Bien Hoa Air Base (Vietnamese: Sân bay Biên Hòa) is a Vietnam Air Defence - Air Force (VN ADAF) military airfield located in South-Central southern Vietnam about from Ho Chi Minh City, across the Dong Nai river in the northern ward of Tân Phong, and within the city of Biên Hòa within Đồng Nai Province. The boomburb city is densely populated and rings the base, despite significant levels of Agent Orange toxins simply left there for decades. Cleanup and remediation began in 2019.
During the Vietnam War the base was used by the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF). The United States used it as a major base from 1961 through 1973, stationing Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine units there.
Origins Bien Hoa is located on flat grounds in a rural area northeast of Saigon. The French Air Force established an air base, the Base aérienne tactique 192, which was very active during the First Indochina War.
In February 1953 the French Air Force established a facility at Bien Hoa to overhaul its F8F Bearcats. In April 15 airmen and USAF civilians from the 6410th Materiel Control Group arrived in Saigon to help the French set up their F8F overhaul facility and they were deployed to Bien Hoa.
On 1 June 1955, Bien Hoa Air Base became the RVNAF's logistics support base when the French evacuated their main depot at Hanoi. At this time the base had a single by PSP runway.
In December 1960, the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group Vietnam (MAAG) requested the U.S. Navy, as the designated contract construction agent for the Department of Defense in Southeast Asia, to plan and construct several jet-capable airfields in South Vietnam, including at Bien Hoa. In December 1961, the American construction company RMK-BRJ was directed by the Navy's Officer in Charge of Construction RVN to begin construction of a new concrete runway, the first of many projects built by RMK-BRJ at the Bien Hoa Air Base over the following ten years.
American use during the Vietnam War With the influx of USAF tactical air units in the early 1960s, Bien Hoa became a joint operating base for both the RVNAF and USAF. The USAF forces stationed there were under the command of the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF).
Bien Hoa was the location for TACAN station Channel 73 and was referenced by that identifier in voice communications during air missions. Its military mail address was APO San Francisco, 96227.
From September 1962 the 33rd Transportation Company (Light Helicopter) arrived with Piasecki CH-21C Shawnee's.
A Company, 501st Aviation Battalion arrived during December 1964 with Bell UH-1 Hueys.
Det. 2 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron/1st Air Commando Squadron (Composite)
On 11 October 1961, President John F. Kennedy directed, in NSAM 104, that the Defense Secretary "introduce the Air Force 'Jungle Jim' Squadron into Vietnam for the initial purpose of training Vietnamese forces." The 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron was to proceed as a training mission and not for combat. The unit would be officially titled Detachment 2 of the 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron, code named Farm Gate. The unit would administratively and operationally belong to the Air Force section of MAAG Vietnam. Detachment 2A would be the B-26 Invader unit; Detachment 2B would be the T-28 Trojan unit.
In late October an advance party from the 6009th Tactical Support Group arrived at Bien Hoa to prepare the base for Farm Gate operations and on 15 November they were joined by Detachment 9, 6010th Tactical Support Group responsible for aircraft maintenance. In late December 4 B-26s arrived at Bien Hoa and began operations. Farm Gate would quickly grow to 4 SC-47s, 4 B-26s and 8 T-28s.
In June 1962 2 Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) soldiers guarding the base perimeter were killed by Viet Cong (VC) and as a result CINCPAC Admiral Harry D. Felt recommended the defoliation of the jungle area north of the base and this was carried out by RVNAF H-34 helicopters in July.
In May 1962 2 RB-26C night photo-reconnaissance aircraft joined the Farm Gate planes at the base. One of the aircraft was destroyed in a ground accident on 20 October.
In July 1963 the 19th Tactical Air Support Squadron was activated at the base, becoming operational on 15 September. Initially equipped with 4 O-1 Bird Dogs and 20 crew. It was tasked with training RVNAF pilots and observers in forward air control and visual reconnaissance. By the end of 1963 it had 16 O-1s at Bien Hoa and had flown 3862 sorties.
By June 1963, the USAF presence in South Vietnam had grown to almost 5,000 airmen. As the buildup continued, USAF directed the activation of a more permanent organizational structure to properly administer the forces being deployed. On 8 July 1963 the Farm Gate squadrons at Bien Hoa were redesignated the 1st Air Commando Squadron (Composite) comprising two strike sections, one of 10 B-26s and 2 RB-26s and the other of 13 T-28s, in addition support squadrons operated 6 C-47s and 4 psychological warfare U-10s.
Also on 8 July the 34th Tactical Group was established at the base, taking control of the 19th Tactical Air Support Squadron and the 34th Air Base Squadron.
In December 1963 U-2 reconnaissance aircraft operating from the base conducted surveillance missions over Laos and North Vietnam.
