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The Royal Thai Air Base Nam Phong in Nam Phong District, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand was constructed in 1966-1967 during the Vietnam War by Utah Mining Company, originally to support EC-121 aircraft and potentially three tactical aircraft squadrons, but was ultimately completed as a "bare base" to support disbursal and theater force staging.
[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. Military information officers were instructed that no mention was to be made of operations from Thai facilities, no names of bases were to be mentioned and no ...
English: U.S. Air Force aircraft at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, in 1972. In the foreground are two General Dynamics F–111As from the 429th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 474th Tactical Fighter Wing. The other aircraft are 25 McDonnell Douglas F–4D Phantom II of the 49th TFW.
According to US government statistics, between 1950 and 1987 the US provided Thailand with more than US$2 billion in military assistance. The vast nature of this enterprise enriched Thailand at every level of society, enabling a jump in indigenous heavy construction, communications, transportation, and defense.
The first American military personnel to arrive at NKP in 1962 were the U.S. Navy's Mobile Construction Battalion Three who undertook the task of constructing runways and raising the first buildings at the new base as part of a United States commitment under SEATO with the 6,000-foot (1,800 m) PSP runway opening on 1 June 1963. [1] [2]
Thai involvement did not become official until the total involvement of the United States in support of South Vietnam in 1963. The Thai government then allowed the United States Air Force in Thailand to use its air and naval bases. At the height of the war, almost 50,000 American military personnel were stationed in Thailand, mainly airmen. [57]
Previously, the United States Navy allowed for the direct recruitment of 400 Filipino men every year to serve as enlisted personnel even without being permanent residents or immigrants under an agreement made by both countries in 1947, but was discontinued in 1992 following the closure of US military bases in the country. [42]
The squadron became operational at Bien Hoa Air Base on 15 October 1964. By 1966 the squadron had been renamed the 602nd Air Commando Squadron and moved, first to Nha Trang Air Base in South Vietnam, and then to Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. In March 1968 it moved again to Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Navy Base. On 1 August 1968 it was ...