Quảng Trị Combat Base
Quảng Trị Combat Base | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 16°46′30″N 107°09′40″E / 16.775°N 107.161°E |
Type | Marines/Army |
Site history | |
Built | 1967 |
In use | 1967–1975 |
Battles/wars | Vietnam War Battle of Quang Tri First Battle of Quảng Trị Second Battle of Quảng Trị |
Garrison information | |
Occupants | 3rd Marine Division 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) (U.S. Army) ARVN 1st Division ARVN 3rd Division |
Airfield information | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
|
Quảng Trị Combat Base (also known as Ái Tử Combat Base or simply Quảng Trị) is a former United States Marine Corps, United States Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base northwest of Quảng Trị in central Vietnam.
History
1967
The base was located on Highway 1 approximately 8 km northwest of Quảng Trị and 8 km southeast of Đông Hà beside the Thạch Hãn River.[1]
Following a series of artillery and rocket attacks on
In October the
In December Marine Aircraft Group 36 (MAG-36) forward was established at Quảng Trị, comprising:
1968
Operation Osceola ended on 20 January, total casualties were 17 Marines and 76 PAVN killed.
On 31 January at the opening of the Tet Offensive the PAVN and Vietcong launched attacks on U.S. forces around Quảng Trị City and the PAVN 812th Regiment launched an attack on the city itself.[3]: 133 As the Marines had only one battalion at the base they remained to defend the base while the recently arrived 1st Cavalry Division south of the city was sent to reinforce the ARVN 1st Regiment 1st Division defending the city. By 1 February the PAVN/Vietcong were in retreat having lost over 900 killed.[3]: 134–7
On 16 February, the 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division assumed responsibility for the Operation Osceola II area and operational control of 1/3 Marines, with the Marines only responsible for point defense of the base.
On 27 October,
On 1 November, the 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division assumed responsibility for security in northern Quảng Trị Province.[3]: 443
MAG-36 units stationed at Quảng Trị during this period included:
- HMM-163
- HMM-262
- VMO-6
In April 1968 Provisional Marine Aircraft Group 39 (MAG-39) was formed at Quảng Trị,[3]: 353 units assigned included:
- HMM-161(from May 1968)
- HMM-163 (until end of April 1968)
- HMM-262
- VMO-6
MAG-36 remained at Quảng Trị until September 1969.[4]
1969
On 23 April 1969, the base was the scene of one of the first reported Fragging incidents of the war when 1LT Robert T. Rohweller of the 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines was killed by a grenade thrown into his hut.[7]
The base was used as a staging area as the Marines withdrew from I Corps in June–September 1969.[7]: 165–7 On 23 September MAG-39 began moving to Phu Bai Combat Base, completing the move by 15 October.[7]: 168 On 22 October the Marines handed over control of their tactical area of operations (including the base) to the 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division and the ARVN 1st Division.[7]: 170
1970–1971
On 30 January 1971 the U.S. XXIV Corps forward headquarters was established at the base to support
On 8 May 1971 the MASS-3 Air Support Radar Team equipped with the AN-TPQ-10 radar system ceased operations at Quang Tri.[8]: 287 During its approximately 20 months at Quang Tri the ASRT was operational for 12,032 hours, controlling 3,411 sorties against 2,942 targets and responsible for the employment of approximately 8,957 short tons of ordnance (17.9 million lbs of ordnance).
1972
By January 1972 the ARVN
On 30 March 1972 the PAVN launched the Easter Offensive and at midday artillery fire began to hit the base.[9]: 37–8 On the evening of 1 April, the 3rd Division headquarters was moved to a new position inside Quảng Trị City while the remaining U.S. advisers stayed at Ái Tử to coordinate artillery, naval and air support.[9]: 48
On the early morning of 9 April Ái Tử was hit by PAVN
By late April the direction of the PAVN assault in Quảng Trị Province had moved from Đông Hà in the north to Ái Tử and Quảng Trị city in the west. On 23 April the VNMC Brigade 147 relieved Brigade 258 at Ái Tử. At 06:30 on 27 April the PAVN 304th Division attacked Ái Tử from the southwest, 2 attacks were repulsed but the base's ammunition dump was destroyed by artillery fire.[9]: 77 On 28 April the ARVN 20th Tank Battalion was withdrawn from Đông Hà to support the base at Ái Tử, the ARVN 57th Regiment, fearing they were being abandoned, panicked and deserted their positions, leading to the collapse of the ARVN defensive line on the Cua Viet River. The VNMC 7th Battalion was sent to Ái Tử to help defend the base.[9]: 78 At 02:00 on 29 April the PAVN attacked the ARVN positions north and south of the base and the ARVN defenses began to crumble, by midday on 30 April, the 3rd Division commander ordered a withdrawal from Ái Tử to a defensive line along the south of the Thạch Hãn River and the withdrawal was completed late that day.[9]: 79–80
By August 1972 the area around the base was home to numerous PAVN artillery units which were used to bombard the ARVN defenders in Quảng Trị city.[9]: 121 In late October the ARVN began attacks north of Quảng Trị to try to regain positions along the south bank of the Cua Viet River. The attacks were met with a stiff PAVN response and were stopped at the Thạch Hãn River. On 27 January in accordance with the provisions of the Paris Peace Accords a ceasefire in place took effect across South Vietnam and the Thạch Hãn River would become part of the de facto border for the next 2 years,[9]: 127–36
Current use
The base has been turned over to housing and farmland, however the airfield is still clearly visible on satellite images.
References
- ISBN 978-1555716257.
- ^ ISBN 978-1494285449.
- ^ ISBN 0-16-049125-8.
- ^ a b "Order of Battle". USMC Combat Helicopter Association. Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
- ^ MATCU-66 Det A Command Chronology for April 1968
- ^ MAG-39(Prov) Command Chronology for Sep/Oct 1968
- ^ ISBN 978-1494287627.
- ^ .
- ^ .
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.