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The United States Air Force (USAF) deployed combat aircraft to Thailand from 1960 to 1975 during the Vietnam War. Today, US military units train with other Asian militaries in Thailand. Royal Thai Air Force Bases are an important element in the Pentagon's "forward positioning" strategy.
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.
Under Thailand's "gentleman's agreement" with the US, RTAF bases used by the US Air Force (USAF) were considered RTAF bases and were commanded by Thai officers. Thai air police controlled access to the bases, along with USAF Security Police, who assisted them in base defense using sentry dogs, observation towers, and machine gun emplacements.
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]
Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base is a base of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) in northeast Thailand, approximately 200 km (125 mi) northeast of Bangkok and about 4 km (2.5 mi) south of the centre of the city of Nakhon Ratchasima in the Nakhon Ratchasima Province (also known as "Khorat" or "Korat"), the largest province in Thailand.
Ubon RTAFB was established in the 1950s. Political considerations with regards to communist forces engaging in a civil war inside Laos and fears of the civil war spreading into Thailand led the Thai government to allow the United States to covertly use five Thai bases beginning in 1961 for the air defense of Thailand and to fly reconnaissance flights over Laos.
Under Thailand's "gentleman's agreement" with the United States, RTAF bases used by the USAF were commanded by Thai officers. Thai air police controlled access to the bases, along with USAF Security Police, who assisted them in base defense using sentry dogs, observation towers, and machine gun bunkers. All USAF personnel were fully armed after ...
The U.S. military maintains hundreds of installations, both inside the United States and overseas (with at least 128 military bases located outside of its national territory as of July 2024). [2] According to the U.S. Army, Camp Humphreys in South Korea is the largest overseas base in terms of area. [3]