Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base

the civilian use of this facility

Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base (Udorn RTAFB) is a Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) base, the home of 23rd Wing Air Command. It is in the city of Udon Thani in northeastern Thailand and is the main airport serving the city and province. The RTAF 231 Squadron "Hunter" is assigned to Udorn, equipped with the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet A.

Udorn RTAFB was established in the 1950s. The civil war inside Laos and fears of it spreading into Thailand led the Thai government to allow the United States to use covertly five Thai bases beginning in 1961 for the air defense of Thailand and to fly reconnaissance flights over Laos. Udorn was one of those bases. 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 USAF forces at Udorn were under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Thirteenth Air Force. Udorn was the site of TACAN station Channel 31 and was referenced by that identifier in voice communications during air missions

The APO for Udorn was APO San Francisco 96237.

Udorn RTAFB was the Asian headquarters for Air America , a US passenger and cargo airline covertly owned and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) which provided essential resources for the war in Laos and elsewhere. Its predecessor, Civil Air Transport (CAT), started operations from Udorn on 11 September 1955 with the arrival of three C 46s delivering food and emergency aid into Indochina. By the end of September, CAT had flown more than 200 missions to 25 reception areas, delivering 1,000 tons of emergency food. Conducted smoothly and efficiently, this airdrop relief operation marked the beginning of CAT's and, later, Air America's support of US assistance programs in Laos. Air America's roles supportive of covert and overt situations related to hostilities in Southeast Asia and elsewhere worldwide provided buffers and solutions to problems the United States faced in various locations. Operations were focused in Laos as part of the "secret war" the United States carried out against the Pathet Lao forces operating in the country. Udorn RTAFB also served as the site of "Headquarters 333", the Thai organization in charge of their forces in Laos. Air America continued operations from Udorn into Laos until 3 June 1974.

In 1961 the 300 man Marine Air Base Squadron Sixteen was deployed to Udorn to maintain helicopters supporting Royal Lao Army forces in Laos. Following the defeat of Royal Lao Army in the Battle of Luang Namtha in early May 1962 by People's Army of Vietnam and Pathet Lao forces, it appeared that a communist invasion of northern Thailand was imminent and on 15 May the Kennedy Administration ordered US combat forces into Thailand to deter any attack. On 18 May VMA 332 equipped with 20 A 4 Skyhawks deployed to Udorn from Naval Air Station Cubi Point in the Philippines and HMM 261 helicopters flew into the base. On 19 May detachments of Marine Air Control Squadrons 1 and 4 and Marine Air Base Squadron 12 were also flown into the base.

The BBC has reported that the base was the location of a CIA black site, known to insiders as "Detention Site Green", used to interrogate Abu Zubaydah, a 31 year old Saudi born Palestinian, believed to be one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants. In December 2014 the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) published an executive summary of a secret 6,000 page report on CIA techniques. The report alleges that at least eight Thai senior officials knew of the secret site. The site was closed in December 2002. Thailand has denied the existence of the site while the US government has neither confirmed or denied its existence. Earlier reports alleged that a Voice of America relay station in the Ban Dung District of Udon Thani Province was the CIA black site. Another report pointed to Ramasun Station as a possible black site.

On 10 April 1970 at 14:00 a battle damaged USAF RF 4C returning from a reconnaissance mission over Laos crash landed at the base, destroying nine officers' quarters buildings, one officer' quarters trailer and a radio building and killing nine personnel on the ground.