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U-Tapao was initially more of a forward field than it was a main operating base, with responsibility for scheduling missions still remaining at Andersen AFB. Small numbers of aircraft were drawn from each SAC B-52D unit to support the effort in Thailand. Known squadrons which deployed B-52 and KC-135 aircraft and crews to U-Tapao were:
On 15 October, a B-52D (tail number 55-0097) from the 43rd Strategic Wing at U‑Tapao RTAFB, Thailand crashed upon landing at the base for unknown reason. While the airplane was damaged beyond repair, all six crew members escaped uninjured. [86] On 20 November, the first B-52 was lost to enemy action.
U-Tapao was built by the United States to accommodate B-52 bombers for missions in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during the Vietnam War. [9] Construction began on 15 October 1965 and was completed on 2 June 1966. [10] U-Tapao was the primary Southeast Asian airfield for USAF B-52 bombers, called "Bee-hasip-sawng" (B-52) by the local Thais. [11]
Andersen AFB & Kadena AB started primarily with B-52Fs and later B-52Ds aircraft; aircrew and support personnel deployed from CONUS B-52 wings on a rotational basis / U-TAPAO AB started operation after the B-52D became the primary mission aircraft; SW(P)72 at Andersen AFB was only equipped with B-52Gs Operation Desert Storm
B-52Ds were also used from the 376th Strategic Wing of Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. The 96th Strategic Air Wing from Dyess AFB, Texas, deployed for Arc Light in June 1970 for 180 days. Upon completion of the Arc Light deployment, the 376th SW B-52Ds either returned to the continental U.S. or were sent to U-Tapao.
Strategic Air Command deployed 152 eight-engine B-52D and B-52G bombers to Guam and another 54 to U Tapao airfield in Thailand, then the main Lightning Bug base, to complement a huge force of ...
From U-Tapao airfield on the Gulf of Siam, the largest airfield in Southeast Asia, came the Boeing B-52s and the four-engine Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker refuellers that took to the air and refueled the aircraft just before and after they hit North Vietnam.
The B-52’s carried on Ricky’s legacy with the release of Bouncing Off the Satellites 11 months after his death at age 32, but the heartbroken survivors — Cindy, Strickland, and vocalists ...