Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base

Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base is a Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) facility in central Thailand, approximately 144 miles (240 km) northwest of Bangkok in Takhli District, Nakhon Sawan Province.

The initial squadrons and units deployed to Takhli were placed under the command and control of the Thirteenth Air Force, headquartered at Clark Air Base in the Philippines. Thailand based aircraft flew missions mostly into Laos until the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which expanded the air war into North Vietnam. In 1962, the U. S. Military Assistance Group in South Vietnam was upgraded to Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), a promotion which gave it authority to command combat troops. Shortly thereafter, the Military Assistance Command, Thailand (MACT) was set up with a similar level of authority in order to aid Thailand in resisting communist aggression and subversion. The USAF component of the U. S. Pacific Command was PACAF. Seventh Air Force, another Numbered Air Force of PACAF was headquartered at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam, although the Seventh controlled many units based in Thailand. Thai sensitivities about units based in Thailand reporting to a headquarters in South Vietnam caused a shift whereby the Seventh Air Force was ostensibly subordinate to Thirteenth Air Force for administrative matters (and therefore referred to as Seventh/Thirteenth Air Force). The commander, Seventh Air Force, played a dual role as MACV's deputy for air operations. In July 1962, the 6011th Air Base Squadron was organized, the first "host" unit at Takhli RTAFB.

As part of the electronic countermeasure (ECM) weaponry that the USAF employed against North Vietnamese air defenses, variants of the Douglas B 66 were adapted to serve in the electronic countermeasures role as radar jamming aircraft. All of the bombing equipment was removed and replaced by electronic jamming equipment and chaff dispensing pods were carried. They would join strike aircraft during their missions over North Vietnam to jam enemy radar installations. During January 1966 the 42d Electronic Countermeasures Squadron arrived from flying RB 66C and WB 66s variants of the B 66 on photo reconnaissance and electronic warfare missions.

The herbicide spraying missions began in Vietnam in 1961, and it has recently been revealed that some took place from Thai bases, including Takhli, as early as 1966. This pre dates the USAF receiving permission to use herbicides for clearing areas on and around Thai bases for area and perimeter defense, which was given in 1969. The missions in 1966 defoliated areas surrounding parts of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos, near the Vietnam border and north of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone and had the approval of both the Thai and Laotian governments. C 123 aircraft were used on the missions. The missions were extensive enough to have required pre positioning or maintaining stocks of the herbicides.

In early 1968, the USAF decided to rush a small detachment of F 111As to Southeast Asia for combat test and evaluation under a program known as Combat Lancer. Six F 111As of the 428th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 474th Tactical Fighter Wing were allocated to the Combat Lancer program, and departed Nellis AFB for Takhli on 15 March 1968. By the end of that month, 55 night missions had been flown against targets in North Vietnam, but two aircraft had been lost. 66–0022 had been lost on 28 March, and 66 0017 on 30 March. Replacement aircraft had left Nellis, but the loss of a third F 111A (66 0024) on 22 April halted F 111A combat operations. However, the aircraft remained poised for combat, but they saw little action before their return to the United States in November. It is speculated that this failure could also have contributed to the two earlier losses had the failure caused a pitch down while at low altitude.

On 30 June the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing was reassigned to Takhli from Da Nang AB, South Vietnam, taking over host unit responsibilities from the 49th TFW. From Takhli 366th TFW aircrews flew air superiority missions over Vietnam. In late October the squadrons of the Holloman based 49th TFW returned home. The Da Nang based 4th and 421st TFSs were transferred to the 432 Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Udon RTAFB on 31 October 1972. The 366th TFW was inactivated in place on 31 October 1972, being reactivated the same day without personnel or equipment at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.

On 30 July 1973 the TDY of the 474th TFW ended. The 428th and 429th TFS were assigned to the newly transferred 347th Tactical Fighter Wing from Mountain Home AFB which arrived on 30 July 1973. For a brief two week period the 347th flew combat operations into Cambodia until 15 August, when the final mission of Constant Guard IV was flown. After the cease fire, the wing was maintained in a combat ready status for possible contingency actions. The F 111s engaged in more than 4,000 sorties with a loss of only six aircraft. During January 1974 the Secretary of Defense announced a realignment of Thailand resources, with the final pullout of air resources by the end of 1976. On 12 July the 347 TFW's F 111's and the AC 130 gunships from the 16th SOS were transferred to Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base. Detachment 10, 3d Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Group which had deployed to Takhli on reopening of the base was inactivated in July. On 31 July 1974 phase down of operations at Takhli RTAFB was completed ahead of schedule, and the base was officially returned to the Thai Government on 12 September. All remaining US personnel departed on 14 September.

After the US withdrawal from Thailand in 1976, the RTAF consolidated the equipment left by the departing USAF units in accordance with government to government agreements, and the RTAF assumed use of the base at Takhli. The American withdrawal had quickly revealed to the Thai government the inadequacy of its air force in the event of a conventional war in Southeast Asia. Accordingly, in the 1980s the government allotted large amounts of money for the purchase of modern aircraft and spare parts. Thirty eight F 5E and F 5F Tiger II fighter bombers formed the nucleus of the RTAF's defense and tactical firepower. The F 5Es were accompanied by training teams of American civilian and military technicians, who worked with members of the RTAF. From 13–17 December 1982 Commando West V was held. This marked the first visit of a PACAF tactical unit to Thailand since the early 1970s.