Camp Thunderbolt (also known as ROK Strip Airfield or ROK Valley) is a former

Republic of Korea Army The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the largest of the military branches of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces with 365,0 ...

(ROKA) base west of

Qui Nhơn Quy Nhon ( ) is a coastal city in Bình Định province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of . Quy Nhon was the capital of the former Bình Định province. As of 2022 its population was 481.110. H ...

Bình Định Province Bình Định (平定) was a former northern coastal province in the South Central Coast region, the Central of Vietnam. It borders Quảng Ngãi to the north, Phú Yên to the south, Gia Lai to the west and the South China Sea to the ea ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

History

The base was originally established in late 1965 by the 70th Engineer Battalion approximately 14 km west of Qui Nhơn, 5 km south of Lane Army Airfield and southwest of the Highway 19 and Highway 1 intersection. Further improvements to the base were made by the

19th Engineer Battalion The 19th Engineer Battalion is a United States Army combat engineering unit. This unit provides general engineering support during military operations. It is an Echelon Above Brigade (EAB) engineer unit, composed of five-line companies (15th Const ...

. The Camp served as the base for the

Capital Mechanized Infantry Division The Capital Mechanized Infantry Division (, hanja: 首都機械化步兵師團), also known as Fierce Tiger Division (, hanja: 猛虎部隊), is currently one of the six mechanized infantry divisions in the Republic of Korea Army. It is part of ...

(also known as the Tiger Division) from their arrival in Vietnam in September 1965 until their departure in March 1973. On 5 March 1971 CH-47C #67-18518 of the

180th Assault Support Helicopter Company This is a List of aviation companies of the United States Army from the United States Army Aviation Branch. Numbered companies Non-numbered companies See also * List of United States Army aircraft battalions A list is a set of discre ...

on approach to Lane Army Airfield collided with a ROKA O-1D causing both aircraft to crash killing 5 passengers and crew on the CH-47 and the pilot of the O-1.

Current use

The base appears to remain in use by the

People's Army of Vietnam The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), officially the Vietnam People's Army (VPA; , , ), also recognized as the Vietnamese Army (), the People's Army () or colloquially the Troops ( ), is the national Military, military force of the Vietnam, S ...

References

Vietnam War military installations Military installations of South Korea Buildings and structures in Bình Định province {{VietnamWar-stub