Tan Son Nhut Airport was originally built by the French Colonial Forces in the 1920's, it was the only major civil/military airport in South Vietnam at the start of the arrival of U.S. military advisors and assistance in the late 1950's. It was located in Gia Dinh Provence, northwest of Saigon proper within the Capital Military District,, III Corps Tactical Zone.

     At first due to political pressure the security for all U.S. Military Advisors, Army, Navy and Air Force support personnel and facilities in the capital and on all secondary air bases throughout Vietnam was left to the South Vietnamese Regular Army, territorial forces and National Police. As enemy attacks became more common and deadly it became evident that they were unable to handle the mission and politics were eventually put aside as U.S. Army Military and Air Force Security Police and their K9 Sentry Dog units were deployed to provide the security.

     With the buildup of U.S. and Allied forces in the early 1960's the security of Tan Son Nhut was critical until other major tactical airfields could be constructed in Bien Hoa, Cam Ranh Bay and Da Nang. Tan Son Nhut became 'the' major civil and Republic of Vietnam and U.S. Air Force facility during the war.

     North Vietnamese Air Force (NVAF) pilots had been going to the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR-Communist Russia) since 1959 at a rate of about forty per annum. They had been sent to Krasnodar to participate in a five-year training program in the MiG-17, single-engine fighter or the IL-28 (BEAGLE) light bomber aircraft. The Soviet fighter-training program emphasized basic flight and engineering up to complex.

     In 1965 the U.S. massively increased the scale of its air strike operations against North Vietnam, and in response the North Vietnamese deployed Il-28 bomber aircraft and had the potential for the first time to strike allied forces in South Vietnam as far south as Saigon and in northeast Thailand.

     The heightened air threat from North Vietnam and the lack of allied low altitude radar coverage in the region meant that if the enemy chose to exploit this weakness it was estimated that the bases in South Vietnam and northeast Thailand would be open to attack.

     After previous requested had been denied, finally, to counter the threat in September 1965, the Joint Chief’s of Staff approved GEN William Westmoreland’s request for the deployment of air defense missile battalions to Tan Son Nhut and Da Nang.

If you worked this assignment and can provide any photographs of the facility, handler teams or information or personal stories on the site security mission, please contact the History Project Manager via the Email Link at the top of this page.

If  anyone can provide any information on when this detachment stood down or were assimilated, please contact the History Project Manager via the Email Link at the top of this page.