Landing Zone Baldy (also known as FSB Baldy or Hill 63) was a U.S. Marine Corps, Army and
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; french: Armée de la république du Viêt Nam) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April ...
(ARVN) base located northwest of
Chu Lai
Chu Lai is a seaport, urban and industrial area in Núi Thành District, Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam. The city is served by Chu Lai International Airport. It is also the site of the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone (Vietnamese: ''Với Khu Kinh T ...
,
Quảng Nam Province in central Vietnam.
History
The base was located at the intersection of
Highway 1 and Route 535, approximately 28 km northwest of Chu Lai.
Baldy was originally established by the U.S. Army
196th Light Infantry Brigade and was then taken over as the headquarters for the
7th Marines
The 7th Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California. Nicknamed the "Magnificent Seventh", the regiment falls under the command of the 1st M ...
.
On the morning of 3 January 1968 the
People's Army of Vietnam
The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the ...
(PAVN)
2nd Division mortared Baldy as part of a series of attacks on four Marines bases.
In August 1969 a logistics support unit of Force Logistic Support Group Bravo was established at Baldy.
[ In late 1969 the ]3rd Battalion 11th Marines
3rd Battalion 11th Marines (3/11) is an artillery battalion comprising three firing batteries, a Liaison Unit, and a headquarters battery. The battalion is based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California and its pr ...
moved to Baldy.[
In September 1970 the 7th Marines began to withdraw from the Quế Sơn Valley and the Baldy tactical area of operations as part of Operation Keystone Robin Alpha handing over control to the ]5th Marine Regiment
The 5th Marine Regiment (also referred to as "5th Marines") is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the most highly decorated regiment in the Marine Corps and falls u ...
.[
From 14 October 1970 the ]1st Marine Aircraft Wing
The 1st Marine Aircraft Wing is an aviation unit of the United States Marine Corps that serves as the Aviation Combat Element of the III Marine Expeditionary Force. The wing is headquartered at Camp Foster on the island of Okinawa, Japan. Activ ...
deployed a force of six CH-46Ds, 4 AH-1Gs and one UH-1E command ship to Baldy on a daily basis from Marble Mountain Air Facility
Marble Mountain Air Facility (MMAF), also known as Da Nang East Airfield, Marble Mountain Army Airfield and Nuoc Man Airfield, was an aviation facility used primarily by the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. It was a helicopt ...
to support 5th Marine quick reaction force (QRF) operations.[ In late November the Korean 2nd Marine Brigade also stationed a QRF platoon at Baldy.][
Baldy was a base for Marine combined action and pacification programmes throughout 1969–70.][
In January 1971 as part of the general drawdown of U.S. forces the 23rd Infantry Division took over the Marines' tactical area of responsibility, but made it clear they would not take over the Marine bases at Baldy, ]Firebase Ross
Firebase Ross (also known as Hill 51) was a U.S. Marine Corps, Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) fire support base located in the Quế Sơn District, Quế Sơn Valley southwest of Hội An, Quảng Nam Province in central Vietnam.
...
or Firebase Ryder
Firebase is a set of hosting services for any type of application (Android, iOS, Javascript, Node.js, Java, Unity, PHP, C++ ...). It offers NoSQL and real-time hosting of databases, content, social authentication (Google, Facebook, Twitter an ...
.[ On 4 March 1971, Logistics Support Unit 3 at Baldy ceased operations.][ On 20 March 1971 the Marines turned over Baldy to the ARVN.][
]
Current use
The base appears to remain in use by the PAVN.
References
{{Marine Corps
Military installations of the United States Marine Corps in South Vietnam
Installations of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Buildings and structures in Quảng Nam province