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 (RVNAF) base located in Sóc Trăng 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 with Sikorsky UH-34s codenamed Operation Shufly 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 replaced HMM-362. In early September HMM-163 began moving north to Da Nang Air Base, 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) 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 * 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) 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 #62-1853 of the 776th Tactical Airlift Squadron 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