was a front-line facility of the Royal Thai Air Force used by the United States in its wars against North Vietnam and the Pathet Lao organization in Laos from 1961 to 1975.

[edit] 5th Tactical Control Group

The first American military personnel to arrive at NKP in 1962 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. [1]

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.

By the 1959, North Vietnam had occupied areas of eastern Laos. The area was used as a transit route for men and supplies destined for the insurgency in South Vietnam. In September 1959, North Vietnam formed Group 959 in Laos with the aim of building the Pathet Lao into a stronger counterforce against the Royal Laotian Government. Group 959 openly supplied, trained and militarily supported the Pathet Lao. The typical strategy during this era was for North Vietnamese regulars to attack first but then send in the Pathet Lao at the end of the battle to claim "victory".

With Thailand sharing a long common border with Laos along the Mekong River, the Bangkok government was concerned about the spread of a communist insurgency into Thailand. On 2 February 1966 the Thai government approved the establishment of a United States Air Force Air Commando unit in Thailand, using the existing USAF facilities at NKP to 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 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

Along with USAF Air Commando and Special Operations forces, MACV-SOG units operated out of NKP, along with Air America and other clandestine forces which used NKP as an operating base for their activities in Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam.

[edit] 56th Special Operations Wing

Oblique aerial photo of Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, looking to the Southwest - taken during the 1960s
Oblique aerial photo of Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, looking to the Southwest - taken during the 1960s
A 609th SOS A-26K starting engines in 1969
A 609th SOS A-26K starting engines in 1969

With its role as an unconventional war facility, NKP was operated fundamentally different than the other 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. Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base was the home of the 56th Special Operations Wing (56th SOW), which was activated on 8 April 1967. The mission of the 56th SOW was to assist United States unconventional forces and foreign governmental forces friendly to the United States in various parts of Indochina.

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. 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. Attached squadrons of the 56th SOW were:

A-1 Skyraider Squadrons

(A-1E/H/J Tail Code: TT)
(A-1E/G/H/J Tail Code: TS)
(A-1E/G/H/J Tail Code: TC)

T-28 Trojan/C-123 Provider Squadrons

(U-10D, C-123B, T-28D Tail Code: TO)
(A-26A/K, T-28D, UC/C-123K Tail Code: TA)

Other Special Operations Squadrons

(OP-2E) Modified Neptune operating in support of the Igloo White mission.

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 H-43 and HH-53E Helicopters.
  • 1987th Communications Squadron (AFCS)
  • Det 5, 621st Tactical Control Squadron
  • Task Force Alpha (PACAF).
  • Det 25, 10th Weather Squadron (MAC)

Decorations bestowed on the 56th SOW were:

[edit] Operation Igloo White

For more details on this topic, see Operation Igloo White.

Operation Igloo White was a covert United States Air Force electronic warfare operation conducted from late January 1968 until February 1973, during the Vietnam War. This state-of-the-art operation utilized electronic sensors, computers, and communications relay aircraft in an attempt to automate intelligence collection. The system would then assist in the direction of strike aircraft to their targets. The objective of those attacks was the logistical system of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) that snaked through southeastern Laos and was known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail (the Truong Son Road to the North Vietnamese).

Devised as a replacement for the failed Operation Rolling Thunder, Igloo White was rushed into service during the Battle of Khe Sanh and successfully passed its first operational test. Combined with Operation Commando Hunt in 1969, the system served as the keystone of the greatest U.S. aerial interdiction effort of the Vietnam Conflict. For four years the two operations acted in conjunction to halt the infiltration of PAVN men and materiel to the southern battlefields.

Costing between $1 and $1.7 billion dollars to design and build (and another billion dollars per year to operate over the five-year life of the operation) and possessing and controlling some of the most sophisticated technology in the Southeast Asia theater, the effectiveness of Igloo White still remains in question. This is due in part to the overestimation of the effectiveness of the bombing campaign it directed, the lack of adequate or effective bomb damage assessment in Laos, and to a dearth of verifiable historical sources in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

[edit] Operation Barrel Roll

For more details on this topic, see Operation Barrel Roll.
Douglas A-1E Skyraiders of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron
Douglas A-1E Skyraiders of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron

Operation Barrel Roll was a covert U.S. Air Force 2nd Air Division (later the Seventh Air Force) and U.S. Navy Task Force 77, interdiction and close air support campaign conducted in the Kingdom of Laos between 14 December 1964 and 29 March 1973 concurrent with the Vietnam War.

