Tân Cảnh Base Camp
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Tân Cảnh Base Camp (also known as Đắk Tô 1) is a former U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base northwest of
Kon Tum Kon Tum is the capital city of Kon Tum Province in Vietnam. It is located inland in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam, near the borders of Laos and Cambodia. History After the People's Army of Vietnam invaded South Vietnam on March 30, 1 ...
in the Central Highlands of
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
.


History


1962–67

The 5th Special Forces Group Detachment A-333 first established a base at Đắk Tô in 1962 to monitor communist infiltration along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. In early-mid 1967 increased infiltration into the Central Highlands led Major General William R. Peers commander of the 4th Infantry Division to request reinforcements and the
173rd Airborne Brigade The 173rd Airborne Brigade ("Sky Soldiers") is an airborne infantry brigade combat team (IBCT) of the United States Army based in Vicenza, Italy. It is the United States European Command's conventional airborne strategic response force for Eu ...
was moved by air to Đắk Tô in June 1967. As the existing Special Forces base camp and airfield were too small to accommodate large numbers of troops and their support requirements, a new airfield and base camp known as Đắk Tô 2 and
Đắk Tô Base Camp Đắk Tô Base Camp (also known as Đắk Tô 2 Airfield and Phoenix Airfield) is a former U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base northwest of Kon Tum in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. History 1966-7 The 5th Special F ...
were established several kilometres further west, approximately 40 km northwest of Kon Tum and the former camp became known as Tân Cảnh Base Camp.


1972

In early 1972 the ARVN 42nd Regiment of the 22nd Division was stationed at Tân Cảnh. On 7/8 February following intelligence showing a PAVN buildup in the area the 22nd Division forward command post, 47th Regiment and supporting units were moved from Ba Gi to the Đắk Tô/Tân Cảnh area. Elements of the 19th Cavalry Regiment were attached to the Division to support its organic 14th Cavalry Regiment equipped with M-41 light tanks. The armored units would be deployed forward at
Ben Het Camp Ben Het Camp (also known as Ben Het Special Forces Camp, Ben Het Ranger Camp and FSB Ben Het) is a former U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base northwest of Kon Tum in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The camp was notable ...
which was regarded as the most likely direction of a PAVN armored attack. Since the start of the
Easter Offensive The Easter Offensive, also known as the 1972 spring–summer offensive ('' vi, Chiến dịch Xuân–Hè 1972'') by North Vietnam, or the red fiery summer (') as romanticized in South Vietnamese literature, was a military campaign conducted b ...
at the end of March, the base had come under increasing PAVN artillery and rocket fire, which had gone from 20–50 rounds per day in March to up to 1000 per day by mid-April. During early April, the 47th Regiment withdrew to Đắk Tô II, while the 42nd Regiment and one Battalion of the 41st Regiment were at Tân Cảnh supported by armor and artillery. In addition ARVN Airborne and Rangers occupied a string of firebases along the area known as Rocket Ridge. On 23 April, the PAVN 2nd Division started their attack on Tân Cảnh by hitting the ARVN tanks with AT-3 missiles and this was followed by a direct hit on the 42nd Regiment command bunker injuring the senior U.S. Adviser and several of the ARVN commanders and severely undermining the confidence of COL Dat the 22nd Division commander . By midday all 5 of the M-41 tanks in the base and several more bunkers had been destroyed by the missiles. At 11:00
John Paul Vann John Paul Vann (born John Paul Tripp; July 2, 1924 – June 9, 1972) was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, later retired, who became well known for his role in the Vietnam War. Although separated from the military before the Vietna ...
the senior U.S. military adviser in II Corps landed to assess the situation and instructed the U.S. advisers to prepare to escape and evade from the camp. At 19:00 PAVN rocket fire ignited the base ammunition dump At 21:00 hours a column of 18 PAVN tanks was spotted in the area, an Air Force
Lockheed AC-130 The Lockheed AC-130 gunship is a heavily armed, long-endurance, attack aircraft, ground-attack variant of the C-130 Hercules transport, fixed-wing aircraft. It carries a wide array of ground-attack weapons that are integrated with sophisticate ...
gunship arrived at 23:00 and began to engage the
T-54 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks ...
tanks with its 105mm cannon. Three T-54s were disabled but later recovered by the PAVN. At midnight the tank column turned towards Tân Cảnh and the ARVN artillery began firing on the column until stopped by PAVN counterbattery fire. Two bridges on the approach to Tân Cảnh were abandoned without being destroyed. The ARVN organised hunter-killer teams and these destroyed two tanks. Just before 06:00 hours on 24 April the PAVN tanks attacked Tân Cảnh in two columns. One column of T-54s attacked the main gate, the other moving to secure the airstrip. The advance of the tanks caused the 900 support troops to panic. The new command bunker was hit by further artillery fire destroying the radio antennas. With the collapse of all command and control on the base, the American advisers abandoned the command bunker and moved to a new position to call in airstrikes, however fog made such airstrikes impossible. At dawn Vann arrived over Tân Cảnh in his Bell OH-58A Kiowa and made contact with the advisers who had escaped from the base perimeter. Vann landed and 6 advisers squeezed into the helicopter while frightened ARVN troops hung onto the skids. The helicopter flew to Đắk Tô II to drop off the passengers and then flew back to Tân Cảnh where they picked up the remaining 3 advisers, however the helicopter was swarmed by panicky ARVN and crashed on takeoff. Another helicopter came in and picked up Vann, his pilot and the 3 advisers and flew them to
Pleiku Pleiku is a city in central Vietnam, located in the Central Highlands region. It is the capital of the Gia Lai Province. Many years ago, it was inhabited primarily by the Bahnar and Jarai ethnic groups, sometimes known as the Montagnards or De ...
. One hour after the main PAVN attack on Tân Cảnh commenced, the PAVN began their attack on Đắk Tô and by the afternoon on 24 April Đắk Tô had also been overrun. On 25 April the PAVN mopped up the remaining ARVN positions around Tân Cảnh/Đắk Tô. The 22nd Division had ceased to exist as a fighting unit, the divisional commander and his entire staff had disappeared, and the PAVN had captured 23 105-mm and seven 155-mm howitzers, as well as large supplies of ammunition and stores. With the loss of the main camps, the remaining firebases along Rocket Ridge were abandoned and the PAVN had a clear approach to
Kon Tum Kon Tum is the capital city of Kon Tum Province in Vietnam. It is located inland in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam, near the borders of Laos and Cambodia. History After the People's Army of Vietnam invaded South Vietnam on March 30, 1 ...
.


Current use

The base has been turned over to farmland and housing. The airfield is no longer used but is still visible on satellite images.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tan Canh Base Camp Installations of the United States Army in South Vietnam Installations of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Military installations closed in 1972 Buildings and structures in Kon Tum province