Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base
Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base | |
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Part of Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) | |
Coordinates | 13°54′45″N 100°36′24″E / 13.91250°N 100.60667°E |
Type | Air Force Base |
Site information | |
Owner | Royal Thai Air Force |
Operator | Royal Thai Air Force |
Controlled by | Royal Thai Air Force |
Condition | Military Air Force Base |
Site history | |
Battles/wars | Vietnam War |
Airfield information | |||||||||||||||
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Coordinates | 13°54′45″N 100°36′24″E / 13.91250°N 100.60667°E | ||||||||||||||
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Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base is approximately 40 kilometres north of central Bangkok and is the main operating and command base for the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF). In addition, units of the Royal Thai Army and Royal Thai Police have personnel located there.
The first flights to Don Muang were made on 8 March 1914 and involved the transfer of aircraft of the RTAF. Three years earlier, Thailand had sent three army officers to France to train as pilots. On completion of their training in 1911, the pilots were authorized to purchase four Breguets and four Nieuports, which formed the basis of the RTAF.
Royal Thai Air Force units
Don Muang RTAFB is an active RTAF base, the home of the 1st Air Division, and consists primarily of non-combat aircraft:
- 601 Transport Squadron flies C-130H/C-130H-30.
- 602 Royal Flight flies Airbus A310-324, Airbus A319, Boeing 737, BAe 748
- 603 Transport Squadron flies Alenia G222, BAe 748
- 604 Communications Squadron flies T-41D, Cessna 150H
- 904 Aggressor Squadron Northrop F-5E Tiger II
In 1964 the United States Air Force (USAF) helped the RTAF establish a transport squadron of eight C-123 Providers there and also a squadron of 17 UH-34s.[1]
USAF use during the Vietnam War
During the early years of the
After the expansion of U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield in 1966, most American units and personnel were transferred from Don Muang, however a small USAF liaison office remained at the base until 1975. The APO for Don Muang was APO San Francisco, 96303.
USAF advisory units
In April 1961, an advance party of the
In November 1961, four
On 6 March 1962, a joint communication was issued by Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Thai Foreign Minister Thanat Koman in which the United States declares its "firm intention... to aid Thailand, its ally and historic friend in resisting communist aggression and subversion". As a result, the Military Assistance Command Thailand (MACT) was set up on 15 May 1962 at Don Muang. On 16 May, eleven C-130s of the 315th Air Division arrived at Don Muang carrying aerial port, flight crew and maintenance personnel to support increased air operations from Thailand.[1]: 113 An aeromedical control center was established at Don Muang in mid-1962 and by 1963 a detachment of the 9th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron was based there.[1]: 396
In June 1962, a detachment of four
In July 1962, Detachment 10 was replaced by the 6010th Tactical Group.[2]: 279
35th Tactical Group
In November 1962, the
- 35th Air Base Squadron – Don Muang
- 331st Air Base Squadron – Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base
- 332nd Air Base Squadron – Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base
- Detachment 1, 35th Tactical Group – Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base
A detachment of USAF U-21s based at Don Muang supported MACT operations, and in 1964 these were joined by two CV-2 Caribous.[1]: 410
By mid-1964, the situation in Southeast Asia was ambiguous. North Vietnam was determined to take over South Vietnam. Communist forces were making military and political gains in Laos. The United States was taking over the role of "protector" from France in the area and the fear was that communism would prevail over the democratic governments in the region. However, there was no real justification for a full-scale American military involvement in the region.
In early-July 1964, a detachment of C-130Bs from the 6091st Reconnaissance Squadron based at Don Muang began flying "Queen Bee" communications intercept missions off the North Vietnamese coast.[2]: 228 [5]
On 31 July 1964, the
In April 1965, the C-123 detachment was redesignated as Detachment 4, 315th Air Division and in September the C-123s were replaced by four C-130s. Also in April a new aerial port squadron, later designated as the 6th Aerial Port Squadron, replaced the former detachment of the 8th Aerial Port Squadron.[1]: 409
631st Combat Support Group
In July 1965, the 35th Tactical Group was re-designated the 6236th Combat Support Group and again in April 1966 it was re-designated the 631st Combat Support Group. In March 1965, there were 1,342 enlisted men stationed at Don Muang RTAFB, with their primary mission to provide support for all USAF units and detachments assigned to the base or other bases in Thailand.
Units assigned to Don Muang RTAFB were the following:
- Host Unit – 631st Combat Support Group – two Douglas C-47 Skytrains
- Det #4 315th Air Division – seven C-130s
- 509th Fighter Interceptor Squadron – five F-102s
- 452nd Air Refueling Squadron – four KC-135 Stratotankers
USAF withdrawal from Don Muang
By 1966 the USAF had established a major presence in Thailand, operating from six RTAF bases. At Don Muang the USAF had stationed Strategic Air Command KC-135 tankers for refueling tactical combat aircraft over the skies of Indochina. Thailand was officially neutral in the Vietnam War and the Thai government was reluctant to allow USAF operations from its main civil airport and so most operations were moved to lower visibility RTAF bases.[6]
The USAF
The opening of U-Tapao also allowed the United States to route most cargo through that facility rather than having large cargo aircraft arrive in the capital. By 1970 most USAF operations had moved out of Don Muang. In late-1971 the Thai Government allowed US personnel to enter the country direct to the remote RTAF bases without needing to transit Don Muang, further reducing USAF operations there.[1]: 410
See also
- Don Mueang International Airport
- Royal Thai Air Force Museum
- Seventh Air Force
- Thirteenth Air Force
- United States Air Force In Thailand
- United States Pacific Air Forces
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- ^ ISBN 9781782664208.
- ^ LCCN 80024547. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 23, 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ISBN 978-1-84908-446-8.
- ISBN 9781410222640. Archived(PDF) from the original on July 26, 2018.
- ^ ISBN 9781508779094. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2016-11-23. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
- ISBN 9781560988779.
Bibliography
- 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 0-7864-0084-6.
- Martin, Patrick (1994). Tail Code: The Complete History of USAF Tactical Aircraft Tail Code Markings. Schiffer Military Aviation History. ISBN 0-88740-513-4.
- Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
- USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to present
- The Royal Thai Air Force (English Pages)
- Royal Thai Air Force - Overview
External links
- Official site of 6th Wing, RTAF Archived 2009-05-10 at the Wayback Machine