The original purpose of the operation was to serve as a signal to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) to cease its support for the insurgency then taking place in the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). This action was taken within Laos due to the location of North Vietnam's expanding logistical corridor known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail (the Truong Son Road to the North Vietnamese), which ran from southwestern North Vietnam, through southeastern Laos, and into South Vietnam. The campaign then centered on the interdiction of that logistical system. Beginning during the same time frame (and expanding throughout the conflict) the operation became increasingly involved in providing close air support missions for Royal Lao Armed Forces, CIA-backed tribal mercenaries, and Thai "volunteers" in a covert ground war in northern and northeastern Laos. Barrel Roll and the "Secret Army" attempted to stem an increasing tide of People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Pathet Lao offensives.

The 56th SOW sent pilots and maintenance teams once a month to the Air Attache office in Laos to work as Raven Forward Air Controllers (FACS). Their mission was to support friendly forces 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 Fighter 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.

Barrel Roll was one of the most closely-held secrets and one of the most unknown components of the American military commitment in Southeast Asia. Due to the neutrality of Laos, guaranteed by the Geneva Conference of 1954 and 1962, both the U.S. and North Vietnam strove to maintain the secrecy of their operations and only slowly escalated military actions there. As much as both parties would have liked to have publicized their enemy's violation of the accords, both had more to gain by keeping their own roles quiet.[2] Regardless, by the end of the conflict in 1973, Laos emerged from nine years of war just as devastated as any of the other Asian participants in the Second Indochina War.

[edit] Operation Ivory Coast

For more details on this topic, see Operation Ivory Coast.
Son Tay Raiders - 1970
Son Tay Raiders - 1970

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.

The mission was deemed a “tactical success” because of its execution, but was clearly an intelligence failure. The 65 prisoners at Son Tay had been moved in July because of the threat of flooding. Decades later, declassified documents revealed that the day before the raid, intelligence estimates believed that the POWs had possibly been moved to a prison 15 miles away (which in fact was what had occurred). However since planning and rehearsals had not included the new location, the risk of disastrous consequences was deemed too high to switch targets at the last minute.

For their actions, members of the task force received 6 Distinguished Service Crosses, 5 Air Force Crosses, and 85 Silver Stars, including all 50 members of the ground force who did not receive the DSC. The successful demonstration of capability in Operations Ivory Coast and Kingpin was in part responsible for the creation of a joint United States Special Operations Command in 1987.

[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 was about half of the level from 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. North Vietnam ignored the agreement and retained its army in Laos. The national government was forced to accept the Pathet Lao into the government.[3]

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

NKP 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 USAF Units at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base=

  • 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
  • Red Horse Squadron, Civil Engineering squadron

[edit] Major USAF Aircraft Assigned to NKP

In addition twelve OP-2E, a highly modified P2V-5 Lockheed Neptune, aircraft were operated by a special Naval air unit, VO-67 , from February 1967 to July 1968.

Additional "civilian" aircraft operated from NKP were Cessna 185, 337 Skymasters, Pilatus Porter's, Helio, Caribou and C-47/DC-3.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ First Hand Account(November 1962)by Assistant Alpha Company Commander Ltjg. George W. Fowler (with pictures) http://aircommandoman.tripod.com/id26.html
  2. ^ Roger Warner, Shooting at the Moon. South Royalton VT: Steerforth Press, 1996, p. 135.
  3. ^ See generally William J. Duiker, The Communist Road to Power in Vietnam (1981). See also Henry A. Kissinger, Years of Upheaval(1982); Henry A. Kissinger, Years of Renewal (1999).

[edit] Sources

  • 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. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. CD-ROM.
  • Glasser, Jeffrey D. (1998). The Secret Vietnam War: The United States Air Force in Thailand, 1961-1975. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786400846.
  • Martin, Patrick (1994). Tail Code: The Complete History of USAF Tactical Aircraft Tail Code Markings. Schiffer Military Aviation History. ISBN 0887405134.
  • Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0912799129.
  • Robbins, Christopher (1985) Air America. Avon, ISBN 0380899094
  • Robbins, Christopher (1987) The Ravens: Pilots of the Secret War in Laos. Crown, ISBN 0517566125
  • Warner, Roger (1998) Shooting at the Moon: The Story of America's Clandestine War in Laos. Steerforth, ISBN 1883642361

[edit] External links

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