In early 1964 the USAF and RVNAF were only able to provide half of all requested air support. On 11 February a B-26 operating from Eglin Air Force Base lost a wing in flight and this led to the grounding of all B-26s in South Vietnam. With the loss of the B-26s CINCPAC and Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) proposed that they be replaced by B-57B Canberra tactical bombers operating under Farm Gate procedures with RVNAF markings and joint USAF/RVNAF crews. At the end of March 48 B-57s flew from Yokota Air Base in Japan to Clark Air Base in the Philippines. On 8 April the remaining B-26s at Bien Hoa flew to Clark Air Base for scrapping.
On 24 March a T-28 lost a wing during a bombing run near Sóc Trăng Airfield killing both crewmen and on 9 April another T-28 lost a wing during a strafing run and crashed. Two officials from North American Aviation, the manufacturers of the T-28, visited Bien Hoa and reviewed these losses and advised that the T-28 wasn't designed for the stresses it was being subjected to as a close air support aircraft. As a result, 5 older T-28s were retired and 9 newer aircraft were borrowed by the RVNAF and operational restrictions imposed. Despite this augmentation, accidents and aircraft transfers meant that by late May the 1st Air Commando Squadron had only 8 T-28s left but these were retired on 30 May and replaced by more capable A-1E Skyraiders.
B-57 Canberras
Following the Gulf of Tonkin incident on 4 August 1964, the Joint Chiefs of Staff began a buildup of U.S. airpower in South Vietnam and 36 B-57B Canberras of the 8th and 13th Bombardment Squadrons at Clark Air Base were ordered to Bien Hoa. As the B-57s approached Bien Hoa on the evening of 5 August one crashed on approach and two skidded on the rain-soaked runway colliding with each other and blocking the runway forcing the rest of the flight to divert to Tan Son Nhut Air Base. One of the B-57Bs was hit by ground fire and dived into the ground during approach at Tan Son Nhut and was destroyed, killing both crew members. Ground rescue parties were unable to reach the planes due to strong Viet Cong fire.
The deployment of the B-57s would be the first deployment of jet combat aircraft to Vietnam. This was a violation of the Geneva Protocols which forbade the introduction of jet combat aircraft to Vietnam; the squadrons were ostensibly assigned to the 405th Fighter Wing at Clark Air Base and carried out rotational deployments to South Vietnam on a 'temporary' basis.
During the next few weeks, more B-57Bs were moved from Clark to Bien Hoa to make good the losses of 5 August and to reinforce the original deployment. The B-57s shared an open-air, three-sided hangar with the RVNAF resulting in overcrowding that forced 18 of the B-57s to be sent back to Clark in October.
In late August Detachment 1, Pacific Air Rescue Service was established at the base equipped with HH-43Bs. In October Detachment 4 was established at the base equipped with 3 improved HH-43Fs and in November Detachment 1 was sent to Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base. The HH-43s were responsible for search and rescue, local base rescue and firefighting. With the activation of the 38th Air Rescue Squadron on 30 June 1965 the detachment at Bien Hoa was renamed Detachment 6.
In October 1964 the 602nd Fighter Squadron (Commando) was organised at the base equipped with A-1Es.
1964 Mortar attack
On the night of 1 November 1964 a VC mortar team penetrated the base perimeter and launched a 30-minute barrage on the base destroying five B-57s, three A-1Hs and one HH-43 and damaging 13 B-57s, three A-1Hs, three HH-43s and two C-47s and killing four U.S. and two Vietnamese. The VC claimed to have destroyed 59 aircraft and killed hundreds of U.S. personnel. The Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended reprisal attacks against the North Vietnamese but President Lyndon Johnson ordered the replacement of the lost aircraft and convened a National Security Council working group to consider available political and military options. On 6 November the RVNAF led by Air Vice Marshal Nguyễn Cao Kỳ launched a 32 aircraft retaliatory attack against a VC base area, claiming to have killed 500 VC.
On 2 December 1964 the equipment for the conversion of two 1st Air Commando Squadron C-47s into FC-47 gunships arrived at Bien Hoa. The first FC-47 was ready for testing on 11 December and the second on 15 December. The FC-47s began daytime patrols on 15 December with their first engagement on 21 December killing 21 VC. The first night mission took place on the night of 23/4 December.
On 19 February 1965 the Bien Hoa-based B-57Bs mission conducted the USAF's first combat mission bombing VC bases in Phước Tuy Province, in contrast to the preceding Farm Gate missions which were ostensibly conducted by the RVNAF, though in reality carried out by the USAF). This strike was, incidentally, the first time that live ordnance had been delivered against an enemy in combat from a USAF jet bomber. The B-57s conducted further strikes from 21 to 24 February and on 24 February USAF units rescued an ARVN unit under attack in the Mang Yang Pass. On 9 March 1965 the Joint Chiefs of Staff formally approved the use of USAF aircraft for offensive operations in South Vietnam, ending the advisory era.
1965 Arrival of 173rd Airborne Brigade, 1st Royal Australian Regiment, 161 Battery Royal New Zealand Artillery