Sóc Trăng Airfield was a French colonial,

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

(USMC),

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

(US ARMY) and

Army of the Republic of Vietnam The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; ) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. Its predecessor was the ground forc ...

(ARVN) and

Republic of Vietnam Air Force The South Vietnam Air Force, officially the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF; ; ) (sometimes referred to as the Vietnam Air Force or VNAF), was the aerial branch of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, the official military of the Repub ...

(RVNAF) base located in

Sóc Trăng Sóc Trăng (; ) is a city in Vietnam. It is the capital of Sóc Trăng Province. It was upgraded from a town (thị xã) to a city following decree 22/2007/NĐ-CP on 8 February 2007. History During the French colonial period, on December 20 ...

in southern Vietnam.

History

Sóc Trăng Airfield was originally established in the French colonial era, it was subsequently used by the Japanese forces from 1940 to 1945.

HMM-362 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 362 (VMM-362) is a United States Marine Corps squadron that operates MV-22 Osprey. The squadron, known as the "Ugly Angels", was reactivated on 17 August 2018 at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California. Mis ...

with Sikorsky UH-34s codenamed

Operation Shufly Operation Shufly was a United States Marine Corps operation to improve the mobility of Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces in the early phases of the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1965. Beginning on 15 April 1962, Marine helicopter squadrons ...

was the first USMC helicopter unit to serve in Vietnam arriving on 15 April 1962. Sóc Trăng was selected for the deployment because it had one of the few hard-surfaced runways in South Vietnam. HMM-362's mission was to provide transport and resupply for ARVN units throughout the

Mekong Delta The Mekong Delta ( or simply ), also known as the Western Region () or South-western region (), is the list of regions of Vietnam, region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong, Mekong River River delta, approaches and empties into the sea th ...

. On 1 August

HMM-163 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 163 (VMM-163) is a United States Marine Corps helicopter squadron consisting of MV-22 Osprey transport tiltrotors. The squadron, known as "Evil Eyes", is based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California and ...

replaced HMM-362. In early September HMM-163 began moving north to

Da Nang Air Base Da Nang Air Base () (1930s–1975) (also known as Da Nang Airfield, Tourane Airfield or Tourane Air Base) was a French Air Force and later Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) facility located in the city of Da Nang, Vietnam. During the Vietnam ...

, completing the redeployment by 20 September. Other units stationed at Sóc Trăng included: * 93d Transportation Company from June 1962 to 23 June 1963 *

121st Aviation Company (Airmobile Light) 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 ...

from 23 June 1963. The 121st Aviation Company was activated using the personnel and equipment of the 93d Transportation Company, which was simultaneously inactivated. *

336th Assault 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 ...

* Detachment A,

57th Medical Detachment The 57th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) was a US Army unit located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, which provided aeromedical evacuation support to the Fort Bragg community, while training in its combat support mission. The first helic ...

(Helicopter Ambulance) (Provisional) with Bell UH-1B Hueys from March 1964. *

82nd Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) The Army Medical Department of the U.S. Army (AMEDD), formerly known as the Army Medical Service (AMS), encompasses the Army's six medical Special Branches (or "Corps"). It was established as the "Army Hospital" in July 1775 to coordinate the me ...

from October 1964 to 15 March 1969 On 4 November 1970, the control of Sóc Trăng was passed to the RVNAF.

Accidents and incidents

*On 19 May 1967, two UH-1D Iroquois (#64-13521 and #66-01154) of the 336th AHC collided on approach to Sóc Trăng causing both helicopters to crash killing all 4 crewmen on one helicopter and 1 crewman on the other *On 12 August 1972,

Lockheed C-130E Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designe ...

#62-1853 of the

776th Tactical Airlift Squadron The 776th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force squadron activated after 11 September 2001, being engaged in the Global War on Terrorism. Its current status is not publicly known. The squadron was first acti ...

was shot down on takeoff from Sóc Trăng, killing 30 of 44 passengers and crew on board

Current use

The airfield remains visible on satellite images.

References

Installations of the United States Army in South Vietnam Defunct airports in Vietnam Installations of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Buildings and structures in Sóc Trăng province {{Vietnam-war-stub